December 2014 AOS Filings

[a1000elephants 2]

So nervous. Our interview is tomorrow afternoon! I keep trying to remind myself that it shouldn't be a big deal at all, we have a ton of evidence of our relationship, we've been living together for two years, etc. But I just can't help but feel nervous!

[Asgardian 38]

Thanks.

You are right, these dates on the USCIS website are not to be trusted, someone who was "ready to schedule for interview" since January 13th just got his date for May 22nd. I've been at that stage since February 4th so I should get my interview around mid June...

I'm about to schedule a trip back home then. Do you think it's safe to leave until July and just take a quick round trip to the US to take the interview once I know when it is ?

If you have the advance parole it allows you to go and come back already 'paroled', most people don't have a problem from what I read around the internet. If you follow your cases online you'll be able to see when they schedule your interview and come back in time.

[Asgardian 38]

So nervous. Our interview is tomorrow afternoon! I keep trying to remind myself that it shouldn't be a big deal at all, we have a ton of evidence of our relationship, we've been living together for two years, etc. But I just can't help but feel nervous!

Well, I felt the same way! I was nervous but thought it wasn't a big deal bc we lived together for a year, had enough evidences. But, be ready! Study even more tonight. Do you have any joint bank accounts? Joint credit cards? Our IO asked why we didn't have joint accounts and we really didn't think about it. She explained that couples have financial minglings. We had other things like lease and car insurance.

In the end she saw we were real and we were approved! So, good luck and hope it all goes smoothly!

[a1000elephants 2]

Well, I felt the same way! I was nervous but thought it wasn't a big deal bc we lived together for a year, had enough evidences. But, be ready! Study even more tonight. Do you have any joint bank accounts? Joint credit cards? Our IO asked why we didn't have joint accounts and we really didn't think about it. She explained that couples have financial minglings. We had other things like lease and car insurance.

In the end she saw we were real and we were approved! So, good luck and hope it all goes smoothly!

I was so surprised to hear that they separated you, as well, MrsHopkins. I'm glad it worked out for you though! We will definitely be studying more tonight. And I've put together a whole binder full of evidence. We do have joint bank accounts and credit cards, but some of the other things, like utilities and car insurance are not joint, because it just hasn't made sense yet to do those things. But we have tons of pictures, we filed our taxes jointly, and he's on my health insurance, life insurance policies, etc. So I don't see how they could decide we weren't bona fide.

Fingers crossed though!

[sunnyinca 3]

I was so surprised to hear that they separated you, as well, MrsHopkins. I'm glad it worked out for you though! We will definitely be studying more tonight. And I've put together a whole binder full of evidence. We do have joint bank accounts and credit cards, but some of the other things, like utilities and car insurance are not joint, because it just hasn't made sense yet to do those things. But we have tons of pictures, we filed our taxes jointly, and he's on my health insurance, life insurance policies, etc. So I don't see how they could decide we weren't bona fide.

Fingers crossed though!

Good luck!! I totally hear you about being nervous, but it looks like you have plenty of supporting documents, so I am sure you will be fine!

Let us know how it went!

[a1000elephants 2]

APPROVED!!!! YAY!

I wanted to give you all a detailed overview, since I think it may be helpful for people.

We interviewed in Boston, MA. We had a 3pm appointment, and we got there at 2:30pm just to make sure we'd be there on time. We wore business casual attire, but there was definitely a mix with the people there. Some people were in jeans, and others in business casual. Our name wasn't called until about 3:40pm, as it seemed like everyone was behind schedule (although there weren't all that many people in the waiting area). We walked up to the woman at the door, and she asked to see just me first (I'm the USC), with our documentation. We kind of freaked out at that, but tried to smile and act normal. So husband sat back down, and I went in with the woman to her office.

She started off wanting me to give her the history of our relationship, so I started at the beginning, and she would interrupt to ask for more detailed information, or ask other questions. She then asked for all of our supporting documentation, and I gave her what we had: cards from family addressed to both of us at our apartment; joint health insurance form; joint checking/savings account statements and joint credit card; joint tax return for 2014; chat logs for 4 years; joint cell phone plan; flight itinerary for upcoming trip to visit my family; wedding and vacation photos. She said we had really strong evidence of our relationship, and that she was impressed/pleased with the documents I had brought.

She then asked me how my husband would describe me. In all of our studying and preparation for this, we focused on dates, details, etc., and it never occurred to us to have a ready answer for a question like this. So definitely discuss this with your spouse before your interviews!!!! I tried to come up with some sort of answer, but I really struggled, as I just couldn't think of a way to describe myself in that moment. I think I know myself pretty well, but the question just caught me off guard.

