San Antonio AOS interview experience

[Betti 1]

I had my AOS from J-1 interview today and got approved with no problems. Here is a detailed report about how it went:

My husband and I had booked a hotel room in San Antonio for the night before the interview, just to make sure we wouldn't be late for the appointment because of traffic or anything like that. Our interview appointment was at 10.30 am, so we got up at 8 am and got ready and had breakfast and were pretty relaxed, since it was only a 10 minute drive to the USCIS office.

We arrived there at 9.50 am and went through security. The officer asked me to throw out my cough drops at first, because he thought it was candy. His colleague told him that it was cough drops instead and I got to keep them. I had no idea you couldn't take candy with you though. We were asked to have a seat in a pretty full room and there were all kinds of people waiting, mostly hispanic. We were called in by Patricia Torres (officer number 52) at about 10.10 am. She only called our names and didn't wait for us to come to her, but she was headed to the elevator right away. So we hurried up to catch up with her and while waiting for the elevator, 3 other men, that were waiting, too, were joking around and we all had a nice conversation together. Our officer told us later that one of them was the director of that USCIS office. Ms. Torres led us to her office and we had to raise our right hands for the oath. After that we sat down and I put the big binder full of evidence right in front of me on the table. She asked me some questions, while going over the papers, like my birth date, when did we get married, was one of us married before, then some of the questions like: have you ever pretended to be a US citizen, were you ever arrested and so on. While I answered, she wrote some things on my forms and that was that. Then she asked us for a copy of my husbands birth certificate, which we didn't send with the application. I gave her the copy and she said it was only the souvenir version from the hospital and that she needs the long version. Well, we had thought that this is the long versiona dn didn't have anything else. I apologized and she seemed okay with it. She took m husbands' passport and the souvenir birth certificate and got it okay'd by her supervisor and we were set. She said that I am approved, explained to me that in 21 days I have to apply for ROC and that in 3 years from today I can apply for naturalization. Throughout our interview she made some comments that I'd like to sum up here: She said that only the bad cases come with a suitcase full of evidence. She said that my application contained the perfect amount of evidence when I sent it in (she never wanted to see anything but my husband's birth certificate) and she also said that I should send all the evidence I can with my ROC, because that makes it easier for them and I will probably not have to come for an interview again that way.

She stamped my passport and said that my actual card will arrive via mail in about 2 to 3 weeks.

We were out at 10.25 am, 5 minutes before our original appointment time.

It was a really easy interview and even though Ms. Torres was a bit harsh in the beginning, she warmed up throughout the interview and was really nice after all. I believe she had made the decision to approve me even before she met us today.

I hope this might help others to prepare for their interview!

And now I am off to do the happy dance! :-)

[she&chael 0]

I had my AOS from J-1 interview today and got approved with no problems. Here is a detailed report about how it went:

My husband and I had booked a hotel room in San Antonio for the night before the interview, just to make sure we wouldn't be late for the appointment because of traffic or anything like that. Our interview appointment was at 10.30 am, so we got up at 8 am and got ready and had breakfast and were pretty relaxed, since it was only a 10 minute drive to the USCIS office.

