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| San Francisco CA |  Review on December 10, 2009: |
Ellsinlove
Rating:  | Review Topic: Adjustment of Status
Our I/O was super nice (& great to chat with)! We were called in right on time for our 9:05 interview appointment time. Before we could have a seat she had us both stand, raise our right hands & do the oath to tell the truth. We sat & the first thing she asked my husband who is from Jamaica was, "How's the weather?" and he of course answered, "COLD!" which made her laugh. She explained she was a Florida gal so she knew what he was going through coming from a warm place to a cold place. She then explained that there would be two portions to the interview, the first would be HIS interview & all about him, the second, about our marriage. God was smiling on us this day & we had the good fortune to get her because since her husband is also from the Caribbean, she already had a good understanding of some of the things we were telling her. The very first thing she wanted was his EAD & his California ID. We handed that over & then she proceeded to go over the information on the I-485 (as seems pretty standard during the interviews) & asked about his address which he knew except for the zip code. Again, seeing that she knows how things work in the Caribbean (many people don't have specific home addresses or things like zip codes), she was very understanding that he didn't have that memorized yet. He did struggle with a few of the answers regarding dates (even his own birthday) & she allowed me to rephrase or re-ask the question(s) so that he'd understand & answer correctly without me giving him the answer. He was VERY nervous at first & she asked him if he wanted to step outside for a minute to calm his nerves & he declined but asked her to take time with him. Another question he struggled on was WHEN he entered the country & she even gave him a choice of a few months. She said, "June, July or August?" and he quickly came back with, "I got married in August, I can't forget that!" She laughed a little & I said, "I know you know this, just think a minute....did you get here in June, July, or August?" and he finally blurted out, "OH, JUNE!"  She then proceeded through the information about me & his daughter & I provided her with a copy of his daughter's birth certificate. Next came the long list of questions about any past crimes or future intent (which is kind of funny because even if someone had intent, I wonder who would really admit it...gotta love the U.S. gov!). He answered NO to everything & wasn't even sure what a 'communist' was when that question came up. She had marked a few additions/changes to his form & once that review was done, explained what they were & he signed the stamp she put on the form acknowledging those changes. During that initial review, he told where his parents were & explained he'd recently met his father who he'd never known since we discovered he lived in the same state we were in & not even that far. Somehow, we also got to talking about the things he misses & most of that was the FOOD! It seemed like we spent at least as much time chatting with her about the island life as we did interviewing. We even had to be mindful of the time we were taking knowing she had interviews waiting because we were enjoying talking to her. After his interview, she then began to ask us about our marriage, directing many of the questions to him. He answered where we got married & I confirmed & ever-so-slightly expanded on the info. She asked what our living situation was & if anyone lived with us. I explained we rented an apartment & when she asked again who was in our household I answered, "Just the two of us...and some raccoons [that like to visit]." She asked what I did for work & asked if he was working & we explained he was going to school & told her about my job & that I went to college part-time & almost done with my AA. She even asked if we were trying to have kids yet & we said not yet but will before I get much older. It was nice when she told us about her two young children & that she is an older mom...I told her that was reassuring. Finally, we got to the part where she asked if there were any documents I'd like to submit. (The remainder is coming tomorrow....just realized it's 5:00 & I have to get to class!)
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #5379