Confusing experience during AOS interview today

[WChurchill 0]

My wife (US citizen), my lawyer and I attended my AOS interview this morning at the San Francisco office. The officer asked all kinds of abnormal questions such as who is my mobile carrier, who is my cable bill with, and went into great detail about the relationship between my wife and her mother. She largely ignored our relationship except to ask how we met.

She asked me the "have you ever been arrested, charged or cited" question while omitting the crucial end of the sentence except for traffic violations. Due to this omission, and having received several speeding tickets in the past, I was legally bound to reply yes. My lawyer immediately interjected to state what for, and to point the officer to my answer on the forms. She asked what for, what penalties I had received, and wrote about a paragraph of notes above that question. My lawyer demanded they be removed as my offenses were all traffic-related violations and not only had I completed the form truthfully, I had also answered her badly-phrased question truthfully. The officer hand-waved over it with a verbal assurance that it would not negatively impact the outcome of my filing, and that "if anyone answers that they have been cited for whatever reason, including speeding, it is noted on the file".

Furthermore, my wife has changed jobs in between the date of the filing and today. Included in the (over 500 pages of) supporting documents were her written offer and her signed contract, however the officer also demanded pay stubs. My lawyer questioned this and was answered with "if my supervisor requests the pay stubs you'll probably hear from me next week, if he doesn't then you will hear nothing until you receive your notice, which will be in 6-8 weeks."

While bidding me good-day she said I should "rest easy now as it's all done." However I feel that it was quite confusing and resolved nothing. This has been hanging over my head for months now and I would have thought that today would resolve it once and for all.

My lawyer says I should relax, and that she thinks it will be approved within the next week. I can't relax though... am I right to be worried and/or paranoid about this?

[Jon and Krissy 452]

My wife (US citizen), my lawyer and I attended my AOS interview this morning at the San Francisco office. The officer asked all kinds of abnormal questions such as who is my mobile carrier, who is my cable bill with, and went into great detail about the relationship between my wife and her mother. She largely ignored our relationship except to ask how we met.

She asked me the "have you ever been arrested, charged or cited" question while omitting the crucial end of the sentence except for traffic violations. Due to this omission, and having received several speeding tickets in the past, I was legally bound to reply yes. My lawyer immediately interjected to state what for, and to point the officer to my answer on the forms. She asked what for, what penalties I had received, and wrote about a paragraph of notes above that question. My lawyer demanded they be removed as my offenses were all traffic-related violations and not only had I completed the form truthfully, I had also answered her badly-phrased question truthfully. The officer hand-waved over it with a verbal assurance that it would not negatively impact the outcome of my filing, and that "if anyone answers that they have been cited for whatever reason, including speeding, it is noted on the file".

Furthermore, my wife has changed jobs in between the date of the filing and today. Included in the (over 500 pages of) supporting documents were her written offer and her signed contract, however the officer also demanded pay stubs. My lawyer questioned this and was answered with "if my supervisor requests the pay stubs you'll probably hear from me next week, if he doesn't then you will hear nothing until you receive your notice, which will be in 6-8 weeks."

While bidding me good-day she said I should "rest easy now as it's all done." However I feel that it was quite confusing and resolved nothing. This has been hanging over my head for months now and I would have thought that today would resolve it once and for all.

My lawyer says I should relax, and that she thinks it will be approved within the next week. I can't relax though... am I right to be worried and/or paranoid about this?

I think you'll be fine. I also believe that having an attorney present for what sounds like a routine case raises suspicious at USCIS. But I think you're fine....

[Kathryn41 3,205]

It's natural to worry - this is a really important decision for the two of you - but I agree with Jon and Sol. I wouldn't be be surprised if you received your green card in the mail very soon. It could be that your adjudicator is still quite recent to the job and was trying to be conscientious. I know you will still worry until you get the decision, but I do believe you will be fine.