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| Atlanta GA |  Review on March 25, 2011: |
AnD
Rating:  | Review Topic: Adjustment of Status
Since this site has been a major source of information for me and all the amazing people on here have helped ease my stress and helped me figure things out, i wanted to share my experience of the Atlanta office for AOS from B2 visa.
First, we arrived early, as did a lot ofother people for our 8:45am appointment. The parking lot was pretty crowded already and i spotted 4 other cars with people waiting. I'm guessing that's because everyone was finishing up their starbucks coffee (from around the corner!), since no liquids are allowed into the building.
Husband and i tried to dress business casual, ie he wore khakis and a button down, but no tie or jacket. I wore a nice shirt and slacks with heels. I saw the whole range of outfits, from full on black tie suit, to jeans and tshirt, so i dont know if it matters. I figure, if you want a greencard, you should make an effort!
Anyway, we put our stuff through the xray, then walked around the corner to the left to the reception desk. We were given a numbered ticket and told to go sit on the third floor and wait until called.
The immigration officer actually called us at 8:40 am, so good thing we were early! He seemed very matter of fact and business like at first, guiding us to the interview room. This was his office and he had a ton of files and papers piled up behind him. Before we could sit down, he told us to remain standing and made us swear an oath to tell the truth.
Then we sat down and he told us there would be a two part interview, first part to confirm facts, second part to verify the relationship.
He asked me to give him any additional documentation i wanted him to have, and not to bother explaining anything. I wasnt preparedfor this, as i thought he would ask for specific documents, like marriage license or lease, so i scrambled through the two thick folders we schlepped with us, to pull out whatever i thought would substantiate our relationship. I didnt have copies, so he kept the originals. I pulled out our current lease, a cable repair statement showing both our names and address, some purchaseinvoices showing my last name and address, a bank statement and a savings account statement, both with both our names.
While i was doing this, my husband was asked to confirm his date of birth, address and basic info off the g325a form. Oh, also, he asked to see all IDs, which for me was two drivers licenses (one from my home country, one expired from the US), my passport, military dependent ID and for him, passport and military ID. He went to photocopy those.
Then he asked me all the questions fromthat checklist on the AOSform, ie have you ever been arrested, areyou a communist, trained in weapons or a terrorist. My husband kept laughing, but i tried to stay serious. I mean,they have to ask, right? Might seem ridiculous for most applicants, but who knows!
He checked all of them off, confirmed we had no kids, asked about first marriage dates. Then he asked us the relationship questions, where did we first meet?where was our first date? When? When did you get married? (he took turns asking my husband and me).
Then he looked through our photos and commented that we had travelled a lot. He gave us back the photos, but kept the documents. He aslo kept my i-94 form.
He told us what the next step would be, the n400 form and whem to file it. He said to expect the greencard within 4-6 weeks because he was approving us today!!
We had some specific questions about moving and such because of military, and we ended up chatting a bit about what my husband did for work.
And that's it... For now! So thrilled!!! I was really nervous, but the IO was nice and we had nothing to hide, so we were approved. Yay!!!
We walked out at 9:30am.
Hope this helps future AOS applicants. Good luck!
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #7318