AOS Second Interview & Still NO DECISION

[metoo 0]

Hello. New here. Very stressed. Will make an effort to be succinct and apologize in advance for the length of this post.

My husband is from Russia. He came to TX, where we currently live, on a K1 fiance visa in August 2009. After a delay caused by family members, we got married in November 2009 and filed for his adjustment of status. He had his biometrics, then a couple of months later we had an AOS interview in July 2010.

The very young (probably early 20's) USCIS officer asked for us to provide our email from two years ago, which we had already provided for my husband's K1 visa interview in Moscow, and did not have with us. She only asked us how we met (which was asked, answered, and documented several times during the K1 process) and did not ask us any questions about our current life together. She did collect and copy my new Social Security card and driver's license with my married name on them. She said she was putting our case on hold and requested that we send her our email. I asked if she would like any documentation of our present life together and she responded, "Sure." In addition to the email, we submitted letters from USC family members & my husband's co-workers, photographs of my husband with USC family members, as well as our apartment lease, joint bank account statements, etc. before the due date of July 28.

In September, we received notification of an appointment for another interview, but for form I-130, which doesn't even apply to us. My husband said he would mention this, but he forgot to do this during his interview. Since I thought he was going to take care if it, I didn't ask about it during my interview. I think the officer having referenced the wrong form on our letter might be significant.

Yesterday (October 13) we had the interview during which they (the same young, seemingly inexperienced immigration officer and an older, male "observer" who might have been her supervisor) separated us and videotaped us as they interviewed each of us. My husband's interview was first, then mine. My husband is fully fluent in English and Russian and has virtually no Russian accent, so we did not need an interpreter.

The officer did not ask us questions about our life together, but mostly asked my husband about my children and situation with their father, whom I never married. She asked me about my children and their bio dad, as well as questions about my husband wanting to enlist in the military. My husband wants to enlist, then after military service, become a police officer. For some reason, the USCIS officer seems to take issue with my husband wanting to enlist. My grandfather was also a Russian immigrant who served in the Navy in WWII and earned several medals. I really don't understand the issue with military service. Additionally, my husband is younger than I. Not sure if that is an issue for the officer, but she asked us both about that. If my husband were the older person, would there even be a question about our ages?

After my interview, the officer did not have my husband rejoin the interview process. She told me she was going to review records, then send a letter with either a decision or instructions. I could have sworn she said "by MAY" which is another seven months! I might have heard that wrong. She has already had three months to review the additional information she had requested in July. What records are there to review? When we did not get an approval right away, I was stunned.

When my husband and I were driving home, we discussed the questions that were asked and we learned that we each had given exactly the same answers for all the questions, with only a few minor discrepancies, such as not recalling an exact date or exactly how much money we had at a certain time. If I could not exactly remember something, I prefaced my answer with that fact.

I emailed an immigration attorney for advice and she said that this is called a Stokes interview, which is brutal (brutal would be a good word) and that hiring an attorney really won't help at this point. She also said that our age difference IS the issue and that any discrepancies can be used against us. She said the "good" news is that if my husband is denied AOS, we can appeal and the judge would likely rule in favor of my husband, but she thinks that we should be fine. I hope so. I don't know how much more stress I can take!

Has anyone else been through this? Thanks for any advice offered.

Marie

[Used to be broken 147]

I emailed an immigration attorney for advice and she said that this is called a Stokes interview, which is brutal (brutal would be a good word) and that hiring an attorney really won't help at this point. She also said that our age difference IS the issue and that any discrepancies can be used against us. She said the "good" news is that if my husband is denied AOS, we can appeal and the judge would likely rule in favor of my husband, but she thinks that we should be fine. I hope so. I don't know how much more stress I can take!

Has anyone else been through this? Thanks for any advice offered.

Marie

Marie,

Just how much age difference and what were the circumstances under which you met? It appears they are digging, and you provided some hints to what they are looking at/for in your post.

