AOS Success in Chicago DO - 10 yr greencard

Paul and Melanie · June 7, 2006

Congratulations! You deserved it!

Couille Molle · June 7, 2006

For those of you looking for details about the interview process in Chicago or for someone adjusting status after a previous removal order (where they didn’t apply for a waiver), I’m working on a detailed account of our experience. I will try to post it today or tomorrow.
LODGING/PARKING: Our interview was at 7:45am, and we live about 3 hours from downtown Chicago, so I decided beforehand we were definitely staying downtown somewhere so we didn’t have to deal with the stress of driving in rush hour morning traffic along with the nerves I knew we’d have before the interview. We stayed at a nice hotel right around the corner from the immigration building. It was called Club Quarters and it’s normally only for members but I booked it through Travelocity so there was no problem. It has wireless Internet in all the rooms, and for those who don’t have computers, there are computers in the Club Room of the lobby available and on the 3rd floor too. It was the cheapest hotel I could find in the loop, and a good deal for the location! It cost about $110 with taxes, plus $36 for 24 hours valet parking with in-out privileges. You could self-park about 2 blocks away from the hotel for $20 a night, but no in-out privileges and I think we’d have had to pay for a 2nd day too, so valet was the way to go. It is located on Adams St just around the corner from Dearborn, but no sign that I noticed outside except for an awning with the initials CQ. There is a Starbucks on the corner and a Walgreens pharmacy, Subway, McDonalds, Wendys, and Dunkin Donuts all within 2 blocks. There also is a bookstore across the street and a copy shop around the corner for any forgotten copies. We checked out before our interview because we just weren’t sure how long it would take. There was no need because we were back in the hotel by 9:15am, and wished we would have still had the room to go back to to change. Instead we used the public bathrooms on the 3rd floor. You can leave your bags in the hotel, they have a locked room they kept them in until we finally left around 1pm. They even let us get the bags in and out as we needed our “comfortable” clothes to change back into when we got back from the interview.

For those of you who can’t find 230 on the 200 block of S Dearborn, it’s the building under construction – the construction is blocking the signs that identify the building. We walked up and down Dearborn for a little while trying to find it before realizing it might be that building.

1st FLOOR:

On the day of the interview, we were scheduled at 7:45am. We got there around 7:15am, and had to get in line for about 15 minutes before the guards let us start going through security. We were about the 6th couple in line, but the last ones on the elevator to the 2nd floor. When you go through security, make it easy on yourself and take all the change and metal items out of your pockets and put them, cell phones, pagers, etc. in the bags you’re carrying which will go through an x-ray machine. I had our interview notice out and our passports from the time we were standing in line, but no one on the 1st floor even looked at them. Pay attention to the banks of elevators, there are 3 sections and each take you to a different set of floors. The first floor you go to is the 2nd floor, so they are the farthest set of elevators from where you go through security.

2nd FLOOR (HOLDING ROOM):

When you get off the elevator on the 2nd floor, it’s not marked very well. Go to your LEFT off the elevator and then left again into the next hallway that goes past the snack bar. You should see a sign for CIS and go in the door at the end of the hallway. There will be a security guard sitting on your right inside the door. He will take your interview notice and ask you if you’re waiting for a lawyer. Then you take a seat and wait for your name to be called according to the signs. But for us, a guy came in about 7:30am and took all the interview notices from the security guard and said anyone who wasn’t waiting for a lawyer could go to the 23rd floor. We got our interview notice back from him and we were in the first group sent up to the 23rd floor.

23rd FLOOR (ACTUAL INTERVIEW):

The office on the 23rd floor says it opens at 7:30am, but it was more like 7:45am before we were let in. When you go in, you have to hand your interview notice to a secretary through a security window. She writes something down off it (I couldn’t tell what) and tells you to take a seat. Then we sat for about 15 minutes before people started getting called. There aren’t enough chairs, so some people stand in the hall. At this point, a lot of the people with lawyers seemed to get called first. We were 2nd in the door to turn in our interview notice, but were about 7 or 8th to be called in for the interview. All in all, we probably waited about 20 minutes on the 23rd floor to be called in for the interview. We were kept entertained by a lawyer who was telling his clients in Spanish about the different adjudications officers.

