Interview experience and questions (merged)

[Sam_Son_83 17]

14 minutes ago, Ontarkie said:

  Since you applied with the divorce waiver only that is what you should focus on. Many times it goes for supervisor review before approvals. He may not have liked your evidence of abuse when you didn't submit  the abuse waiver, but he should have focused on what proof you had for your marriage. Before freaking out any more I would wait. You already had the help of a lawyer, and it sounds like he knew what he was doing.

 

What type of proof did you submit? 

As the marriage wasn't very long, my lawyer did a pretty good job at still putting together a pretty big package. It was almost 400 pages (including the original AOS filing):

 

- Statement by the attorney summarizing the evidence and outlining why I qualify

- Long personal statement outlining the entire relationship from beginning to the end

- Multiple items proving same address (Driver's Licenses, rental agreement etc)

- Monthly samples of the various messages between us (including screenshot of the total number of FB messages alone, in excess of 120k)

- Letters, cards, packages we sent each other

- Bank statements

- Proof of ehr visiting me in Europe twice during the K1 wait\

- Sworn statements by three parties having witnessed the relationship

- Letter from a hospital outlining my mental state due to relationship issues

- Letter from a psychologist that I saw several times outlining the issues I had due to the relationship

 

There's probably some stuff that I'm not remembering off the top of my head.

 

During the interview, the officer didn't really go into the relationship itself. Except for one or two times in which he made it clear in a very demeaning way that I was exaggerating the abuse. He was mostly focused on the financials, was wondering why my dad was supporting us financially in the beginning, yet I was able to transfer several thousand dollars from my European bank account into our shared US account during a visit in Europe towards the end of the relationship (I was abroad for a couple of month due to my father being ill).

He constantly said that he wouldn't be able to approve with what I have, asked me what I would think if presented with such flimsy evidence and implied fraud. It was very, very negative.

He mentioned that by the dates alone (filing of the ROC and the divorce) I wouldn't even have qualified for the conditional card to begin with. The package had already been prepared but seemingly sent a couple of days after the finalizing of the divorce - I am honestly not clear about the details here. Odd to me that I even received an interview - and that the below "potential approval" was even entertained by him. I don't know if this is rather positive or negative - the fact that it wasn't denied straight away by him. 

 

At the end he asked me if I had anything to ad. At which point I became a bit emotional and told him that I am well aware that this is not a lot, but that this is due to the relationship having been such a mess. I told him that I had a stable life in Europe before all this chaos was introduced into my life. He then asked me "why don't/didn't you go back?" I told him that I thought about it multiple times (he seemed a bit surprised by this answer), but that during my recovery from this mess, I had met a new, wonderful person - her being the reason for having moved to where I reside now. He seemed very interested in this and asked for her name and wrote it down.

 

It seemed at the end that it was just a tad bit more positive. He closed my folder and told me that he is either going to approve or deny (this question didn't even seem to be an option earlier) it later in the day after looking at it again and that I would either get an approval letter or a NTA. 

 

[geowrian 22,337]

1 hour ago, Khallaf said:

so you are now divorced from the first wife, after you got your first green card, you are now up for ROC, you submitted all the information and proof that you entered that marriage on a bonafide relationship. I assume you also did the divorce waiver?

 

now if I understand you want to know if the ROC is denied and are told you have to leave, you want to know if you remarry a new women, can you adjust status?

 

I do not believe there will be anything to adjust from, you will have to leave and go back to your country and wait for her to petition for you, it might be an open and shut case, and it might be an uphill climb.

 

I could be very wrong and of course there are others that will likely know better, but I think if you are denied for ROC, you will have to leave.

Correct. A new I-130 + I-485 isn't applicable here as they still have permanent residency. Only once that is terminated would this apply. Same for getting a K-1 visa abroad...permanent residency has to be terminated first.

Getting a new visa (or AOS) after permanent residency is lost or abandoned won't negate the need to show the previous marriage was bona fide. One cannot be in a suspected fraudulent marriage for immigration benefits (not saying that is the case here in any way!) and then just try with somebody else without that previous marriage situation being a very significant factor.