The email question is interesting especially if you met online. This is wild speculation so don't take offense, but lets say you met online. If you spouse was trolling for a US Citizen spouse with an email addressthat may be what tripped the trigger on the interview and subsequent Stokes interview. Or like you mentioned a new inexperienced interviewer may be just going through training and made a mistake and thought she saw something that has no relevance, but flagged you anyway. Or lastly they may do "random" Stokes occasionally just for training or quota purposes.

DHS has poured tons of money into Fraud Prevention in the last couple of years so who knows what "tools" they have at their disposal or in their database. Perhaps your husbands email address is the same or similar to one that shows up in the fraud data-base. Again just speculation but if you want something to worry about.. I just gave you an idea to run with.

Your attorney is correct, at this point all you can do is sit back and wait and see what happens although I am sure this is all very disconcerting its really all you can do. Like the attorney told you the good news is that you are encountering this issue stateside while you are together and will have an opportunity to appeal if there is a negative decision.

What I read here is the interviewer had some reason to question or verify the email address.. Have your hubby check with the Military because they have special program for qualified linguists and he could fast-track into the service..

Cannot think of any reason the supervisor was concerned or seemed stressed about your husbands Military Aspirations, unless he is from a Muslim area of Russia which may be simple expression of his own personal prejudice.

Good luck and by all means, do not forget to come back and tell us what the outcome was.

Edited October 14, 2010 by brokenfamily

[sea-monkey 13]

Maybe your kid's father called the INS?

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Hello. New here. Very stressed. Will make an effort to be succinct and apologize in advance for the length of this post.

My husband is from Russia. He came to TX, where we currently live, on a K1 fiance visa in August 2009. After a delay caused by family members, we got married in November 2009 and filed for his adjustment of status. He had his biometrics, then a couple of months later we had an AOS interview in July 2010.

The very young (probably early 20's) USCIS officer asked for us to provide our email from two years ago, which we had already provided for my husband's K1 visa interview in Moscow, and did not have with us. She only asked us how we met (which was asked, answered, and documented several times during the K1 process) and did not ask us any questions about our current life together. She did collect and copy my new Social Security card and driver's license with my married name on them. She said she was putting our case on hold and requested that we send her our email. I asked if she would like any documentation of our present life together and she responded, "Sure." In addition to the email, we submitted letters from USC family members & my husband's co-workers, photographs of my husband with USC family members, as well as our apartment lease, joint bank account statements, etc. before the due date of July 28.

In September, we received notification of an appointment for another interview, but for form I-130, which doesn't even apply to us. My husband said he would mention this, but he forgot to do this during his interview. Since I thought he was going to take care if it, I didn't ask about it during my interview. I think the officer having referenced the wrong form on our letter might be significant.

Yesterday (October 13) we had the interview during which they (the same young, seemingly inexperienced immigration officer and an older, male "observer" who might have been her supervisor) separated us and videotaped us as they interviewed each of us. My husband's interview was first, then mine. My husband is fully fluent in English and Russian and has virtually no Russian accent, so we did not need an interpreter.

The officer did not ask us questions about our life together, but mostly asked my husband about my children and situation with their father, whom I never married. She asked me about my children and their bio dad, as well as questions about my husband wanting to enlist in the military. My husband wants to enlist, then after military service, become a police officer. For some reason, the USCIS officer seems to take issue with my husband wanting to enlist. My grandfather was also a Russian immigrant who served in the Navy in WWII and earned several medals. I really don't understand the issue with military service. Additionally, my husband is younger than I. Not sure if that is an issue for the officer, but she asked us both about that. If my husband were the older person, would there even be a question about our ages?

After my interview, the officer did not have my husband rejoin the interview process. She told me she was going to review records, then send a letter with either a decision or instructions. I could have sworn she said "by MAY" which is another seven months! I might have heard that wrong. She has already had three months to review the additional information she had requested in July. What records are there to review? When we did not get an approval right away, I was stunned.

