Received a letter for an interview at the Santa Ana, CA, office

[abishagenaden 0]

Took much longer than we expected, but they finally sent us a letter notifying us of our interview appointment on 30 Nov 2012. Busy prepping paperwork and documents that we'll need, and also meeting with our lawyer this Thursday to make sure we're prepared.

Does anyone here have any recent experience with the Santa Ana office for your GC interview/s? Thanks in advance!

[mrsGORE 13]

I do but I've waited close to 60 days to order the GC..

Anyway,we had a good experienced at the interview though...Goddluck

[abishagenaden 0]

I do but I've waited close to 60 days to order the GC..

Anyway,we had a good experienced at the interview though...Goddluck

60 days -- wow that seems pretty long, is that normal?

[mrsGORE 13]

actually in the approval letter it says wait within 90 days it means you can have you GC earlier then 90 days or exactly 90 days...

[abishagenaden 0]

actually in the approval letter it says wait within 90 days it means you can have you GC earlier then 90 days or exactly 90 days...

Ah okay....I had read or heard somewhere that people typically get their GCs within 2-3 weeks from the interview, but I suppose it can be different for everyone. 30 more days till you need to panic!

[LindaC1990 23]

Ah okay....I had read or heard somewhere that people typically get their GCs within 2-3 weeks from the interview, but I suppose it can be different for everyone. 30 more days till you need to panic!

I believe MrsGore's case is a little special, If I remember correctly, her interview officer forgot to order her card.

I got mine in a week. Let's hope nothing goes wrong in your case.

BTW MrsGore, finally you got your card!! Congrats!

[abishagenaden 0]

Interview in 9 hours' time...going to bed now.

Fingers crossed and updates to follow!

[abishagenaden 0]

Interview in 9 hours' time...going to bed now.

Fingers crossed and updates to follow!

• Appointment was for 11.20am, we found street parking and arrived at the building (remembering to leave our cell phones in the car) at 10.40am.
  
• Went through security in the lobby and proceeded up to the 2nd floor.
  
• Guard at the 2nd floor room instructed us to go up to the counter on the right and leave our letter in the black tray.
  
• Sat down and waited, there was a sign saying no eating and drinking but the guard let my wife eat a small snack in the corner of the room.
  
• There was a bathroom in the waiting room, so you don't have to go outside.
  
• Every 5-15 minutes or so an officer would come in from either the front or back door and call someone's name.
  
• Bring a book, the waiting can get pretty boring and the seats aren't super comfortable. My wife read and I tried to nap sitting upright.
  
• We finally got our name called at about 12.20pm, and followed the officer to his office.
  
• We came pretty prepared with originals and copies of statements, etc. so I gave him our copies, and at some point he left to make copies of our passports and DLs.
  
• Apart from the "form questions" like, "Have you ever been arrested", the only real test question we got was "What is the nearest cross-street to your house".
  
• The office wasn't able to approve me on the spot though, as my original petition was apparently missing the approving officer's signature on the stamp. He said it would take a few more weeks to send the petition back to the field office to get the signature.
  

Looks like more waiting, sigh!

[abishagenaden 0]

Well it took longer than I would have liked, but I received my green card in the mail in early April.