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| Miami FL |  Review on August 23, 2007: |
docchanka
Rating:  | Review Topic: Adjustment of Status
We had our interview on Monday, Aug. 20, 07 after USCIS received our paperwork on April 5, 07.
It was a painless experience and lasted 10-15min. Our IO turned out to be a Chinese immigrant which sacred me a bit (not that I have anything against Chinese people) but he was all right: not unpleasant, not super nice, just neutral and focused on his job, rather quiet, asking few questions, hardly looking at us, seemed as if he just wanted to get it over with. It felt as if he was so not interested in what was going on!
At first he asked us to show him our IDs, then we swore to tell the truth. As it turned out later, there wasn't much to talk about, though. Next, we were asked where we met and to give him originals (just to see them I guess, he did not keep them and hardly even looked at the papers) of our marriage certificate, birth certificates (both mine and my husband's who is a US citizen), passports (both), my SSN.
He asked if we had any photos and after a very brief flipping through the photo album pages, he asked if we had any copies that he could keep: "You can give me ones that you don't like, I just need about 10 photos" I guess I missed the only funny part of the interview - I did hear "10 photos" but did not hear the first part and my husband told me about it after we left.
Then, he told us to give him some evidence of a shared bank account etc. So we gave him a copy of our shared checking account, savings account, credit card account (we also made photocopies of both of our credit cards which he wanted as well after we asked), apartment contract with both our names on it, evidence that we both pay for it, proof of car purchase (both names), shared car insurance and don't remember what else, maybe that's it.
Then, the IO asked me the following questions without even looking at me:
spell your first and last name
when and where were you born
what is your current address (I skipped the zip code because he looked sooooo bored with me telling him the address but he asked me about it specifically: "What is your zip code?")
what is your cell number
what are your parents' names
when did you last enter the US
when did you enter the US prior to that
have you ever been arrested
Other than that he was very quiet (we were too so the office atmosphere felt a bit awkward), just flipping through our paperwork we filed in April - back and forth - this either felt like it was taking forever or it actually was the longest part. Sometimes it seemed that the whole flipping didn't make much sense - it was hard to say whether he was looking for something or just trying to look serious and busy.
At the end he asked me to give him my Advance Parole document, I-94 and work permit since "you won't need it anymore". After that, he said: "I am going to approve you" (which at first sounded like a conditional statement) and stamped my passport with a red stamp which says that I am a permanent resident now and that I can work in the US. The officer also added that I should receive my temporary GC in 1-2 months - temporary because we've been married for less than 2 years - and asked if we had any questions. Since we didn't, we could leave.
As I mentioned at the beginning, I can't say anything negative or super positive about the interview except for it was short and painless. We got approved and that's what matters after all!
Do not get stressed out, it's not worth it and you cannot think clearly when necessary. My husband was stressed out, I wasn't - I think because I had dealt with the US embassy and immigration officers at the airport multiple times. We were prepared as long paperwork goes - we had a lot of documents and letters (to each other, people's letters addressed to both of us) and we went over some questions we found on the web but that's it. Let us know if you need more information.
We wish you all good luck! 
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #1953