My interview in Chicago

[jw07 0]

Hey everyone

So,waited over an hour in the waiting room,and interview took an hour also. The officer we got was very thorough. She went through my entire application asking questions about everything. Asked us how we first met (online) where online (chatroom) which chatroom,etc. Asked when and how my husband proposed,how and when we were married,and since we had a civil ceremony and are planning a formal wedding,asked when and where. She wanted all our evidence,so we gave her our joint cell phone bill,credit cards, utlility bill and photos(which she kept all of them)My husband has been married before so she went through his divorce documents.

Then she told me she can't accept my birth certificate because she has never seen one like that before and doesn't believe it's valid. I was little confused about that- I'm from BC and didn't realize there was another type of birth certificate (which i now know) the one i have is the smaller version which doesn't have my parent's names on it. So i called the Ministry of Health in BC and ordered the "large version" of my birth certificate to be mailed to me asap.

I don't have a car yet but drive my husband's car occasionally- and he is covered on his insurance by me driving it even though my name technically isn't on it- so she asked that my name be offically put on the car insurance.He is co-signing on a lease for a car for me soon,and i wanted to wait to get my own insurance after i build a good driving history here and am over 25 (i am 24 and under 25 insurance is alot higher) Also, i have not yet gotten health insurance here because i plan on going to college where i might get on a fairly priced medical plan,or take a job that offers medical-vs getting on my husband's health insurance that would cost $200 more a month. Still,she asked that i be put on his health insurance. He was recently divorced before him and i married and so is still ironing out kinks with his life insurance policy in regard to changing the beneficaries (plus he has kids from that marriage which further complicates things)we have been in the process of changing that,however,she also stated that it needs to be done.

The kicker of it all is that my civil surgeon made a mistake on my medical form and didn't mark off that i had the tb test-which i did- and she said that is the most vital aspect of the medical,so she couldn't accept my 693 and i have to go back to the civil surgeon and have the form redone (why didn't i get an rfe for that?)

So,i have 30 days to produce all this or i'll be denied. I'm pretty upset mostly because i have applied at a college and needed to register in december to start first week of january-i am pre-accepted but can't register without resident status. Our officer said that upon receiving this additional evidence that she could approve me within a week or up to 90 days-which means most likely i'll miss the deadline to register for school in january and have to wait.

So, i didn't want to argue at the interview about the health and car insurance- i'm hoping that sending in my proper birth certificate,medical,and the documents stating me as a beneficiary on his life ins..will be enough?

If i am denied,what happens then aside from wanting to rip my hair out?

[Alt name 1]

So you entered on a promise to return, with intent to get married, overstayed, and filed AOS? You're probably getting off easy, i dont see that path anywhere on the USCIS or State Department website for legal immigration.

[zqt3344 21]

Hey everyone

So,waited over an hour in the waiting room,and interview took an hour also. The officer we got was very thorough. She went through my entire application asking questions about everything. Asked us how we first met (online) where online (chatroom) which chatroom,etc. Asked when and how my husband proposed,how and when we were married,and since we had a civil ceremony and are planning a formal wedding,asked when and where. She wanted all our evidence,so we gave her our joint cell phone bill,credit cards, utlility bill and photos(which she kept all of them)My husband has been married before so she went through his divorce documents.

Then she told me she can't accept my birth certificate because she has never seen one like that before and doesn't believe it's valid. I was little confused about that- I'm from BC and didn't realize there was another type of birth certificate (which i now know) the one i have is the smaller version which doesn't have my parent's names on it. So i called the Ministry of Health in BC and ordered the "large version" of my birth certificate to be mailed to me asap.

I don't have a car yet but drive my husband's car occasionally- and he is covered on his insurance by me driving it even though my name technically isn't on it- so she asked that my name be offically put on the car insurance.He is co-signing on a lease for a car for me soon,and i wanted to wait to get my own insurance after i build a good driving history here and am over 25 (i am 24 and under 25 insurance is alot higher) Also, i have not yet gotten health insurance here because i plan on going to college where i might get on a fairly priced medical plan,or take a job that offers medical-vs getting on my husband's health insurance that would cost $200 more a month. Still,she asked that i be put on his health insurance. He was recently divorced before him and i married and so is still ironing out kinks with his life insurance policy in regard to changing the beneficaries (plus he has kids from that marriage which further complicates things)we have been in the process of changing that,however,she also stated that it needs to be done.

The kicker of it all is that my civil surgeon made a mistake on my medical form and didn't mark off that i had the tb test-which i did- and she said that is the most vital aspect of the medical,so she couldn't accept my 693 and i have to go back to the civil surgeon and have the form redone (why didn't i get an rfe for that?)

So,i have 30 days to produce all this or i'll be denied. I'm pretty upset mostly because i have applied at a college and needed to register in december to start first week of january-i am pre-accepted but can't register without resident status. Our officer said that upon receiving this additional evidence that she could approve me within a week or up to 90 days-which means most likely i'll miss the deadline to register for school in january and have to wait.

So, i didn't want to argue at the interview about the health and car insurance- i'm hoping that sending in my proper birth certificate,medical,and the documents stating me as a beneficiary on his life ins..will be enough?

If i am denied,what happens then aside from wanting to rip my hair out?

D&N is right you are getting off easy. People that come to the USA on a tourist visa with the intent to get married just so they can jump ahead in the immigration line(not wait) and speed up their process or not have to pay the K1 or K3 fee and go directly to filing AOS, have broke USA immigration laws, and these people are clogging up everyone else's legal path to immigration for the rest of filers that follow the USCIS immigration law. Well looks like now you will get to spend money on an immigration attorney instead of a K1 or K3 which will no doubt cost you more.

[rika60607 215]

Hi jw07,

I am sorry for the angry mob that hangs out here and feels the need to reply to your post with no worthy advise

And I am sorry that I can not tell you what will happen if you get denied... I am sure you can find something in the old posts.

Your best bet is to gather everything this officer wants... then you will hopefully be approved!

Concerning your car insurance - normally insurance agencies will ask that either co-habitants name be put on the insurance or that they would be listed on insurance and "excluded" from driving. So while I am surprised that USCIS would be enforcing this rule... proper way to go is to give your name to the car insurance company and if it bumps up the rate - well, you do have a choice of excluding yourself and not driving until you are 25. You are not building any driving history without your name on car insurance anyway.

You may have to go with extra expense of medical insurance for a few months. Once you are in school, you can switch, right? Once again, I am surprised USCIS would care if you have insurance or not. I thought it was voluntary in the US?! May be she just wanted to see more evidence of your life together. May be it is worth sending in some additional evidence - like affidavits? Credit cards in both of your names?

Good luck,

Rika

[LaL 418]

D&N is right you are getting off easy. People that come to the USA on a tourist visa with the intent to get married just so they can jump ahead in the immigration line(not wait) and speed up their process or not have to pay the K1 or K3 fee and go directly to filing AOS, have broke USA immigration laws, and these people are clogging up everyone else's legal path to immigration for the rest of filers that follow the USCIS immigration law. Well looks like now you will get to spend money on an immigration attorney instead of a K1 or K3 which will no doubt cost you more.

Please stop spreading mis-information. I don't know what else people can tell you for you to understand that there is a legal route this way, but in some specific circumstances there could be issues of law breaking. Those specific issues entail only if you knowingly came here to get married and to stay & adjust. End of story.

[jw07 0]

Yeah, being told that i'm getting off easy or that how i did things was wrong,gets me a tad angry-but it's not my issue some people are mis-informed.

Sorry,but i'm from CANADA-which is in my opinion the best country in the world- i wasn't trying to jump through hoops for the "american dream"! Rather,i met a great man who happened to be american,dated for two years and during one of my many visits,i was surprised with a proposal.Oh,i should mention that he was still in his DIVORCE process at the time of my entry so i most definately planned to return home! Blah blah,i don't need to explain myself.

Anyway,yeah,i guess we will just have to to what they asked for,and if it becomes too much of a financial burden (health,car insurance) i will switch it later.

The officer DID tell us that she very much believes we are legitimate but that she just needs more sold evidence on paper before she submits the approval.

Edited November 22, 2007 by jw07

[Nyte 1]

Yeah, being told that i'm getting off easy or that how i did things was wrong,gets me a tad angry-but it's not my issue some people are mis-informed.

Sorry,but i'm from CANADA-which is in my opinion the best country in the world- i wasn't trying to jump through hoops for the "american dream"! Rather,i met a great man who happened to be american,dated for two years and during one of my many visits,i was surprised with a proposal.Oh,i should mention that he was still in his DIVORCE process at the time of my entry so i most definately planned to return home! Blah blah,i don't need to explain myself.

Anyway,yeah,i guess we will just have to to what they asked for,and if it becomes too much of a financial burden (health,car insurance) i will switch it later.

The officer DID tell us that she very much believes we are legitimate but that she just needs more sold evidence on paper before she submits the approval.

Its all about the intention. Best of luck to you guys; I really hope you are able to get things together and get that LPR status quickly!

[athena_ny 1]

I don't have much to say regarding the issues you encountered at the interview, but I'm sorry people who are uninformed feel the need to jump on people - it IS legal to marry on a tourist visa (or no visa, as Canadians don't need them) and file the I-130 with the AOS package as long as there is no intent.

My husband was here for 4 years before he got married, 3 before he even met me - and what we did was legal too, overstay is forgiven (LEGALLY!) through marriage to a US citizen. Oh, so it unauthorized work.

If it was illegal, there would be no approvals for these types of situations. I'd advise people to get their heads out of their rear ends and focus on their own cases and not anyone else's unless they have something to say to HELP people, but that could get me in trouble.

Good luck, JW!

[rebeccajo 14]

Adjudicating officers need paperwork in their file to back up their decision that the relationship is bonafide. They can look at you, talk to you, watch your body language, etc. at the interview and come up with their own conclusions. But they are in a paperwork pushing business and they need something concrete to hang their hat on. I don't think the AO's requests are unjustified in this instance.

[jw07 0]

Hi everyone

So I have submitted the evidence that was requested at my interview (everything but the health insurance- it would be insanely expensive for me to be put on my husbands plan,so i'm going to get my own)

My question is, what happens if I am denied? I don't see why I would be, but these things aren't gauranteed. I just want to be prepared for that possible outcome. Would I have to leave the country in a set amount of time? Stay and appeal or re-apply?

I took a risk by registering at a school (not a college)and unless I receive an approval by jan 3rd, I'll be paying a portion of my tuition with the risk of a denial and won't be able to get my money back from the school. Yes,I should wait but given the chances are greater that I will be approved, I wanted to register for January classes instead of having to wait another 6 months for the next registration period.

I'm trying to think positive about it but was just wondering what happens next IF I am denied? Thanks....