What to take to interview?

[MonkeyArtic 1]

Hey guys,

my wife and I have our interview next month and I wanted to grab some feedback and ideas on what we can take to the interview to proof that our marriage is real.

we have a lot of pictures....proposal, wedding, parties, a family members baby shower and many snapshots that we want to put into scrapbooks. we have a joint bank account together. we have our california id's and social security number letters that both have our mutual address on there as well as our driving permits issued to that address.

the issue we're having is that our interview date arrived right after my EAD came through and thus none of the utility bills are in our name since i just now was able to apply for a social security number. also, we're living in the house together with my wife's parents and her siblings so we do not have a lease.

should we get her parents to write a letter confirming that we live there together? what else could we bring? we've barely been married for 4 months and do not have a lot in our name together right now except for what was mentioned above.

we would like to go back home and visit my parents in europe after the interview so maybe we should book the trip already and bring the confirmation to the interview?

any help would be very appreciated!

thank you.

Edited August 29, 2009 by MonkeyArtic

[summersurf 10]

hello,

well i just had my interview yesterday and we were approved, we had it in sacramento and the officer was very nice, she didnt ask too much, only few common questions such as, how we met, when was the wedding, and when i started to show her all the evidences that we brought, she didnt really pay attention to them, all she took only my husband's letter of employment and the pay stubs. I also have few letters or statements from my husband's family but she never read them. Oh and the documents that we both have out name on it was only the car insurance and bank statements, and she didnt even look at them:) so don't worry, with what you already have in hand right now, you guys should be fine since you already married within 4 months? answer the questions honestly. Don't stress about getting even more evidences. the letters from your wife's parents and siblings would be a great ideas though. good luck!

[Inna 0]

hey. My husband and I are in a similar situation as you as far as the evidence, but I don't have my interview appointment yet. Either way, I don't think much is gonna change with our evidence amount in a few months lol

Well, if you have driving permits, don't you need to have insurance? If yes, you should try to have some kind of joint insurance, see if your wife can add you to her insurance or if her parents could (if they are in charge of her insurance). I'm not familiar with car insurance, since I don't drive, so you should ask your wife what options you have as far as insurance. Insurance should have your both names on it.

Then, I would suggest adding you to her cellphone bill/family plan.

Finally, you and your wife could open joint membership somewhere like a gym, or get a costco account on both of your names.

And yeah, you can bring affidavits from family members and friends who have a personal knowledge of you as a married couple.

You can bring letters of personal correspondence and greeting cards for you and your wife sent to your address...

When and where is your interview btw?

Edited August 29, 2009 by Inna

[trillium13 84]

Hey guys,

my wife and I have our interview next month and I wanted to grab some feedback and ideas on what we can take to the interview to proof that our marriage is real.

we have a lot of pictures....proposal, wedding, parties, a family members baby shower and many snapshots that we want to put into scrapbooks. we have a joint bank account together. we have our california id's and social security number letters that both have our mutual address on there as well as our driving permits issued to that address.

Those are all good.

the issue we're having is that our interview date arrived right after my EAD came through and thus none of the utility bills are in our name since i just now was able to apply for a social security number. also, we're living in the house together with my wife's parents and her siblings so we do not have a lease.

Many utility companies won't allow 2 names on an account. I know this because I tried it.

should we get her parents to write a letter confirming that we live there together? what else could we bring? we've barely been married for 4 months and do not have a lot in our name together right now except for what was mentioned above.

A letter wouldn't be a bad idea. Be sure to get it notarized. Anything with both of your names on it is great, like others mentioned, car insurance, credit cards, beneficiary on one another's accounts, things like that are all good.

we would like to go back home and visit my parents in europe after the interview so maybe we should book the trip already and bring the confirmation to the interview?

I'm not sure what your purpose of this would be? It might seem a little presumptuous? I don't think it would make them more likely to approve you-and I'm not sure it's ever a good idea to make any plans until you are SURE your process is over and you have your GC. Just MHO.

any help would be very appreciated!

thank you.

What visa are you adjusting from?