 

There are far more protections for an LPR going through ROC than there are for a visa or AOS applicant. Having LPR status actually revoked is difficult, time consuming, and not common. There are no benefits in trying to lose LPR status then regain it with a new marriage IMO. In the end, the previous marriage situation needs to be resolved.

 

There's not enough facts involving the ROC case presented to tell how it went or how it likely will resolve. Re-filing is available, as well as making a case in front of an IJ. Don't think the end is in sight if this filing does not end in an approval.

 

I don't want to be hard on the OP (sorry!),  but some of those questions asked make sense and aren't unreasonable. They want to know specifics. If something sounds off, they will hone in on that to see what's up. For instance, the reprimand + silent treatment question is reasonable...which one was it, or was it actually both at different times? They want to see how one responds to the probing...fraudsters can be pretty well educated on how to make claims of abuse, but that tends to fall apart under questioning.

But also don't think just hard questioning means the Io didn't believe you. Hard questioning is a tactic to detect fraud, not a sign that they believe fraud actually occurred before asking it.

 

Edit: OP posted more info while I typed the above.

A few of the evidences provided are pretty typical, which is good.

The letter describing the relationship usually doesn't add much IMO. It's also why the Io usually doesn't dive into the evolution of the relationship in the interview. They focus on material items more than anything else. Don't take it personally. They  don't want to listen to a story that they don't know is true or false...they want documents.

Edited December 6, 2018 by geowrian

[Sam_Son_83 17]

1 minute ago, geowrian said:

I don't want to be hard on the OP (sorry!),  but some of those questions asked make sense and aren't unreasonable. They want to know specifics. If something sounds off, they will hone in on that to see what's up. For instance, the reprimand + silent treatment question is reasonable...which one was it, or was it actually both at different times? They want to see how one responds to the probing...fraudsters can be pretty well educated on how to make claims of abuse, but that tends to fall apart under questioning.

But also don't think just hard questioning means the Io didn't believe you. Hard questioning is a tactic to detect fraud, not a sign that they believe fraud actually occurred before asking it.

 

Thank you for your comment. What you say about other options makes perfect sense.

 

I'm aware that the hard questioning can and is a tactic to detect fraud. It's just something else when you experience it yourself, it is very unsettling.

While I know in my heart that I was in love with this woman and wanted nothing more than spending the rest of my life with her, it make you question yourself in regards to "did I put my foot in my mouth" due to being under so much stress. 

I'm someone that (sometimes too much) approaches things with reason and logic. But there wasn't any reason and logic in the nature of this relationship. It somehow felt that as I was trying to reason, he got more and more stand-offish. At the end, as I became emotional and just told him that this relationship was a huge mess etc... I might be imagining too much, but that seemed to satisfy him more than "reason".

But then again, that could have just been him mentally being done with the interview. I guess I will see.

[Villanelle 4,122]

I am so sorry to hear what you are going through. Im going to give you some general information and some specific to your case- Since you have an attny (or are getting a new one it seems) its best to listen to what they advise you- and get a second opinion if it doesnt sound right. Your attny knows the specifics of your case- where I am just making general statements.

 

What visa did you enter on? You talk about not having an EAD which means it wasnt the CR visa- but you also say you were married for 5 months? You were able to get your conditional GC in those 5 months? (very quick but possible) That may be what the Officer was referring to when he said you barely qualified for the GC. Also can you clarify some of the timeline? To go back overseas you would have needed the GC or EAD/AP and if the whole marriage was 5 months how long did you actually spend in the US together?

 

Moving on- since you did not file under abuse waiver they will not consider anything about abuse- that means they will not use 'abuse' as an excuse for poor financials. If you filed under abuse then they would have. It would have also been adjudicated in VSC by people that are trained to deal with abuse waivers and understand the complexities of them. If you do end up in court you can ask the attny about trying to amend your filing to include abuse waiver if possible.

