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| Los Angeles CA |  Review on March 3, 2008: |
Wes and Shiela
Rating:  | Review Topic: Adjustment of Status
We arrived at the Los Angeles USCIS office around 10:45am for our scheduled 11:05am appointment. We drove, so if you want to park, you're going to have to use the public parking across the street from the USCIS office building. It's an underground parking facility and not very cheap. We had to pay $13.25 for our 3 hour stay. Also, make sure you remember your parking space! It took us a half hour to find our way back to our car once we were done, this parking structure is very large, and it covers about 3 city buildings. We ended up in the underground police facility, the DMV emergency vehicle lot, and walked all over Level 2 before a kind soul explained that we were on the wrong level, and needed to go up to Level 1. Even then, it was a chore trying to find out where we parked.
We entered the USCIS building, and had to go through an airport security type checkpoint. Then we took the elevators to the 8th floor for our appointment.
The guard at the entrance to the AOS interview waiting area, asked us if we had a cell phone, but I told him I had left it in the car. I remember reading somewhere that they didn’t allow cell phones, but I can’t remember now where I read that. Anyway, many people brought their cell phones in with them, one guy even had his on his belt in plain site. But the guard was very strict, as while we were waiting, he approached several people who were using their phones, and very sternly (and loudly) told them that they could not use their phones inside the waiting area, and if they needed to do so they would have to step out. He was a little annoyed when talking to these people, because earlier he had made several public announcements about not using the cell phone, and these people must have thought his announcements applied to everyone else but them.
Anyway, we watched everyone who had come in before us (and what seemed like a few people who came in after us  ), get their names called and follow their interviewer into the interview office area in the back. About 12:15pm, my wife’s name was called and we followed our interviewer into his office.
Before we sat down, he swore us in. Then he opened up the paperwork, and started asking Shiela questions, silently and unmistakably making me aware that the questions were to be answered by Shiela and not me.
The questions were very basic:
- What is your address?
- What date did you enter the US?
- What date did you get married?
- Where and how did you meet your husband?
- Are you a terrorist? (and several, but not all, of the other “NO” questions in the I485 application.)
Some of the questions he checked off without asking because he knew the answer. For example, he asked Shiela if she remembered Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos, and then joked about it with us, because he knew that she was too young to even remember when they were exiled.
He was very disarming, chatty, and made us feel very comfortable. Then he asked to see:
- Shiela’s birth certificate,
- My birth certificate
- Shiela’s social security card,
- our marriage certificate.
- Shiela’s EAD and AP documents
- Shiela’s I-94
- (I don’t remember everything he asked for, but nothing unexpected. Everything he asked for was included on the
interview letter.)
He was very pleased that I had made copies of everything that he needed, and that he did not have to make copies himself. Then he said to me, “OK, show me your proof of valid marriage documents”.
I thought I was a little light with that, but he had no problems with what I showed him. I gave him:
- old bank statements and voided/canceled checks with both our names,
- credit cards in both our names,
- my company health plan insurance cards for Shiela and I,
- my beneficiary designation forms for my 401K, life insurance, and pension plans
- Airline boarding passes for trips we took within the US to visit family and friends.
Once again he was very pleased that I had copies of everything. He took copies of everything I gave him and put them in our file.
Then he asked to see our wedding photos, and thumbed through our photo album which we brought with us. He made little jokes about some of the pictures, and asked questions about some of the people in the photos.
After that he spent time just reviewing the file, writing a bunch of stuff down, all the while, making light conversation with us.
Then, he told us he was approving the petition, and then he gave what sounded like a standard speech... “Pursuant to Article 216…yada, yada, yada… I approve your petition for Lawful Permanent Residence, etc., etc.. “
Then he printed a letter describing the conditional permanent residence, and made us sign it to state that we understood we’d have to lift conditions 90 days before it expires. Next he printed off a “Welcome” letter, went over the contents of the letter with us, verified our mailing address, explained that he was keeping the EAD and AP documents, and sent us on our way.
To be honest, we were VERY nervous before the interview, sitting in the waiting area, but afterwards we both thought that the inerview went by very fast. The total time we spent in the interviewer’s office was about 35 minutes.
I guess we were lucky to get such a nice interviewing officer, I’ve heard that others weren’t so lucky. It’s completely luck of the draw.
The following morning, I received several emails from CRIS saying “Card Production Ordered” and "Notice mailed welcoming the new permanent resident".
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #2550