We arrived there at 9.50 am and went through security. The officer asked me to throw out my cough drops at first, because he thought it was candy. His colleague told him that it was cough drops instead and I got to keep them. I had no idea you couldn't take candy with you though. We were asked to have a seat in a pretty full room and there were all kinds of people waiting, mostly hispanic. We were called in by Patricia Torres (officer number 52) at about 10.10 am. She only called our names and didn't wait for us to come to her, but she was headed to the elevator right away. So we hurried up to catch up with her and while waiting for the elevator, 3 other men, that were waiting, too, were joking around and we all had a nice conversation together. Our officer told us later that one of them was the director of that USCIS office. Ms. Torres led us to her office and we had to raise our right hands for the oath. After that we sat down and I put the big binder full of evidence right in front of me on the table. She asked me some questions, while going over the papers, like my birth date, when did we get married, was one of us married before, then some of the questions like: have you ever pretended to be a US citizen, were you ever arrested and so on. While I answered, she wrote some things on my forms and that was that. Then she asked us for a copy of my husbands birth certificate, which we didn't send with the application. I gave her the copy and she said it was only the souvenir version from the hospital and that she needs the long version. Well, we had thought that this is the long versiona dn didn't have anything else. I apologized and she seemed okay with it. She took m husbands' passport and the souvenir birth certificate and got it okay'd by her supervisor and we were set. She said that I am approved, explained to me that in 21 days I have to apply for ROC and that in 3 years from today I can apply for naturalization. Throughout our interview she made some comments that I'd like to sum up here: She said that only the bad cases come with a suitcase full of evidence. She said that my application contained the perfect amount of evidence when I sent it in (she never wanted to see anything but my husband's birth certificate) and she also said that I should send all the evidence I can with my ROC, because that makes it easier for them and I will probably not have to come for an interview again that way.

She stamped my passport and said that my actual card will arrive via mail in about 2 to 3 weeks.

We were out at 10.25 am, 5 minutes before our original appointment time.

It was a really easy interview and even though Ms. Torres was a bit harsh in the beginning, she warmed up throughout the interview and was really nice after all. I believe she had made the decision to approve me even before she met us today.

I hope this might help others to prepare for their interview!

And now I am off to do the happy dance! :-)

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

[marie09 5]

I had my AOS from J-1 interview today and got approved with no problems. Here is a detailed report about how it went:

My husband and I had booked a hotel room in San Antonio for the night before the interview, just to make sure we wouldn't be late for the appointment because of traffic or anything like that. Our interview appointment was at 10.30 am, so we got up at 8 am and got ready and had breakfast and were pretty relaxed, since it was only a 10 minute drive to the USCIS office.

We arrived there at 9.50 am and went through security. The officer asked me to throw out my cough drops at first, because he thought it was candy. His colleague told him that it was cough drops instead and I got to keep them. I had no idea you couldn't take candy with you though. We were asked to have a seat in a pretty full room and there were all kinds of people waiting, mostly hispanic. We were called in by Patricia Torres (officer number 52) at about 10.10 am. She only called our names and didn't wait for us to come to her, but she was headed to the elevator right away. So we hurried up to catch up with her and while waiting for the elevator, 3 other men, that were waiting, too, were joking around and we all had a nice conversation together. Our officer told us later that one of them was the director of that USCIS office. Ms. Torres led us to her office and we had to raise our right hands for the oath. After that we sat down and I put the big binder full of evidence right in front of me on the table. She asked me some questions, while going over the papers, like my birth date, when did we get married, was one of us married before, then some of the questions like: have you ever pretended to be a US citizen, were you ever arrested and so on. While I answered, she wrote some things on my forms and that was that. Then she asked us for a copy of my husbands birth certificate, which we didn't send with the application. I gave her the copy and she said it was only the souvenir version from the hospital and that she needs the long version. Well, we had thought that this is the long versiona dn didn't have anything else. I apologized and she seemed okay with it. She took m husbands' passport and the souvenir birth certificate and got it okay'd by her supervisor and we were set. She said that I am approved, explained to me that in 21 days I have to apply for ROC and that in 3 years from today I can apply for naturalization. Throughout our interview she made some comments that I'd like to sum up here: She said that only the bad cases come with a suitcase full of evidence. She said that my application contained the perfect amount of evidence when I sent it in (she never wanted to see anything but my husband's birth certificate) and she also said that I should send all the evidence I can with my ROC, because that makes it easier for them and I will probably not have to come for an interview again that way.

She stamped my passport and said that my actual card will arrive via mail in about 2 to 3 weeks.

We were out at 10.25 am, 5 minutes before our original appointment time.

It was a really easy interview and even though Ms. Torres was a bit harsh in the beginning, she warmed up throughout the interview and was really nice after all. I believe she had made the decision to approve me even before she met us today.

I hope this might help others to prepare for their interview!

