Officer makes decision before visa interview?

[mkr1990 12]

I was thinking about something interesting.. do you think the officer interviewing you already reviewed your case and is close to approving you but needs to verify some things with the questions he/she is asking? (This goes for Western European countries) 

 

 

[useful89 692]

Based on what others here have said, yes

[Jeanne Adil 1,651]

i think it is true of all countries

recently mother in law applied for tourist visa

the letter writter in engish on one side and arabic on other (for a denial) was typed and dated the day before

the case packet arrives and is at embassy over a month before an interview and CO can read thru packet at any time to preare what questions to ask

[S*UK 543]

22 minutes ago, mkr1990 said:

I was thinking about something interesting.. do you think the officer interviewing you already reviewed your case and is close to approving you but needs to verify some things with the questions he/she is asking? (This goes for Western European countries) 

 

 

The officer will almost certainly be familiar with your case before you are called to the 'window' for interview. By this point background checks have been done, the relationship has been proven to be legitimate and they are happy that you have the intent to marry. The questions are most likely just to assess your reactions in person. They are going to be questions that would be easy for anyone in a good relationship to answer.

I personally think the only reason anyone wouldnt be approved at interview is if they acted suspiciously/strangely (as long as all documents and medical are fine). So yes, they probably already know if they want to approve you before the questions are asked.

Edited August 5, 2017 by S*UK

[Yeonin 127]

every interview you will ever have with an immigration officer is going to be a verification interview, it's to make sure your not being fraudulent. It's to check the facts that have been prevented and possible find new evidence that can determine whether an initial yes or no is valid. 

[-Trinity- 513]

Based on my experience for a F-1 visa;  the interview was to verify information I already submitted.

 

Edited August 5, 2017 by Beachlover
added visa type

[Boiler 45,348]

There must be some that are marginal but most are pretty clear cut either way.

[geowrian 22,337]

It's suspected that this is the case in some circumstances, and more common with certain high fraud embassies. The CO will probably review your case before the interview and form an opinion based on what is presented. There's also a difference between visas...i.e. a tourist visa is a lot simpler than an immigrant visa. For a tourist visa, in many cases, they already have sufficient information about your ties to make a decision about the immigrant intent side of things. The interview is just a formality in many of those cases.

 

But I don't think most COs have made a decision yet for immigrant visas / fiance visas. I didn't submit relationship evidence with my I-129F and only presented it at the interview, and it was no issue at all. YMMV On the other hand, I would not suggest for others to do the same with many other embassies. And for certain embassies, I would suggest sending lots of evidence beforehand. Research beforehand is important.

 

25 minutes ago, S*UK said:

By this point background checks have been done, the relationship has been proven to be legitimate and they are happy that you have the intent to marry.

If we're looking strictly at a K-1, the relationship has not been proven legitimate before the time of the interview. USCIS does not review the relationship evidence (if provided) with an I-129F. Providing relationship evidence beforehand (front loading) may help the CO form a positive opinion (or potentially a decision...the question being asked ITT), but nothing has been proven.

[ConOfficer 167]

All opinions offered here are wrong. At every consulate I've worked at I've never seen an officer review proof of relationship before calling the applicant up to the window and starting the interview. It's true that I might take a look at the petition and see that the petitioner has been divorced three times or that there is a 40 year age difference, but I never make a decision before the interview. 

 

As to tourist visas, there is no review prior to the interview. We know absolutely nothing about the applicant until they start talking. 

[ConOfficer 167]

45 minutes ago, S*UK said:

By this point background checks have been done, the relationship has been proven to be legitimate and they are happy that you have the intent to marry. The questions are most likely just to assess your reactions in person.

Totally incorrect. 

 

USCIS does not investigate the relationship. They merely determine whether a legal or biological relationship exists on paper. The consular officer determines whether there is a legit relationship. 

[b6543 25]

For typical interview, the interview is verification and final check. All information in application, reports and checks are reviewed prior to interview. In most cases officers have an inclination on which way they are leaning to approve. But need to validate things to make sure application is legit before granting visa.  

[ConOfficer 167]

19 minutes ago, geowrian said:

It we're looking strictly at a K-1, the relationship has not been proven legitimate before the time of the interview. USCIS does not review the relationship evidence (if provided) with an I-129F. Providing relationship evidence beforehand (front loading) may help the CO form a positive opinion (or potentially a decision...the question being asked ITT), but nothing has been proven.

This is true. USCIS only checks whether the documents are in order, they don't look at proof of relationship. 

1 minute ago, b6543 said:

For typical interview, the interview is verification and final check. All information in application, reports and checks are reviewed prior to interview. In most cases officers have an inclination on which way they are leaning to approve. But need to validate things to make sure application is legit before granting visa.  

Totally incorrect. 

[S*UK 543]

40 minutes ago, ConOfficer said:

All opinions offered here are wrong. At every consulate I've worked at I've never seen an officer review proof of relationship before calling the applicant up to the window and starting the interview. It's true that I might take a look at the petition and see that the petitioner has been divorced three times or that there is a 40 year age difference, but I never make a decision before the interview. 

 

As to tourist visas, there is no review prior to the interview. We know absolutely nothing about the applicant until they start talking. 

At what point does this happen then? I have seen that many people attending the K1 interview havenot been asked for proof of relationship at all. They took extra information with them that wasnt ever handed over.

[S*UK 543]

41 minutes ago, ConOfficer said:

Totally incorrect. 

 

USCIS does not investigate the relationship. They merely determine whether a legal or biological relationship exists on paper. The consular officer determines whether there is a legit relationship. 

I didnt mention USCIS. That is not what I was referring to. I was referring to the fact that the officer interviewing already has a copy of the application in front of them before calling you up to the window.
I know now that even then they may not look, but i was in no way talking about USCIS.

[S*UK 543]

1 hour ago, geowrian said:

If we're looking strictly at a K-1, the relationship has not been proven legitimate before the time of the interview. USCIS does not review the relationship evidence (if provided) with an I-129F. Providing relationship evidence beforehand (front loading) may help the CO form a positive opinion (or potentially a decision...the question being asked ITT), but nothing has been proven.

I just wanna make it clear since multiple people think I was referring to USCIS. I wasnt.

I was referring to the officer interviewing. It says on the official USCIS page that the embassy you file for K1 with will do a background check and will determine if a bonafide relationship I exists. They will also require another letter of intent if 4 months has passed since NAO2. I was referring to this information with my statement, believing (wrongly I now see) that these checks would be done by the EMBASSY before you are called up to the window for interview