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Detroit MI | Review on September 16, 2008: | sweetpiano
Rating: | Review Topic: Adjustment of Status
A few logistics aspects first. We were scheduled for 10 am, and when we got there (around 9:30), the parking lot was full. Across the gate to their facility is another parking lot which charges $7 to park (nice of the US government to provide parking for applicants ). Anyway, we were not going to pay that, so we went back to the intersection, there is a Walgreens on the corner, we parked in their parking lot and walked back to the USCIS office.
The interview section is first on the right, immediately after going through the gate, and once inside, we gave the interview appointment letter to the officer. She inspected it very carefully to make sure our appointment time was close. My understanding is that they will turn you away and tell you to come back later if you show up too early, so don't worry about that, 15-20 minutes before should be plenty. Once in the waiting area, we saw some people being told to come back because they were too early. Another thing (for those who travel from a different town ), the Walgreens on the corner has public restrooms you can use before going to the interview; we were not sure if there are bathrooms at the office.
We treated this interview as a time to "put your best food forward", so we dressed presentably. However, we were very surprised by how sloppily most of the waiting people there were dressed, T-shirts, jeans etc.
We were called about 20 minutes after our appointment time. The lady officer was very nice, led us to her cubicle and swore us in. Regarding the interview itself, here is my conclusion: if they can tell from your file and documents which you submitted at the time of application that your marriage is bona fide, then they will only ask questions to verify the information on the applications. This happened to us (we have been married for 2 years now): the whole thing took only 15 minutes, she only verified information on our applications (name, DOB, place of birth, names of parents etc.), asked me those Yes/No questions in Part 3 of the I-485, then asked if we have any more documents to show we are married - we gave her copies of our new lease, recent bank statements, renters insurance policy, health insurance cards and joint tax return. She briefly looked at these and did not even want to look at the tons of pictures we brought. It felt like she was doing that just to go through the necessary procedures, and not because she needed to be convinced we were truly married.
But if they have doubts about your relationship, or you have been married recently, they will definitely ask about your relationship (how you met, describe your spouse etc.)
The question about me adjusting from a visitor visa and my intentions at entry did not even come up.
At the end, she said everything looks good and that she was approving our case. She said she knows we are a week away from our 2nd marriage anniversary, which means I was being approved conditionally (2 yr card). Bummer I politely asked if she would be open to delay approving our case until after our 2nd anniversary so I can get the 10 year card, but she explained that they usually delay approval only if they have to perform more checks, which was not our case. We were "approvable then and there" so she had no choice but to do that and issue a conditional residence card. She explained that it is very probable that we would not even be called in for an interview at the time of lifting of conditions. Oh well, I'm glad to be done!
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