The story of my wife's interview

[antda 13]

Hi mspencer,

Congratulations on your wife getting approved for her Naturalization interview. Thanks for sharing this interview experience with everyone here on VJ. I defintely found this information helpful, as likewise, I'll be having my Naturalization interview (hopefully by next year) in Buffalo, NY, as my husband and I live in the Western New York State Area too. By the way, was it the Delaware Ave. location (the same location for the AOS) in Buffalo that you went for your interview in? Or was it somewhere else? Good that you both had a fun time touring Buffalo while you were there that day. I assume too that you are living in Chatauqua, or Cattaraugus, or Alleghany county of Western New York State, as you mentioned about living 100miles south of Buffalo near the Pennsylvania border. I'm glad all went well for your wife during her interview, and that they didn't ask her too much, and she passed all the questions. Did they ask her all the 10 civics questions during the interview too (as you only mentioned she got one wrong/right)? I found it surprising though, that they would question you and your wife as well in terms of questions about your marriage/relationship, as I thought that was more so during the other processes of the immigration journey. Oh well, no worries there for you, as you and your wife had consistent answers there. And once again, congratulations on passing the interview!

Good luck on the rest of your immigration journey, and I hope that you get your oath letter and ceremony date soon too.

Ant (Another NYSer, who's looking forward to Naturalization too...)

P.S. , as that would be helpful to other VJers too. Thanks.

My wife had her naturalization interview in Buffalo, New York, yesterday, September 10, 2008. Since we live 100 miles south of Buffalo near the Pennsylvania border, we stayed at a Buffalo area motel the night to make sure we could get there all-right. Her interview was at 2:30 in the Federal Building downtown Buffalo. We got downtown two hours early, and since I didn't want her to sit somewhere getting nervous, we went to the observation floor at the top of the City Hall building two blocks away, which had great views of the area, and sat in Niagara Square in the sunshine outside teh City Hall. After going through security we went into the lobby of the immigration office. We would have just sat there, but then I realized that we should check in at the counter, and the woman there sent us to an office on the second floor. My wife was very nervous, and unfortunately, the examiner came out 15 minutes late. In fact some time after we arrived an officer came out to ask why we were there, and I was worried that they had lost the appointment for her interview. Finally though a very pleasant woman came out and took her to the room.

First my wife had to swear to tell the truth. My wife had brought the many documents that we had gathered together over months, but the examiner didn't ask to see any of them, except for her green card, passport, and New York State ID (my wife does not drive, and has no driver's license.) Luckily from posts here I had thought she could need such an ID.

Six months before I bought a very useful book over the internet called "Becoming a U.S. Citizen, a Guide to the Law, Exam and Interview," by Ilona Bray. (A new edition is coming out in a month or so.) This lists all the government, civics questions that the examiners ask and also the sentences most of the examiners use that the person has to write out as part of the English exam ("Official USCIS List of Sample Quesitons") We had gone over these often before the interview. However, the examiner was very easy with her when it came to these things. She asked my wife to write only one sentence--"Today is a sunny day." The only civics question the examiner asked was what color are the stripes on the American flag. My wife was very keyed up and said "red. white, and blue," which was wrong. But then the examiner told her that she only wanted to know the color of the strips, the quesiton that my wife then answered correctly. (Ilona Bray's book said that if you do not pass these parts of the interview though, they have to give you another chance with another appointment.)

While the examiner was very easy when it came to these things, she tried to see if any fraud was involved, that our marriage was not fraudulent and in fact that I was her husband. She asked my wife one time if she worked and then another time later on who pays the bills. She asked one time if she drives, then another time how she gets around. Someone making up answers could have been easily tripped up one time of another with contradictory answers. She also asked her in what city I was born, for one thing, to see if my wife knew about my life. (I had given such information about my own life when I had applied for my wife's visa years before, and apparently the examiner had this information.) My wife also said her husband had brought her, then at the end of the interview the interviewer actually came out to me and asked me to show her an id (I used my driver's license) and she asked me several of the questions she had asked my wife to see if we gave the same answers. If I had been her cousin or boy friend, for example, or had a different address on my driver's license from my wife, I assume that would have been a problem. However, there was no problem or anything for us to worry about because we simply told the truth when she asked something.