My husband and I were VWP adjusters. We didn't send much with our packet as far as joint anything. Since he didn't have an SS number at time of interview it was hard to get anything in both of our names. They didn't ask for anything additional at interview except for photos, which seemed to go over well. They also made a point of mentioning the affidavits we had provided as proof of our relationship.

Edited August 29, 2009 by trillium13

[MonkeyArtic 1]

adjusting from VWP.

i will talk to her parents about the car insurance and see if i can be added on and i will look into getting a cell phone plan together. i was just using prepaid for now. time to get a phone plan

thanks guys. any more feedback would be appreciated

[Kittykisses73 1]

We adjusted from visa waiver too. Our interview was July 20 in orlando. We took a letter from my grandmother stating that we lived here with her & we did not have a lease, letter from my employer stating my annual salary, lots of photos, copies of every document we sent with our pkt to USCIS birthcertificates, police report, tax returns, divorce decrees, all the forms I-130, I-485, I-765, G-325, I-864,I-864A, I-693. Our IO was super, looked at our ID's, went thru some of our papers, looked at some of our pics, asked us questions off the forms mentioned above, in & out in 20 minutes.

Follow your heart, take MORE than you need, you will feel better for it! We had little in our name at that time too, she never even questioned that. Your newly married like building anything, it takes time to build all the joint accounts. We have only a bank acct in our names & she was fine with that!

Much luck

adjusting from VWP.

i will talk to her parents about the car insurance and see if i can be added on and i will look into getting a cell phone plan together. i was just using prepaid for now. time to get a phone plan

thanks guys. any more feedback would be appreciated

[Lil Miss Sunshine 14]

husband and i didn't really have much at the time of the interview.. we brought an album, bank account, car insurance and affidavit from family and friends.. i think that's about it.. no lease or utilities with both our names.. a month after the interview, we were approved..

good luck!

[sillygoose 0]

I have a similar question to you... I came here to the USA in March on a VWP, not knowing that my boyfriend at the time would propose to me. I had previously been here over winter for 3 months on another VWP, and was questioned very well upon entry to the USA.

We sent all our paperwork right away after the wedding and we got our NOA back before the VWP would have expired. We actually had a 'blessing' and reception the day after we received the NOA, which had been planned all along so my family and friends could travel to join us.

Mid week last week I received an email from CRIS saying that my EAD was approved and card production was ordered... So, I've been watching the mail for the letter from them.

Then early this week when the mail came a letter was there which I assumed was my EAD letter... but no, as I started reading it I realised that it was the interview appointment letter for the I-485... YIKES!

Our appointment is in a month! WOW! This is a little quicker than I expected (but awesome)

So, I am wondering if anyone has done their interview in Portland, Oregon... or if you wanted to share any tips or thoughts about the interview process... I am trying to find out how much documentation we should bring, I don't want to bring way too much and overwhelm myself, but I want to have more than I need!

The only joint docs we have are: bank account, garbage service, electric service and insurance documents... that, I think is all...

Will they make a big deal of the fact that I stayed after getting the NOA? We were told that if I left it would be considered of abandonment of case, and we didn't want to start the whole process again. I was also having some medical issues which I needed treatment for (and have now had treatment)...

Looking forward to hearing your interview experiences and advice from you!

[trillium13 84]

You can read about tons of interview experiences here:

http://www.visajourney.com/reviews/

[Aloe 10]

This is my interview experience.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=216170

Other documents I had included wedding cards from family and friends, vet bills with both names, receipt for our wedding rings with both names, receipt for purchase of a puppy with both our names, a notarised affidavit from my FIL stating we lived in his house and paid him rent, he also wrote that he was aware of my intentions when I entered the U.S. and that I was going to return to my home country. None of this was asked for only what was in the past link was required. In all honesty I think it was the loan papers that won her over as soon as I handed her those she said she did not need anymore.

[AkikoA 0]

did everyone bring all files( 485, 131, 765, 325Ax2, 865) to the interview??

my interview is tomorrow!!

making final list to bring, but just not sure i should bring those because too many paper for ink ><