BINATIONAL SAME SEX COUPLES !! Show up!

[mm82 3]

Sorry for the long post, but we had our interview yesterday in Ft Lauderdale (Oakland Park field office) and were approved after a very pleasant 20 minutes with our IO. Over the past three months I have gained a lot of knowledge and comfort reading everyone’s questions and comments. Thanks for sharing your stories. Here is our interview experience.

We arrived at 9:05 for our 9:45 appointment and went through security. Our lawyer arrived a few minutes later and we went to check in. Our lawyer actually had two same-sex couples scheduled for interviews at the same exact time, so all five of us sat down together to wait. Our lawyer's plan was to go with the first couple called, tell the IO about the double booking, and ask them to let the IO assigned to the other couple about the conflict. If the couple left behind were called before the lawyer returned, they would tell the IO the situation. If the IO asked the couple to sign a waiver and do the interview without the lawyer, they should refuse at which point the IO would probably skip to the next couple on their list and come back later.

We had been waiting for about 15 minutes when our lawyer saw a lawyer she knew and went to talk with him. When our lawyer came back, she let us know that the appointments were running about 45 minutes behind so it seemed we would be waiting till at least 10:30. Much to our surprise, our name was called at about 9:50. Our lawyer led us into the back room and as we walked around the corner to the IO’s office, our lawyer explained the scheduling conflict. The IO casually mentioned that it shouldn’t be a problem since the interview wouldn’t take long. That was nice to hear at the start of the interview.

With the door closed, the IO swore us in and started with me (the USC). She basically asked me to confirm the info on the I-130. This only took a few minutes. Then she turned to my husband and ran through the questions on the I-485. There was one funny moment when she asked about polygamy. The room was silent and the IO turned to me. I laughed and said, “We’re just lucky we could get married once!” We all had a good laugh and the interview continued. The IO started asking about how we met and when we moved in together and then we got off on a tangent about visiting Charleston S.C. Once that wrapped up the IO mentioned that she was approving the petition pending the name check.

At this point I got a little emotional, and while I tried not to cry, the relief of being approved made my efforts futile. At that moment my husband got up to give me a hug and then our lawyer’s phone started to ring. She tried to press ignore but it wouldn’t stop ringing and she kept trying to shut it off as she repeated “ignore, ignore, ignore”. My husband thought she might be talking to him about not getting up to hug me but he didn’t care. At that point the IO reached into the drawer for some tissues and even she was a little teary eyed. After that, we all got up, shook hands, and the IO walked us to the front. We hugged our lawyer, went over to the other couple, and briefly explained what happened. Within one minute they were called and off they went. Later that day we heard from our lawyer and she confirmed that they also got approved, so it was a great day for everyone involved.

The icing on the cake came this afternoon when we received emails from USCIS stating that our green card is in production and the I-130 had been approved. So all we need to do now is wait for the green card (plus the SS card which still hasn’t arrived three weeks after applying). All in all, we feel very fortunate to have gotten through this process in just a few months. I’m still amazed at how much has changed recently. 5 months ago DOMA fell, 4 months ago we got married in Maryland, 3 months ago we applied for AOS, and today we are nearly done. Thanks again for all the help you’ve given us. Best of luck to everyone!

Congratulations!

[Nikkosan 127]

(...)

At this point I got a little emotional, and while I tried not to cry, the relief of being approved made my efforts futile. At that moment my husband got up to give me a hug and then our lawyer’s phone started to ring. She tried to press ignore but it wouldn’t stop ringing and she kept trying to shut it off as she repeated “ignore, ignore, ignore”. My husband thought she might be talking to him about not getting up to hug me but he didn’t care. At that point the IO reached into the drawer for some tissues and even she was a little teary eyed.

(...)

I must admit it, I got a little teary eyed too...Damn onion fairies over my keyboard! ;-)

So happy for you both!

[kmiami15 8]

Sorry for the long post, but we had our interview yesterday in Ft Lauderdale (Oakland Park field office) and were approved after a very pleasant 20 minutes with our IO. Over the past three months I have gained a lot of knowledge and comfort reading everyone’s questions and comments. Thanks for sharing your stories. Here is our interview experience.

