My June 7, 2007 AOS interview experience

[The Philosopher 0]

I thought I'd post the entire experience here in case it might help anyone else who will be going through the experience soon or in the future. Also, I wanted to know what happens after the interview since we were not approved immediately. The interviewer said she would review the documentation and make a decision within a week. Is this normal if you are going to be approved or is this typical of a rejection/request for second interview? Anyway read my experience and if you had a similar one or you know in general what happens, please respond. (I realize its a long post, sorry in advance )

My wife and I arrived at the Denver, CO district office 30 minutes early for our 8:45 am appointment and they actually called us in 15 minutes early at 8:30 am. I am a US Citizen and I am petitioning for my wife who is an overstay (B-2 visa, expired November 2004). Th interviewer asked to see my Driver License and my wife's passport as well as her EAD. When we started the interview, the first questions came directly from the I-485 and I-130 applications. The interviewer checked off fields in the applications as we answered her questions:

• She asked my wife and I to state our full names.
  
• She asked my wife what her current address is and whether it was an apartment/house/etc. (My wife tripped up a little here because of the nerves but corrected herself immediately. She answered everything else perfectly after.)
  
• She asked if I lived at the same address.
  
• She asked each of us to state the other person's birthday.
  
• She asked if either of us had children.
  
• She asked where my wife was born.
  
• She asked my wife if she had ever worked in the US.
  
• She asked her if she had ever applied for permanent residency/AOS before.
  
• She asked me when I became a US citizen (I told her November of last year).
  
• She asked my wife what kind of visa she used to come to the US.
  
• She asked my wife when the first time she came to the US was and how long was her longest stay. (My wife first came in 2001 and stayed for 6 months and came/went as a tourist yearly until 2004 when she overstayed her visa and has been here since).
  
• She asked if my wife had ever left the US since she had overstayed her visa(My wife has not.).
  
• She asked if my wife had ever been deported or arrested.
  
• Finally she asked if my wife was a member of any club or organization.
  

Following the questions from the applications she asked us about our relationship:

• How long have you two known each other? (1 year, 3 mos)
  
• How and where did you meet?
  
• How did you propose to your wife?
  
• When and where were you married? (August 2006)
  
• Were there witnesses at the wedding? (No witnesses signed our marriage certificate because the person conducting the wedding said it was not necessary because Colorado it is not needed for the marriage to be certified. But we then told the interviewer that there were witnesses, they just did not sign the certificate and we showed her pictures from the wedding.)
  
• Did family or friends attend the wedding? Who?
  
• Did both of your parents support the marriage? (I said my mother did but my father did not initially. She then asked why my father did not support it and we told her because he thought we got married too soon and also because he is a very religious person and had very traditional views about courting, etc. She then asked if things had changed with my father and we told her yes, he eventually came around and we showed her pictures of my dad hugging my wife during Christmas while smiling).
  
• Have you met each other's families? (We told her that my wife had met my parents and my brother while we were in California during Christmas. We then told her that my wife had actually met my mother earlier a few days before the wedding but since my father did not initially support the wedding he did not come and my wife met him in California. Then we told the interviewer that I had met my wife's sister who lives close to us and that I had not met her parents because they live in Peru. However, I then said that I met her mom on MSN video chat and my wife jumped in and said, "you also met my brother that way." The interviewer smiled and laughed a little when we told her that).
  
• When was the last time you two saw each other's family? (We told the interviewer that we had not seen my parents and brother since January and that I had seen my wife's sister yesterday).
  

She then asked us to provide any documents that could substantiate the marriage. We gave her:

• a verification letter from our bank for a joint bank account (although the interviewer said she preferred a bank statement because it showed recent transactions, etc.)
  
• photos of our small wedding and a vacation to my parent's home in another state along with other random photos of our time together such as halloween photos, photos we took at a musical we attended, etc. (She made copies of a lot of our photos)
  
• a medical bill in my wife's name, with our address on it along with a copy of the cashed check that I used to pay for her bill
  
• joint tax returns
  
• a rental lease with both our names on it dating back to January of this year. Additionally, I provided copies of rent bills with both our names on it that showed how much rent was and utilities for the May 2006 and April 2006. (We lived together even before January but in a different apartment. The interviewer did not ask to see evidence for our previous apartment).
  

