Don't try to lie/conceal any information - They know everything!

[FlyingGreen 14]

I went to my interview this morning. I'm amazed and surprised by all the little things they know about me.

 

My interview went a lot longer (close to an hour) because they found some discrepancies in my application. I also had travelled to more than 20+ countries in the past 5 years and the officer had to go through the entire list 1 by 1...calculated the days and made sure I didn't break the continuous presence requirement.

 

1. I was in a religious group. Back in 2016 when I filed for my I-485, I did not include my church in the question related to "member of a group/club/society etc.", but somehow I include it in my N-400 (This question is Part 12, question 9 in N-400). I told the officer it was an honest mistake, I could tell he wasn't quite happy about it and he put a note in my application saying "it was a misunderstanding".

2. He knew ALL of my past phone numbers!

3. He asked me a bunch of questions related to Selective Service and why I didn't register for it. I said because I was a non-immigrant before I was 26, and became a PR after 26. I did not bring any old visas/I-94 but luckily he has all of the information in the system.

4. Even before I said anything, he is like - ok, I see that you have a few international travels since you filed for your N-400, I will have to update your travel history.

5. The travel history is based on your past 5 years - not since you became a Permanent Resident. I got my GC back in December 2016, and I did early filing for my N-400 (in October 2021), the officer found out that I had an international trip back in November 2016 that I did not include in my N-400, again, I told him it was an honest mistake.

6. Also related to travel history - the officer told me not to include any long layover (less than 24 hours) in any countries. He went through the entire list again and remove those "day trip" 1 by 1.

 

Ultimately, I passed the interview and my application has been recommended for approval. My status changed to "Oath Ceremony Will Be Scheduled" as soon as I walked outside of the building.

 

Bottom line - don't even try to conceal any information. It is actually quite scary how much they know about you.

Edited June 30, 2022 by FlyingGreen

[phoenyxx 30]

Dang, I became a LPR in June 2017 and I had to go back to Mexico in Oct 2017 to give up my apt, last paycheck, etc.. Before that I went back to my home country and then I was in the US for like a couple hours or so for a few month - I crossed the Laredo border with my US visa to get some shopping done and this was all in 2016/2017. Damn - now I gotta remember all those dates!

[HNZ91 70]

Absolutely don’t lie and don’t hide anything. However, your experience is not typical.

 

interview for 1 hour when most people finish in 10 minutes means there is a red flag. In a case of a red flag, yes they dig deep and they collect as much as they can about you before the interview.

 

congrats for the approval.