Who is waiting for an interview date?

[Sharkano 13]

Love that advance notice -- glad you could at least get in there!

[Bridget ~ Steven 3]

I'm not sure where the best place to add this will be... but I've seen where others have posted you don't need photos/etc and London doesn't care. Well, Steven had his interview today (approved) and they DID go through that as well as our photo album. So just a heads up that it might be better to be safe than sorry. I've also seen where other folks had their papers go missing and had to reprint/etc, so he took copies of that too.

[borntwotimes 3]

I'm not sure where the best place to add this will be... but I've seen where others have posted you don't need photos/etc and London doesn't care. Well, Steven had his interview today (approved) and they DID go through that as well as our photo album. So just a heads up that it might be better to be safe than sorry. I've also seen where other folks had their papers go missing and had to reprint/etc, so he took copies of that too.

Very happy for you guys, congrats! In regard to the photos, are you referring to the ones originally included with the I-129F?

[Bridget ~ Steven 3]

I sent photos with that - quite a few of us together, him with the kiddos, etc. He visited first Dec 2011 and then 3 months (March-June 2012).

But he also took photos with him today. One photo of the entire family together (him, me, & my six kids), plus the snapfish album I made of my Nov 2012 trip to Wales. The guy actually went page by page through it and Steven told him what was in various photos. I do wonder if he told them that he PROMISED me I'd get to pet a sheep in Wales.. but the sheep near St. David's were not buying it and eventually we went to a petting zoo in the Cardiff area (only adults there with no kids!).

He also took my birth certificate because I didn't include that in my 129F, I included my passport pages instead.

IMHO we all waited so long to get here and the process isn't cheap, so definitely do a little extra to be sure you've got everything. Steven and I have been best friends for almost six years, so talking about the relationship is pretty easy. We also don't have any odd quirks unless you count him marrying a crunchy American midwife with a half dozen children. We do have an age difference - I'm 37 and he'll be 26 in a couple of weeks.

Oh.. I also used my tax transcript (NOT return, the actual IRS transcript), 2 bank letters, and divorce settlement as my proof of support. I am self-employed so those requirements were a bit different for us. I also included a letter about my business. The alimony and child support was counted in as income, though for AoS my income (minus those things) will be enough due to a great business year. The letters from the banks showed my deposits for the past 12 months and current balances.

I guess I'm mostly mentioning this because I read quite a few times that London doesn't care about proof of relationships and won't want to see any of it.. but for us that wasn't true.

[Sharkano 13]

Yes, I think you are way safer taking everything. You might get lucky and find someone who looks at very little, but then you might get someone who wants to cross-examine you on everything. I am trying to binderize everything. Grats on your approval!

[Bridget ~ Steven 3]

When I sent the info over I grouped it into page protectors (then realized our paper isn't the same size..). I didn't have each sheet in a page protector, but had a stack with a paperclip -- like my divorce decree. Then I stuck a sticky note on the first page to make it easy to see what was in it. This made it super easy to flip through and quickly access the info compared to all of it in a folder. It also means it'll all stay together to come back to the US for aos stuff.

[borntwotimes 3]

Thanks for the reply. I'll be sure to tell my fiancee to take some photos of us on interview day. I've been quite thorough with paperwork thankfully.

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Curious, did the interviewer say we need to see new photos or no visa? Or did Steven offer photos unprompted so they guy looked at them and discussed them? I guess your case is unsual with a 26 year old marrying 12 years older and getting an instant family of six kids. They probably don't see that on a regular basis.

Congratulations.

[Bridget ~ Steven 3]

He was asked for them as part of the relationship chat - also, Steven said he was given the impression the guy wasn't happy that he didn't have more. Who knows? Every interviewer probably has their own thing.

Edited November 14, 2013 by Bridget ~ Steven

[Ladie of the Bees 0]

He was asked for them as part of the relationship chat - also, Steven said he was given the impression the guy wasn't happy that he didn't have more. Who knows? Every interviewer probably has their own thing.

Congrats on getting approved!! I was also there today, we must have passed each other

Oddly enough I had a totally different experience. I too took absolutely everything I could think of (plus copies) but no one wanted to look at mine. I did offer extra pictures, phone logs, etc., but I got asked literally two questions (how did you meet, do you have any wedding plans) before the guy I saw told me I was approved and that was that. I thought I would get grilled a bit more since I've known John for nearly twelve years but I guess it comes down to the person who interviews you? I saw a fairly youngish chap with dark hair and a bit of a beard.

They did say it was definitely best to be over prepared though, so I think that's good advice to take on the day! If anything, it will stop you worrying that you've forgotten something!

On another note, it was bloody cold waiting in the security line this morning! My feet nearly froze off!

[Lemon75 7]

We finally got our interview date yesterday! I was completely shocked and blown away, because ceac didn't show a case update at all. I called DOS after being told the day before (thursday) that we should expect an interview the following day---and surprise! the guy was 100% right. Our interview date is in December though a day before my wedding, so I had to cancel my wedding yet again. I was disappointed, but at least we now have a concrete wedding date set (though few weeks later than I had hoped). Wish us luck!!!! We're excited to be moving forward finally, i thought this day would never come. It's really strained our relationship!

Edited November 16, 2013 by Lemon75

[Sharkano 13]

^{Grats -- you are four days after us. Good luck!}

[Lemon75 7]

Thank you!!!!! its nice to have interview close by, and be on the "upcoming interviews" list in December together.

[Bridget ~ Steven 3]

So glad to hear others have interviews upcoming! That's fantastic. Lemon we have a similar timeline so I know I was stalking yours to get an idea of when we'd get our "packet 4".

[Lemon75 7]

Haha same here, when you both received yours I wondered "are we next?" congrats to you both. How long does it take to get the visa after the interview? i am assuming at least 10 days.