AOS INTERVIEW SUCCESS - APPROVED!!

[skoopie 0]

So our journey has finally ended, but we got approved and stamped!!

So our interview was scheduled for 1PM but we got there at 12:00PM. We tried to go into the 13th floor room, but they turned us away and said to come back at 12:30pm. To kill time, went down to the local IRS office to see why I can't order tax return transcripts for FY2005 even though my checks have been cashed. She said to try back in a few days and sent us on our way. We made a quick pitstop at the cafeteria, and then went back to the 13th floor. It was now 12:25pm, so they let us in the room.

Once in, we dropped off our appt letter and got cozy for the 1 1/2 hr wait (which gave my tardy lawyer enough time to show up)

We FINALLy got called by the mid 20s immigration officer and she guided us to her cube. Here's the play by play:

* Made us swear to tell the truth

* Asked for my birth certificate, my EAD, I-94 (expired from 1990), wife's passport and US birth certificate.

* I made a comment about how HUGE my file was (it was no less than 2 inches)

* She laughed and asked me to state my wife's full name and DOB

* Then she asked my wife to state my full name and DOB <she answered>

* She asked how I met my wife

* She asked why we got married so early (we only knew each other for 5 mths)

* She asked when I came into the country

* She asked if I had been in the US earlier

* She asked me why I kept filing for my LULAC case even though it kept getting denied

* She looked at my file, saw my lawyer's name and make a remark that I translated to mean he didnt have a very good reputation with USCIS.

* Then she asked for proof of life - we gave her copies of everything under the sun (bank statements; credit card bills; utility and telephone bills; work life insurance with each other as beneficiaries; dental card; copy of state tax refund check addressed to both of us).

* She asked me what company and at what location my wife worked and vice versa <we answered>

* She asked for my wife's pay stubs <I noticed not mine, i guess since my wife was my sponsor?)

* She asked for job letters for both of us

* Then she asked for photos. We showed her the album and we got into a small chit chat about our first date and why we had a picture with the toys r us giraffe

* She then asked to keep two pictures. My wife had the pictures picked out (she picked the ones that were blurry and the ones that we had extras for).

* We got into a discussion of when the last time was that I visited my country of birth. I used this opportunity to bring up a back n' forth that i've been having with my wife - she wants to go, i dont. so we got the officer's take on it. she said to resolve the matter later bc she had enough of our bickering

* Not sure how it started, but we got into a discussion about her major in college and how she ended up as a USCIS officer.

* I probed in to the requirements of being an adjudicating officer, which led to a quick discussion into the duration of security clearances.

* I used this opportunity to ask her if my security clearance results came back - she laughed and said yes

* She asked if we'd gone on a honeymoon, but we said no bc we wanted to get the GC so i could travel abroad.

* That opened up a discussion about honeymoon locations (she's not a fan of jamaica, but is a fan of punta cana).

* She said everything looked good and we should wait outside while she finalizes things.

* We then asked her if we could take a picture with the attorney and her for our scrapbook. She laughed and politely declined saying no one is allowed to take pictures inside the bldg, but we're allowed once we leave the bldg.

We then waited for another 20 minutes, after which she called me, congratulated me and gave me the schpeel of filing the I-751 3 mths before the 2 yr greencard anniversary and VOILA! OFF WE WENT W/MY NEWLY UPDATED PASSPORT!

Noteables: She didnt ask me anything about my previous work experience or whether i ever worked on a fake SSN or illegally.

Hope this helps and thanks to everyone for your advice and kind words! Best of luck with your journey as well!

[tamz 0]

Congrats!

[Autumnal 25]

Congratulations. Hope that my interview in the future goes as smoothly.

[raymaga 25]

Congrats.... and best wishes.

I thought about taking a photo as well, but forgot the camera in the car, so now that I know there are no pictures allowed anyways, no loss!!!! ha ha

[Carola 0]

Congratulations and thank you for sharing

[one_coolchiq 0]

Good job Congrats guys!

[snz1802 0]

Congratulations great news

[kc456 0]

Congratulations!

BTW, what's a "LULAC case"?

[bettenan 1]

So our journey has finally ended, but we got approved and stamped!!