So then, she said she was going to go get my husband and bring him in, and that I should sit in the room with them but try not to answer any questions for him. We joked about how I would try to keep my mouth shut. She brings husband in, swears him in, etc., and then starts asking him the basic questions about address, phone number, etc. She then went through the list of questions about criminal history or political affiliations. She didn't really ask him for any specific details that she had asked me, so there definitely didn't seem to be a test of whether he and I answered the same way (which I thought was the point of separate interviews). But she did ask him then to describe me, and he totally failed. Haha. He had an even worse answer than what I had said, and was totally struggling with it. But we sort of turned it into a joke, and she thought it was funny.

She then told us she was approving us, and while she finished up putting details into the computer, we chatted about husband's profession (which is a creative art job) and she had a lot of interest in it personally and knew people in the industry. Then she stamped his paperwork, took his EAD card, and sent us on our way. We got texts about 10 minutes later that our case status online had been updated.

All in all, it took us about 35 minutes once she took me into her office, but we did chat quite a lot about non-immigration things, so that probably made it a longer appointment than needed. She was very friendly and conversational most of the time. I really don't know why they separated us, as it didn't seem like we were being grilled any more than we would be in the room together. My guess is that they just try to mix things up a bit at the office. Several other couples that we saw called in before us were separated as well. She didn't appear to doubt us at all, was impressed we have known each other for so long, have lived together for 2 years already, etc. So I quickly felt pretty comfortable with the whole situation.

Hope this helps some of you feel more confident in preparing!

[Leo7777 243]

a1000elephants, thanks for taking the time to share the details of your interview.

Leo

[Asgardian 38]

APPROVED!!!! YAY!

I wanted to give you all a detailed overview, since I think it may be helpful for people.

We interviewed in Boston, MA. We had a 3pm appointment, and we got there at 2:30pm just to make sure we'd be there on time. We wore business casual attire, but there was definitely a mix with the people there. Some people were in jeans, and others in business casual. Our name wasn't called until about 3:40pm, as it seemed like everyone was behind schedule (although there weren't all that many people in the waiting area). We walked up to the woman at the door, and she asked to see just me first (I'm the USC), with our documentation. We kind of freaked out at that, but tried to smile and act normal. So husband sat back down, and I went in with the woman to her office.

She started off wanting me to give her the history of our relationship, so I started at the beginning, and she would interrupt to ask for more detailed information, or ask other questions. She then asked for all of our supporting documentation, and I gave her what we had: cards from family addressed to both of us at our apartment; joint health insurance form; joint checking/savings account statements and joint credit card; joint tax return for 2014; chat logs for 4 years; joint cell phone plan; flight itinerary for upcoming trip to visit my family; wedding and vacation photos. She said we had really strong evidence of our relationship, and that she was impressed/pleased with the documents I had brought.

She then asked me how my husband would describe me. In all of our studying and preparation for this, we focused on dates, details, etc., and it never occurred to us to have a ready answer for a question like this. So definitely discuss this with your spouse before your interviews!!!! I tried to come up with some sort of answer, but I really struggled, as I just couldn't think of a way to describe myself in that moment. I think I know myself pretty well, but the question just caught me off guard.

So then, she said she was going to go get my husband and bring him in, and that I should sit in the room with them but try not to answer any questions for him. We joked about how I would try to keep my mouth shut. She brings husband in, swears him in, etc., and then starts asking him the basic questions about address, phone number, etc. She then went through the list of questions about criminal history or political affiliations. She didn't really ask him for any specific details that she had asked me, so there definitely didn't seem to be a test of whether he and I answered the same way (which I thought was the point of separate interviews). But she did ask him then to describe me, and he totally failed. Haha. He had an even worse answer than what I had said, and was totally struggling with it. But we sort of turned it into a joke, and she thought it was funny.

She then told us she was approving us, and while she finished up putting details into the computer, we chatted about husband's profession (which is a creative art job) and she had a lot of interest in it personally and knew people in the industry. Then she stamped his paperwork, took his EAD card, and sent us on our way. We got texts about 10 minutes later that our case status online had been updated.

All in all, it took us about 35 minutes once she took me into her office, but we did chat quite a lot about non-immigration things, so that probably made it a longer appointment than needed. She was very friendly and conversational most of the time. I really don't know why they separated us, as it didn't seem like we were being grilled any more than we would be in the room together. My guess is that they just try to mix things up a bit at the office. Several other couples that we saw called in before us were separated as well. She didn't appear to doubt us at all, was impressed we have known each other for so long, have lived together for 2 years already, etc. So I quickly felt pretty comfortable with the whole situation.

