Had INTERVIEW in Philly today!

[papillonlover 0]

Well, Marcel and I went for the interview early this morning. It was scheduled for 8:30. We ended up waking at 2:45 am to be on the road by 4:30. Thank God we did because traffic was backed up more towards center Philly. Anyways, we arrived at about 7:10 and went inside about 7:50. Before going in, though, you are greeted my a security officer who asks for both of our passports and the interview letter. Then he allows you in and you go through the usual security/metal detectors. Then we went to the 3rd floor, walked in and went up to the receptionist to give her our ORIGINAL letter from USCIS. At roughly 8:50 our names were called. The officer was a female and not overly friendly, but somewhat pleasant. She had us raise our right hands and swear that we would tell the truth.

I was VERY organized and had the copies for the officer all filed and marked accordingly in the order as they were given on the letter. In a separate manila envelope I had all original documents. With these I brought, of course, our photo album which I will comment on later. So this is a breakdown of exactly what the officer asked for and in the order as best my memory serves me.

1. She first asked for my driver's license and Marcel's state id which he doesn't have yet so I gave her his work permit and passport.

2. At the same time she asked for my passport.

3. I then brought out our marriage license.

4. We gave both of our original birth certificates.

5. While she was looking stuff over I did bring out our SS cards, but I am positive she didn't even look at them.

6. The officer then asked me to bring out any items to show proof of our relationship since Marcel being here.

7. With this I brought out the photo album, cards we received from friends when we married, cards between Marcel and I for holidays/birthdays, Valentine's day etc... at this time is when I brought out proof of a joint checking/savings (showed her a voided check, as well) and also letters from both our bank and landlord confirming our resident address. We brought these because all of our mail goes to a p.o. box so we felt they would want evidence of where we reside.

8. There was no other paperwork that she asked for i.e. medical, financial support etc...

Now onto the questions which there weren't many:

1. She asked each of us our full names.

2. Marcel was asked his date of birth.

3. He was then asked each of his parent's name.

4. She looked at the voided check and asked what we use it for. I stated, to pay bills. She asked what bills would that be. I answered accordingly.

5. She asked how much our rent is.

6. How long have I lived there?

7. She asked what our address is.

8. The officer noticed the visa was given in Cyprus so she questioned Marcel why there? He explained he was getting his Master's degree. She then asked how long her lived there, and noted his answer.

9. When she looked at our cards she asked why were the cards given? We said for various holidays i.e. birthdays, wedding etc...

10. She flipped through the album kind of quickly and stopped at maybe 3 or 4 and asked who the one guy was, then what was happening in the one (it was on St. Patty's day weekend at a parade.

After that she typed something in her computer and the entire time checked stuff off and made written notes. She stated that everything seemed to be in order and that nothing more was needed from us. Then she said we would be receiving a letter in the mail. We were then handed a piece of paper that was proof we were there, and that we were approved and no other information was going to be needed. I think it said about receiving a letter from them in the near future.

With this the officer looked through the files and took a bunch of the photocopies of only certain things and we were done. She let us go and wham bam it was less than half an hour for the actual interview.

***Now on a side note I wanted to just mention the photo album which I had asked the question a few days ago about having some printed from work on regular paper. Because I work for a greeting card company I was able to run the pics through a heat machine we use to foil with and it makes the toner shiny. I then glued them to card stock paper and cut them out by hand. I put them all nice and neat in an album which I had 50 pictures. for me it was enough to show our relationship is legitimate. The officer didn't once question the photos in regards to their quality or how they were printed. I in fact gave her simple photocopies of the pictures. I didn't give her Walmart prints. She didn't blink an eye at any of it.***

SO IN THE END THIS WAS OUR EXPERIENCE. WE HOPE IT HELPS THOSE WHO HAVEN'T GONE YET. MARCEL AND I ARE NOT SAYING OUR WAY WAS RIGHT, BUT WHAT WE DID WORKED FOR US. WE UNDERSTAND EACH OFFICER AND LOCATION MAY BE DIFFERENT SO PLEASE TAKE WHAT YOU WANT FROM OUR EXPERIENCE, ASK ANY QUESTIONS OF US AND GOOD LUCK ALONG YOUR JOURNEY!!!!!

HUGS TO YOU ALL!

MELISSA AND MARCEL

P.S. BE CONFIDENT AS WELL.......=)

[~ameriptian~ 54]

Congrats!

[TBoneTX 45,304]

Nice story, and a thousand thanks for taking the time to post it. It will be very helpful to others. More people should post their experiences in such detail.