We arrived at 9:05 for our 9:45 appointment and went through security. Our lawyer arrived a few minutes later and we went to check in. Our lawyer actually had two same-sex couples scheduled for interviews at the same exact time, so all five of us sat down together to wait. Our lawyer's plan was to go with the first couple called, tell the IO about the double booking, and ask them to let the IO assigned to the other couple about the conflict. If the couple left behind were called before the lawyer returned, they would tell the IO the situation. If the IO asked the couple to sign a waiver and do the interview without the lawyer, they should refuse at which point the IO would probably skip to the next couple on their list and come back later.

We had been waiting for about 15 minutes when our lawyer saw a lawyer she knew and went to talk with him. When our lawyer came back, she let us know that the appointments were running about 45 minutes behind so it seemed we would be waiting till at least 10:30. Much to our surprise, our name was called at about 9:50. Our lawyer led us into the back room and as we walked around the corner to the IO’s office, our lawyer explained the scheduling conflict. The IO casually mentioned that it shouldn’t be a problem since the interview wouldn’t take long. That was nice to hear at the start of the interview.

With the door closed, the IO swore us in and started with me (the USC). She basically asked me to confirm the info on the I-130. This only took a few minutes. Then she turned to my husband and ran through the questions on the I-485. There was one funny moment when she asked about polygamy. The room was silent and the IO turned to me. I laughed and said, “We’re just lucky we could get married once!” We all had a good laugh and the interview continued. The IO started asking about how we met and when we moved in together and then we got off on a tangent about visiting Charleston S.C. Once that wrapped up the IO mentioned that she was approving the petition pending the name check.

At this point I got a little emotional, and while I tried not to cry, the relief of being approved made my efforts futile. At that moment my husband got up to give me a hug and then our lawyer’s phone started to ring. She tried to press ignore but it wouldn’t stop ringing and she kept trying to shut it off as she repeated “ignore, ignore, ignore”. My husband thought she might be talking to him about not getting up to hug me but he didn’t care. At that point the IO reached into the drawer for some tissues and even she was a little teary eyed. After that, we all got up, shook hands, and the IO walked us to the front. We hugged our lawyer, went over to the other couple, and briefly explained what happened. Within one minute they were called and off they went. Later that day we heard from our lawyer and she confirmed that they also got approved, so it was a great day for everyone involved.

The icing on the cake came this afternoon when we received emails from USCIS stating that our green card is in production and the I-130 had been approved. So all we need to do now is wait for the green card (plus the SS card which still hasn’t arrived three weeks after applying). All in all, we feel very fortunate to have gotten through this process in just a few months. I’m still amazed at how much has changed recently. 5 months ago DOMA fell, 4 months ago we got married in Maryland, 3 months ago we applied for AOS, and today we are nearly done. Thanks again for all the help you’ve given us. Best of luck to everyone!

awwwwww.... congrats!!!! well deserved.... I am glad things are moving along for us same sex couples... it was about time that we can be at ease with our partners without having to worry about this immigration stuff.... we already have enough! haha... I got emotional reading your message.... yay!!!! we can all catch up in SoFl! haha..

[SM & EF 41]

Thanks! Time for a fun weekend.

[FulanoDeTal 19]

Thanks! Time for a fun weekend.

Parabens! You guys must be so happy! Enjoy!

[SM & EF 41]

Obrigado...we are very happy for sure.

[Davesings 30]

Sorry for the long post, but we had our interview yesterday in Ft Lauderdale (Oakland Park field office) and were approved after a very pleasant 20 minutes with our IO.

Congratulations SM & EF! What a great moment for you! Very moving account of your interview! Many years of happiness to you both!

[TicoLover 17]

Sorry for the long post, but we had our interview yesterday in Ft Lauderdale (Oakland Park field office) and were approved after a very pleasant 20 minutes with our IO. Over the past three months I have gained a lot of knowledge and comfort reading everyone’s questions and comments. Thanks for sharing your stories. Here is our interview experience.

We arrived at 9:05 for our 9:45 appointment and went through security. Our lawyer arrived a few minutes later and we went to check in. Our lawyer actually had two same-sex couples scheduled for interviews at the same exact time, so all five of us sat down together to wait. Our lawyer's plan was to go with the first couple called, tell the IO about the double booking, and ask them to let the IO assigned to the other couple about the conflict. If the couple left behind were called before the lawyer returned, they would tell the IO the situation. If the IO asked the couple to sign a waiver and do the interview without the lawyer, they should refuse at which point the IO would probably skip to the next couple on their list and come back later.

