New York City AOS timeline & Interviews

[NYC1123 1]

Sorry, posted it in another topic, here ya go:

I am the usc my husband is adjusting

Our appointment was for 1:00 p.m. We were coming from queens, so it took about an hour by car to reach there. The building is in a good location, very quiet and a lot of parking. The building was very neat and the staff was helpful. We arrived at 12:45 p.m. and went through security, note you have to remove your shoes and belts. Once inside we took our notice to the receptionist where she took it and told us to have a seat and wait to be called. We waited for about 40 min when our io called our name . He was of Hispanic background and mentioned he was born in the 50's. His first impression scared us, speaking very stern as we had watched other io's kindly greet and shake the hands of their couples. Our io just told us to follow him.

When we got to his office, he swore us in . Not sure if we were recorded but my husband did notice the device hanging, again not sure if it was on. He asked for our id's and all passports. He then immediately went into my husbands prior arrest. My husband was arrested in 2010 for DUI. The io directly asked if it was for drugs, my husband said no.... Out of nervousness I guess. Then the io said that FBI records show it was a class U misdemeanor and was related for drugs. My husband then said yes but he hadnt been smoking. (My husband had his friends in the car who were smoking in the backseat, the cop proceeded to arrest everyone, as my husband was driving. They were all wrong, just giving you guys background. ) he then asked my husband if he still smokes my husband explained he never did that day and he hasn't since. The io then asked me if I believe him, I answered that I wouldnt be with him of he did. The io then said "I know how this works, girls follow what guys do, you probably sit and do drugs with him. " at which point I stopped talking after saying no, because I felt offended. I have never done drugs a day in my life! He then continued on and said "I could imagine they say oh daddy share some with me". I was really thrown off by that from the io. I then told him that my husband has completed the program required by the state and handed evidence of such. He took it and said ok.

He then asked my husband how we met. My husband was my brothers high-school friend. The io asked then why did it get romantic and when. My husband answered, the io was satisfied and moved on. He then asked my husband about his prior marriage. The only real question to me was how old was I and how old was my husband, I said 20 and my husband is 28. He nodded and continued on. He then asked for pictures of our wedding. We showed him our scrapbook. He turned three pages in and closed it. Then he asked for the album and took two photos. My husband kept trying to ease the tension by joking, it seemed to work. He then commented " you wore white on ur wedding day, I remember when that used to mean something." I asked what he meant. He said that well women should be pure if they do that. I laughed and said " I guess I'm not pure" as again I was a bit thrown off.

He then asked for evidence of a bonafide marriage. I gave him our lease, our bank statements, a copy of our credit cards and a credit card statement. He took a few statements and the card copy. He then handed everything back and said it was enough. He didn't ask for marriage certificates birth certificates as I guess he had it in the file. He did take my husbands I94. And asked him about entry dates and if he ever left since he has been here, which he hasn't. He then said that he's recommending approval but his supervisor has to approve it because of the arrest. And that he wasnt sure about it. But that he would say ok to it. he said " your still a bad boy but your wife saved you." We thanked him and he walked us out. It lasted about 15 min if that.

We received the card production update two hours after the interview.

Sorry for the long post happy my husband and I can continue on for the next 2 years. Good luck to everyone and thanks for all the help!!

Edited March 14, 2012 by JESS0301

[kcoyclay1 98]

Wow, that was a very out of place IO. Asking you if you wore white and that it used to mean something. He has a problem. Thanks for sharing. I don't think I would be able to shut my mouth. I'd be like "excuse me?" "what are you insinuating?" It is offensive. Congrats on the approval.

[NYC1123 1]

Oh trust me, I was so offended, I only stopped speaking out of fear that I would say something that would have pissed him off and would have made my husbands process more difficult! I felt like anything I would have said would have made him just keep going with his insults.. He even said "I've been doing this for 23 years now, I already know, so don't bother" like really??? Just glad to know its over. And thanks!