And now I am off to do the happy dance! :-)

Congratulations! Such a happy ending & I really appreciate you sharing your interview experience...

[rahulv 4]

Congratulations!!! We are very happy for you. :dance: :dance:

[juliava 80]

Congratulations!Good to hear some good news today on VJ!

[RebeccaAndPhil 5]

Congrats!!!!!!! :dance: It's so nice to hear a positive experience from a fellow J-1 visa holder (:

[Betti 1]

Thank you so much!

And of course I meant in 21 months I have to apply for ROC, not days as I said in my original post :-)

[MaddyCruise 2]

CONGRATS!!!

[shellyalex 0]

I had my AOS from J-1 interview today and got approved with no problems. Here is a detailed report about how it went:

My husband and I had booked a hotel room in San Antonio for the night before the interview, just to make sure we wouldn't be late for the appointment because of traffic or anything like that. Our interview appointment was at 10.30 am, so we got up at 8 am and got ready and had breakfast and were pretty relaxed, since it was only a 10 minute drive to the USCIS office.

We arrived there at 9.50 am and went through security. The officer asked me to throw out my cough drops at first, because he thought it was candy. His colleague told him that it was cough drops instead and I got to keep them. I had no idea you couldn't take candy with you though. We were asked to have a seat in a pretty full room and there were all kinds of people waiting, mostly hispanic. We were called in by Patricia Torres (officer number 52) at about 10.10 am. She only called our names and didn't wait for us to come to her, but she was headed to the elevator right away. So we hurried up to catch up with her and while waiting for the elevator, 3 other men, that were waiting, too, were joking around and we all had a nice conversation together. Our officer told us later that one of them was the director of that USCIS office. Ms. Torres led us to her office and we had to raise our right hands for the oath. After that we sat down and I put the big binder full of evidence right in front of me on the table. She asked me some questions, while going over the papers, like my birth date, when did we get married, was one of us married before, then some of the questions like: have you ever pretended to be a US citizen, were you ever arrested and so on. While I answered, she wrote some things on my forms and that was that. Then she asked us for a copy of my husbands birth certificate, which we didn't send with the application. I gave her the copy and she said it was only the souvenir version from the hospital and that she needs the long version. Well, we had thought that this is the long versiona dn didn't have anything else. I apologized and she seemed okay with it. She took m husbands' passport and the souvenir birth certificate and got it okay'd by her supervisor and we were set. She said that I am approved, explained to me that in 21 days I have to apply for ROC and that in 3 years from today I can apply for naturalization. Throughout our interview she made some comments that I'd like to sum up here: She said that only the bad cases come with a suitcase full of evidence. She said that my application contained the perfect amount of evidence when I sent it in (she never wanted to see anything but my husband's birth certificate) and she also said that I should send all the evidence I can with my ROC, because that makes it easier for them and I will probably not have to come for an interview again that way.

She stamped my passport and said that my actual card will arrive via mail in about 2 to 3 weeks.

We were out at 10.25 am, 5 minutes before our original appointment time.

It was a really easy interview and even though Ms. Torres was a bit harsh in the beginning, she warmed up throughout the interview and was really nice after all. I believe she had made the decision to approve me even before she met us today.

I hope this might help others to prepare for their interview!

And now I am off to do the happy dance! :-)

GREAT NEWS CONGRATS

[trillium13 84]

Thank you so much!

And of course I meant in 21 months I have to apply for ROC, not days as I said in my original post :-)

You did have me confused on that one. Congrats!

[lizandpat 0]

Congrats Betti....and thank you for posting about your experience at the San Antonio office. My fiance and I are going to be married in 11 days and will be filing our AOS soon...our local office is also San Antonio so it's nice to hear someone else's experience with that office!!!

Again...CONGRATS!!!

[Sweets85 0]

Congratulations!

Though I am interested, the officer I saw in San Antonio when I got approved said that she liked that we turned up with lots of evidence as it showed we had done our homework and were prepared.. *shrugs* each to their own I guess!

Anyway, Many congratulations