 

Now generally speaking- an immigration judge can not adjudicate a 751. When USCIS denies you - you get sent to court where the judge will review their decision and either send it back to them with more evidence you gather or uphold it and strip your status. When sent to court you need to immediately file a new second 751 to ensure you have status and can continue to work. (look into if the second 751 should be abuse+divorce) You will have to pay the fee again for the second 751. So either USCIS uses the second 751 or reviews the first one. Its a technical thing on their part- so dont worry so much about that aspect. 

 

What you do need to worry about is gathering more evidence. You can not expect them to review the same packet and come up with a different result- you need new evidence. This can be expanding in to the abuse waiver part or remaining on the divorce only and showing more financials. 

 

Having a new serious relationship is another issue- now it is what it is, and you certainly can not lie but it does add another layer of doubt to your claims of bonafide first marriage. Currently you have a conditional GC and will have it until a judge takes it from you. You can not file a 130 since you have a GC status. If the judge strips it you can apply just like any other non documented immigrant would- BUT because you failed to get approved for ROC your new marriage is going to be highly scrutinized and there are sections of policy that will cause you to have to prove both the first marriage and the second marriage are bonafide. Simply speaking you can not avoid proving the first marriage was legit. Its a train that left the station and it has to be resolved (positively) for you to have future status. Also when you get involved in court the court pretty much takes over and if you are put in removal proceedings and want to file a new petition based on a spouse it has to go through the court. (unless you leave the US).

 

Its very hard to gauge what the Officer is/was thinking. Think of it like a police interrogation with good cop/bad cop only theres one cop doing both! lol. They can ask things just to gauge how you respond- things that have no relevance like military service. They can ask or say mean things, they can be nice. Its not really an indication of the end result but since you were there you need to evaluate if your responses seemed to satisfy him or not. You want him to be satisfied. Try to think of what kind of things he was looking for and how you can provide evidence for it. 

 

Honestly with out the complete timeline to give context to your list of proof its impossible to give any more advice.

 

 

[Sam_Son_83 17]

Thank you very much for your detailed answer. I guess I will have to see what the attorney has to say on Monday! Not much I can do at the moment anyways.

[Villanelle 4,122]

Please let us know what the attny says. You probably shouldnt hire them until you hear something from USCIS. They can schedule a second interview or send a NOID (intent to deny) or straight out deny. Takes notes with the attny and ask about anything you are unclear about that the attny says. Remember attnys speak in legal lingo- and many parts of law sound one way but mean something different. So make sure you understand what they are saying. Also some attnys fear monger and tell you various parts of law that are true but when you look at the bigger picture its not really applicable. Get a second opinion if need be.

 

Mindthegap is very knowledgeable about denied ROC/refiling/potential court situations. Im sure he would respond if you sent him a message with any questions about that process. You can also send me a message any time- I do prefer posting on the public forums because it ensures the correct advice is given (someone will always correct errors) and the more input you get the better off you are generally but I understand the need for privacy.

 

Also- not sure why you are waiting to remarry? Your ROC has nothing to do with being able to remarry- as long as you are divorced and free to marry you can. You dont need to wait for ROC approval. 

[BrokenWings 8]

On 12/4/2018 at 1:38 PM, Sam_Son_83 said:

Hey there,

 

So after having filed my I751 waiver with the help of a rather expensive lawyer, I received an interview notice. Overall, the marriage was very short, due to my wife being mentally unstable and abusive. I'm not going into details, unless there's specific interest for it - but let's just say she threw me in a world of turmoil and pain. So I didn't' have the average laundry list of evidence, but with the advise of my lawyer I wrote a lengthy statement outlining the entirety of the relationship. A bit more to that later.

 

No to the interview. I got there without my lawyer (I had in the meantime to another city and having him travel would have caused astronomical costs), but was fairly confident.

