AOS Interview

birdnbloke · July 27, 2007

Hey y'all! Sorry about not adding this post sooner, but we had our AOS interview on Tuesday. This was at the Atlanta office which is located in an office building off of I-285, near Northlake Mall off of Lavista Rd. Real easy to get to and find, so that was a plus.

Ok, so we waited about 15 minutes from when we checked in. Our appointment time was at noon, and we got there around 11:45am.

Our interviewing officer was a nice man, looked to be in his 30's.

He led us into his office and was real polite and smiling....at first. lol

Once he swore us in, his tone sorta changed to stern and, I have to say, suspicious. I was kinda surprised by this at first and it made me nervous as the interview went on. :unsure:

So, first he asked me my name, address, phone number, showed me one of the application papers I had signed and asked if the signature on it was mine, which it was. Then he made some marks on the papers in our file, my guess being that he was confirming that I answered correctly. Then he asked for my husband Chris's passport and ID. He asked him why he still had his UK driver's license and not a Georgia one yet. Chris told him he had just recieved his EAD and was waiting to get his Social Security number before applying for a GA DL. Maybe it was my imagination, but the guy gave him a rather "suspicious" look at Chris at that point.

Then he asked Chris where he was born and why his birth certificate name was different than his ID and Passport, etc.

Though I included the poll deed where he had changed his last name in the original I-140 petition and applications for his I-485 and EAD, the interviewer seemed very surprised by this discrepency, which again, made us kinda nervous. He asked Chris several times why he had changed his name and was it because he had a criminal record? :unsure:

The reason, Chris explained, was that his ex-wife was taking out credit cards and loans in his name after they separated (before they had officially filed for divorce) a few years ago, and he was getting bills for payment, etc. so he legally changed his name to his mother's maiden name and dropped his middle name. I don't think the interviewer believe this story because he kept asking Chris if he had a criminal history, had ever been arrested or convicted, etc in any country in the world.

It was more the look on his face and tone of his voice than anything....I was worried.

Then he asked Chris how many children he had. Chris has 1 biological daughter, who is 17 now. When he married his now ex-wife, she had a 3 year old daughter, who Chris never legally adopted, but who took his last name when he and her mother got married.

So, when we filled out the forms to submit back in April, we only listed that he had 1 child.

Of course, when the interviewer asked Chris how many children he had, Chris said that he had 2 daughters! Knowing what was on the application papers, I knew this was going to be another discrepency and I just kinda sunk in my chair. lolol

Chris was a bit nerve-wracked by this time so he was stumbling on his words trying to explain that he had never legally adopted the older daughter, so the guy finally understood why we only listed the 1 child on the application. The interviewer looked kinda annoyed by now. I just wanted to get outta there by this time! lol

Ok, so the last straw was my 2006 tax form.

I make about $2,000 over the allowable limit for being a sponsor . However, my W-2 from work shows my income after they take out pre-taxed deductions, which makes it fall just below the limit. I also enclosed my child-support income report, a letter from my employer stating my salary, and several of my pay check stubs which showed my gross and deductions, and the guy still as shaking his head no and saying it wasn't enough!! :angry: I really thought he was going to turn us down for that but I showed him the paperwork I had submitted a couple of times, pointing out that I did make above the limit to be a sponsor.

After about 1/2 hour, and after he asked Chris one more time if he had a criminal past, he finally asked me for documents to prove we had evidence of shared finances, so I handed him our phone, direct TV and electricity bills; a voided check from our account, our lease agreement and a couple other bills as proof and he went to make copies of them. He never asked to see pictures from our wedding or any other evidence that we were in a bonified marriage, and suprisingly, he didn't seem to be bothered that Chris came on a VWP and stayed to get married (No overstay issues, so maybe that was why) He didn't ask us if we had intended to get married before he came either, which surprised me too. The last question the guy asked me was "How did you meet your husband?" and so I told him we met online about a year ago, Chris came to visit last June for 2 weeks, and then came back to visit on his birthday at the end of September, but when it came time for him to leave 2 weeks later, we decided he would stay a while longer. Then just before his visitor visa was about to expire in December, we decided to get married and he would stay here instead of me going back to the UK with him.

That seemed satisfactory to him and he stamped all the papers with the "Approved" stamp, which relieved Chris and I both tremendously!! :dance: :dance: :dance:

I asked him if everything was cool and if Chris' AOS application had been approved (Just to make sure! LOL) and his demeanor changed back to friendly and he said "Yep! he's approved and will get notification in the mail soon".

He shook our hands and said it was nice to meet us, etc. And then we left with a huge sigh of relief

So, I have to say it wasn't a cake walk, that's for sure, but the outcome was good.

I think Chris' name-change and confusion about his having 1 daughter and saying he had 2 caused our problems, along with my income salary confusion.

Good luck to everyone who has upcoming interviews. I hope it's not as nerve-wracking as ours turned out to be.