What should we expect after USCIS home visit?

[Jeffiejay01 7]

Hello there, 

My wife is a US citizen and petitioned for a GC for me in August 2016. The officers suspected us of a staged marriage. My wife was out of a job and had had some runs-in with the law. We were also living at my wife's mother's at the time pending when we found jobs and moved into our place. Me and my wife had joint bank accounts but I also told the officer that I had a separate bank account that my wife wasn't added to. 

Anyway we didn't hear from USCIS again until 11 months and 20 days later when they showed up at our home. It was 8am Feb 14. 2018. They met my wife and I and spent 45mins speaking with us and taking pictures. They asked me to print copies of our joint bank statements and my single separate account(luckily I had a printer at home). We now live alone in our own place; a 2BR 2BR(so we could use the second room for AirBnB which we never have). The second room and bath are empty. Our closet, bath and bedroom and living room contain both our male and female items, clothing, pictures etc. 


It's now been a week since they visited. What should we expect?

[car0593 42]

seems like everything looks fine.... unfortunately there is no time frame to know ... did they say anything before they left?

[Arb123 39]

24 minutes ago, Jeffiejay01 said:

Hello there, 

My wife is a US citizen and petitioned for a GC for me in August 2016. The officers suspected us of a staged marriage. My wife was out of a job and had had some runs-in with the law. We were also living at my wife's mother's at the time pending when we found jobs and moved into our place. Me and my wife had joint bank accounts but I also told the officer that I had a separate bank account that my wife wasn't added to. 

Anyway we didn't hear from USCIS again until 11 months and 20 days later when they showed up at our home. It was 8am Feb 14. 2018. They met my wife and I and spent 45mins speaking with us and taking pictures. They asked me to print copies of our joint bank statements and my single separate account(luckily I had a printer at home). We now live alone in our own place; a 2BR 2BR(so we could use the second room for AirBnB which we never have). The second room and bath are empty. Our closet, bath and bedroom and living room contain both our male and female items, clothing, pictures etc. 


It's now been a week since they visited. What should we expect?

wow! Why did they suspect of a staged marriage in the first place?

 

I think you are fine now. They saw you guys live together and share a life so u shouldnt worry anymore  

[Jeffiejay01 7]

2 minutes ago, car0593 said:

seems like everything looks fine.... unfortunately there is no time frame to know ... did they say anything before they left?

Well they just asked me and my wife a bunch of questions. There were two red flags in our initial interview which is what they came looking to confirm or falsify. 1. My wife wasn't working as at the interview. 2. My wife had issues with the law. During our initial interview last year they told my wife I was using her for immigration benefits and didn't love her and asked her to withdraw the petition which she refused to. We waited one year for an update and then they visited us last week. When they arrived they asked her if she had a job now, and she told then yes, she had been gainfully employed since the week after our interview in a full time position. I pay the bills in the house (with my personal account) cos I earn way more than my wife while she pays for her car, insurance and groceries(from our joint account). They wanted to be sure I didn't have any other bank accounts, so they asked me to show all the major bills(rent, cable, insurance, car note) coming out of my bank account which I did by showing a copy of my recent bank statement. They took it. Alongside two recent statements of our joint account. My wife uses is mostly, I do too sometimes. Finally they asked me why my wife wasn't added to my personal account, I told them the bank declined to add her because of issues they received from a consumer report agency saying my wife commited financial crime. We showed them a copy of the bank letter declining my wife and a copy from the Consumer reporting agency. The officers then went around the apartment and took pictures. Asked us why we had a  2Br2Ba and we explained that we had a move-in special which was half the rent for first month. The guest bedroom contained a mattress, bed and standing lamp which was disconnected cos it isn't in use.. No bed/pillow sheets, no clothes and nothing else. The guest bathroom contained just hand soap, and a towel, the medicine cabinet was empty. Our bedroom and bath room contained all our other stuff. They took pictures of our bathroom and closets. My stuff appear more organized than wife's but don't think that should be a problem. We had pictures in the bedroom, living room and TV stand.  My wife also had a childhood picture of her gay best friend from 20 years ago on our dresser.  They asked her who it was and she told them. We asked if they needed to see our joint bills and other documents and they said not right now. They said they would call and ask for more evidence if the need arises cos they weren't the ones making the decisions and the were only evidence collectors. They said there was the possibility we could even be called back for a second interview. We do understand. We have both never been previously married, have no kids and we are both under 30. 

 

 

Generally me and my wife think it went very well but we are still worried cos they took copies of our bank statements away. We feel like we already have a preponderance of evidence which should satisfy their compliance review.

I'm sure they also went to the leasing office because our apartment is gated and you need a code to access it. The officer also told me my didn't include my apartment number in my petition so I guess the leasing office must have given them that info.  Personally I think they just suspect me cos I'm from Nigeria(notorious for marriage fraud),  and my wife is a beautiful, plus size Caucasian woman. They actually told my wife this during our initial interview and really lowered her self esteem. Our lifestyles are also different. I'm more reserved and organized while my wife is a fun loving carefree person who doesn't obsess with organization and structure. Sad to think in this age they would judge us based on that because our personalities really compliment each other. We deeply love each other. Her parents and friends see how I treat her and even gifted us an expensive dresser and bed set for our wedding gift. 

 

Whew. Guess I'm just over thinking it all and we are really fine? Well we'd see how it goes and I'd drop a follow up response here if anything comes up. 

 

Feels so good to get it off and write about this. 

 

Thanks yall. 

[Jeffiejay01 7]

22 minutes ago, Laura123 said:

wow! Why did they suspect of a staged marriage in the first place?

 

I think you are fine now. They saw you guys live together and share a life so u shouldnt worry anymore  

Hello Laura, thanks for replying. Feels sooooo good just seeing your message of reassurance. I just responded to a previous poster with a detailed explanation on why they suspected us of a staged marriage in the first place and what happened during the home visit. You can check that . By the way a lawyer told me to write down everything that happened during the home visit just incase of false accusations from the USCIS officials. Crazy to even think their integrity could be compromised. Sigh. We would just pray and hope for the best. And thank you once again.

[car0593 42]

@Jeffiejay01 brother, you are fine. I know it can be stressful, but from what you just typed up, I would say you are good. Yes, they might make you wait..but you guys didn't give them a reason to not think you guys have a legit marriage. everything will be okay!!

[Marioooo85 0]

Any updates on this??

[Jeffiejay01 7]

On 7/18/2019 at 2:17 AM, Marioooo85 said:

Any updates on this??

Hello Mario, we received an NOID in 2018, and a denial in 2019. Reason for denial was not meeting the burden of proof for bonafide marriage by a preponderance of evidence. We re-filed immediately and have our interview coming up next month. We have more evidence now and have addressed all the issues raised in the denial. Hopefully we get approved this time. 🙏🏿

I'd return with good news. 

Thank you. 

[Kevinbrant 2]

On 3/14/2020 at 4:25 PM, Jeffiejay01 said:

Hello Mario, we received an NOID in 2018, and a denial in 2019. Reason for denial was not meeting the burden of proof for bonafide marriage by a preponderance of evidence. We re-filed immediately and have our interview coming up next month. We have more evidence now and have addressed all the issues raised in the denial. Hopefully we get approved this time. 🙏🏿

I'd return with good news. 

Thank you. 

Hello jeffiejay, any update on this?