When my husband and I were driving home, we discussed the questions that were asked and we learned that we each had given exactly the same answers for all the questions, with only a few minor discrepancies, such as not recalling an exact date or exactly how much money we had at a certain time. If I could not exactly remember something, I prefaced my answer with that fact.

I emailed an immigration attorney for advice and she said that this is called a Stokes interview, which is brutal (brutal would be a good word) and that hiring an attorney really won't help at this point. She also said that our age difference IS the issue and that any discrepancies can be used against us. She said the "good" news is that if my husband is denied AOS, we can appeal and the judge would likely rule in favor of my husband, but she thinks that we should be fine. I hope so. I don't know how much more stress I can take!

Has anyone else been through this? Thanks for any advice offered.

Marie

Age difference can be an issue since it is unusual in Russian culture for the man to be younger, though this seems to be more of a rule set by the women (they really do not like men who are shorter than them either) I would expect this to be more of an issue at the K-1 interview though.

Yes, he can appeal, he can file to re-open, he can even file a new AOS.

I have a question...did you marry within 90 days of his arrival? If not, you need to also file an I-130 but it seems they would have told you that if it was an issue or even rejected your case until you did.

Yes, it is called a "Stokes" interview and you describe it as a typical Stokes interview. Discrepancies CAN be used against you but trying to nail down a bank balance on any given day, for example, is not the kind of thing they are looking for, unless the discrepancy is really big. Heck, I do not even know what we have in the bank today, I would fail that question. I also do not know the color of Alla's toothbrush. Who looks?

Seems like you provided the kind of information they look for, particularly joint financial items. Not much you can do now but wait.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

There should be no reason to be concerned about the military service unless they suspect him of subversion or something. They even have a program if accelerated citizenship for LPRs that join the military and LPRs such as our 19 year old son MUST register for the draft, so there is no bar to military service and it is even encouraged.

[Used to be broken 147]

Back to the Scary stuff.. just saw this.. might be related to the email questions?

Applying for US Citizenship?

By the way I am not trying to scare you or make you worry, I just have way too much time on my hands for the past couple of weeks.

[Used to be broken 147]

Back to the Scary stuff.. just saw this.. might be related to the email questions?

Applying for US Citizenship?

By the way I am not trying to scare you or make you worry, I just have way too much time on my hands for the past couple of weeks.

One more LINK... and I promise to stop

http://www.eff.org/files/filenode/social_network/DHS_CustomsImmigration_SocialNetworking.pdf

[VanessaTony 3,567]

...I also do not know the color of Alla's toothbrush. Who looks?

lol. Had to respond here. I do know the colour of my husbands toothbrush. Mine is light blue, his is dark blue. I know because we share a bathroom and I'm not going to accidentally use his.

I would assume my husband knows as well for the same reason.

[slim 1,525]

Gary doesn't know the color of Alla's toothbrush?

I find that hard to believe. Gary knows - and shares - EVERYTHING about Alla here on VJ. I'd venture to guess he even knows when he bought it for her and when she needs to swap it out for a new one, if it's soft or medium, the brand name, etc. Hell, he probably even knows if she goes up like a rocket, down like the rain, back and forth like a choo choo train.

Don't forget to floss!

[baron555 934]

Gary doesn't know the color of Alla's toothbrush?

I find that hard to believe. Gary knows - and shares - EVERYTHING about Alla here on VJ. I'd venture to guess he even knows when he bought it for her and when she needs to swap it out for a new one, if it's soft or medium, the brand name, etc. Hell, he probably even knows if she goes up like a rocket, down like the rain, back and forth like a choo choo train.

Don't forget to floss!

My wife has two toothbrushes. I don't know the colors also; can't say I recall the color of mine?!!!!

[slim 1,525]

My wife has two toothbrushes. I don't know the colors also; can't say I recall the color of mine?!!!!

Do you guys really not notice stuff like that?

(Or, is this what I've got to look forward to in a few years when I'm "saving space for the important stuff?"!!! )

[metoo 0]

Thank you all for your responses. We received an email this morning that my husband's green card is in production!! We checked the USCIS web site and it has been updated. We are greatly relieved and excited. BTW, we met through a mutual friend, became good friends, and my husband invited me to visit Russia for the holidays. We just clicked.