Edited March 14, 2012 by JESS0301

[kcoyclay1 98]

He needs a lesson in customer relations. That is so out of place. Just reading your review upsets me. The nerve!!! And yes, they video the interviews.

[Up and Away 10]

First, a big congratulations for acing the difficult interview!

Second... wow, that IO's remarks were so, so, inappropriate. It made me angry on your behalf just to read them. Good for you for having the composure not to say anything in the heat of the moment. Remarking on your "purity" was completely irrelevant to the interview and misogynistic, imo. It sucks that as helpless applicants, we just have to keep our mouths shut and take it.

Third, wow, your AOS moved really fast, especially for NYC! Congrats again!

[HCM2NYC 0]

Congrats Jess0311. Good news for NYC fillers. Nothing news for me since i did walk in biometric. I just got the job offer in NYC and do need the work permit ASAP haizz....

[kcoyclay1 98]

Congrats Jess0311. Good news for NYC fillers. Nothing news for me since i did walk in biometric. I just got the job offer in NYC and do need the work permit ASAP haizz....

Congrats on your job offer. Biometrics takes about 4-6 weeks after it's done. I'm waiting on my son's. He did an early walk-in Feb. 22. We received an email last Saturday regarding his AOS stating that his case was sent to the local office awaiting interview. No touches on EAD as yet. He's adjusting from B1/B2. I think K1s move faster because they are approved prior to being issued their visa. Hope you get yours soon. All the best.

[NYC1123 1]

Thanks guys... We received the gc today

[kcoyclay1 98]

Thanks guys... We received the gc today

Congrats. Yay!!!

[mdbr 1]

Had my interview today at Federal Plaza. Overall it went pretty well, no tough relationship questions at all, I didn't get a response on the spot though.

It was schedule for 11:15, my name was called at 12:15. , She swore us in, and started to go through my application. We had affidavits, facebook and text message screen shots and the IO didn't care to see them, saying private life is none of her business or something like that. First thing she asked me is what I did for a living in my country, but I was only 15 at the time I came here, so I just said that and that I was a student.

As she went through my application and pictures she asked very basic questions like if I've been married before, what other family I have here, what other visas I've applied for before, How many times I had been arrested (none), and those "no" questions like if I planned to be a terrorist, deal with prostitution, drugs, weapons and such. She was taking notes during the whole time and checking things off a list.

She asked what I did for a living now and I said I'm a bartender, and she joked about how I must be used to deal with psychopaths or something like that. Asked where my job was and when I said the address she raised an eyebrow saying that it was pretty far, maybe suggesting I don't live where I say I live, but I explained I got the first job I could find when I got the EAD though a friend and was looking for something closer to me. The toughest part of the interview was when she said "I don't see any pictures of your wife with your father", my wife has met my dad about three times, but we never bother to take a picture and we told her that she was just like okay.

At the end she took my I-94 and wrote with a pen on my passport that my case is pending, told me I will get an answer in 60 days and gave me a piece of paper stating it's on review. Aside from that one question about the picture with my father there was no other problems I could think of, everything went well and she was nice. I hope to get an answer very soon as many of you have!

[Up and Away 10]

I had my interview at Federal Plaza today as well.

We got to the waiting room 15 minutes early and ended up waiting for over 2.5 HOURS!!! We watched as all the other people in the room were called in one by one. And then the room filled with new people and still, we waited!

But the one good thing about the long wait is that eventually I stopped being nervous and was just really, really hungry and wanted to get the interview over with.

Finally, we were called in by a woman who was very, very professional. She was never rude or mean or disrespectful or sarcastic, etc. That was terrific. Her manner was very brisk --she asked how we met and cut me off after one sentence! She did not want to shoot the breeze or have any small talk. Honestly, that was totally cool with us. The questions she asked were very straight forward:

Spouse's full name

Spouse's parents names

Where spouse was born

Where spouse lived when you were dating

When did you move in together

Etc.

Very very basic things that were in our forms already. As she asked, she went through the forms and ticked things off. She did not try to trick us.

