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| San Francisco CA |  Review on July 9, 2009: |
Winterjade_SF
Rating:  | Review Topic: Adjustment of Status
Appt. was at 10am. We got to the reception area on the 2nd floor of 630 Sansome about 5 minutes 'til 10am - puppy troubles in the morning (wouldn't 'potty'), unusual traffic to the interview and a line outside the building all contributed to our almost being a bit late.
We were called in at around 10:45am.
Our adjudicating officer left the room for a moment to make copies of our IDs (CA drivers' licenses) and our attorney turned to us and said, "Don't be intimidated by her. Just answer her questions. She has a reputation for being a pain in the butt." "Great," we thought...
When she returned, she actually turned to my husband, the US Citizen, and started asking him questions first. She actually ended up questioning him more than she did me... we both think it was because his family -- younger brother and father -- has a bit of a police record (minor incidents, mostly involving his younger brother). She asked where his parents were, whether he had 2 siblings, where they lived, etc. She asked if his family knew we were married and he responded that they did not. He explained that we got married really quickly after his proposal on Christmas, 2006 (since we wanted to get the immigration process started right away) and that there was not enough time to warn his family in Florida to come out to California. He said that we were planning on having our big wedding on May 4, 2008, and that they would come then. If we had told them that we were getting married so quickly, they would have been hurt at not being able to come to the ceremony because they could not afford a trip across the country on such short notice. She asked us if we had any evidence on planning for the upcoming wedding. Though we had put down a deposit for the venue, we did not have confirmation with us, but said we could send it today.
She then turned to me and started asking me questions about how and when I came to the US (I've been here since 1984, came on a visitors' visa, switched to L-2, then F-1), where my parents were, etc. She asked me all the "no" questions. She asked when I moved in with my husband (it was March, 06, when we were still dating). Then she asked for my passports and looked through all of them (I have about 4 expired and one current one). I imagine she was checking to see whether I had left the country since 1984 (no stamps since my arrival in 1984). She took my I-194 and the papers documenting when I switched from an L-2 visa to F-1.
She then asked to see evidence of our marriage.
We gave her:
A copy of our lease
Joint bank statements: checking, savings + CD
PG&E bills with our names
Evidence of our most recent vacation - Hawaii in May, 2007 (plane boarding passes & reservations)
We told her that we had letters from friends and she indicated that she didn't take letters but would like to see pictures. I handed over our photo album of our Hawaii vacation, as well a 3 other sets of photos - some pre-dating, some while we were dating, and some after our marriage. She took a couple from each set.
After all this she said that she was "on the fence" about us, and wanted to separate us to question us further. She turned to our attorney and asked whether we preferred to be separated today or to come back for another interview. We all agreed that we wanted to get the interview resolved today and that we agreed to be separated. She escorted my husband out of the room; in the meantime, my attorney muttered to me - "This is unbelievable! Don't be intimidated, just answer her questions."
She asked me whether we had been together the night before, what we had for dinner, what we wore to bed. At that point, I said, "Oh, he's not going to remember what we wore to bed." "Even from when you woke up this morning?" "He falls asleep before me and I wake before he does to take our puppy out for a walk." "You have a pet? What's her name?" "Harlow." More questions about our recent birthdays, what we did/ gave each other.
She then escorted me out and called my husband back in.
After a while my husband came back for me and, as we walked back to her office, whispered, "We're approved!"
Back in the office, she said, "He did well. I'm approving you today. You should get a welcome letter in a few days, and your card in a few weeks. Then, you'll be able to go wherever in the world you want."
And that was that! We all shook hands, and walked out of the office, all smiles. *Whew*
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I want to thank VisaJourney and most especially all the awesome folks in this forum - March filers - for all the great support and information! Best wishes for your own speedy approvals, and congratulations to those who have already received good news!
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #4710