I'm not surprised that social networks and email is monitored and/or flagged. It's disconcerting, but I guess if you're telling the truth, then you've got nothing to worry about. I don't befriend people I don't know or who don't know my friends/family. But USCIS can probably monitor in some way anyway.

Thanks again! Going to spend the day with my husband.

Marie

One more LINK... and I promise to stop

http://www.eff.org/files/filenode/social_network/DHS_CustomsImmigration_SocialNetworking.pdf

Thank you for the links. Interesting. And disconcerting, but not surprising.

Do you guys really not notice stuff like that?

(Or, is this what I've got to look forward to in a few years when I'm "saving space for the important stuff?"!!! )

My husband is very detail-oriented, so he does notice all that stuff and remember dates, even what I ate or was wearing at a certain time. I am horrible about remembering all of that. I do know his toothbrush color, though. Blue.

[metoo 0]

Marie,

Just how much age difference and what were the circumstances under which you met? It appears they are digging, and you provided some hints to what they are looking at/for in your post.

The email question is interesting especially if you met online. This is wild speculation so don't take offense, but lets say you met online. If you spouse was trolling for a US Citizen spouse with an email addressthat may be what tripped the trigger on the interview and subsequent Stokes interview. Or like you mentioned a new inexperienced interviewer may be just going through training and made a mistake and thought she saw something that has no relevance, but flagged you anyway. Or lastly they may do "random" Stokes occasionally just for training or quota purposes.

DHS has poured tons of money into Fraud Prevention in the last couple of years so who knows what "tools" they have at their disposal or in their database. Perhaps your husbands email address is the same or similar to one that shows up in the fraud data-base. Again just speculation but if you want something to worry about.. I just gave you an idea to run with.

Your attorney is correct, at this point all you can do is sit back and wait and see what happens although I am sure this is all very disconcerting its really all you can do. Like the attorney told you the good news is that you are encountering this issue stateside while you are together and will have an opportunity to appeal if there is a negative decision.

What I read here is the interviewer had some reason to question or verify the email address.. Have your hubby check with the Military because they have special program for qualified linguists and he could fast-track into the service..

Cannot think of any reason the supervisor was concerned or seemed stressed about your husbands Military Aspirations, unless he is from a Muslim area of Russia which may be simple expression of his own personal prejudice.

Good luck and by all means, do not forget to come back and tell us what the outcome was

We met through a mutual friend. No offense taken. We used the internet to communicate a lot, though. Our age difference is bigger than Demi and Ashton, but not as much as Madonna and her boy toy. We look the same age, though, because I look young for my age and my husband looks older.

The supervisor was obviously an immigrant himself, very thick accent. Actually a nice, quiet man with an intense, penetrating gaze. I suppose he is good at silently intimidating people who aren't telling the truth.

Thank you for the military advice. My father also said that the linguistic program would be good. My husband's recruiter is from Columbia, by the way. I suppose if they let him in, they will be glad to take my husband. lol

Thank you for writing back!

Marie

Edited October 15, 2010 by metoo

[baron555 934]

Congrats.

[metoo 0]

My wife has two toothbrushes. I don't know the colors also; can't say I recall the color of mine?!!!!

LOL! Wow, not even knowing your own toothbrush color. I'm not that bad. Mine is purple. Wait. No, that was the old one. Red. My new one is red. I think .. maybe I should go check.

Congrats.

Thank you!

Maybe your kid's father called the INS?

I did think about that. He is an evil guy. So he might have had something to do with it. He's harassed me in other ways.

lol. Had to respond here. I do know the colour of my husbands toothbrush. Mine is light blue, his is dark blue. I know because we share a bathroom and I'm not going to accidentally use his.

I would assume my husband knows as well for the same reason.

Yeaahhh, that's why I know. (Okay, so I had to check to make sure, but I know now!)