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| Chicago IL |  Review on January 11, 2011: |
Leenie
Rating:  | Review Topic: Adjustment of Status
Today my husband had his AOS (from a K-1 visa) interview in Chicago. Quick background info: he arrived in the USA at the end of June, 2010, we were married September 10th, and we sent out AOS package October 6th. I’m the petitioner.
Our interview appointment was for 10 AM. We took the Metra from the suburbs to Union Station and walked the short distance to 101 W. Congress Parkway. The building is at the corner of Clark and Congress Parkway and has the address on it in big letters, so it’s hard to miss. We arrived at about 9 AM, went through the standard security on the first floor, then took the escalator up to the second floor. There is a receptionist’s window immediately at the top of the escalator where we gave our appointment letter. We then received a little buzzer (restaurant style) to let us know when we should come up to “door 2” to meet the immigration officer who would conduct our interview. The waiting area was pretty full of other couples and groups of people, but there was plenty of seating.
At about 10:15, our buzzer started buzzing and flashing red lights, so we walked over to door 2 to wait for our IO to come. He retrieved us from outside and led us down a couple of white-walled hallways to his small office. As soon as we got there, we raised our right hands and were sworn to tell the truth during the interview, then we sat down.
The IO asked for my driver’s license or state ID and my husband’s driver’s license or state ID. My husband doesn’t have either, and we did get chided by the IO for not having applied for a state ID yet. He said it’s important to have it to be properly identified. I got a little nervous since he was pretty firm on this point. I almost thought we were in trouble, but we weren’t. He took my husband’s passport as identification and asked for his EAD, which we had already received, and my husband’s social security card, if he had it (he did). He verified our documents against our huge case file and took the I-94 out of my husband’s passport. He returned all our other items (including the EAD). He asked my husband to verify his birth date.
Next, the IO verified my employment status – if I still worked at the same place I had listed on the I-864. He asked for my most recent pay stub only, which I provided. I was the sole sponsor for my husband’s application. At this point, he asked my husband the standard questions such as “Have you ever overstayed your visa,” etc etc. The answer to all of those questions was definitely “no”!
Then, things got a little more relaxed as the IO led us into a conversation about our relationship. We both responded to his questions unless he specifically referred to either of us. He asked me if I had met my husband’s parents and what their names were, and so I told him. He asked us how we had met, and we explained we met online and met in person a little while later. Basically gave a brief story of our relationship’s beginnings. My husband told him when and how we got engaged (on a beach in Ireland), which led the IO to comment “So you’ve taken some trips together.” We said yes and offered up our pictures. We told him about our trips to Ireland and Japan together and shared pictures from a giant album we had brought which covered our entire relationship from the beginning to the proposal. He asked for the dates of both of these trips, then he glanced through the entire album of 200 pictures. I thought it was nice that he took the time to look at the whole album.
The IO then asked about our wedding. He asked the date, and at that time, I also offered up our wedding album, which I had designed on Shutterfly.com and had printed with a hardbound cover. He looked through the entire wedding album of about 20 pages. We gave him about four loose pictures from the wedding of our families and the ceremony for our file. He asked us to identify the other people in the pictures, and he wrote down on the back of the pictures who they were. I also gave the IO a single sheet of paper with pictures we printed at home. There were a few pictures from our honeymoon, one from Halloween, and a couple from Christmas and my company’s holiday party. He also wrote down the people in these pics and kept the sheet for our file.
Finally, the IO asked us about other financial proof of our relationship. He asked if we rent or own the place we live in, and we told him we rent it. He asked for a photocopy of the lease, which we gave him. He asked if we had joint bank accounts and for the statements, so I gave him all the statements we had since we added my husband to my account. He asked for any insurance documents, and I gave him coverage letters from my health insurance showing that both of us are insured. I also gave him some EOBs from my husband’s recent trip to the dentist and a letter from my employer showing that I added my husband as the beneficiary of my life insurance through my employer. The IO didn’t ask for it directly, but I tossed in a photo copy of our joint credit card to show the same account number (our credit card statements only have my name on them). We didn’t have any joint utility bills, cell phone contracts, or anything like that. We had tons of greeting cards from the wedding and the holidays, but the IO didn’t ask for them, and I didn’t offer them. And, of course, it’s not quite tax season yet, so we hadn’t filed a joint tax return yet. He didn’t even ask about that.
After putting ALL of this stuff in our file with a two hole punch and some Acco Fasteners, the IO told us he was recommending my husband’s AOS for approval. He did not stamp my busband’s passport, did not take his EAD or AP, and did not mention removal of conditions. But we have VJ to help us with ROC, so we didn’t even ask him about it! The IO said they have to run a couple more final background checks but as long as everything is clear, the green card should be coming in a couple of weeks.
Our interview finished right around 10:40, and we walked back to the train station. Once we got done with the official stuff and started chatting about our relationship, the IO was super nice and personable. I thought it was pleasant that he actually gave a hoot about what we had to say about our relationship and the pictures and stuff we brought in. It was even kind of fun!! A pleasant experience overall.
(updated on January 11, 2011)
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #7045