I-751 Interview now mandatory?

[foldpages 1]

I just returned from my local USCIS field office to get an I-551 stamp as my NOA1 is about to expire.

 

The officer told me that now all I-751 applicants need to go through another interview process.

 

Can someone confirm the same experience?

[Russ&Caro 1,549]

Following. Sounds like something an officer may have heard in a regional or local office meeting as something being considered. Could be all smoke and no fire.

[Georgia16 2,858]

Thinking of all the manpower that would be and even more wait time for interviews and more pressure because it would take even longer and then a lot of people with pressure them for process because of 3 year rule.

 

 

[charmander 692]

I am sure there are rumors but don't believe it unless USCIS officially releases a statement. Historically they moved away from conducting I-751 interviews. If you go to page 19 of this document https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/cisomb-conditional-residence-recommendation-final-02282013_1.pdf ; the bar plot shows the distribution of received/approved/denied/ and interviewed cases over years. In 2008 the approved/transferred ratio almost looks like 2:1; that's crazy. In 2009 that rate dropped further, and in 2013 it looks like the ratio was 8:1 ratio that suggests only 10-12% of the cases get interviewed.

 

I-751 is a burden petition; pretty much everybody gets approved. official average time an officer spends on a I-751 case is 0.99 hours; so why increase the workload of field offices with something that would almost always get approved? That being said given the backlog in both service centers I wouldn't be surprised if they implement some radical changes such as give conditional GC to couples that only exhibit higher fraud risk at the AOS status and reduce the number of people who file ROC; right now that only depends on the length of the marriage. If you are married for 2 years by the time you get your GC; you skip the conditional residence.

[Mollie09 1,543]

I had my divorce waiver I-751 approved without interview in February. So I don't buy it.

[LittleSparrow 1]

I had my interview last week for the i-751. However, I was not interviewed for my AOS and I also received an RFE. The gentlemen interviewing us stated that we were being interviewed not because of the RFE but because I wasn't interviewed for my AOS.  

The interview, in my case, was nothing to stress about. As long as you are honest and have all of the required documents, it's a breeze. I found it MUCH less stressful than my first interview in Montreal for the K-1 visa. 

So, whether it will be required moving forward or not, it's a lot less intimidating than the initial interview for the K-1.

I would also like to mention that apparently USCIS is majorly backed up. I received my i-551 stamp in April and the USCIS agent warned me it could be another YEAR until we heard from them. Thankfully, we heard back a few weeks later. I don't have my GC in hand as of this date, but I was assured I would receive it within 10-14 days. 

 

Good luck to everyone! 

 

[shell20 746]

12 hours ago, foldpages said:

I just returned from my local USCIS field office to get an I-551 stamp as my NOA1 is about to expire.

 

The officer told me that now all I-751 applicants need to go through another interview process.

 

Can someone confirm the same experience?

I was told I would get an interview for ROC when I attended my bio-metrics,. I said to the officer its taking around a year for the card, they said no you will get an interview, so again I said doubt  that I will get an interview and I will have to wait around 13 months, they again said no you will get an interview and it will be quicker.  I am now wondering if there is something they know that we don't.  Hmmm.....

[mindthegap 2,605]

One thing they definitely do not need to do, is make this process

a) more stressful, and

b) slower,

both of which this policy would achieve.

 

 

FWIW, I have been told some utter garbage by agents at infopass appointments, sometimes completely contradictory statements of fact, by two people, in a very short space of time. In fact on one occasion I was told by an agent the polar opposite of what the another agent had told me less than five minutes prior.

Utterly useless, much the same as the phone agents on the mis-information line.

 

 

[Suss&Camm 2,213]

Unrelated to the topic but just an anekdote on the topic of garbage from IO.

I was told by an IO at an infopass that I couldn't apply for a SSC as a K1 until I had my EAD - to which I replied "sir, that's actually not correct, I have applied and there was no problem, a K1 is eligible for a ssn"

The reponse I then got was "I've worked as an immigration officer for 20 years, you will have to wait for your EAD"

[Dashinka 24,803]

I remember going through the AOS when people were begging to be put on the interview list as it seemed those with interview waivers were taking 6-8 months longer to process than those who were interviewed.  I know my wife's GC took a little over 5 months to get and we were interviewed.  Does anyone know if the package stays with CSC without an interview, or does it go to the field office regardless of an interview or not?  Personally, I don't care either way, I am confident in my marriage so if things would move faster with an interview bring it on.

[Name O Boy 511]

15 hours ago, Suss&Camm said:

Unrelated to the topic but just an anekdote on the topic of garbage from IO.

I was told by an IO at an infopass that I couldn't apply for a SSC as a K1 until I had my EAD - to which I replied "sir, that's actually not correct, I have applied and there was no problem, a K1 is eligible for a ssn"

The reponse I then got was "I've worked as an immigration officer for 20 years, you will have to wait for your EAD"

I got you my SSC with in a month and at that time i didn't even send my documents for EAD and ROC. It shows some of the staff needs lots of training before saying something irresponsibly. 

[4444510 33]

On ‎6‎/‎14‎/‎2017 at 7:26 AM, foldpages said:

I just returned from my local USCIS field office to get an I-551 stamp as my NOA1 is about to expire.

 

The officer told me that now all I-751 applicants need to go through another interview process.

 

Can someone confirm the same experience?

It actually makes sense in light of such dramatically increased delays for I-751, however, reading about people's experience on different forums, checking I-751 trackers I cannot conclude that everyone is going through the interview. Maybe they sharply raised the percentage of cases called in for the interview but there's no direct evidence pointing out at this. However, why would the officer say so. There's no smoke without fire. 

[4444510 33]

On ‎6‎/‎14‎/‎2017 at 8:03 PM, shell20 said:

I was told I would get an interview for ROC when I attended my bio-metrics,. I said to the officer its taking around a year for the card, they said no you will get an interview, so again I said doubt  that I will get an interview and I will have to wait around 13 months, they again said no you will get an interview and it will be quicker.  I am now wondering if there is something they know that we don't.  Hmmm.....

Have you eventually gone for the interview? When did you file I-751?

[mindthegap 2,605]

16 minutes ago, 4444510 said:

However, why would the officer say so.

 

Because a lot of the time, some (not all) USCIS staff either make it up on the spot, or seem determined to talk out of their hoop in perpetuity.

Thankfully not all USCIS staff are like this.

[shell20 746]

1 hour ago, 4444510 said:

Have you eventually gone for the interview? When did you file I-751?

No I haven't, I didn't think it would happen. I filed in Feb had my bio metrics in late March as was away in the UK at the time.  That is when I said to the officer its taking around 13 months and they were insistent it was a lot sooner and I would go for interview, they kept saying it over and over again. Yet no interview.  I am assuming I will not hear anything until next year.