I-751 Interview Experience. Spouse Living in different State With frequent Travel

[rhhs7 1]

My spouse and I live in different States due to School and Employment opportunities for the Spouse. We did live together for 11 months after our marriage. Then I got acceptance for 3 year medical training in an area where there is literally zero scope for spouse's career. So we were always nervous when we started the process. We never thought our situation would be special until it came time to start filling I751.  And  especially after reading these forum posts we realized our financial co-mingling was very poor. Which was due to our trust for each other. I have ZERO idea about details of our finances. We usually just discuss big picture stuff. Managing accounts, buying/registering vehicles, paying bills, signing up for utilities...my spouse takes care of that. When I moved away  (11 months after marriage) Spouse got the lease and Utilities at the new place in my name alone (I just blindly signed stuff). Spouse's thought process was to build my credit because I had no credit history. I just had a secured credit card. Until that point we only had 1 joint account at Bank A. And at the same Bank A Spouse had another joint account with my mother-in-law as well. And statements used to be addressed to the two of them because our account was newer and other account was original. So it would seem very very fishy to someone who was not privy to our daily life. 

 

When we realized the horrible situation we were in, Spouse  added me to Spouse's Bank B and Bank C accounts. Added me as third person in the Bank A account which had my mother-in-law + Spose. Then we waited 2 months (thereby delaying) to get some bank statements before filing I751. Also added spouse to the utility bill. Cannot recall why we didn't add to the lease. I stayed as sole lease responsible party.

 

Here was the list of proof items when we filed:

1.List of Travels. Where I visit the spouse or Spouse Visits me with attached Actual Boarding passes (boarding pass proves you didn't cancel a ticket. Also if they want they can check the flight manifest with the airline, whether the passenger boarded or not)
2. 30 Photographs (with Facebook screenshots. Showed Date and FB friend comments). Other Photos printed with EXIF data showing date and location (This can be faked but I felt its better than a picture without any). Also wrote on back of photos the situation/location/event
3. Bank Staements from 3 joint Accounts (2 months only for each)
4. Auto Insurance with both listed
5. 100% designated Beneficiary for insurance policy for spouse's policy
6. One utility Bill
7. 2 Notarized Affidavits
8. IRS Tax Transcripts for 2 years (the 2 years that we were married for and filed together)

 

Note we never got vehicles registered together. Both are in Spouse's name. We decided to take that risk because it would have been very inconvenient to accomplish that.

 

We ended up filing N400 while waiting for I751 so we had a combo interview

We went in with updated evidence for all the items listed above. A lot more boarding passes. Our new evidence paper stack was 3 times larger than what we had mailed in. We also had a baby born to us 2 months ago. So we took baby's birth related documents. And of course more photos (about 80).
Also took evidence of job search results which show zero opportunities for spouse where I live. Also took material which explained why I was stuck in this city vs joining my spouse back home where we lived intially for 11 months.

 

 

Officer DID say we are not supposed to file N400 while waiting for I751 (From what I read its fine to do so and I believe that still and would do it again , but I wasn't going to start arguing).

 

 

After that it was super easy. Spouse offered to show new evidence. Officer waved it away. I'm Happy we were prepared but disappointed all the hardwork put in collecting new evidence. all the printer paper

But Anyways from what I could tell, the officer was convinced from our file before we even came in. From his comments he probably saw our wedding pictures from our 485 AOS file. We had a large wedding 300+ guests in US. Its hard to fake something like that I suppose. We didn't care to ask him any questions other than make small talk, which he seemed more interested in the entire time.

I don't know what the lesson is, but maybe something will help you after reading this.

Edited January 24, 2018 by rhhs7

[Star1989 3]

Which service center were you at? CSC? VSC? Was the interview for N400 or I751or both together? Thank you so much for your review!!

Edited January 24, 2018 by Star1989

[nightingalejules 678]

Congratulations on a relatively painless experience!

 

I love that the officer said you weren’t supposed to file N400 while I751 is processing! What garbage!

 

To be fair though, we’re not supposed to be able to - our I-751s are supposed to be processed long before we qualify to file! It’s not our fault they’re a year behind!