That was about it. It took about 20 minutes and we were done. She then told us that she was "fairly satisfied" with the documentation we provided. I'm not sure if she meant she was satisfied that it was good enough evidence to show that our marriage was real or if she meant that she was satisfied in the sense that she had enough to make whatever decision she needed to make. She then told us that she would make a decision within a week and send us a letter with her decision.

I don't know what to expect from here on out but obviously my wife and I are hoping we will be approved. I'm not sure what more evidence I could have provided but I think what we gave her should be good enough. Has anyone else received a similar response after the interview (i.e. was told that a decision would be made in a week)? If so, can you respond with what happened in your case?

[Tom_Jim 40]

Thank you for a very detailed time line of your interview. It appears to me, from what you've written, that the interviewer did not pursue a more aggressive line of questioning and coupled with her words that she was "fairly satisfied, it leads me (my opinion only, folks) to believe that you will eventually be approved.

I wish you both luck and to be able to live together as a couple after a trying 3 years. Let us know how things end up.

[lanaandkarim 0]

hi there,

i had my interview done 2 months ago, the officer asked us almost same questions but she wanted more documentsproving we are a coupe i privided her with out rent lease, my insurance saying she is the benificiaary of my life insurance, pictures of our weddding and honey moon and others. we don't have joint bank account because she had some bank troubles before and can't open a bank account. but miss officer wasn't satisfied with my documents i provided and she asked for more. i asked her like what , she said like utility bills more mail, letters from friends and family stating we are legally married. well all utilities are included in rent we don't pay any, anyway , i gathered letters from family and friends about 8, and we sent a statement from cable company saying bill on both names , a letter from a placerent to own saying we had a bed set from there and it's on both our names, a statement from post office saying we have a po box under both our names and some more mail. ithas been over two months now and im still waiting for an answer from them. i made an appointement with tem tomorrow friday 8th to see what's going on.

i will let you know if anything interesting

have a good look everybody

[The Philosopher 0]

Thank you for a very detailed time line of your interview. It appears to me, from what you've written, that the interviewer did not pursue a more aggressive line of questioning and coupled with her words that she was "fairly satisfied, it leads me (my opinion only, folks) to believe that you will eventually be approved.

I wish you both luck and to be able to live together as a couple after a trying 3 years. Let us know how things end up.

Thanks for the encouragement! I will let you know how it turns out. Based on the small number of responses I've gotten it seems that maybe only a few other people have been in the same boat I'm in. I still have no idea it is standard procedure for the interviewer to say he/she needs a week to make a decision or if this usually just happens when he/she is headed toward a negative decision. Can anyone answer that question?

[Jashley820 0]

Wishing you the best of luck in this situation...it seems like you had your bases covered so I am sure all will be well!

[Tom_Jim 40]

Alas, one thing can be said about SOPs for the USCIS; is that it's discretionary when it comes to weighing in AOS cases. One of the reasons why I think that you don't see many overstay inquiries here, is past animosity towards people who overstay, from some who do their AOS through K-1, K-3 et al. In any event, it's irrelevant.

Looking forward, I think the best case scenario is you get approved and the worse case would be another interview; perhaps separately with a more pointed line of questioning.

Best of luck to you both-

[Richard&Maria 0]

Hello,

Your wife's B-2 Visa expired in Nov 2004. Your documented relationship appears to start late 2005 since you mentioned an apartment even before Jan 2006. Good. The interviewer is "fairly satisfied" since there is a gap, a big gap, for much of 2005. (Hopefully in the interviewer's eyes) your wife did not enter the USA as a B-2 with the pre-intention of marriage. Evidence of your relationship appears good. The multiple entry B-2, the last B-2 overstay of post-November 2004 and the 2006 relationship/marriage is more to the point. If there is a request for more evidence or another interview I am sure it will focus on this. I assume the 2001-to-2003 B-2 visits were uneventful and timely. Good luck.

Richard of Richard&Maria

[Tom_Jim 40]

So, any updates, The Philosopher? What came about the decision on your AOS interview? Could you put a review down? Regards