After my wife came out after forty minutes, she said she had passed, and we were very happy that day.

[stevemc 0]

My wife had her naturalization interview in Buffalo, New York, yesterday, September 10, 2008. Since we live 100 miles south of Buffalo near the Pennsylvania border, we stayed at a Buffalo area motel the night to make sure we could get there all-right. Her interview was at 2:30 in the Federal Building downtown Buffalo. We got downtown two hours early, and since I didn't want her to sit somewhere getting nervous, we went to the observation floor at the top of the City Hall building two blocks away, which had great views of the area, and sat in Niagara Square in the sunshine outside teh City Hall.

After going through security we went into the lobby of the immigration office. We would have just sat there, but then I realized that we should check in at the counter, and the woman there sent us to an office on the second floor. My wife was very nervous, and unfortunately, the examiner came out 15 minutes late. In fact some time after we arrived an officer came out to ask why we were there, and I was worried that they had lost the appointment for her interview. Finally though a very pleasant woman came out and took her to the room.

First my wife had to swear to tell the truth. My wife had brought the many documents that we had gathered together over months, but the examiner didn't ask to see any of them, except for her green card, passport, and New York State ID (my wife does not drive, and has no driver's license.) Luckily from posts here I had thought she could need such an ID.

Six months before I bought a very useful book over the internet called "Becoming a U.S. Citizen, a Guide to the Law, Exam and Interview," by Ilona Bray. (A new edition is coming out in a month or so.) This lists all the government, civics questions that the examiners ask and also the sentences most of the examiners use that the person has to write out as part of the English exam ("Official USCIS List of Sample Quesitons") We had gone over these often before the interview. However, the examiner was very easy with her when it came to these things. She asked my wife to write only one sentence--"Today is a sunny day." The only civics question the examiner asked was what color are the stripes on the American flag. My wife was very keyed up and said "red. white, and blue," which was wrong. But then the examiner told her that she only wanted to know the color of the strips, the quesiton that my wife then answered correctly. (Ilona Bray's book said that if you do not pass these parts of the interview though, they have to give you another chance with another appointment.)

While the examiner was very easy when it came to these things, she tried to see if any fraud was involved, that our marriage was not fraudulent and in fact that I was her husband. She asked my wife one time if she worked and then another time later on who pays the bills. She asked one time if she drives, then another time how she gets around. Someone making up answers could have been easily tripped up one time of another with contradictory answers. She also asked her in what city I was born, for one thing, to see if my wife knew about my life. (I had given such information about my own life when I had applied for my wife's visa years before, and apparently the examiner had this information.) My wife also said her husband had brought her, then at the end of the interview the interviewer actually came out to me and asked me to show her an id (I used my driver's license) and she asked me several of the questions she had asked my wife to see if we gave the same answers. If I had been her cousin or boy friend, for example, or had a different address on my driver's license from my wife, I assume that would have been a problem. However, there was no problem or anything for us to worry about because we simply told the truth when she asked something.

After my wife came out after forty minutes, she said she had passed, and we were very happy that day.

Good to hear that..congratulations!

[mspencer 0]

I appreciate the congratulations very greatly.

Yes--they asked only one civics question out of the hundred they could ask! The examiner certainly could have been harder with some parts of the interview. My wife will take her citizenship oath October 16. This time we will stay at the Adam's Mark Hotel, which is only blocks away from the Delaware Avenue office we were at and from the courthouse where she will take her oath. I really would rather just drive there on the day, but we live several hours away in Cattaraugus County, and I had visions of my car breaking down on the way or some other emergency happening on the way. I wanted to make sure to get there.

