Question about step children and interview

[Marrienne 112]

Good morning!!
I have a new question. I am married to a US citizen and I have two children, age 10 from a previous marriage. I have full custody and we will be bringing them with us.
Are the children required to attend the interview also?
What questions will they be asked?
Will they be interviewed separately or all of us together?
With my husband we have a joint child that is 2 years old. She is an American citizen with an American passport, do we have to bring her along? (we would prefer not to, as two year olds are... well, you know )

How else can we prepare for the interview?
If you can provide some personal experiences, I would greatly appreciate it!
Thank you for your time!!

[jayjayj 571]

Good morning!!

I have a new question. I am married to a US citizen and I have two children, age 10 from a previous marriage. I have full custody and we will be bringing them with us.

Are the children required to attend the interview also?

Yes, anyone listed on the immigration petition must be physically present during the interview.

What questions will they be asked?

You'll be asked questions pertaining to whether you have an ongoing valid marital union - meaning is your marriage legitimate. Don't stress about those questions, it is just basic stuff about you, your husband, maybe his job, stuff like that. You are also going to be asked for documents showing your previous marriage was officially ended and you will most likely need to provide documents showing you have full custody of your children. Sometimes a divorce decree will stipulate custody.

Will they be interviewed separately or all of us together?

Depends on the Embassy. The Embassy in Abu Dhabi has a big room with teller like windows. Everyone there that day, applicants and U.S. citizens, sit in the same area and can hear all the interviews. I sat 5 feet away from my wife, taking care of our two shared U.S. citizen sons (1yr and 4yrs) while she and my stepson stood at the interview window - stepson was 10 at the time. I was not permitted to stand at the interview window, but the interviewer gave me a thumbs up when the interview was over.

With my husband we have a joint child that is 2 years old. She is an American citizen with an American passport, do we have to bring her along? (we would prefer not to, as two year olds are... well, you know )

I would take her with you. A shared biological child helps show your marriage is authentic. In fact, when my wife was being interviewed, the interviewer saw our shared children at one point and pretty much ended the interview, giving me the thumbs up. Take a copy of her U.S. passport too, to show her identity.

How else can we prepare for the interview?

Just go through all your documents again and make sure you have everything. Then try to relax and not worry. If you have a valid marriage and a shared U.S. citizen child, this practically automatic. Check the Embassy Reviews page on here for your local embassy - this will give you an idea of what to expect the day of the interview.

If you can provide some personal experiences, I would greatly appreciate it!

Thank you for your time!!

[Marrienne 112]

Thank you for your answer!! Should I bring photos of our life together?? I am a photographer so I have a ton

[jayjayj 571]

Thank you for your answer!! Should I bring photos of our life together?? I am a photographer so I have a ton

Yes, take a sampling of photos with you. You can never have too much evidence.

[Marrienne 112]

Guys!!! He just got the call!! Our I-130 was APPROVED!!!!

What's the next step? Do they send us a package with more info to move on to the I-864? Did I understand this correctly?
Only took a week between filing and getting approval (DCF).
Excited!!!!

[jayjayj 571]

Congratulations!

You can get a lot of good details about the next step in the process here - http://www.visajourney.com/wiki/index.php/EZGuideSpouse

Get everything ready for the NVC and you can move through that stage quickly.

[Marrienne 112]

Thank you!!

We are doing DCF so the NVC never gets involved. I have all the papers all ready. I am just waiting for the case number to come through so I can donthe DS-2001 and DS-230

[NikLR 13,227]

~~moved to DCF from IR1/CR1 process and procedures~~

Each person immigrating had an I-130 right??? So 3 I-130 were sent?

Also you'll still be doing the online forms. Ds-261 and ds-260 for EACH person immigrating.