We had been waiting for about 15 minutes when our lawyer saw a lawyer she knew and went to talk with him. When our lawyer came back, she let us know that the appointments were running about 45 minutes behind so it seemed we would be waiting till at least 10:30. Much to our surprise, our name was called at about 9:50. Our lawyer led us into the back room and as we walked around the corner to the IO’s office, our lawyer explained the scheduling conflict. The IO casually mentioned that it shouldn’t be a problem since the interview wouldn’t take long. That was nice to hear at the start of the interview.

With the door closed, the IO swore us in and started with me (the USC). She basically asked me to confirm the info on the I-130. This only took a few minutes. Then she turned to my husband and ran through the questions on the I-485. There was one funny moment when she asked about polygamy. The room was silent and the IO turned to me. I laughed and said, “We’re just lucky we could get married once!” We all had a good laugh and the interview continued. The IO started asking about how we met and when we moved in together and then we got off on a tangent about visiting Charleston S.C. Once that wrapped up the IO mentioned that she was approving the petition pending the name check.

At this point I got a little emotional, and while I tried not to cry, the relief of being approved made my efforts futile. At that moment my husband got up to give me a hug and then our lawyer’s phone started to ring. She tried to press ignore but it wouldn’t stop ringing and she kept trying to shut it off as she repeated “ignore, ignore, ignore”. My husband thought she might be talking to him about not getting up to hug me but he didn’t care. At that point the IO reached into the drawer for some tissues and even she was a little teary eyed. After that, we all got up, shook hands, and the IO walked us to the front. We hugged our lawyer, went over to the other couple, and briefly explained what happened. Within one minute they were called and off they went. Later that day we heard from our lawyer and she confirmed that they also got approved, so it was a great day for everyone involved.

The icing on the cake came this afternoon when we received emails from USCIS stating that our green card is in production and the I-130 had been approved. So all we need to do now is wait for the green card (plus the SS card which still hasn’t arrived three weeks after applying). All in all, we feel very fortunate to have gotten through this process in just a few months. I’m still amazed at how much has changed recently. 5 months ago DOMA fell, 4 months ago we got married in Maryland, 3 months ago we applied for AOS, and today we are nearly done. Thanks again for all the help you’ve given us. Best of luck to everyone!

Congratulations! Yes, it is amazing!

[ivanalex1980 34]

Hi every one

i just wanted to share with you that today, NOvember 22, our packet was sent to NVC. finally )

thanks and good luck to you all

[Nikkosan 127]

Hi every one

i just wanted to share with you that today, NOvember 22, our packet was sent to NVC. finally )

thanks and good luck to you all

Amazing news! At last!!!

Hope it gets to "Ready" real soon!!!

Cheers!

[Davesings 30]

Hi every one

i just wanted to share with you that today, NOvember 22, our packet was sent to NVC. finally )

thanks and good luck to you all

Excellent! Congratulations and welcome the "NVC club.." See you in virtual New Hampshire!

[SM & EF 41]

awwwwww.... congrats!!!! well deserved.... I am glad things are moving along for us same sex couples... it was about time that we can be at ease with our partners without having to worry about this immigration stuff.... we already have enough! haha... I got emotional reading your message.... yay!!!! we can all catch up in SoFl! haha..

Thanks, kmiami. You're right when you say it's nice not to worry about immigration issues. Time to plan some vacations!

[SM & EF 41]

Congratulations!

Thanks, mm82! Here's hoping your application gets processed quickly!

Sean

[SM & EF 41]

Congratulations SM & EF! What a great moment for you! Very moving account of your interview! Many years of happiness to you both!

Thanks, Davesings. This got us off to a good start.

[Gay Immigration 0]

Hi guys! I am just coming into this conversation late! First off, congrats to those of you who have completed your K1 journey - it must be an amazing feeling! My Thai fiance (we've been together 11 years) and I filed our original paperwork a couple months ago. We received our NOA2 on October 31, 2013 and are awaiting the next step!

In the meantime, I have set up a Facebook Page to support same sex couples going through the immigration process. I have been packing it with a lot of information and fun photos - and hope that it will become a great forum for people to discuss their journey and find others who are "in the same boat" so to speak. Please consider joining us and spreading the word...

https://www.facebook.com/gayimmigrationsupport

I look forward to chatting with you all some more!

Cheers,

Chris