My wife's timeline appeared earlier on in this thread in the list of timelines, but it somehow disappeared from this thread, no doubt from some glitch. As I recall, my timeline had been in this thread in August.

Hi mspencer,

Congratulations on your wife getting approved for her Naturalization interview. Thanks for sharing this interview experience with everyone here on VJ. I defintely found this information helpful, as likewise, I'll be having my Naturalization interview (hopefully by next year) in Buffalo, NY, as my husband and I live in the Western New York State Area too. By the way, was it the Delaware Ave. location (the same location for the AOS) in Buffalo that you went for your interview in? Or was it somewhere else? Good that you both had a fun time touring Buffalo while you were there that day. I assume too that you are living in Chatauqua, or Cattaraugus, or Alleghany county of Western New York State, as you mentioned about living 100miles south of Buffalo near the Pennsylvania border. I'm glad all went well for your wife during her interview, and that they didn't ask her too much, and she passed all the questions. Did they ask her all the 10 civics questions during the interview too (as you only mentioned she got one wrong/right)? I found it surprising though, that they would question you and your wife as well in terms of questions about your marriage/relationship, as I thought that was more so during the other processes of the immigration journey. Oh well, no worries there for you, as you and your wife had consistent answers there. And once again, congratulations on passing the interview!

Good luck on the rest of your immigration journey, and I hope that you get your oath letter and ceremony date soon too.

Ant (Another NYSer, who's looking forward to Naturalization too...)

P.S. , as that would be helpful to other VJers too. Thanks.

My wife had her naturalization interview in Buffalo, New York, yesterday, September 10, 2008. Since we live 100 miles south of Buffalo near the Pennsylvania border, we stayed at a Buffalo area motel the night to make sure we could get there all-right. Her interview was at 2:30 in the Federal Building downtown Buffalo. We got downtown two hours early, and since I didn't want her to sit somewhere getting nervous, we went to the observation floor at the top of the City Hall building two blocks away, which had great views of the area, and sat in Niagara Square in the sunshine outside teh City Hall. After going through security we went into the lobby of the immigration office. We would have just sat there, but then I realized that we should check in at the counter, and the woman there sent us to an office on the second floor. My wife was very nervous, and unfortunately, the examiner came out 15 minutes late. In fact some time after we arrived an officer came out to ask why we were there, and I was worried that they had lost the appointment for her interview. Finally though a very pleasant woman came out and took her to the room.

First my wife had to swear to tell the truth. My wife had brought the many documents that we had gathered together over months, but the examiner didn't ask to see any of them, except for her green card, passport, and New York State ID (my wife does not drive, and has no driver's license.) Luckily from posts here I had thought she could need such an ID.

Six months before I bought a very useful book over the internet called "Becoming a U.S. Citizen, a Guide to the Law, Exam and Interview," by Ilona Bray. (A new edition is coming out in a month or so.) This lists all the government, civics questions that the examiners ask and also the sentences most of the examiners use that the person has to write out as part of the English exam ("Official USCIS List of Sample Quesitons") We had gone over these often before the interview. However, the examiner was very easy with her when it came to these things. She asked my wife to write only one sentence--"Today is a sunny day." The only civics question the examiner asked was what color are the stripes on the American flag. My wife was very keyed up and said "red. white, and blue," which was wrong. But then the examiner told her that she only wanted to know the color of the strips, the quesiton that my wife then answered correctly. (Ilona Bray's book said that if you do not pass these parts of the interview though, they have to give you another chance with another appointment.)

