At AOS Interview, is it common to interview you alone now

[kenDr 2]

So my wife just had her AOS Interview, and the IO called her name, we both get up, but IO says to me he only needs to see my wife for now. She goes in, gets asked some common questions (name, dob, marriage, etc), then the yes/no questions from i485, and then she gets told "we will let you know by mail in a few weeks". I did not even get to go in with her. isn't this weird, what do you guys think of this, is this good for us or bad in some way.

[hplusj 320]

Did your wife bring any documentation as supporting evidence, such as comingled finances or assets?  Any proof of creating accounts stateside, or updating residency such as adding to lease or getting a state ID/driver's license?  

 

There's a lot more to the picture than just asking a few questions.  I'd be curious about that first.

[kenDr 2]

36 minutes ago, hplusj said:

Did your wife bring any documentation as supporting evidence, such as comingled finances or assets?  Any proof of creating accounts stateside, or updating residency such as adding to lease or getting a state ID/driver's license?  

 

There's a lot more to the picture than just asking a few questions.  I'd be curious about that first.

 Forgot to mention the IO did ask if you have any suppoting evidence to add, she gave a bunch, like comingling of finances, joint taxes filed, pictures, affidavits, health insurance cards, auto policy, IO did not care for pictures but he took the rest papers and scanned them. My wife had her state ID as well that the IO looked at. My wife also had her picture taken and both hand index fingerprints taken after the oath. 

Edited March 26 by kenDr

[OldUser 8,543]

1 hour ago, kenDr said:

So my wife just had her AOS Interview, and the IO called her name, we both get up, but IO says to me he only needs to see my wife for now. She goes in, gets asked some common questions (name, dob, marriage, etc), then the yes/no questions from i485, and then she gets told "we will let you know by mail in a few weeks". I did not even get to go in with her. isn't this weird, what do you guys think of this, is this good for us or bad in some way.

If I-129F is approved, relationship is verified. I-485 is for determening admissabilty, so USC is not needed for this part.

Edited March 26 by OldUser

[alliejourney 83]

11 hours ago, OldUser said:

If I-129F is approved, relationship is verified. I-485 is for determening admissabilty, so USC is not needed for this part.

FWIW though, the appointment letter does specifically state that if your eligibility is based on marriage, the spouse must attend the interview, and it also specifically asks for you to bring supporting evidence of your relationship.

[OldUser 8,543]

1 hour ago, alliejourney said:

FWIW though, the appointment letter does specifically state that if your eligibility is based on marriage, the spouse must attend the interview, and it also specifically asks for you to bring supporting evidence of your relationship.

Yes in most cases spouse is required and present at the interview. But officer has authority to waive interview or switch things up a bit.

[kenDr 2]

In fact the IO can decline your interview if spouse does not attend, has happened in many cases. Can it also be that all the interviews that were waived but not yet approved before the new admin are now being done this way for efficiency. I don't remember reading many cases where just one spouse were called in unless it was a stokes interview. It was sitting outside scared for my wife as she is emotional not used to being interrogated. 

[OldUser 8,543]

50 minutes ago, kenDr said:

In fact the IO can decline your interview if spouse does not attend, has happened in many cases. 

That is true. USC must always attend, whether it's I-485, I-751 or N-400 under 3 year rule.

[AlaMike 234]

I went with my wife for her AOS interview and the same thing happened. Officer came out and requested to talk to her only. I thought this meant trouble but after a few minutes and she said only a few questions, she was approved. 

I guess this is not as uncommon as I thought.

[Elise&Joe 55]

I had my AOS interview in 2022. My wife was in the room, but apart from saying hello, she didn't need to say a word during the whole interview. When I had my N-400/I-751 interview this year, there were several other couples waiting. The US-citizen spouse was sent back to the waiting room for all of us that morning. 

 

I think with the current backlog, if it is a relatively straightforward case with no red flags, the IO can get through the interview much more quickly with just the interviewee in the room. Shaving 5 minutes of small talk and verification from each interview frees up a lot of time for their administrative work.

[JeanneAdil 6,786]

I think the important part is the officer knows you were there as you had to sign in and show ID to receptionist

the rest was up to the spouse to prove thru interview

 

My wife attended my N 400 and they called her in after my civics and written test and only asked her why we married in Moroc

[kenDr 2]

1 hour ago, AlaMike said:

I went with my wife for her AOS interview and the same thing happened. Officer came out and requested to talk to her only. I thought this meant trouble but after a few minutes and she said only a few questions, she was approved. 

I guess this is not as uncommon as I thought.

Was she told right after the interview if approved or not? We were only told to expect something in the mail sometime soon. Status online has changed to Case is being reviewed.

[kenDr 2]

10 hours ago, OldUser said:

Yes in most cases spouse is required and present at the interview. But officer has authority to waive interview or switch things up a bit.

and is it the officer who finally decides if the case is approved or not. It felt like he might of not been a senior officer. Does he have to get permission from a senior before sending us the approval. Just wondering how the system works.

[OldUser 8,543]

2 minutes ago, kenDr said:

and is it the officer who finally decides if the case is approved or not. It felt like he might of not been a senior officer. Does he have to get permission from a senior before sending us the approval. Just wondering how the system works.

Yes, sometimes an officer needs an approval from a higher ranking officer or field office director..