Bizzare AOS interview

[Luckygoat 2]

I'm sorry you had to go through this.

Let me ask you something.... you said your wife is not close to her mom and all that. Do you think it's possible that her mom was against the marriage and made a 'fraud claim' at the USCIS office? I don't mean to judge her or anything, it just seems weird that they were focused on her mom even though her grandma was the one who raised her....

Thats a intertestin question. lol

But when we got out we called her mom and she said she will do wat ever she has to do for us so I dont think so...i guess shes trying to get back on my wifes good side. Surprisingly her grandmother is one who is a little grumpy about doing the affidavit even tho she has way more knowledge of our relationship than her mom. Lol, this whole thing is just a mess. I cant wait for it to be over.

[Luckygoat 2]

And to those saying it had nothing to do with race please keep your thoughts to yourself, u were not their with us so u dont know. U dont know what was going on inthe interviewer head. And I heard that they look at difference in backgrounds, race and cultures as redflag.

[Luckygoat 2]

Hi luckygoat! Sorry to hear you have to go through this additional hassle. I didn't send in any affidavits at all and am now wondering if I should start asking people!

Um, by the way, you wouldn't happen to be drinking at the moment, would you? Just noticed your last post has a few more typos this time

lmfao lol I needed that. No I havent started drinking my life away just as yet.

If u dont have any affidavits dont worry about getting now. They are not required, and no interviewer ask for them. I am probably the first filer in history who got a request for them when I had 1000's of other things he could go off.

[mrs. wife! 3]

Thats a intertestin question. lol

But when we got out we called her mom and she said she will do wat ever she has to do for us so I dont think so...i guess shes trying to get back on my wifes good side. Surprisingly her grandmother is one who is a little grumpy about doing the affidavit even tho she has way more knowledge of our relationship than her mom. Lol, this whole thing is just a mess. I cant wait for it to be over.

Hm.... I guess we'll never know what made the IO be so picky at the mom's part.

Good thing he didn't deny you guys! So just give them what they want and hopefully everything will be alright.

Good luck =)

[sachinky 465]

Did they ask you any question specifically that had anything to do with race? For example, "how do your parents feel about the fact that you entered into an inter-racial marriage?"

I'm curious, how did you gather that they were solely targetting you for your race? Surely, you have no idea what was going through the IO's mind either. You gave us your synopsis, I saw nothing race-related in it. I merely commented on what you disclosed to us.

And don't tell me to keep my thoughts to myself. It's an open, public forum. You posted your experience at the AOS interview and your thoughts. I gave my opinions. If you cannot listen to opinions other than yourself or only want those who will agree with you, then you should consider not posting in open forums.

Edited May 7, 2010 by sachinky

[Darnell 8,478]

There is no other reason why we would have a redflag because I never overstayed, I never worked illegally, im not from a high migration country. I still had a long time left on my student visa so its not like I there was anything to trigger him. Im black and my wife a white so I guess that automatically just made us a target, he couldnt find anything so decided focus on phone numbers which I will never understand.

IMO, was a bit 'more' because is AOS FROM a student visa holder.

Thanks for the repsonse. There are 2 boxes ticked.

1. One says that I need 3 people to make statments confirming our relationship and the statements has to be notarized.

2. It says that I need affidavits from my wife mom and grandmother and they have to be notarized.

He said that the box says 3 but we only need 2. We will still send in 3 because it this point i really believe he is just looking for a reason to deny us. Her mom, grandmom and brother said they will write one.

My question is, should we have 5 in total or just that 2 of 3 has to be mom and grandmom? I am confused what he is asking for.

I say 5. First section, NOT the mom and grandmother.

[Minya's wife 25]

lmfao lol I needed that. No I havent started drinking my life away just as yet.

If u dont have any affidavits dont worry about getting now. They are not required, and no interviewer ask for them. I am probably the first filer in history who got a request for them when I had 1000's of other things he could go off.

