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| Seattle WA |  Review on December 12, 2018: |
PedroDaGr8
Rating:  | Review Topic: Adjustment of Status
Our interview process:
Arrived at the USCIS office 30 min before our scheduled time, went through security, and got in line at the Triage Desk. Got a number like the DMV and went upstairs to the waiting area. FYI, based on my experience, sit in the waiting area on the right if you can, not the portion on the left by the restrooms. Most interviewers come from doors on the right side and a couple people on the left side didn’t hear their number being called.
Our number was not called until around 45 min after our scheduled time. Our interviewer asked us a few basic questions and confirmed our IDs. He then asked for a few basic documents: birth certificate from my wife, passport or birth certificate from me, and a certified copy of our marriage certificate (he also asked if he could keep it). At that time, I also volunteered the certificate and divorce documents from my previous marriage. He said that while he didn’t need them, it was a nice to directly confirm the submitted copies in our case file against the originals. From there, he then put us under oath. His first question comment was “The validity of the relationship was clearly established during the K-1 process, do you have any additional evidence to submit?†Based on my research online, the USCIS seems to use a few different categories of evidence to demonstrate validity; as such, I organized all of my evidence into these categories: comingling of finances, cohabitation, communications, co-mingling of personal lives/pictures. We submitted evidence from each of these categories. Interestingly he only wanted a few pictures stating, “I try not to overwhelm the case file with loads of picturesâ€. Of the pictures we provided, he focused in particular on ones containing each of us with the others parents and pictures from our parents meeting each other, again asking if he could keep the pictures (we agreed he could). As for other evidence provided, we communicate regularly via Google Hangouts, so I provided a number of chat logs and screenshots from Hangouts showing us communicating regular boring typical relationship stuff. I also included some screen captures showing the sheer number of chats. For finances I provided insurance documents, shared credit cards, utility bills, etc. Lastly, for cohabitation, we provided leases with both names on them and evidence that we both receive mail at the same address (USPS Informed Delivery). For comingling of lives, besides the pictures, we also provided a bunch of FB posts where my wife tagged me. Once this was complete, he asked some more basic questions: why did I split from my previous wife, how we first met, he asked my wife what is the name of a close friend of mine who lives here, etc. As we finished up, he asked if there was anything else we wanted to provide. When I asked if he wanted my current tax return, he stated it was not necessary as the financial evidence was more than enough. Additionally, my wife did not need to provide anything related to vaccination or medical exam.
When finished, we were not told whether we were approved or not. He gave us a sheet indicating that USCIS was issuing a continuance for additional processing. Frustratingly, this sheet had been printed out before the interview started. He stated that this is pretty much standard right now and that they had all of the documents needed at this time. If they discovered a document was missing they would issue an RFE. He said from there, if approved then we would be notified via mail and in the unlikely event we are denied, the letter would inform us on how to appeal. Furthermore, the continuation gave them up to 120 days to render a verdict. He said truthfully it is seldom that long, but that sometimes they do need that entire time. I was a bit crestfallen at this news, as being on hold indefinitely sucks. I asked him how things went and he stated “Honestly, this was a very basic and straightforward interviewâ€. I interpreted that as either a very good thing or very bad thing. We were rather blah about it afterwards, more worried about the wait. Turns out this wasn’t necessary! Last-night, about 13 hours after the interview, between 12:50am and 1:30am we received no less than SEVEN SMS messages letting us know that our case status has been updated. Checked on egov.uscis.com and sure enough we were approved! The status now states “New Card is Being Produced†I expect the “Welcome to America†Letter to come in the next week, with the card a few days behind it.
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #25198