While the examiner was very easy when it came to these things, she tried to see if any fraud was involved, that our marriage was not fraudulent and in fact that I was her husband. She asked my wife one time if she worked and then another time later on who pays the bills. She asked one time if she drives, then another time how she gets around. Someone making up answers could have been easily tripped up one time of another with contradictory answers. She also asked her in what city I was born, for one thing, to see if my wife knew about my life. (I had given such information about my own life when I had applied for my wife's visa years before, and apparently the examiner had this information.) My wife also said her husband had brought her, then at the end of the interview the interviewer actually came out to me and asked me to show her an id (I used my driver's license) and she asked me several of the questions she had asked my wife to see if we gave the same answers. If I had been her cousin or boy friend, for example, or had a different address on my driver's license from my wife, I assume that would have been a problem. However, there was no problem or anything for us to worry about because we simply told the truth when she asked something.

After my wife came out after forty minutes, she said she had passed, and we were very happy that day.

Edited September 16, 2008 by mspencer

[mspencer 0]

Oops-my timeline had appeared in the thread of May filers, not in this thread, for what it is worth knowing.

Mspencer

I appreciate the congratulations very greatly.

Yes--they asked only one civics question out of the hundred they could ask! The examiner certainly could have been harder with some parts of the interview. My wife will take her citizenship oath October 16. This time we will stay at the Adam's Mark Hotel, which is only blocks away from the Delaware Avenue office we were at and from the courthouse where she will take her oath. I really would rather just drive there on the day, but we live several hours away in Cattaraugus County, and I had visions of my car breaking down on the way or some other emergency happening on the way. I wanted to make sure to get there.

My wife's timeline appeared earlier on in this thread in the list of timelines, but it somehow disappeared from this thread, no doubt from some glitch. As I recall, my timeline had been in this thread in August.

Hi mspencer,

Congratulations on your wife getting approved for her Naturalization interview. Thanks for sharing this interview experience with everyone here on VJ. I defintely found this information helpful, as likewise, I'll be having my Naturalization interview (hopefully by next year) in Buffalo, NY, as my husband and I live in the Western New York State Area too. By the way, was it the Delaware Ave. location (the same location for the AOS) in Buffalo that you went for your interview in? Or was it somewhere else? Good that you both had a fun time touring Buffalo while you were there that day. I assume too that you are living in Chatauqua, or Cattaraugus, or Alleghany county of Western New York State, as you mentioned about living 100miles south of Buffalo near the Pennsylvania border. I'm glad all went well for your wife during her interview, and that they didn't ask her too much, and she passed all the questions. Did they ask her all the 10 civics questions during the interview too (as you only mentioned she got one wrong/right)? I found it surprising though, that they would question you and your wife as well in terms of questions about your marriage/relationship, as I thought that was more so during the other processes of the immigration journey. Oh well, no worries there for you, as you and your wife had consistent answers there. And once again, congratulations on passing the interview!

Good luck on the rest of your immigration journey, and I hope that you get your oath letter and ceremony date soon too.

Ant (Another NYSer, who's looking forward to Naturalization too...)

P.S. , as that would be helpful to other VJers too. Thanks.

My wife had her naturalization interview in Buffalo, New York, yesterday, September 10, 2008. Since we live 100 miles south of Buffalo near the Pennsylvania border, we stayed at a Buffalo area motel the night to make sure we could get there all-right. Her interview was at 2:30 in the Federal Building downtown Buffalo. We got downtown two hours early, and since I didn't want her to sit somewhere getting nervous, we went to the observation floor at the top of the City Hall building two blocks away, which had great views of the area, and sat in Niagara Square in the sunshine outside teh City Hall. After going through security we went into the lobby of the immigration office. We would have just sat there, but then I realized that we should check in at the counter, and the woman there sent us to an office on the second floor. My wife was very nervous, and unfortunately, the examiner came out 15 minutes late. In fact some time after we arrived an officer came out to ask why we were there, and I was worried that they had lost the appointment for her interview. Finally though a very pleasant woman came out and took her to the room.

First my wife had to swear to tell the truth. My wife had brought the many documents that we had gathered together over months, but the examiner didn't ask to see any of them, except for her green card, passport, and New York State ID (my wife does not drive, and has no driver's license.) Luckily from posts here I had thought she could need such an ID.