So our interview was scheduled for 1PM but we got there at 12:00PM. We tried to go into the 13th floor room, but they turned us away and said to come back at 12:30pm. To kill time, went down to the local IRS office to see why I can't order tax return transcripts for FY2005 even though my checks have been cashed. She said to try back in a few days and sent us on our way. We made a quick pitstop at the cafeteria, and then went back to the 13th floor. It was now 12:25pm, so they let us in the room.

Once in, we dropped off our appt letter and got cozy for the 1 1/2 hr wait (which gave my tardy lawyer enough time to show up)

We FINALLy got called by the mid 20s immigration officer and she guided us to her cube. Here's the play by play:

* Made us swear to tell the truth

* Asked for my birth certificate, my EAD, I-94 (expired from 1990), wife's passport and US birth certificate.

* I made a comment about how HUGE my file was (it was no less than 2 inches)

* She laughed and asked me to state my wife's full name and DOB

* Then she asked my wife to state my full name and DOB <she answered>

* She asked how I met my wife

* She asked why we got married so early (we only knew each other for 5 mths)

* She asked when I came into the country

* She asked if I had been in the US earlier

* She asked me why I kept filing for my LULAC case even though it kept getting denied

* She looked at my file, saw my lawyer's name and make a remark that I translated to mean he didnt have a very good reputation with USCIS.

* Then she asked for proof of life - we gave her copies of everything under the sun (bank statements; credit card bills; utility and telephone bills; work life insurance with each other as beneficiaries; dental card; copy of state tax refund check addressed to both of us).

* She asked me what company and at what location my wife worked and vice versa <we answered>

* She asked for my wife's pay stubs <I noticed not mine, i guess since my wife was my sponsor?)

* She asked for job letters for both of us

* Then she asked for photos. We showed her the album and we got into a small chit chat about our first date and why we had a picture with the toys r us giraffe

* She then asked to keep two pictures. My wife had the pictures picked out (she picked the ones that were blurry and the ones that we had extras for).

* We got into a discussion of when the last time was that I visited my country of birth. I used this opportunity to bring up a back n' forth that i've been having with my wife - she wants to go, i dont. so we got the officer's take on it. she said to resolve the matter later bc she had enough of our bickering

* Not sure how it started, but we got into a discussion about her major in college and how she ended up as a USCIS officer.

* I probed in to the requirements of being an adjudicating officer, which led to a quick discussion into the duration of security clearances.

* I used this opportunity to ask her if my security clearance results came back - she laughed and said yes

* She asked if we'd gone on a honeymoon, but we said no bc we wanted to get the GC so i could travel abroad.

* That opened up a discussion about honeymoon locations (she's not a fan of jamaica, but is a fan of punta cana).

* She said everything looked good and we should wait outside while she finalizes things.

* We then asked her if we could take a picture with the attorney and her for our scrapbook. She laughed and politely declined saying no one is allowed to take pictures inside the bldg, but we're allowed once we leave the bldg.

We then waited for another 20 minutes, after which she called me, congratulated me and gave me the schpeel of filing the I-751 3 mths before the 2 yr greencard anniversary and VOILA! OFF WE WENT W/MY NEWLY UPDATED PASSPORT!

Noteables: She didnt ask me anything about my previous work experience or whether i ever worked on a fake SSN or illegally.

Hope this helps and thanks to everyone for your advice and kind words! Best of luck with your journey as well!

[skoopie 0]

Congratulations!

BTW, what's a "LULAC case"?

Thanks.

Lulac is an off-shoot of the 1980s amnesty that stated I came into the country before 1981 and left the country briefly between 1981 - 1986. So according to my Lulac case, I came in the US in 1981, left briefly in 1984, came back in 1984, left briefly in 1990 and finally came back in 1990. Of all these stays, I only had the I-94 for the last re-entry into the country (1990)..

I was fearful they'd ask for every detail on my old lulac applications, but the woman was quite nice and the simple explanation i gave above was all she needed.

I guess the moral of the story for everyone else is if you've had previous USCIS applications and you're worried about them impacting your AOS, make sure you have your story straight with what was on the original applications, and your story is beileveable (use common-sense logic to see if your story holds water)..

[indreams 0]

she said to resolve the matter later bc she had enough of our bickering

THAT is hilarious.

Glad it went so easy, fear-free & sounds like it was almost a pleasurable experience Congrats!

[Peggy 1]

Congrats

[den_y2005 0]

congrats

[stillCanadian 0]

congrats.....

[SanDan 0]

Congratulations to you both