Our adjudications officer was named Paul S. He was pretty formal but not threatening. Seemed like a nice guy trying to do his job well but understanding that we may be nervous. He started by having us raise our right hand and swear that we’d tell the truth in the interview, and then we took a seat. It’s kind of tight quarters in a lot of these offices- (we had 2 big backpacks of binders/folders with us of evidence (hey, what can I say, I like to be prepared)) so don’t bring any extra people you don’t need with you. He asked us for our IDs, looked at them and then gave me my passport back but kept my husband’s. We had the EAD and I-94 right in the passport already and he kept them out on his desk.

The CO opened up the folder and started reading through our file. I could see the security check results were the first thing he had and looked through, and then all of our papers that were in the mysterious brown envelope we were given after the K3 interview. He asked my husband his name, social security number, birth date, his mom’s first name, his dad’s first name, and asked if he’d ever been in the US before and my husband told him the dates which the CO wrote down. He asked a couple of different times when did he come into the US and where did he come into the US. My husband who swears he wasn’t nervous at all (yeah right!) then said Juarez, which wasn’t right –we came through Laredo, and the CO looked up and I corrected him and said we had just spent a week in Juarez the year before while getting his K3 visa, that’s probably why he made that mistake. I was a little concerned the CO may use that mistake against us somehow but he seemed to understand my husband was just nervous.

He then began asking all of the “Have you ever been…” questions. When he got to the one about “have you ever been deported” my husband said yes, well I was removed actually, not deported, and the CO said “Well tell me what happened.” My husband told him what happened again, and we sat there for a few minutes while he read through all the documentation from my husband’s removal order. I could see copies of letters I’d written my husband that he had with him when he was stopped going through Immigration and sent back, copies of the plane ticket I had purchased for him, etc, and a transcript of the questions they asked him at the time of removal and his answers with my husband’s initials at the bottom. The CO asked if my husband knew me at the time he was sent back (which he did – actually we had just gotten engaged 2 weeks earlier). My husband’s nerves reared up again, and I had to repeat the question in English for him, and he said Oh yes of course, and I told the CO something about when we had met (I can’t really remember what I said here). The CO then asked if he’d ever used fraudulent papers to enter the US and of course my husband did not and said so. (My husband had a 10-year tourist visa up until the time he was removed)

The CO then got up and said he didn’t think there was a problem but he’d be right back. I think he was taking the papers to get his supervisor to review them and sign off, but who really knows. We sat there for what seemed like 20 minutes, but was probably just over 5 minutes before he came back. He didn’t say anything more about the removal order and asked for my 2005 taxes. I gave them to him and told him I also had an entirely new affidavit of support if he’d like it. I gave it to him but it was such a massive pile of papers due to the checking and saving account statements for the last 12 months he acted like he didn’t want to see it. I said would you like my employer’s letter and he only kept that along with the 2005 taxes. He looked over all of this and asked if I was going to need any help supporting my husband. I’d already said at some point that my husband was studying full time, so the CO knew he wasn’t bringing in any income. It made me nervous but was a fair question since I didn’t have any income to speak of in 2003 or 2004 because I was living in Mexico up until May 05. However the job I’ve had since last August pays decent and puts us well over the poverty level. I said no, I make X amount a year and my dad lets us live in a house he owns rent-free while my husband is in school, plus we have savings, plus stock. He seemed to accept this and marked something on the aff. of support.. In retrospect I should have just said ‘Well I’ve supported him for the last year, and we’ve managed just fine’ since the proof is in the pudding as they say.

That was pretty much it. The CO said he didn’t really need to see anything else unless there was anything we’d like to show him. I know the rules say don’t volunteer anything extra, but I had put together a scrapbook with pictures from the last year, in part especially for the interview, so I showed it to him. He really didn’t look at it very closely, as he had me flip the pages and show it to him while he was busy finishing up the paperwork. He pulled out the stamp pad and I looked over at my husband to make sure he realized this was a really good sign  He stamped the I-551 and explained the stamp was just like a greencard, good for traveling out of the country if we wanted and for employment. He said it was good for a year, but we shouldn’t need it that long, that the greencard should come in 2-6 weeks. He told us my husband could apply for citizenship in 3 years, and I laughed and said that shouldn’t be too hard to remember since that day was my birthday. The CO was pretty serious but he joked with my husband Don’t remind your wife of her birthday that year. We thanked him and he shook my husband’s hand and told him Felicidades. We walked out and stopped in the hall to have a big hug and a kiss to celebrate    We went downstairs and then called my mom right away to tell her (since I’d called her crying and stressed out the night before).

If anyone has any questions about our experience, let me know and I’ll try to help. Thanks again to all the others who have helped us along the way with their advice, experiences, and general know-how that has made this journey a lot easier. God bless you all.