[velnoure 2]

Very good post. Congrats on the successful interview! This should help some of us who'll have interviews soon. (Honestly most of our pics are of things we eat when we go out... lol)

[LoveNigarmostyle 164]

Well, Marcel and I went for the interview early this morning. It was scheduled for 8:30. We ended up waking at 2:45 am to be on the road by 4:30. Thank God we did because traffic was backed up more towards center Philly. Anyways, we arrived at about 7:10 and went inside about 7:50. Before going in, though, you are greeted my a security officer who asks for both of our passports and the interview letter. Then he allows you in and you go through the usual security/metal detectors. Then we went to the 3rd floor, walked in and went up to the receptionist to give her our ORIGINAL letter from USCIS. At roughly 8:50 our names were called. The officer was a female and not overly friendly, but somewhat pleasant. She had us raise our right hands and swear that we would tell the truth.

I was VERY organized and had the copies for the officer all filed and marked accordingly in the order as they were given on the letter. In a separate manila envelope I had all original documents. With these I brought, of course, our photo album which I will comment on later. So this is a breakdown of exactly what the officer asked for and in the order as best my memory serves me.

1. She first asked for my driver's license and Marcel's state id which he doesn't have yet so I gave her his work permit and passport.

2. At the same time she asked for my passport.

3. I then brought out our marriage license.

4. We gave both of our original birth certificates.

5. While she was looking stuff over I did bring out our SS cards, but I am positive she didn't even look at them.

6. The officer then asked me to bring out any items to show proof of our relationship since Marcel being here.

7. With this I brought out the photo album, cards we received from friends when we married, cards between Marcel and I for holidays/birthdays, Valentine's day etc... at this time is when I brought out proof of a joint checking/savings (showed her a voided check, as well) and also letters from both our bank and landlord confirming our resident address. We brought these because all of our mail goes to a p.o. box so we felt they would want evidence of where we reside.

8. There was no other paperwork that she asked for i.e. medical, financial support etc...

Now onto the questions which there weren't many:

1. She asked each of us our full names.

2. Marcel was asked his date of birth.

3. He was then asked each of his parent's name.

4. She looked at the voided check and asked what we use it for. I stated, to pay bills. She asked what bills would that be. I answered accordingly.

5. She asked how much our rent is.

6. How long have I lived there?

7. She asked what our address is.

8. The officer noticed the visa was given in Cyprus so she questioned Marcel why there? He explained he was getting his Master's degree. She then asked how long her lived there, and noted his answer.

9. When she looked at our cards she asked why were the cards given? We said for various holidays i.e. birthdays, wedding etc...

10. She flipped through the album kind of quickly and stopped at maybe 3 or 4 and asked who the one guy was, then what was happening in the one (it was on St. Patty's day weekend at a parade.

After that she typed something in her computer and the entire time checked stuff off and made written notes. She stated that everything seemed to be in order and that nothing more was needed from us. Then she said we would be receiving a letter in the mail. We were then handed a piece of paper that was proof we were there, and that we were approved and no other information was going to be needed. I think it said about receiving a letter from them in the near future.

With this the officer looked through the files and took a bunch of the photocopies of only certain things and we were done. She let us go and wham bam it was less than half an hour for the actual interview.

***Now on a side note I wanted to just mention the photo album which I had asked the question a few days ago about having some printed from work on regular paper. Because I work for a greeting card company I was able to run the pics through a heat machine we use to foil with and it makes the toner shiny. I then glued them to card stock paper and cut them out by hand. I put them all nice and neat in an album which I had 50 pictures. for me it was enough to show our relationship is legitimate. The officer didn't once question the photos in regards to their quality or how they were printed. I in fact gave her simple photocopies of the pictures. I didn't give her Walmart prints. She didn't blink an eye at any of it.***

SO IN THE END THIS WAS OUR EXPERIENCE. WE HOPE IT HELPS THOSE WHO HAVEN'T GONE YET. MARCEL AND I ARE NOT SAYING OUR WAY WAS RIGHT, BUT WHAT WE DID WORKED FOR US. WE UNDERSTAND EACH OFFICER AND LOCATION MAY BE DIFFERENT SO PLEASE TAKE WHAT YOU WANT FROM OUR EXPERIENCE, ASK ANY QUESTIONS OF US AND GOOD LUCK ALONG YOUR JOURNEY!!!!!

HUGS TO YOU ALL!

MELISSA AND MARCEL

P.S. BE CONFIDENT AS WELL.......=)

Congratulations! Thank you for posting your experience in such detail. It will be helpful to those of us still in the process. I am so glad your interview went so smoothly and was a success

Wishing you and Marcel all the luck and happiness ahead. Thanks for being so open and if I do need any advice in the future, I will definitely give you a buzz. Thanks again.

now you can party and relax.