Affidavits are listed on the I-130 as additional proof of the marital relationship....so I wouldn't say they're not required. As per the instructions one is instructed to submit one or more of the items from the list, which includes proof of joint finances, co-ownership of property etc. What you choose to submit from this additional list is up to each individual but you are 'required' to submit additional evidence. No, you're not the first filer in history who has been asked to submit affidavit letters, nor will you be the last. I'm sure you had a multitude of evidence...but it seems in this case the IO wants letters from family attesting to your marital relationship.

It sounds like you have those lined up. Submit them, and you should be fine. Good luck.

[Luckygoat 2]

Did they ask you any question specifically that had anything to do with race? For example, "how do your parents feel about the fact that you entered into an inter-racial marriage?"

I'm curious, how did you gather that they were solely targetting you for your race? Surely, you have no idea what was going through the IO's mind either. You gave us your synopsis, I saw nothing race-related in it. I merely commented on what you disclosed to us.

And don't tell me to keep my thoughts to myself. It's an open, public forum. You posted your experience at the AOS interview and your thoughts. I gave my opinions. If you cannot listen to opinions other than yourself or only want those who will agree with you, then you should consider not posting in open forums.

Like I said, u wasnt there and u wad have to be there to feel the way we felt. Its almost as if he had his mind made up against our relationship before we even got there and the only thing that could have influence that was him seeing our photos on the application. Through out the whole interview he kept sayin everything looks good, and flippin through to find fault. If everything looked so good then why try find something to deny us? We were pre-judged before we even got there. And who knows, maybe it is apart of their criteria to look into couple with different backgrounds. I just know had we been the same race, considering all of the evidence and other things we brought, we would have left there approved. And again I feel very bad sayin this because don't like when people blaim everything race.

[DaniG 3]

It seems that these affidavits are really important to immigration officers for some reason. A friend of mine, who has a kid with her USC husband and was pregnant with the second kid at the time of her interview, got an RFE for affidavits, even though she had sent everything else imaginable, including the birth certificate of their child and pictures of him, showing he looks like a mini-copy of his USC daddy.

I am curious if most people bring affidavits to the interview. Has anyone been approved without submitting any recently?

[ErikaAndHamit 73]

It's weird because I had the same experience with the "bad actor" CO and her asking silly questions they obviously know the answeres to. I think they try to see if we slip up and are lying or something. I didn't understand what the bad acting and silly questions were about either lol Must be something they are trained to do...for what reason I dunno!

I had no affidavits from family...thought about it and then decided against the hassle (translations and such)and they didn't ask. I think certain consulates want them more than others.

Edited May 7, 2010 by ErikaAndHamit

[hoppla 1]

I'm sorry to hear about your interview experience. I don't know why the IO acted the way he did, but I have been "warned" that our case will be looked into more since we are also an interracial couple. There is at least a rumor that your case will raise a red flag when one person is white and the other person is black (I'm mixed). I will just have to wait and see if the same thing happens in our case.

Good luck on the follow up! Hope you get your approval soon!

[Ryan_and_Priscy 16]

Sorry to hear that! Whatever is going on with your wife and mom´s relationship, I don´t see why it has to be an issue for your happiness and staying here with the love of your life. A friend of mine, who met her husband through internet, came on a visa tourist and married the same day she arrived. They had a hard time, first because her husband's relatives did not wanted to support them with the affidavit. They helped them with the wedding small reception. So what my friend and her husband did, a friend from their church helped them with the affidavit. It was a joint affidavit, between her husband and the friend.

When we send our documents, 485 (I was with J1 visa), we sent also the 130, and the affidavit of support, that was signed by my husband and his parents.

I have a cousin, who is now a US Citizen, and works with the international students department of the college he works for, and he has seen this cases a lot. He told me, if the parents of my husband would not agree to do the affidavit, other friends were allowed to do that.

When I had my interview, everything was fine, just I still needed to submit the 601 waiver. So, that held the process. The officer asked to submit letters from friends that knew me since I was even a baby or the have known my parents (well, she wanted me to prove I have never taken vaccines..etc). She told me 3 letters was fine... but I sent more, 7.

