approved in san diego!

[kiwi5050 0]

my husband and i had our (successful!!) interview this morning in san diego. here is our experience for those of you who are interested, but beware, it's a long post:

it went well in that we were approved, but it was quite stressful! because the man did not smile once during the entire interview. most of time we just sat there while he looked through our file. he asked questions about the affidavit of support and asked if we had our 2005 taxes. we don't, but we had the 2005 w-2s and paystubs and new employment letters. he only wanted to see the new w-2s. my father is our co-sponsor, and he was looking at the 2004 taxes and wanted to know why his total income added up to more than his two w-2s. uh, i don't know, i obviously didn't fill out my father's taxes! i said, that he is also self employed, so that's probably not included on the w-2s. the officer said "no, that's not it. that income should be included." that didn't sound right, but i didn't want to argue with him, and i said "well sir, i'm very sorry, but i didn't fill out the forms and i don't have any idea." he said "well, does your mother work" and i said that she did. he said "well, that's probably it, let me see her w-2s." i said that i didn't have them because my father's salary puts them well above the poverty line, and we were under the impression that if his salary was sufficient, that we didn't need to include hers (and my mother works part time anyway). he was not happy with that response, but i couldn't really do anything about it. i asked my mother later and she told me that the difference between the total taxes for my father and his w-2s WAS because of his self-employment income. the officer was wrong and mean. grrrrr.

sorry, i had to vent a bit.

then he asked to see what proof we had that we were a couple. we showed him envelopes addressed to both of us, car insurance in both names, credit cards in both names, our kitten's birth certificate (no, i'm not joking). we don't have a joint bank account. he asked, and we said that we didn't have one. he asked if we had rings and i said that we didn't (we're poor!). he asked if we had a wedding reception and if he could see pictures. i said that we did have pictures of the ceremony, but that we didn't have a reception, because my husband had just arrived in the US about 3 weeks before the wedding, and i had just moved across the country, so i didn't know anyone here. at this point, i thought he was gonna kick us out. he took my photo album and got up and left the room without saying anything. that was pretty strange. he came back and had photocopied some of the pictures. i told him that he could take some of the originals if he wanted, but he didn't. the pictures showed us with my family at christmas, and i personally believe that that is what convinced him that we have a real relationship. (my huband playing ping pong with my mother, all of us at christmas dinner, etc)

then he said (without smiling) that we were approved and explained that in 2 years we have to apply to remove conditions. i asked if we could have a stamp in his passport, and he said that they didn't give stamps anymore, but that if we REALLY wanted one that he guessed he could give us one. i said that we did (because my husband needs it to work). so he gave us the stamp and showed us the door.

honestly, most of the questions were focused on the taxes. very few relationship questions. the ones he did ask were: "what is your mother in law's name?" "how do you spell it?" "have you met your in-laws?" "when did you and your wife meet?" "describe that meeting."

nothing like the ones i've read about on this board like "who cooks dinner?" or "what color are the curtains." basically, if you have a real relationship, it will be stressful but fine.

[JayJay 4]

Congratulations! I'm sorry the officer was mean to you - we have our interview tomorrow and if they ask any questions on taxes, I'll be lik..."ummm..." (F)

[Babsi 0]

CONGRATS!!

[HolyMoly 0]

Congrats!

[Carola 0]

Congratulations!

[NingNing 0]

Again, CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Thank you for sharing your experience with us. This made me feel so much better! I think we should be fine in terms of our income taxes since we filed jointly this year and that should add to the proof of being a legitimate couple. He is also covered on the insurances provided by my work and I guess I should just make copies of the pictures that we are bringing to the interview so that they do not have to make copies themselves. It is good that he did not separate you guys for individual interrogation! I hope they don't do that to us

We are poor, too. We would not have a ring if it was not for my husband's grandmother! Starting a life all on our own is hard! Plus this added stress of the petition! Gawd!

Congratulations to both of you! I cannot wait for April 27th and share my (hopefully) successful interview with you and everyone!

Thanks again!

[den_y2005 0]

congrats

[Autumnal 25]

Kitten's birth certificate? That's utterly adorable.

I'm so happy to hear that you've been approved and it sounds like you got someone trained to be very detached. It's probably a tactic of intimidation and also, like certain psychologists/counselors/etc., I bet the USCIS people are taught to kind of step back so they aren't affected badly by couples who aren't approved (and the emotional burden of that). Just a guess.

Well, sit back and have yourself a very nice evening. You're done for two years, almost! Congratulations.

And as for the ring, I felt worried about that for the interview because we didn't have our 'official' wedding rings. A) we didn't have the money; B) we want to design them.

[kiwi5050 0]

thanks everyone! and good luck to jayjay tomorrow and to everyone else who has an upcoming interview.

i am about to enjoy a bottle of champagne to celebrate and relax. luckily this week is spring break for me, so i get to sleep in tomorrow!

[snz1802 0]

Congratulations

[Dan&Mitzi 0]

Congrats

[SanDan 0]

Congratulations

[Jasman0717 9]

Congratulations

[MaryandMian 1]

Congratulations

[damulag 26]

Congratulations!!!!!