Interview experience Newark, NJ - Dec. 7, 2011

[psals 0]

My parents' AOS interviews were scheduled for Dec 7th at 8:30am and 9am in Newark, New Jersey. We arrived at the building at 8:15am but it took about 20 minutes to get through the snaking line through security. After getting through security, we went up to the 13th floor and waited until about 11am to be called in. My parents were called in together and I accompanied them. We were all sworn-in and asked the following:

1. Originals of their birth certificates, and my birth certificate

2. My father was asked about his army service and what other occupation he has had since retirement

3. Number of US visas they've been issued

4. How often they travel to the US, if separate or together

5. Why they live with my sister even though I'm the petitioner

6. The number of days they visited family in Canada prior to entering the US

7. Whether my father was baptized (this was a strange question, but almost immediately I realized that there was something amiss with his birth certificate)

7. All the standard questions at the back of the I-485 form

The interviewing officer was very business-like yet she seemed compassionate. There were a few times where my parents spoke over each other while answering a question, or only one of them answered audibly, but she kept trucking along through the interview. My mother was approved right away, but my father was told to come back early next month with his baptism certificate and one sworn affidavit (from a close relative) because his birth was registered well after the fact. We have his baptism certificate ready to go and are working on getting the affidavit from an aunt. He goes back on Jan 6th to give them the additional documents; based on what the interviewing officer told us, everything should be approved once that is received. Yay!

Interestingly enough, after the interviewing officer had closed up her files and put them away, while we were getting our stuff together to leave, she asked me how I got my citizenship and I told her it was by marriage. I wonder what made her curious...

[Adam & May 4]

Congrats to your parents. But you got me for a minute here. I thought there was something crawling on my screen. My husband laughed at me )

My parents' AOS interviews were scheduled for Dec 7th at 8:30am and 9am in Newark, New Jersey. We arrived at the building at 8:15am but it took about 20 minutes to get through the snaking line through security. After getting through security, we went up to the 13th floor and waited until about 11am to be called in. My parents were called in together and I accompanied them. We were all sworn-in and asked the following:

1. Originals of their birth certificates, and my birth certificate

2. My father was asked about his army service and what other occupation he has had since retirement

3. Number of US visas they've been issued

4. How often they travel to the US, if separate or together

5. Why they live with my sister even though I'm the petitioner

6. The number of days they visited family in Canada prior to entering the US

7. Whether my father was baptized (this was a strange question, but almost immediately I realized that there was something amiss with his birth certificate)

7. All the standard questions at the back of the I-485 form

The interviewing officer was very business-like yet she seemed compassionate. There were a few times where my parents spoke over each other while answering a question, or only one of them answered audibly, but she kept trucking along through the interview. My mother was approved right away, but my father was told to come back early next month with his baptism certificate and one sworn affidavit (from a close relative) because his birth was registered well after the fact. We have his baptism certificate ready to go and are working on getting the affidavit from an aunt. He goes back on Jan 6th to give them the additional documents; based on what the interviewing officer told us, everything should be approved once that is received. Yay!

Interestingly enough, after the interviewing officer had closed up her files and put them away, while we were getting our stuff together to leave, she asked me how I got my citizenship and I told her it was by marriage. I wonder what made her curious...

[psals 0]

Hah! Sorry ... the crawling bug has been one of my favorites for years. Sometimes it gets me too!

[Maria TH 20]

lol same thing happen to me with that bug..

and Congrats!