San Jose Interview Experience

Landy · September 7, 2006

Yesterday my wife and I went to her green card interview. We had a 12:30 pm appointment. We got there around 12 pm. You go through the metal detector and they xray all bags, etc. No computers or cell phones allowed in the building so you are better off leaving them in the car. The area for green card interviews is upstairs (room 200). We entered an empty (very drab looking!) room and deposited our green card interview appointment letter into a wooden box. We were called in pretty close to 12:30 pm.

The guy who did our interview was Chinese and had a Vietnamese wife. He has visited Asia and vietnam several times. I think this helped us! (my wife is from Vietnam). I had a boatload of documentation with me but all he asked for was:

1) both of our birth certificates

2) marriage certificate

3) passports (of course!)

4) documentation showing you have joint lives (ie bank statements, credit card statements, cell phone bill, etc)

5) wedding pictures (we have not gotten our wedding pics back from the photographer yet)

6) Letter from my employer verifying salary, employment, etc

7) paystubs (for both me and my wife)

He wasn't too concerned about the lack of pictures. I *could* have offered up a lot of other stuff but I decided to provide only what was requested. He did not ask for I-693a (vaccination supplement); however I submitted whatever documentation the San Jose Health Dept gave us when Lan got her vaccinations in our AOS package.

He talked a LOT to us about life in Vietnam, and Asia in general. We did not do much talking at all. He asked my wife some basic questions such as her address, is she working, what does she do for work, how much she earned in Vietnam and now in America (commenting on the differences in pay between the two countries), how she met me, if she has any family here in America... all basic questions. He didn't ask me much.

Overall -- it was a very friendly discussion. At the end he said everything looks good but the FBI name check has not completed yet. So we have to wait for that to come through before we get the green card.

It took about 40 minutes. Like I said -- he did 80% of the talking (he talked about himself, his wife, why he decided NOT to take a position at a foreign embassy, asian culture, life in Vietnam). I am sure they have different interview styles that they apply based on their impressions (ie. if they suspect fraud they probably conduct the interview in a more hostile tone). My guess is he took one look at our situation and could see we are a legitimate couple. The fact that Lan has visited America 3 times on a business visa didn't hurt either.

If there are any questions, send me an email and I will be happy to reply. I will ask Lan to follow up with her recollections of the interview as well (she will do so later this morning).

raymaga · September 7, 2006

Congrats on the successful interview. Hopefully, you'll receive the GC soon.

I wasn't asked for my daughter's Vaccination Supplement either at her AOS interview. I had to offer it to the interviewer because I figured if I paid for it, it may as well be put in her file. I had sent in her Vaccination Worksheet (from her K-2 medical exam) with her AOS application, but received an RFE for the Supplement, so I went and had it done. Thank goodness it only cost us $35.00 or I would have been a bit ticked off that it didn't even get asked for.

For my own AOS, I only sent in the Vaccination Worksheet (from my K-1 medical exam) and there was no problem. So, I don't know why USCIS doesn't get consistent with what they require and make everyone provide the same documents.

Best wishes to you both.