Hope this helps some of you feel more confident in preparing!

Yay, congratulations!!!

That's great. Reading about your interview just confirms even more what I already know: immigration varies! From office to office, case to case, consulate to consulate, IO to IO... You can never know for sure what will happen.

Like, why did she take your husband's EAD? They didn't take mine? Are they supposed to?

Or separating the couple. On my case and yours it happened, other cases around here didn't.

Btw, I'm near you in Manchester, NH's office! I can't believe you waited 40 min! We were called in for the interview a few minutes before our scheduled time! Ah, that's what I love about my small state!

Best of luck to you guys! See you at the citizenship test ??

[a1000elephants 2]

Yay, congratulations!!!

That's great. Reading about your interview just confirms even more what I already know: immigration varies! From office to office, case to case, consulate to consulate, IO to IO... You can never know for sure what will happen.

Like, why did she take your husband's EAD? They didn't take mine? Are they supposed to?

Or separating the couple. On my case and yours it happened, other cases around here didn't.

Btw, I'm near you in Manchester, NH's office! I can't believe you waited 40 min! We were called in for the interview a few minutes before our scheduled time! Ah, that's what I love about my small state!

Best of luck to you guys! See you at the citizenship test ??

I believe they are supposed to take the EAD card. The EAD card is no longer valid once a Green Card is issued. Or at least that's what she explained to us yesterday.

[seth936 0]

If you have the advance parole it allows you to go and come back already 'paroled', most people don't have a problem from what I read around the internet. If you follow your cases online you'll be able to see when they schedule your interview and come back in time.

Hi,

I'm about to leave the US to see my family and I'll come back for the interview. I intend to take with me everything from USCIS obviously, notification, advance of parole, EAD card... Is there something a need to do, or anything I need to fill out before leaving the US? I understand that they spend a little more time on your case once you re enter, but leaving should be no different...

[Asgardian 38]

I believe they are supposed to take the EAD card. The EAD card is no longer valid once a Green Card is issued. Or at least that's what she explained to us yesterday.

I agree, but again that just comes to show how inconsistent they are with things. But one thing that I disagree with taking the EAD IS, what if you get hired for a job in between interview and receiving the green card? I guess you can tell the employer to wait a few days.

[Asgardian 38]

Hi,

I'm about to leave the US to see my family and I'll come back for the interview. I intend to take with me everything from USCIS obviously, notification, advance of parole, EAD card... Is there something a need to do, or anything I need to fill out before leaving the US? I understand that they spend a little more time on your case once you re enter, but leaving should be no different...

Do you have an interview date already?

I don't think there's anything else you can do or something else you take take with you. Good point on taking all USCIS documents with you, I would too.

They will definitely screen you a little longer, be ready for it. Are you going to a country which you need a visa or just going to your home country?

I just came to Canada by car with hubby, crossed the border from Buffalo, NY. Even though I have a Canada Visa (tourist), they saw that I had the green card and asked for it (I had it in my hand). They asked what we were going to do, how long we were staying, if we had alcohol or tabbaco, any gifts, etc. Then, they told us to park the car, 2 immigration officials from Canada came over, told us to step outside of the vehicle and wait. They searched the entire car, trunk, underneath seats, underneath spare tire.. Hubby was getting upset (he's in the Army) he was ready to snap, lol. After a few minutes they let us in. I feel like if I only had the advance parole I would have had a hard time to enter Canada or leave the country, as we are talking about.

I'll tell you guys how entering back home will be.

So, don't worry, all you can do is just take all the documents and be ready for questioning, good luck!

[seth936 0]

wow that's crazy, I hope they'll be nicer at the airport

no interview date yet but it should take place around mid June so I'll just make a quick trip to NYC to take it.

I am leaving the states for France, my home country, so I'm pretty sure that nothing will happen on my way out, the grilling will take place at the aiport when I come back !

[seth936 0]

If you have the advance parole it allows you to go and come back already 'paroled', most people don't have a problem from what I read around the internet. If you follow your cases online you'll be able to see when they schedule your interview and come back in time.

I'm checking in for my flight, they ask "country of residence... since i'm not a "legal permanent resident" yet, should I say France?

[Asgardian 38]

Hi Seth, sorry! I've been driving from Canada since last night and haven't really checked here over the last few days.

I would put US, because you are living in the US one way or another. France is your citizenship country but you don't live there! When they ask our residency on the adjustment of status we put US, so this should be the same! I hope you could see this on time!