Detroit MI AOS Interview

[agmy 0]

I don't know how useful this would be for anyone but:

James had his AOS (K1 marriage -> AOS) interview in Detroit, Michigan today. We drove there early (6am-ish) and didn't arrive till around 7:45, only to be told by the guard at the parking lot that we had to go elsewhere until 9am since his appointment was at 9:30. So other people beware, you can't park in the lot earlier than 30 mins till your interview.

When we got back from having breakfast at the IHOP down the road, the parking lot was blocked off with their "full" sign, even though we saw at least 4-5 spots open. So much for getting there early and getting a spot. We ended up paying $5 to some guy with a hand-made sign in the lot across the street, who was charging the rest of us suckers to park in his lot. Oh well.

Walking in the USCIS building, there is the usual metal-detector door and guard combo. The guard asked us to remove all metal objects (keys, rings, etc) and place them in a tray, and he asked for my handbag and our portfolio (James only had his wallet). There is a big sign that says no camera phones. The guard told several people who were in line to go to their cars and put their camera phones away because they were absolutely not allowed in the building. Neither is food or drinks. We did see what looked like a lawyer talking on his cell phone in the lobby, so non-camera phones seemed to be ok.

The guard told us to put the interview notice letter (have it out when you come in, he will ask to see it) in a tray by the back wall of the lobby. There are seats all over the place with two TVs that play movies for the waiting people. After about half an hour of waiting, our name was called by a USCIS official who had picked up the letter from the tray.

We went into the back room where his office was (it's a big cubefarm, so you can sort of hear everyone else being processed in the background). He had us sit down, then looked through the folder and asked for a copy of the marriage certificate. I handed it to him and asked if he wanted to see the original also. He said yes, just so he could see the copy was true.

Then the official because reading out the questions that JD had answered on the I-485 (Have you done X, are you a member of the Communist party, etc) to JD, and JD answered back. After that he said, "Congratulations, you're now a permanent resident" and stamped the paperwork in the folder. He then added, "Expect your card in the mail in 4-6 weeks, though really I say that to keep you off my back instead of telling you it will probably arrive in 2 weeks or so" in the dry, humorous tone he had been using the entire time. He was very nice and professional.

All in all the "interview" took barely two minutes and we were out the door. I don't know if it was the sight of our huge portfolio case of forms, documents, photocopies, etc that had lugged into the interview or (more likely) the evidence we had included with James' I-485 that got us such an easy time. We included maybe 5-7 wedding photos, wedding certificate, a couple labeled photos of us on a few camping trips we had taken, and a copy of our current apartment lease (both names on it). We hadn't received any real paperwork for our shared health insurance or car insurance so we hadn't included any of that.

Regarding the vaccination supplement which has been a hot topic around here, we had paid $40? for a USCIS-list physician to basically copy over James' vaccination records on the form in a sealed envelope and sent it in with his I-485. We were pretty glad to do that when his interview notice arrived, and noted to bring the supplement unless it had already been submitted. No RFE's resulted.

All in all James submitted in Febuary and we got his interview notice in May for the middle of July. We're looking forward to getting the card soon, and have a 1.75 year respite before the next step. Hope this is helpful/reassuring for Detroit-bound interviewees.

Edit: Oh forgot to mention -- James' I-485 app had been "touched" on July 02 according to the USCIS website -- name check completed before our interview? Which is maybe why he got approved on the spot instead of told to wait for a decision.

Edited July 20, 2006 by agmy

[arwensun1965 0]

Congratulations

[Kez/JWolf 6]

Congratulations.....

Kezzie

[camaleon 0]

[JRluvsLhyn 0]

Congratulation!

[iceyspots 0]

Congrats.. glad to hear another success from detroit

[SanDan 0]

Congratulations

[Pinay Wife 47]

Regarding the vaccination supplement which has been a hot topic around here, we had paid $40? for a USCIS-list physician to basically copy over James' vaccination records on the form in a sealed envelope and sent it in with his I-485.

If you don't mind my asking, which USCIS-designated physician did James go to? $40 is not bad.

[den_y2005 0]

congrats

[lizaanne 0]

So glad to hear this!! Simon will be here in 42 days - we will be married in 72 days! Woo hoo!

Getting all my ducks in a row so we can jump back on the immigration bandwagon as soon as he gets here.

It was SO nice to have a rest from all this for a few months!

Glad to hear your good news!

~Liza

[Joey559 1]

Thank you for sharing! Pcraddy (my fiance) has his interview on Monday. Can't wait for the next big one in Detroit. Thanks for sharing.

I'm already planning ahead: Interview then over for a whew! done for awhile dinner at PF Changs in Troy. (sorry, lunch time here...)

LIZA: what day are you getting married?

Joey

Edited July 21, 2006 by Joey559

[lizaanne 0]

September 30th

~Liza

[Joey559 1]

September 30th

~Liza

Congrats

[PrinceandPrincess 0]

Congratulations!!!

[Peter Miami 0]

Congrats!

Peter Miami