This changed very quickly. The officer conducted the interview in a manner that couldn't have been further from what I expected, there was pretty much no opportunity for me to establish the narrative of how the relationship developed. The few times I brought it up, one specific example of emotional abuse I brought up in my statement, it was pretty much doubted and almost ridiculed ("so you are saying she reprimanded you like a little child and gave you silent treatment. How does that work? Did she reprimand you or was she silent? That doesn't make any sense to me."

It was these situations that completely shocked me and turned me into pretty much a bumbling mess. There was no possibility to give an insight into the nature of the relationship, it was mostly just money etc he was interested in... which don't give a good understanding of the situation - especially in cases such as mine.

My father had sent us money to support us in the beginning (I didn't have an EAD yet, so many often was tight). When I went back to Europe for a while to visit my family, my father was severely ill, he had two questions about the timeframe. First he seemed to doubt that I would go visit my gravely ill father, while I had someone that I called "the woman of my dreams" on a different continent. 

WHile I was visiting my family, my wife became increasingly cruel over the phone. I wasn't earning for days etc and one night had a nervous breakdown. I attached a letter from the hospital stating that my state was due to a very stressful and potentially abusive relationship I was in. His comment was that this breakdown could have well been due to my father's illness and not my wife. I was just speechless. I'm unsure if he didn't read the letter or if he did this on purpose.

Another point he brought up was that I had sent several thousand dollars to my wife via our shared bank account (that I could barely remember). He was asking me how it was possible for me to have savings like that, yet my father was still sending us smaller, regular amounts previously. He said that didn't make any sense to him. At some point he went to the very back of the application and asked if I was in the military, which I confirmed. No follow up questions to that.

 

The interview went really bad. He was pretty much telling all the time that all this wasn't convincing, "what would you say if you looked at this" etc. I was just terrified.

At the very end he asked me if there was anything I'd like to add, to which I resaponded If it could be something on a more personal note. He said yes.

At this point I got a bit emotional, pretty much told him that yes, I made a lot of mistakes. And that I know that all my submissions look like a mess, because they are the result of a very messy relationship. And that I had a stable life in Germany. To this he asked "so why don't or didn't you go back". I answered that I honestly thought about this quite a few times, but that I have found a person i deeply love and want to fix this mess on my own so we could have a good start. I told him that I had moved down here for her, after she had moved for her job. Mentioning this seemed to really interest him, as he took a note of her name and her job.

 

What was weird was that in the very end he seemed to have softened just a tad bit, almost unnoticeably. And he then said: "Listen, I will review your file later today and will then either approve it or not, in which case you will have the opportunity to go in front of a judge." I didn't expect this, as he was VERY negative and stand-offish.

 

 

How long should it take for me to know the result (online and mail), assuming he made a decision yesterday?

What do you guys think overall? Am I catastrophizing, is there still a chance that it might get approved?

 

 

Thank you, any discussion would be appreciated, as I am very stressed about it.

Hi, have you received any decision or update after Interview?

[Sam_Son_83 17]

Just to give a quick update:

 

After almost 1000 days and a horrible interview experience... I just recieved the notification that my case was approved and my card is in production.

[TBoneTX 45,329]

Thanks for the happy update.  You must feel great!

[Sam_Son_83 17]

15 minutes ago, TBoneTX said:

Thanks for the happy update.  You must feel great!

To be honest it hasn't quite registered yet!

 

I woke up when my gf left for work at 5am and saw the text message, prompting me to check the status online. Talk about a couple of stressful minutes until I was logged in. 

 

It is such a relief!

[Sam_Son_83 17]

To everyone else in similar situations: Do not despair. I know, it's hard to believe, I've been there and know the constant stress and negative feelings.

 

Hang in there. If you know in your heart that you have nothing to hide all will be well in the long run. Just be truthful and open.

I'm the living proof. Very short marriage, definitely less to show for than others in terms of materials I submitted (due to a very dysfunctional marriage) - but I stayed truthful and honest and it all worked out.

 

Wishing you all the best of luck with your journey!

[kbb 3]

Congrats!