Our interview experience - quite different from what we've read here

[willandnaz 0]

Our interview at the Sydney consulate on the 28th of January was quite different to what we'd read in threads and reviews here, so we thought we'd share the experience. From what we could gather from other interviews on the day, the lengthiness and pointed questioning seemed to be common. Sydney has always had a reputation of having one of the most relaxed and quick interviews, so has anyone else seen any changes?

Our case was less common as my fiancee (US citizen) has been living here in Melbourne over the last year, so she came to the interview. Everything began just like we'd read here - the security room and waiting in the room with the other applicants. But we'd been reading here that quite a few people were out of the building in less than an hour and their interviews themselves were less than five minutes. From what we could see in the waiting room, people were being interviewed for at least twenty minutes (ours would have come close to twenty). It took us about an hour to be called for the first time, when we submitted the receipt of payment and passport as usual. That was all fine and routine, nothing to complain about other than the waiting, I suppose.

We sat down for about twenty more minutes before being called up to the interview. The man seemed quite friendly and asked that I take an oath swearing to the truth of my answers. Then he remarked that it's not every day someone gets to swear in front of the United States government for their fiancee. This relaxed us and we thought we had nothing to worry about.

His initial questions were similar to those we'd read here. We were so nervous that we can't remember the exact order and we're quite sure we've left a few out, but here are some we definitely remember:

- Describe your relationship, starting from when you first met.
- What do you do for a living?
- What are you going to do when you arrive in the US?
- Have you been to the US before?
- Where will you stay when you arrive? (we're staying with my fiancee's family until we find work and make enough to move out and he seemed to strongly disapprove, hence next question)
- Have you even looked at places for rent yet? (we had)
- What are you going to do for your honeymoon?

He was smiling for the most part, but he came off as quite sceptical to us, which was worrying. We couldn't see a reason for him to be sceptical - we have one of the most well-documented and genuine relationships imaginable, and even though we were nervous, our answers definitely showed the authenticity. Then, very surprisingly, he asked that my fiancee sit down while he asked me some questions. After we finished the questioning, I had to sit down while he did the same thing with my fiancee. This was obviously a test to check our stories were concurrent, but it was frightening because we were worried we'd accidentally contradict each other at some point. But anyway, the questions he separately asked us were:

-How did you/your fiance propose?
-What are you planning to wear to the wedding?
-What are your wedding colours going to be?
-Has he/she purchased the suit/dress yet?
-What's the event going to be like?
-What do you have in common?
-What toothpaste does she use? (at this point I flatly admitted I have no idea, even though we use the same one)
-What did he/she have for breakfast? (I responded that she only had a bite of my granola as she doesn't eat much when she's nervous, leading him to:)
-Why is she nervous?

Then we were called back together again, where he asked further questions:

-Do you have any criminal record?
-Who is the co-sponsor in relation to you? (a very trustworthy family friend of over twenty years)
-What does she do?
-Why aren't your parents the co-sponsors? (this was directed at my fiancee and was asked quite pointedly)
-What do your parents do? (also directed at fiancee)

Then, without warning, he turned his microphone off and spoke to a colleague who was out of view. It seemed like he was conferring with his colleague about our case, and we were going out of our heads at this point. We had no red flags, we've lived together for almost a year, and a co-sponsor who made three times over the poverty line. He continued speaking to his colleague for about two minutes or more before turning his microphone back on. He didn't say anything to us, but rather went back through our file as if he was looking for something to call us out on. Eventually, he went to the front of the file to fill out some paperwork before telling me, to some great relief, that I'd been granted my visa. All in all we were in the building for a bit over two hours.

We know it's a serious process and the officer should be very discerning, and we also know that it's not his job to comfort us. That being said, the officer seemed eager to have a reason to reject us and we really do think that if we weren't such an open and shut case, he'd have pursued something with which to reject us. We don't know why he seemed so disapproving, other than our ages (19 and 23), the fact that I'll be staying with my fiancee's family for a couple months, or the fact that my fiancee lives here and doesn't have a job waiting for her in the US. But we've read about countless cases that meet these same criteria and the applicants encountered no problems at all as a result. We met every requirement and don't really understand why we were given a harder time than others seem to have been given. He actually seemed like a nice guy, and often smiled at some of the stories we told, but he still came across very harshly in his manner of questioning. That being said, we were approved so we couldn't say it wasn't a fair process. And my visa arrived in the mail only three days later on Friday the 31st even though I live interstate, so we're grateful for how efficient the processing was.

We posted this just so people could see and take heed. That being said, does anyone know why our interview seemed to be stricter than a typical Sydney one?

[Laspoxaroumeni 68]

As long as u guys make it... Dont even talk!!! my god ... Seems u hard a really hard time.... Congrats!! And dont even think it anymore!!!

[Ozgirl1981 78]

I did see you both there.. I was worried just because the worry I could see in your face. But, maybe you just got someone who didn't get much sleep. But I agree with the above poster. You have been approved. Just breathe now. But your review could very much help someone else.
I'm sorry you had to go thru that. This should be a good time to sit back and relax now, so please dont get bogged down in the hassle of your interview. Onwards and upwards !!!

[turtlegirl 6]

My husband was questioned for quite a long time- he even felt like he was interrogated at the Sydney interview. (This was for the fiancé visa.) The only 'red flag' we had was that he's younger than me. He was really nervous about the interview and apparently stumbled over one of the questions the woman asked because she didn't ask it very clearly- after that she was pretty brutal with him, even after he answered correctly when he asked her to clarify what she was asking. He was not pleased. It seemed so uncommon that I didn't even mention it on here- I thought maybe she was having a bad day or something. I can't even get him to write the review on here because he won't talk about it. We have our interview here for his AOS next week and he is so nervous it is going to be the same. Thankfully I'll get to go with him this time to reassure him. He's already received his EAC and AP card so I think it's really just a formality for the green card and I'm not too worried, but after Sydney he's a wreck. I was really shocked after everything I had heard about it being so laid back there also.