[LADYDARE 28]

Congrats

[faithinGod 8]

Well, Marcel and I went for the interview early this morning. It was scheduled for 8:30. We ended up waking at 2:45 am to be on the road by 4:30. Thank God we did because traffic was backed up more towards center Philly. Anyways, we arrived at about 7:10 and went inside about 7:50. Before going in, though, you are greeted my a security officer who asks for both of our passports and the interview letter. Then he allows you in and you go through the usual security/metal detectors. Then we went to the 3rd floor, walked in and went up to the receptionist to give her our ORIGINAL letter from USCIS. At roughly 8:50 our names were called. The officer was a female and not overly friendly, but somewhat pleasant. She had us raise our right hands and swear that we would tell the truth.

I was VERY organized and had the copies for the officer all filed and marked accordingly in the order as they were given on the letter. In a separate manila envelope I had all original documents. With these I brought, of course, our photo album which I will comment on later. So this is a breakdown of exactly what the officer asked for and in the order as best my memory serves me.

1. She first asked for my driver's license and Marcel's state id which he doesn't have yet so I gave her his work permit and passport.

2. At the same time she asked for my passport.

3. I then brought out our marriage license.

4. We gave both of our original birth certificates.

5. While she was looking stuff over I did bring out our SS cards, but I am positive she didn't even look at them.

6. The officer then asked me to bring out any items to show proof of our relationship since Marcel being here.

7. With this I brought out the photo album, cards we received from friends when we married, cards between Marcel and I for holidays/birthdays, Valentine's day etc... at this time is when I brought out proof of a joint checking/savings (showed her a voided check, as well) and also letters from both our bank and landlord confirming our resident address. We brought these because all of our mail goes to a p.o. box so we felt they would want evidence of where we reside.

8. There was no other paperwork that she asked for i.e. medical, financial support etc...

Now onto the questions which there weren't many:

1. She asked each of us our full names.

2. Marcel was asked his date of birth.

3. He was then asked each of his parent's name.

4. She looked at the voided check and asked what we use it for. I stated, to pay bills. She asked what bills would that be. I answered accordingly.

5. She asked how much our rent is.

6. How long have I lived there?

7. She asked what our address is.

8. The officer noticed the visa was given in Cyprus so she questioned Marcel why there? He explained he was getting his Master's degree. She then asked how long her lived there, and noted his answer.

9. When she looked at our cards she asked why were the cards given? We said for various holidays i.e. birthdays, wedding etc...

10. She flipped through the album kind of quickly and stopped at maybe 3 or 4 and asked who the one guy was, then what was happening in the one (it was on St. Patty's day weekend at a parade.

After that she typed something in her computer and the entire time checked stuff off and made written notes. She stated that everything seemed to be in order and that nothing more was needed from us. Then she said we would be receiving a letter in the mail. We were then handed a piece of paper that was proof we were there, and that we were approved and no other information was going to be needed. I think it said about receiving a letter from them in the near future.

With this the officer looked through the files and took a bunch of the photocopies of only certain things and we were done. She let us go and wham bam it was less than half an hour for the actual interview.

***Now on a side note I wanted to just mention the photo album which I had asked the question a few days ago about having some printed from work on regular paper. Because I work for a greeting card company I was able to run the pics through a heat machine we use to foil with and it makes the toner shiny. I then glued them to card stock paper and cut them out by hand. I put them all nice and neat in an album which I had 50 pictures. for me it was enough to show our relationship is legitimate. The officer didn't once question the photos in regards to their quality or how they were printed. I in fact gave her simple photocopies of the pictures. I didn't give her Walmart prints. She didn't blink an eye at any of it.***

SO IN THE END THIS WAS OUR EXPERIENCE. WE HOPE IT HELPS THOSE WHO HAVEN'T GONE YET. MARCEL AND I ARE NOT SAYING OUR WAY WAS RIGHT, BUT WHAT WE DID WORKED FOR US. WE UNDERSTAND EACH OFFICER AND LOCATION MAY BE DIFFERENT SO PLEASE TAKE WHAT YOU WANT FROM OUR EXPERIENCE, ASK ANY QUESTIONS OF US AND GOOD LUCK ALONG YOUR JOURNEY!!!!!

HUGS TO YOU ALL!

MELISSA AND MARCEL

P.S. BE CONFIDENT AS WELL.......=)

Congratulations!!!!

[Hadiza 1]

Congrats!!!!

[papillonlover 0]

Thank you guys! We wish you the best, as well.....!!

[kikip 12]

congrats!!!!! hope ours goes as well when it happens...

[patient2010 93]

Congrats!

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

about the photos

[souleymon 27]

I will only wish people that have gone through one experience either during interview or assembling their papers would give such a nice story and methods they used to overcome their process.

Congrats and happy Married Life

[papillonlover 0]

Ugggh! I just read it over again and see tons of typos!!!! lol I know I had written it late that night so please forgive my errors....lol

You're very welcome for the "replay" of our experience. We are happy to share it with everyone! There could always be something learned from each couple's story.

[EmmillJ 1]

Congrats!!!

And thank you so much for posting this, it really helps to read other people's experiences!