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| Sacramento CA |  Review on July 17, 2012: |
yayimlegal
Rating:  | Review Topic: Adjustment of Status
This site has been very helpful to me. I wanted to be sure to write up my own experience to help anyone else going through this stressful period.
My last entry was on a tourist visa in 2004 from the UK. I have been out of status since 2005. However I have lived here since the age of 4, when my parents moved our family here on an E-2 visa. I met my now husband in July 2010 through friends and we got married in Feb 2012. We sent our paperwork (I-485, I-131, I-864, G-325) in the last week of April and had our interview yesterday July 16th. We are both in our mid-20s and of different races, I am Indian and he is Filipino and White.
We prepared insanely for this interview. I had a large stack of paperwork prepared to show proof of our bonafide marriage. Here is a partial list:
3 months of checking account statements
3 months of joint credit card statements (to show activity on card)
Paystubs from both husband and joint-sponser
10 pages of photos printed out on office paper with notations written about
where,when and with who pictures were taken
Proof that I am step-son's emergency contact for his school
car insurance
several letters from rental company
4 months of cell phone printouts from when we first started dating showing
us calling each other every day
Wedding album
Both of our college diplomas (we went to the same college)
I took more things, but the IO took a lot of the stuff I provided so I can't quite remember what else there was.
Our interview was at 1:30pm. We arrived at 12:50, but my husband had to run back to the car to drop off our cell phones (no camera phones allowed). We got up to the waiting area around 1:15. We put our interview letter in a window slot and waited. The waiting room had about 10 other couples. A lot of people were wearing jeans/t-shirts. My husband I were dressed in slacks/dress clothes. We felt more confident because of how we were presenting ourselves.
My name was called around 1:40 and we both went with the IO to her office. She was a middle-aged, blonde, Russian woman with a bit of an accent. At this point I was very nervous, even though our marriage is real and I knew we were prepared. My heart rate was accelerated and my palms were sweaty. I was terrified they were going to separate us and I was sure I would faint if that happened.
Thankfully we were kept together. After we were sworn in the questions began.
The IO was very business-oriented, not overly friendly, so it was intimidating at first. She began with biographic information.
My husband (the USC) was asked my name, date of birth, place of birth, my parents names, whether he knew if I was married previously, if I have any children.
I was asked the same questions as my husband. She went through the paperwork with a red pen and marked off each time we said the correct answer. (Everything was correct).
She then said, "Tell me your love story." I was so nervous that I didn't realize she wanted a romantic story, I just stated the facts of how we met, got engaged and married. My husband saved us by giving more details, such as why we were interested in one another, what we do for fun, etc.
I then pulled out our wedding album and she began looking at the stack of documents I had brought. There was so much evidence that I had provided that the IO only briefly glanced over everything. After looking at the pile she says to me, "You are very well prepared!" This made me breathe a sigh of relief, I was calming down at this point as the interview was going well. The officer mentioned how she thought my husband and I were a strange match, as we are different ethnicity's. I then explained to her we are both very Americanized and our cultural backgrounds have no effect on our marriage.
She told me she was done with all the evidence and I began to put everything away. When she said "Do you have any questions?" I realized the interview was done. My husband and I both asked about when we would know the final answer. She told us she must review everything at the end of the day before she can say, and to check online in 48 hours. At this point she was smiling and making jokes with us, so I asked one more time if she can give me any idea of whether it is a yes or no. She said "99 percent yes, only 1 percent no."
The whole interview was over with in 20 minutes. We had lunch, and as soon as we got home I obsessively checked online. My husband told me I was being a little crazy to check so soon.
Only an hour and a half after the interview my I-485 status said "Card/Document Production". I have never been so happy and relieved.
Good luck to anyone else in this process!
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #10018