After that she asked what "joint documents" we had. We had a lot --lease, income tax filing, wedding present cards, bills, etc. But I knew from reading on VJ that the first thing you should show are the photos. So I took those out and went through them with her. I had maybe 24 photos but she only went through half of them before she said it was enough. She kept some and gave me back the rest.

I asked if she wanted to see our other evidence but she said it was fine, so we never ended up showing her our additional stuff. I hope that's ok.

Finally she said that she is going to review the evidence and we should expect to hear a verdict within 60 days. Then she gave us a form that said the same thing. She took my I-94 but let me keep my EAD/AP card. I told her that my husband and I are going to go to my parents' house in Canada and asked if I could travel on my AP, before I get the GC. She said that was fine. She wrote something in my passport about my application being under review.

Then she added that she was going to recommend that we get approved! That was nice to hear! She walked us out and wished us good luck and gave us a big smile.

Overall I feel pretty good about it. Of course I'm a little jealous of those couples who were approved right on the spot, but I understand that some IOs don't have the authority to do that, so it's just luck of the draw.

FYI, the line in the lobby was full when we entered --if it had been much longer, people would have had to wait outside or something. That said, it moved quickly and it took us 20 minutes to go through the line, up the elevators, and to our final destination.

FYI #2, we were allowed to bring in cell phones and I saw a bunch of people talking on their phones in the waiting room, including lawyers.

Edited May 4, 2012 by Up and Away

[shireenb 5]

I was very surprised how easy this was.

I visited 15 times in the last 3 years. Never overstayed, but overstayed the last time i entered during the time i was filing. i'm from London but am 13 YEARS younger then my husband. not even asked about this. Married for 13 months yet i've never met his mother, just breifly met his father, he seemed to understand that this was just how we were. never even asked us further why not. We are of different races, never even bought up. Him african american me pakistani. Only knew each other for 6 months before marriage, never even asked about that. I got married, left for london, re-entered 2months later as a tourist on a visa waver, stayed, then filed, never asked about it either. the guy was abour 26, asian or indonisian or mixed. Really cute guy with a happy energy. He jsut saw our chemistry and you cant really fake that i guess.

Also i worked illeagly with a made up social secuitry for 6 months, and i even admitted so on the paperwork, AND WAS NEVER ASKED ABOUT IT!

Literally asked him how to spell my name, where i worked, how long we had known each other, how many times i visited, if i met his parent or him mine, asked him what my mums name was.

AND THATS IT!!!!!! was sooooo easy, maybe bcause we weren't stressed and didnt take the the whole 'proove you are real' thing seriosuly. My lawyer was inthe room however and she later told us she had sat through many interview and he recognised her.

as soon as he came in and called my name she looked at my with her thunbs up and said 'this guys awesome u guys have got this'. So we were relaxed from the start. He said he would call us back in a moment and said...

unfortuanly...i cant stamp u because my supervisors are in ameeting but ur green card will come soon. I simply said 'hey maybe i can wait for the meeting to be over?" And said it's cool so i went down to get a coffee came up AND HE STAMPED MY PASSPORT!!!

we got sooooo lucky the guy was just awesome! He was so chill. He just got it. I was soooo clsoe to re-arrnanging because i realised i left my passport at home while we were waiting to be called. Luckily i had my friend run to my place and drop it off right to me just before we got called. This was the federal plaza nyc office and i would have thought this would be a really touhg place but it was soooo relaxed. i'm 23 he's 36.... we handled it so relaxed that they did too.

Super happy havnt seem my mum in a year, booked my flight to london the next day!

[Dave&Judy 3]

Thanks

Edited July 30, 2012 by Dave&Judy

[Timon 26]

I've been looking for a NYC forum. Thanks for posting your experiences. I haven't even gotten an interview date but i'm still a nervous wreck about the entire thing

[FavoredOnes 4]

Are there any more recent NYC experiences? I am wondering if things have gotten a bit better in terms of timing, although looking at Timon's post above mine, things seems to have improved.

Any recent feedback is appreciated!!!

Thanks in advance!