March Interviews

[Zach&Lara 25]

OH, for evidence I gave them a couple of our bank statements, also, earlier that week i got a new bank card so i took the letter that came with that as it had our address on it. Also gave him a couple of invoices from some online purchases that I made because they were also addressed to me here. We're living with his parents while we save money so i'm not on any utility bills or anything. So that's what we gave and he seemed happy with it, kept all of what we gave him and put it in our file. He asked for some wedding photos also, we showed him 15, he kept about half of them and put in our file.

Ok. Thanks then. I already printed out our bank statements and also got the letter that came with our bank cards handy as well. We have pictures and utility bills as well. Everyone says we'll be fine. Hope we are Thanks again!

[Travis and Meghan 24]

Sounds like you're well organised I hope everything goes smoothly for you guys

[Jenny and Paul 0]

Hi all,

Our AOS interview is set for tomorrow and we're nervous, but ready to get this done! Thanks for all the great accounts of all of your experiences. It has really put our minds at ease. I'll be sure to post up our own experience in hopes that it will help others.

[Travis and Meghan 24]

Good luck! Can't wait to read the review

[Zach&Lara 25]

Hi all,

Our AOS interview is set for tomorrow and we're nervous, but ready to get this done! Thanks for all the great accounts of all of your experiences. It has really put our minds at ease. I'll be sure to post up our own experience in hopes that it will help others.

Good luck to you both!

[Jenny and Paul 0]

WHEW! We're officially "Approved"!

Thanks so much for the luck, I'm sure it helped!

Our visit went roughly like this (Sorry if it's a jumble and long-winded. We're still on a sort of happy high):

1. We arrived about 15 minutes early. Went through security, took a seat, got called in about 15 minutes later (on time!).
   
2. Our officer was female and greeted us. Wasn't overly friendly, but cracked a few smiles and laughed at some of our comments, though we like to think we're funny people. I was *really* nervous, fumbling through papers at the very start, though I had them extremely well organized. It really helped to paperclip like documents together so I didn't have to search. She noted my nervousness and asked why, to which I told her that "This is a really important thing!" And she nodded.
   
3. She had us take the oath and immediately asked for our marriage certificate, his record of entry into the country (He's Canadian and went over land so he got no stamp. We explained and she said "No problem"), our appointment notification, birth certificates, and my divorce decrees (from previous marriages :/ )
   
4. She then asked him his full name and date of birth, his address and a phone number he could be reached at. She then asked the checkbox questions he had filled out in his forms. Some were: Have you ever attempted to immigrate to the US before? Have you ever engaged in terrorist activity? Have you ever been a member of any societies or parties? Etc, etc. She made check marks next to each item as she asked.
   
5. After the questions, she then asked us to tell her how we met and eventually got together. We asked "In person or from the beginning online? And she said "From the beginning, and all under 3 minutes." We all sort of laughed so we're assuming she was joking. Either way, I explained how we had met, met in person, visited one another, then eventually got engaged and married. She asked little questions about certain events in the timeline, but nothing drastic or unexpected. We even got to chatting about some of our hobbies and favorite places to visit and travel. Her inquiries seemed more out of curiosity than trying to "stump us".
   
6. We made a bit of small talk with her and she told us that she was going to recommend approval! (yay) She then took any other info/documents I had. Like a signed note from my mom (elementary school flashbacks anyone?) mentioning how we live with her and she takes care of utilities. We showed her our photo album full of various pictures taken over the last few years, and airline tickets, mail in both of our names sent to our US address, and a bank statement from his bank (since mine wouldn't let me add him yet). Overall, we didn't have a ton of actual paperwork showing our cohabitation (bills, lease, etc) but I guess it was enough.
   
7. Afterwards, she copied all the documents off, and had us sign the paper that reminded us about filing for our extension before his conditional would be up (in about 2 years from now). Then we thanked her a few times and left to have a nice celebratory lunch!
   

Our entire process was done on our own, with the excellent resources here on VJ. We had no lawyer and while our case wasn't perfectly straightforward, we managed to get the entire process done (minus actually stressing over paperwork and evidence) in about 4 months. Filed in Dec 2011, and Approved in March 2012.

Thanks all and good luck to anyone who is going through this stressful process!

[NancyNguyen 1,658]

Congrats

[lovenow 2]

Congrats our interview is tomorrow and even though I have everything ready I'm still getting nervous!

Hope everything will go just fine as it should be.

[Zach&Lara 25]

Congrats! Mines tomorrow. Preparing for it and stuff.

[Jenny and Paul 0]

Good luck to you both! I hope you had positive interviews today!

[lovenow 2]

WOOHOO we were approved, you can read my review on my timeline page.

I saw her put the approved stamp on my papers and she also gave as an approval letter and said the GC should arrive within 2-4 weeks.

Two hours later I've also received an email that today they mailed me a notice that they have approved my I-485.

I asked her if I can get the I-551 stamp because I have an important wedding back home on April 1st but she said I can't because they only do that for serious emergencies... She said my EAD+AP card is no longer valid and that I can't leave the country until I receive the GC. That was a little disappointing but I was wondering if you guys can share how long did it take for you to receive the GC in the mail after the interview? Do you think I will get it in 2 weeks?

[Zach&Lara 25]

WOOHOO we were approved, you can read my review on my timeline page.

I saw her put the approved stamp on my papers and she also gave as an approval letter and said the GC should arrive within 2-4 weeks.

Two hours later I've also received an email that today they mailed me a notice that they have approved my I-485.

I asked her if I can get the I-551 stamp because I have an important wedding back home on April 1st but she said I can't because they only do that for serious emergencies... She said my EAD+AP card is no longer valid and that I can't leave the country until I receive the GC. That was a little disappointing but I was wondering if you guys can share how long did it take for you to receive the GC in the mail after the interview? Do you think I will get it in 2 weeks?

You should get it in 10 days at most. You should reaceive it fairly quickly since they already mailed you a notice that the 485 was approved. They seem pretty quicK. Congrats!

[Travis and Meghan 24]

I had my interview last tuesday and they emailed me saying that they sent my card on monday. I'm expecting to get it tomorrow or day after, it'll be just over a week since the interview.

[Travis and Meghan 24]

Correction, just checked the mail, it came today, lol. BTW, Congrats to everyone who's had interview approvals

[lovenow 2]

Thanks guys! then I think I still have a chance to go home on time. Let's hope so.

Congrats to all the approved couples!

We deserve a vacation now!