I remember she asked us the same questions you were asked. The officer asked my husband if he has been able to meet my mother, he answered: I would really would like to have had that privilege, but she passed away in car accident in December, 19, 2000. I knew right then she was asking a tricky question.

Well, I hope your process will work out. Give them they ask for, if they want to see you are living a real relationship, so move the world to show that its true! Good luck!

[Bobby+Umit 161]

And to those saying it had nothing to do with race please keep your thoughts to yourself, u were not their with us so u dont know. U dont know what was going on inthe interviewer head. And I heard that they look at difference in backgrounds, race and cultures as redflag.

Actually, if you post on an open forum, people will give you their thoughts, as you did.

Also - you can apply the bolded to yourself, you don't know what was in his head, so you are making an assumption.

Reading through your story, it seems it was going ok, till the question about the mother's phone number. Since you are attempting to AOS from a students visa, it could be your doing it just for immigration purposes, not because of the marriage, and if the sponsors parent doesn't know about it (the marriage), it could be seen as a red flag. Not knowing the number could be construed as "hiding" the fact. I don't know what was said, or how you two responded, so moving on...

Here are some of the things they look at when determine if the marriage is a sham (21.3 Petition for a Spouse. in the AFM):

· Large disparity of age;

· Inability of petitioner and beneficiary to speak each other's language;

· Vast difference in cultural and ethnic background;

· Family and/or friends unaware of the marriage;

· Marriage arranged by a third party;

· Marriage contracted immediately following the beneficiary's apprehension or receipt of notification to depart the United States;

· Discrepancies in statements on questions for which a husband and wife should have common knowledge;

· No cohabitation since marriage;

· Beneficiary is a friend of the family;

· Petitioner has filed previous petitions in behalf of aliens, especially prior alien spouses.

Race? not very likely, with the amount of cases going through, plenty of them with people of different skin colors, with successful outcomes, that would indicate they have no issues with "race".

The type of questions you were asked are made to see if you have the correct answers, they are looking for "fraud". He is not trying to confuse you - he is trying to see if your lying, ie. Fraud.

The burden of proof always falls on you, as the petitioner, USCIS does not have to prove anything.

They (USCIS) has a set of rules they have to follow when they adjudicate a case. If they deny a case, they have to give a detailed reasoning why they did so, which is checked by a few people there. If they have a case for fraud, then they have a case, they are not going to deny you because your wife is "white" and your "black".

However, to answer your questions:

1. No - you can't be denied if your in-laws do not want to get involved. You can get other friends, or other relatives (not the immediate ones) to make these affidavits. Since your wife has a history with her mother as you indicated, get the grandmother to make one, (as requested - and as Vanessa said, she can explain the relationship between both parties) and someone else to make one (like the friend that introduced you). Since he specifically asked for them to be notarized, do so.

Ensure that each affidavit is unique and factual, boilerplate ones indicate deception.

2. Tons of documents really don't show if the relationship is "true" or if the marriage is bona fide. They just build a case - the AO makes the decision based on a lot of variables.

3. USCIS is allowed to ask for any evidence they deem needed for you to prove your case. YES - USCIS can ask for family or friends to supply affidavits - as pointed out in the AFM above (bolded), it is one of the "fraud" indicators because of the lack of. In your case, he specifically asked for family affidavits.

_________________________________

So I would stop worrying about race and just get the evidence (affidavits) that they asked for and go from there. If you feel you were treated in a poor manner, then file a complaint with USCIS.

[Brian 246 1]

Luckygoat,

As soon as you get that information back in to the IO. You should go celebrate with your wife bajan style, have some rum and coke and some Macedonia pie!

[Alla 3]

I think you have nothing to worry about. Even if you won't be able to get affidavits IO won't deny. Just explain everything.

P.S. I hate when people play "black card". Stop divide people by color. May be you had bad haircut or uncut nails!!!