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| Los Angeles CA |  Review on May 17, 2011: |
ballet4life
Rating:  | Review Topic: Adjustment of Status
Our appoinment was scheduled Monday May 16 at 1:00. We arrived at about 12:00. The security line up outside the building was not long. We were in the building in about a minute. We waited for our lawyer and went to the waiting room at 12:30. There didn't seem to be too many people in the waiting room but our lawyer said that it was a slow day. He saw all the IOs as they called in the couples and families and told us who was a good officer to have, who was nice, who was mean. We waited for a little over two hours. The waiting was the worse part. I was so hungry! Our lawyer was impatient and asked a guy behind the windows who would be our IO and found out that we would be interviewed by a really nice guy! Finally we were called in! My husband and I were so nervous even though we knew everything would be fine. There was some small chat with our lawyer and IO which lightened up the mood and then we got sworn in and sat down. Our lawyer gave the IO our documents: passports, birth certificates, and all our supporting documents. Then the IO asked if my passport was stamped as he leafed through it. I said it never gets stamped at the border (I'm Canadian). He said ok. Then he asked my husband how we first met. We all had a few laughs. The IO was shocked and interested in the fact that there were board games at the wine bar where we had our first date. He joked about going there himself. Then he asked my husband when he decided to propose to me. Then he did the math out loud: "ok you met in April 2009-proposed August 2010...so one year...ok, yeah." Then he asked me how he proposed. Looking back I feel like I babbled hysterically like an idiot but everybody was laughing, the IO, our lawyer, me and my husband. Then the IO said, "Ok, judging by the way you guys are talking and relating to each other I can tell that you are definitely a real couple. I have no more questions but I just need to finish this interview." And then he asked me all those questions about whether I have ever been a prostitute or a criminal. Then he said the interview was over and he just had to go photocopy something (can't remember if it was my passport or something else), then there was more small chat, then he gave me a letter that congratulated me on becoming a lawful permanent US resident. The whole thing lasted 15 minutes according to our lawyer but it felt like 5 minutes! The IO was super nice! Not intimidating at all. It felt like we were chatting with a friend.
We parked in the structure directly across the street. It cost us $16. We would have paid $100, we didn't care, we were so happy!
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #7609