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| Oklahoma City OK |  Review on June 6, 2005: |
Cassie
Rating:  | Review Topic: General Review
OK, here we go, as much as I can remember 
We went through security (show the ID, show the appointment letter, and remember to keep all electronics home or in the car)
You then go straight ahead into the large room, and hang a left, and drop the appointment letter through a window into an orange basket, and take a seat. It took me a minute to remember that this is also the room where you wait for your EAD appointment.
Sit tight. We got there 10 minutes late, and waited for another 20 minutes or so.
Your interviewer will open the door on the left, call your name, and then guide you through the maze of offices out back. We had Anthony, who was very efficient, and friendly--very easy to get along with, IMHO.
Before we sat down, we did the whole "swear to tell the truth" oath.
Next is IDs -- OK driver's liscense for Jerry, my passport and EAD for myself.
I was then asked for our address and phone numbers, which Anthony checked against what was in my file.
He asked for my parents' names. Since my parents both go by their middle names, I had to clarify which ones he wanted (their first names).
He then asked for my birthdate, which we found was reported incorrectly on his printout -- the year was wrong. I noticed this during my fingerprinting appointment in Wichita and reported it to the staff member who did my fingerprints, who notated it on the forms. Must not have been noticed. :huh: So Anthony made corrections on his sheets.
He asked us both if we had been married previously, or if either one of us had children from previous relationships. Jerry was married before, but Anthony did not ask to see the divorce decree again.
He then confirmed with Jerry that he still worked at the same employer as was listed in his affadavit of support (yes) and at the same salary. Since Jerry had received a raise since we filed, Anthony made a note of that in the Affadavit of Support. At that point I offered the updated employer letter to him, which he took.
He then asked for a copy of our 2004 income tax filing, and copies of Jerry's W-2s.
He then asked me the obligatory yes/no questions list found in the AOS application.
Then he said to me "Do you have some bonafides of the ongoing relationship?" Jerry started laughing and said "Man, you're in trouble!" I said, "Of course!" Anthony laughed and said "Uh oh, an organized one!" (thank you fellow VJ'ers! :P )
So I showed him:
--a selection of wedding pictures (didn't look too much at those)
--a selection of pictures of us together and with various family members since the wedding (I think he went through most of those, but didn't ask us anything specific about them)
--statements of our joint bank accounts -- he confirmed that it was for both chequing and savings. Since I forgot to make photocopies of those, he took one of them (either the earliest or the last, can't remember) since we knew that we could get a replacement copy fairly easily)
--the one bill we have in both our names (DISH Network). He kept the original "welcome to DISH Network" notice, since I forgot to make a copy of it.
--a document confirming Jerry was the beneficiary on my life insurance (took the original again)
--my medical insurance card with both our names on it, and my card from my doctor
--a copy of my bank statement for my Canadian bank account, which is now in my married name and sent to my Tulsa address. He asked why I still had a Canadian account (student loan payments), and once he confirmed that it wasn't a joint account with Jerry, he handed the sheet back to me.
--he asked if we had a lease agreement or mortgage agreement in both our names, which we didn't have. Jerry explained why and he seemed satisfied with that.
he then says to me "This all looks good, but we have a bit of a problem today, I won't be able to officially approve you. We're missing part of your file."
:blink:
I guess I had a "Oh crap" look on my face, because he was quick to explain that the file they had in OKC was what they considered a "temporary" file, that only had the paperwork that had been dealt with in OKC. It had to be reconciled with the paperwork at the Service Centre (in our case, TSC) and reviewed before official AOS approval. Once Anthony tracks down where my file is (apparently it could also be hiding somewhere in OKC) and gets everything together, once I am approved he would send me a letter stating such. He couldn't say for officially sure that I was approved (so he can't get in trouble in the future if something happens), but I didn't leave the interview thinking I wasn't approved, if you know what I mean. 
He then took the original I-94 stub out of my passport, and left in the one I got when I used my AP at JFK airport in May. He also let me keep my Advanced Parole papers, in case I needed them in the meantime.
And that's that! No stamp, no nuthin'. *sigh*
He told me about lifting the conditions in two years time, and to keep collecting proof of relationship in the meantime (examples he mentioned were : if we have children, have copies of their birth certificates; if we go on trips to keep itineraries, ticket stubs, pictures, etc.; correspodence)
Oh, some info I picked up while talking to him -- I didn't even have to ask specifically for you, Tanja!
Once you get the official letter of approval, you are approved, and that's that. Once the letter is sent to you, they either send the file back to Texas or let Texas know you're approved, because Texas generates the official permanent residency card, not OKC. It used to take them up to a year to get the greencard out, hence the stamp in the passport, but Anthony estimated it takes about 6 weeks to get the card now. If you feel kinda leery about about not having the stamp, he told me to make an INFOPASS appointment, bring that notice and the approval letter to OKC, and they will do the stamp in the passport. if you're ok with not having the stamp, your approval letter will suffice in the meantime.
One more thing -- I remarked at the end "well, I guess I have to wait some more for my Oklahoma driver's liscense". he asked why, and I told him about how adamant the Jenks office was about not letting me have my DL until permanent residency. He said, "yeah, Oklahoma is a big stickler on that one, but I am surprised they wouldn't let you have it, since you have your EAD." I told him I didn't bother since it would only be a temporary lisence anyways, I'd wait until PR status. He agreed that was probably the wisest thing to do. So I'm not crazy for thinking OK DL people are nutty
All in all, a very good experience, despite the wait for an official answer OKC has been, for the most part, very good to deal with, and the interview itself was not bad at all. Oh, just make sure you make copies of everything, except pictures
Edited to add:
**OH I forgot one thing: after he asked for IDs, he took my right index fingerprint (ink not digital) and printed it on the front and back of a card, and had me sign both front and back as well.
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #186