Did I just pass a STOKES interview?

[SerbCA 86]

So I had my AOS interview today, and it went quite a bit differently than I thought it would:

 

When the IO called my last name, he told me only I should come back with him, while my husband was left in the waiting area. He asked me to turn off my phone and show him that I turned it off.

When we sat down, he asked me if my husband was born here in CA (I said no he was born in Ilinois)

He asked how we met (I said we met online in march of 2015)

IO: "oh? you guys didn't meed before that?" , me: "no"     -- In 2014, i was here on a work and travel program working as a lifeguard over the summer, and returned on time, at this time I did not know my husband-

 

IO:"but I see he was working for a pool company there, and you happened to be working at a pool right?"

 

That's where I got confused. and said "no? my husband never worked for a pool company, he woked in retail at that time, and before that he was working at Office Depot"

 

IO: "Are you sure about that? because I have it in my notes here that he worked for a pool company"

I repeated that I am pretty sure he never worked for any company that had anything to do with pools.

 

Then he switched to finances and stated "It's our job to also follow the money and where it is coming from"

He looked through two months of bank statements and looked carefully at every single line, asking how often does my husband get paid, and how much does he earn in a month. Then he looked at our saving account, and asked if I had any money comeing over from abroad. I answered yes, that I transfered some of my savings from back home to our joint savings account here. (he also asked how much was it in total roughly)

 

After that he asked to see the rental agreement, car insurance and took a look at the check stubs that were submitted with the petition.

 

Then he asked:  "So do your parents know about your guys's relationship?"

 

I answered no, and said that becuase where I am from, they would not accept that and I would not have a relationship with them if I came clean, but that weplan on telling them eventually.

He understood that as he was aware that I come from a more traditional area.

 

Next question was: '' When did you realize you were gay?''    *At that point I figured out what his assumption was, that we met while I was here on a WIT program, and that this was all a plot just to get me here*

 

I told them I always knew I was attracted to guys, after which he commented that when we are young we may not really realize our sexuality.

He asked if this was my first relationship, I said yes, but I have been with girls before when I was trying to convince myself that I am at least bi, and trying to cover up the fact that I'm gay.

 

All this took about 30min, after that he said that he is approving my application and doesn't see anything that would be an issue, he explained that it's their job to try and figure out genuine couples and explanied the removal of conditions process I would have to do down the line.

 

Then he called my husband in, read to us a statement about the Affidavit of support, and we spend a good 10-15min talking about his job and how he got into it, some of the interesting moments he had with other couples etc.

 

He did say that he normaly covers "more interesting" cases, which I assume means the ones that are suspected of fraud, but that he is confident that our relationship is genuine and wished us best of luck.

 

I am not sure if that was a true stokes interview, since he never asked my husband any questions, nor did he interview him seperately, but as soon as he said only I should come back with him, I knew that it wasn't gonna be your standard interview.

 

All in all he was very polite and nice, but that was quite a bit more nerve wracking that I was expecting

 

[Cyberfx1024 7,980]

39 minutes ago, SerbCA said:

So I had my AOS interview today, and it went quite a bit differently than I thought it would:

 

When the IO called my last name, he told me only I should come back with him, while my husband was left in the waiting area. He asked me to turn off my phone and show him that I turned it off.

When we sat down, he asked me if my husband was born here in CA (I said no he was born in Ilinois)

He asked how we met (I said we met online in march of 2015)

IO: "oh? you guys didn't meed before that?" , me: "no"     -- In 2014, i was here on a work and travel program working as a lifeguard over the summer, and returned on time, at this time I did not know my husband-

 

IO:"but I see he was working for a pool company there, and you happened to be working at a pool right?"

 

That's where I got confused. and said "no? my husband never worked for a pool company, he woked in retail at that time, and before that he was working at Office Depot"

 

IO: "Are you sure about that? because I have it in my notes here that he worked for a pool company"

I repeated that I am pretty sure he never worked for any company that had anything to do with pools.

 

Then he switched to finances and stated "It's our job to also follow the money and where it is coming from"

He looked through two months of bank statements and looked carefully at every single line, asking how often does my husband get paid, and how much does he earn in a month. Then he looked at our saving account, and asked if I had any money comeing over from abroad. I answered yes, that I transfered some of my savings from back home to our joint savings account here. (he also asked how much was it in total roughly)

 

After that he asked to see the rental agreement, car insurance and took a look at the check stubs that were submitted with the petition.

 

Then he asked:  "So do your parents know about your guys's relationship?"