[Hypnos 6,576]

58 minutes ago, rhhs7 said:

Officer DID say we are not supposed to file N400 while waiting for I751 (From what I read its fine to do so and I believe that still and would do it again , but I wasn't going to start arguing).

100% nonsense.

 

I would absolutely have called them out on it then and there, politely but firmly, but I get why you didn't.

[rhhs7 1]

31 minutes ago, Star1989 said:

Which service center were you at? CSC? VSC? Was the interview for N400 or I751or both together? Thank you so much for your review!!

Hello Star1989. Our case was in CSC. Interview was for N400, for which the Officer had to adjudicate I751 first.

 

 

9 minutes ago, nightingalejules said:

Congratulations on a relatively painless experience!

 

I love that the officer said you weren’t supposed to file N400 while I751 is processing! What garbage!

 

To be fair though, we’re not supposed to be able to - our I-751s are supposed to be processed long before we qualify to file! It’s not our fault they’re a year behind!

 

1 minute ago, Hypnos said:

100% nonsense.

 

I would absolutely have called them out on it then and there, politely but firmly, but I get why you didn't.

 

To be fair to the Officer. He said that in the nicest way possible. Was not A** or anything. This person had ZERO case of "power trip" that some folks in authoritative positions have. Very nice individual. Would hang out with

[Hypnos 6,576]

Right--but they're still completely and demonstrably wrong.

[Star1989 3]

29 minutes ago, rhhs7 said:

Hello Star1989. Our case was in CSC. Interview was for N400, for which the Officer had to adjudicate I751 first.

 

 

 

 

To be fair to the Officer. He said that in the nicest way possible. Was not A** or anything. This person had ZERO case of "power trip" that some folks in authoritative positions have. Very nice individual. Would hang out with

Thanks for your response and totally would be me too, “hanging out with” 🤣 if I would have an individual like that! Sweet that there is people like that still out there and for the officer being so nice and relaxed it doesn’t hurt him/ her being wrong about the N400...

Edited January 24, 2018 by Star1989

[egroeg 66]

Hey rhhs7, Did your interview letter for N-400 stipulate that you bring your spouse along with you for the interview ? Also did your spouse attend just the I-751 portion and then was asked to leave for the N-400 one ?

[rhhs7 1]

5 hours ago, xilef said:

Hey rhhs7, Did your interview letter for N-400 stipulate that you bring your spouse along with you for the interview ? Also did your spouse attend just the I-751 portion and then was asked to leave for the N-400 one ?

No it did not.

Yes spouse gets kicked out for the N400 portion

[egroeg 66]

Thanks rhhs7 , it's crazy that you don't tell you to bring your spouse along but expect to interview them. I wonder what would've happened if your spouse wasn't present, I read about a case on VJ where they did a combo interview for the applicant only even when their spouse were present. I'm guessing it depends on the officer.

[Name O Boy 511]

@rhhs7 I hope you get your approval pretty soon. When did you file for I-751? 

[rhhs7 1]

1 hour ago, xilef said:

Thanks rhhs7 , it's crazy that you don't tell you to bring your spouse along but expect to interview them. I wonder what would've happened if your spouse wasn't present, I read about a case on VJ where they did a combo interview for the applicant only even when their spouse were present. I'm guessing it depends on the officer.

My take is this. Most folks wait for the I751 before N400 (application fees can be prohibitive for some). The i751+N400 concurrent may not be very common in the past with quicker turn around for I751. It probably isn't part of USCIS's standard procedure. Most folks who are in my situation probably know this is going to happen. It should make you wonder and start researching if you get N400 interview notice and no word on I751 results. Thats what brought me here and look for other folk's experience. From reading someone else's exp where spouse was not present, I beleive they tested them on N400 questions and rescheduled for 751. but not sure

 

58 minutes ago, Name O Boy said:

@rhhs7 I hope you get your approval pretty soon. When did you file for I-751? 

I751 was filed Jun 2016. It became past Normal processing time in around Sept 2017 (most folks were getting their decisions by then). But looking back, our 751 file  probably got sent over from service center to field office. Thats why we weren't getting any updates at all. I suppose we saved about 3 months by doing combo application. Not to mention the stress of traveling. Based on our filing addresses, our 751 interview would have taken place in State A and N400 in the other state.

Edited January 24, 2018 by rhhs7