Six months before I bought a very useful book over the internet called "Becoming a U.S. Citizen, a Guide to the Law, Exam and Interview," by Ilona Bray. (A new edition is coming out in a month or so.) This lists all the government, civics questions that the examiners ask and also the sentences most of the examiners use that the person has to write out as part of the English exam ("Official USCIS List of Sample Quesitons") We had gone over these often before the interview. However, the examiner was very easy with her when it came to these things. She asked my wife to write only one sentence--"Today is a sunny day." The only civics question the examiner asked was what color are the stripes on the American flag. My wife was very keyed up and said "red. white, and blue," which was wrong. But then the examiner told her that she only wanted to know the color of the strips, the quesiton that my wife then answered correctly. (Ilona Bray's book said that if you do not pass these parts of the interview though, they have to give you another chance with another appointment.)

While the examiner was very easy when it came to these things, she tried to see if any fraud was involved, that our marriage was not fraudulent and in fact that I was her husband. She asked my wife one time if she worked and then another time later on who pays the bills. She asked one time if she drives, then another time how she gets around. Someone making up answers could have been easily tripped up one time of another with contradictory answers. She also asked her in what city I was born, for one thing, to see if my wife knew about my life. (I had given such information about my own life when I had applied for my wife's visa years before, and apparently the examiner had this information.) My wife also said her husband had brought her, then at the end of the interview the interviewer actually came out to me and asked me to show her an id (I used my driver's license) and she asked me several of the questions she had asked my wife to see if we gave the same answers. If I had been her cousin or boy friend, for example, or had a different address on my driver's license from my wife, I assume that would have been a problem. However, there was no problem or anything for us to worry about because we simply told the truth when she asked something.

After my wife came out after forty minutes, she said she had passed, and we were very happy that day.

[antda 13]

Hi Msspencer,

You're welcome about the congratulations. I'm surprised that they only asked your wife one question, as aren't they supposed to ask 10, and from those 10 one has to get 6 right to pass? Oh well, your wife doesn't have to worry about that anymore, as she already passed. That's great too, that your wife got her Citizenship date. I hope all goes well for her on that special day, and yes, do keep us all updated here on VJ as to how that goes too. "Better safe than sorry", as staying at a hotel in Buffalo is better than driving there and being worried about the car breaking down before. The Adams Mark Hotel is just right there, next to the freeway, and right downtown, so it's convenient that you stayed there and got to see the city too. I never knew that the location for the oath is different from the Deleware Avenue Office, so thanks for mentioning that too. I'll be on the lookout for where the courthouse is (as I'm from out of town), the next time I'm in Buffalo (which is next week, as I have to go get my biometrics for the I-751 done then). Lol...I've had visions and a couple of close calls driving into Buffalo from several hours away. Always leave yourself plenty of time when driving there, and be prepared for emergencies too. Hope you have a safe driving trip for your oath ceremony. By the way, Cattaraugus County is a nice area, especially with Alleghany State Park being located there too. As for the VJ timelines, you can update it here too: http://www.visajourney.com/timeline/ (under the timeline fuctions-->edit/add my entry section). Don't worry about the glitches, as that happens on VJ from time to time.

Anyways, good luck on for the rest of your immigration journey and citizenship oath coming up.

Ant

I appreciate the congratulations very greatly.

Yes--they asked only one civics question out of the hundred they could ask! The examiner certainly could have been harder with some parts of the interview. My wife will take her citizenship oath October 16. This time we will stay at the Adam's Mark Hotel, which is only blocks away from the Delaware Avenue office we were at and from the courthouse where she will take her oath. I really would rather just drive there on the day, but we live several hours away in Cattaraugus County, and I had visions of my car breaking down on the way or some other emergency happening on the way. I wanted to make sure to get there.

My wife's timeline appeared earlier on in this thread in the list of timelines, but it somehow disappeared from this thread, no doubt from some glitch. As I recall, my timeline had been in this thread in August.