 

I answered no, and said that becuase where I am from, they would not accept that and I would not have a relationship with them if I came clean, but that weplan on telling them eventually.

He understood that as he was aware that I come from a more traditional area.

 

Next question was: '' When did you realize you were gay?''    *At that point I figured out what his assumption was, that we met while I was here on a WIT program, and that this was all a plot just to get me here*

 

I told them I always knew I was attracted to guys, after which he commented that when we are young we may not really realize our sexuality.

He asked if this was my first relationship, I said yes, but I have been with girls before when I was trying to convince myself that I am at least bi, and trying to cover up the fact that I'm gay.

 

All this took about 30min, after that he said that he is approving my application and doesn't see anything that would be an issue, he explained that it's their job to try and figure out genuine couples and explanied the removal of conditions process I would have to do down the line.

 

Then he called my husband in, read to us a statement about the Affidavit of support, and we spend a good 10-15min talking about his job and how he got into it, some of the interesting moments he had with other couples etc.

 

He did say that he normaly covers "more interesting" cases, which I assume means the ones that are suspected of fraud, but that he is confident that our relationship is genuine and wished us best of luck.

 

I am not sure if that was a true stokes interview, since he never asked my husband any questions, nor did he interview him seperately, but as soon as he said only I should come back with him, I knew that it wasn't gonna be your standard interview.

 

All in all he was very polite and nice, but that was quite a bit more nerve wracking that I was expecting

 

No, it does not sound like stokes interview. If they did that they would question each of you separately to see if their were differences. It looks like they were being thorough.

[payxibka 10,045]

Not a Stokes interview,  a Stokes interview is never the first interview 

[geowrian 22,337]

Not a Stokes interview, but just one where they went into it likely expecting there to be an issue. Glad it turned out fine and the officer seems to have been reasonable and fair.

Congrats!

[SerbCA 86]

5 hours ago, geowrian said:

Not a Stokes interview, but just one where they went into it likely expecting there to be an issue. Glad it turned out fine and the officer seems to have been reasonable and fair.

Congrats!

Thanks! I got quite scared when IO only asked me to go with him, but I'm very glad it all turned out okay. Now just waiting for the actual card to arrive, so i can book my flight back home for the the first visit.

[petkoto 1]

First , CONGRATULATIONS !!

 

 

I am glad that you described the interview , we went two weeks ago  and  have been separated in very elegant manner . The IO let my wife to the restricted area then stepped between us and asked me to stay in the waiting room .

Nice and effective trick .  I have had no problem with it , but surprised me . 

The rest of the interview was productive and really decent , no complaints at all . I understand that they have to make sure there is no abuse , so I did answer all questions without problem .

The IO was friendly , but sometimes inserted a question . 

 

The main reason I responded to your topic , is that when I asked other people on this web to tell me how the interview looks like , they did not bother to say anything , like I was asking so much . 

I understand that every IO conducts it differently , but  if some one asked me , I would normally answer that . 

So , I do appreciate your description , even it is already after our interview.  Maybe us , coming from the Slavic countries , we are more warm and friendly. ::))

 

The interesting thing is , that we got completely different document at the interview, but I do not need to leave ASAP . BTW , the card came exactly one week after the interview .

 

 

 

 

 

[SerbCA 86]

10 minutes ago, petkoto said:

First , CONGRATULATIONS !!

 

 

I am glad that you described the interview , we went two weeks ago  and  have been separated in very elegant manner . The IO let my wife to the restricted area then stepped between us and asked me to stay in the waiting room .

Nice and effective trick .  I have had no problem with it , but surprised me . 

The rest of the interview was productive and really decent , no complaints at all . I understand that they have to make sure there is no abuse , so I did answer all questions without problem .

The IO was friendly , but sometimes inserted a question . 

 

The main reason I responded to your topic , is that when I asked other people on this web to tell me how the interview looks like , they did not bother to say anything , like I was asking so much . 

I understand that every IO conducts it differently , but  if some one asked me , I would normally answer that . 

So , I do appreciate your description , even it is already after our interview.  Maybe us , coming from the Slavic countries , we are more warm and friendly. ::))

 

The interesting thing is , that we got completely different document at the interview, but I do not need to leave ASAP . BTW , the card came exactly one week after the interview .

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you!

 

Most of the interview descriptions I read before mine were people saying how relaxed and easy it is, just a small chat with the IO and that's it, so I wanted to post my experience to show others what might happen if they suspect something.