[KPea 0]

Our interview at the Sydney consulate on the 28th of January was quite different to what we'd read in threads and reviews here, so we thought we'd share the experience. From what we could gather from other interviews on the day, the lengthiness and pointed questioning seemed to be common. Sydney has always had a reputation of having one of the most relaxed and quick interviews, so has anyone else seen any changes?

Our case was less common as my fiancee (US citizen) has been living here in Melbourne over the last year, so she came to the interview. Everything began just like we'd read here - the security room and waiting in the room with the other applicants. But we'd been reading here that quite a few people were out of the building in less than an hour and their interviews themselves were less than five minutes. From what we could see in the waiting room, people were being interviewed for at least twenty minutes (ours would have come close to twenty). It took us about an hour to be called for the first time, when we submitted the receipt of payment and passport as usual. That was all fine and routine, nothing to complain about other than the waiting, I suppose.

We sat down for about twenty more minutes before being called up to the interview. The man seemed quite friendly and asked that I take an oath swearing to the truth of my answers. Then he remarked that it's not every day someone gets to swear in front of the United States government for their fiancee. This relaxed us and we thought we had nothing to worry about.

His initial questions were similar to those we'd read here. We were so nervous that we can't remember the exact order and we're quite sure we've left a few out, but here are some we definitely remember:

- Describe your relationship, starting from when you first met.

- What do you do for a living?

- What are you going to do when you arrive in the US?

- Have you been to the US before?

- Where will you stay when you arrive? (we're staying with my fiancee's family until we find work and make enough to move out and he seemed to strongly disapprove, hence next question)

- Have you even looked at places for rent yet? (we had)

- What are you going to do for your honeymoon?

He was smiling for the most part, but he came off as quite sceptical to us, which was worrying. We couldn't see a reason for him to be sceptical - we have one of the most well-documented and genuine relationships imaginable, and even though we were nervous, our answers definitely showed the authenticity. Then, very surprisingly, he asked that my fiancee sit down while he asked me some questions. After we finished the questioning, I had to sit down while he did the same thing with my fiancee. This was obviously a test to check our stories were concurrent, but it was frightening because we were worried we'd accidentally contradict each other at some point. But anyway, the questions he separately asked us were:

-How did you/your fiance propose?

-What are you planning to wear to the wedding?

-What are your wedding colours going to be?

-Has he/she purchased the suit/dress yet?

-What's the event going to be like?

-What do you have in common?

-What toothpaste does she use? (at this point I flatly admitted I have no idea, even though we use the same one)

-What did he/she have for breakfast? (I responded that she only had a bite of my granola as she doesn't eat much when she's nervous, leading him to:)

-Why is she nervous?

Then we were called back together again, where he asked further questions:

-Do you have any criminal record?

-Who is the co-sponsor in relation to you? (a very trustworthy family friend of over twenty years)

-What does she do?

-Why aren't your parents the co-sponsors? (this was directed at my fiancee and was asked quite pointedly)

-What do your parents do? (also directed at fiancee)

Then, without warning, he turned his microphone off and spoke to a colleague who was out of view. It seemed like he was conferring with his colleague about our case, and we were going out of our heads at this point. We had no red flags, we've lived together for almost a year, and a co-sponsor who made three times over the poverty line. He continued speaking to his colleague for about two minutes or more before turning his microphone back on. He didn't say anything to us, but rather went back through our file as if he was looking for something to call us out on. Eventually, he went to the front of the file to fill out some paperwork before telling me, to some great relief, that I'd been granted my visa. All in all we were in the building for a bit over two hours.

We know it's a serious process and the officer should be very discerning, and we also know that it's not his job to comfort us. That being said, the officer seemed eager to have a reason to reject us and we really do think that if we weren't such an open and shut case, he'd have pursued something with which to reject us. We don't know why he seemed so disapproving, other than our ages (19 and 23), the fact that I'll be staying with my fiancee's family for a couple months, or the fact that my fiancee lives here and doesn't have a job waiting for her in the US. But we've read about countless cases that meet these same criteria and the applicants encountered no problems at all as a result. We met every requirement and don't really understand why we were given a harder time than others seem to have been given. He actually seemed like a nice guy, and often smiled at some of the stories we told, but he still came across very harshly in his manner of questioning. That being said, we were approved so we couldn't say it wasn't a fair process. And my visa arrived in the mail only three days later on Friday the 31st even though I live interstate, so we're grateful for how efficient the processing was.

We posted this just so people could see and take heed. That being said, does anyone know why our interview seemed to be stricter than a typical Sydney one?

Yikes! This makes me really nervous, I have my interview a 8am tomorrow and my USC fiance is coming with me (He has been living in Sydney with me for the last year). It almost seems better to NOT have him there with me so they won't find the opportunity to cross-examine us.

[N-o-l-a 7,167]

Totally different consulate, but maybe they were rougher because both people were there? I definitely felt like my husband got asked more questions at Stockholm because I had gone with him. We didn't get a Stokes interview though!

[Nikki D 6]

That's a really helpful review of the Sydney interview process, thank you. My USC fiance and I have been living together here in Sydney for nearly FIVE FRIGGIN' YEARS, and I would've thought that having him at the interview would be of benefit, but maybe not if it means we both get an unnecessary grilling. Having said that, it sounds like the guy interviewing you could've just been toying with you, making you sweat just because he could, the saddist. People in a position of authority have a tendency to do that. In any case, well done you for getting your visa! That's awesome!