approved - not on spot but 2 days later

[Mike Z 8]

my overdue interview post for may in chicago.

We arrived at the office in Chicago with what i considered plenty of time to spare (30mins).

Had even walked past the building previously (its downtown) and it wasn't busy.

The morning we got there, line was all the way outside the building. Made it on time but I wish i would have been there earlier.

I had read numerous positive interview experiences here so I was trying to be positive (i am usually the paranoid kind of person, did i bring everything etc.).

it wasn't that the agent doing the interview was rude. just not in a mood to small-talk or be friendly.

i think she might not have had her morning coffee.

we had (what i considered) a fairly simple case with lots of co-mingling of assets / life insurance + no RFEs.

she asked many questions and wanted responses from both of us. whenever we had physical evidence to support her questions she didnt want to see it though. (ie we had boarding passes/stubs for vacation or insurance docs). think the only ones (besides the stuff she was required to look at like passport was health insurance card with both names on it)

very down-to business attitude, which is ok with me but not the useful "lets get this done", instead bombarded with questions and what did not feel like a very friendly tone of voice.

im not sure if it was part of her method or if she had her thoughts elsewhere: she repeated several questions numerous times. (so we pointed it out but ended up telling her twice where we got married etc.).

no indication how much detail she wanted. sometimes we were cut off half-way through the explanation, sometimes she wanted to know more.

also included really random stuff i hadnt expected like - where did you buy the ring etc.

after a while (30-40mins?) she told us: ok, i have seen all your docs, you will receive a decision or RFE shortly.

we honestly walked out thinking what the hell we should/could have said or done differently.

i had read that some agents dont have the authority to approve on the spot (and shared that info with my better half) but at the time i didnt feel like that was the case.

a day of uncertainy and finally got the approval email out of the blue. letter followed a while later.

dont know if more information had to be checked or if she simply couldnt make the decision on the spot.

i guess the outcome is all that counts.

however i dislike even thinking about the interview and the uncertainty.

so i'll post this and will be back sometime later when the memories have faded again

/edit - i thought email came two days afterwards but going through my stuff it was the following day. so less drama but still stressful waiting

Edited July 22, 2012 by Mike Z