AOS Interview was today - Our Experience

[devo6786 10]

So, I posted awhile back asking about the AOS process after DOMA was repealed.

Brief history: Im in a lesbian relationship living in California (I am the USC). We have been married since 2007 in Toronto, canada. Due to Prop 8 being overturned, we are now legally married (we called and asked if we had to get REMARRIED in Cali and we were told NO, that it would be illegal, lol). DOMA was also appealed the same day, meaning my wife could apply for a GC.

My wife is from Canada. Gay marriage in Canada has been legal for a long time now. We have been together since 2004. We got married in Toronto, Canada in 2007. Now, obviously, that didnt matter (to CA or the US government) until this past June. My wife moved here in 2008 on an f-1 and went to law school. Graduated, got her OPT (valid for one year). Right before her OPT expired we applied for her GC.

Experience starts here:

So today, we got up early, got ready and went to the office. We wore business casual.

We brought:

-160 photos dating from 2004-current

-every form we filed with uscic previously

-ead card/passports/marriage certs/social security numbers

-w2s for last year, tax returns for the past 3 years, 6 months of pay stubs, a letter from my employer

-plane tickets/hotels/itineraries

-receipts from rings/when we bought our bed together, customs forms from packages we sent when apart

-a letter from my mom and grandmother

-cell phone bills (more recent and the latest i could get from att)

-a print out from our bank showing our savings/checking and when they were opened

-copies of our ids and bank cards and credit cards showing same address and same account info

-proof that we are on the same car/health/dental/eye insurance. proof that my partner is my emergency contact at work. proof that my partner is my beneficiary on my life insurance

-copies of birthday/anniversary/wedding/christmas/etc cards

what we didn't bring:

-proof of being on the same lease (we aren't on a lease, we live with a friend)

-utilities in both our names (our utilities are in our friends name)

-bank statements

-car titles (my car is in my name, my partners car is in her name)

-we don't have a 401k yet, boned etc, so none of that...we aren't even in our 30s yet

So, anyway, our interview was scheduled for 10:05am. We got there at 9:20am. Parked across the street (to save on parking costs). No line for security. We have to take off belts and the like.

We to the top floor, into a big room with about 30-40 other people. We got into the room around 9:30am. We waited what seems like forever. Probably about 11:15am we got called in (one hour after our interview time)

The lady greeted us, she seemed nice compared to some reports Ive read, so I wasn't nervous anymore, just excited to get it over with. Besides, I had been prepping for this interview for a month now. I was sick of looking at my life in a stack of binders.

We went into her office (much smaller than I expected). She started out with the oath. We both said yes and sat down.

Her first question was to my wife, "Your name/address/phone number" My wife told her all the info and she checked it all off on her forms she had (the ones we had sent in). She asked every Yes/No Question on the I-485.

Then she goes (to my partner) "So how did you meet". My wife told her how we met. She asked the date. We told her the exact date (we have it tattooed on us). She goes "Most people don't know the exact date, Im glad you guys do." So, we told her how we had it tattooed on us, she asked to see, so we showed her. She laughed about how that would be hard to forget, lol.

She asked when got married/who proposed to who. She asked when my wife moved here, why, when the last time she entered the US, on what visa. My wife couldn't remember the dates (she sucks at dates and details), so I chimed in with dates.

She asked if my wife is a part of any organization (my wife is a lawyer). My wife told her the ABA and CA BAR. She asked questions about that...and then when she became a member. Again, my wife couldn't remember the dates, so I chimed in.

Then she went into evidence. "What do you have for proof"

This was my time to shine! My wife did all the forms, I did all the evidence and organized it in a binder clearly labeled so I could remember what was where.

I went in order. When we got the the bank part she was like, "So do you have statements with you", I said no. She looked displeased and said, "So how am I supposed to know you guys actually live together." I responded with, "Well, if necessary I can mail you every bank statement from 2008 when I added my partner to my preexisting accounts" She smiled and said OK. She asked if we had other proof.

I gave her everything else. I asked if she wanted to see the photos. She was pleased I put them in order by year and labeled what year they were taken and where (THANK YOU FACEBOOK, lol).

She left the room for about 5-10 minutes (we had no clock/phone) to take photocopies of our photos. I had told her she could take the originals, but she said copies would be better since I labeled them with dates.

She came back and apologized for the delay and said the first copy machine had broken and that we had "a lot of photos to copy since we had been together for 9 years, while most couples come in after a couple years or earlier."

Finally, she said, "Please give me your EAD card one more time, this is more than enough information. I am going to approve you today. You will receive your card in about 14 days, your EAD card is no longer valid."

My wife goes, "Thats it?" And I was like "YES! I told you to read the experiences online I read." And the lady laughed again, told us congrats and to come back in 3 years so my wife can go through the naturalization process and to enjoy the rest of our life together now that this stress was over.

We thanked her. Went for lunch and celebrated over sushi and saki.

Overall, the best experience I could have hoped for.

My advice is to go as organized as possible. We did this without hiring a lawyer, but my wife is one. She is now going to add immigration law to her areas for her solo practice she just opened! Im so excited for her. And us.

And for any GLBT couples, I was SO worried about discrimination. I guess it could still happen, but if you go in confident, prepared, and act "normal" (not nervous, no reason too be) you'll be fine!

Thanks again to this site and everyone's experiences and everyone who replied to my post a couple weeks ago!

i am so relieved and excited!

[Erica & L 50]

That is so great to hear!! Congratulations!

I'm in a same-sex relationship to with my wife, and decided to pursue citizenship for myself (I am a Canadian citizen) after the change in DOMA, and this made me very happy to read.

I hope our interview (if we have one) goes just as smoothly.

[devo6786 10]

That is so great to hear!! Congratulations!

I'm in a same-sex relationship to with my wife, and decided to pursue citizenship for myself (I am a Canadian citizen) after the change in DOMA, and this made me very happy to read.

I hope our interview (if we have one) goes just as smoothly.

You will have an interview, everyone does in this case. I thought it was case by case, but its not. All I can say is, start getting together stuff that you guys have collected throughout the years and make copies. It will make the process so much easier!

We joked around in, like 2007, that we should save everything...so we did. We didn't even think DOMA would be overturned, or we would be able to get married legally in the US, but it happened. So start preparing now.

Good luck and feel free to message me if you have any questions. You can even PM me and ill throw you my phone number for text purposes, if you want.

And (Im sure you read) my wife is also from Canada!

[Erica & L 50]

You will have an interview, everyone does in this case. I thought it was case by case, but its not. All I can say is, start getting together stuff that you guys have collected throughout the years and make copies. It will make the process so much easier!

We joked around in, like 2007, that we should save everything...so we did. We didn't even think DOMA would be overturned, or we would be able to get married legally in the US, but it happened. So start preparing now.

Good luck and feel free to message me if you have any questions. You can even PM me and ill throw you my phone number for text purposes, if you want.

And (Im sure you read) my wife is also from Canada!

Oh is it? I swore I read somewhere about people saying they got approved for their GC with no RFE or interview, but maybe I miss-read.

Yeah there are a coupe things I won't be able to find, like we sent packages to each other before we met (because we met online) and I don't have receipts for that but I've basically saved everything else. We also have a couple tattoo, and we'll be getting rings sometime within the next few weeks for our Christmas presents to each other.

I'm definitely the more organized one out of the two of us haha so I pretty much have the entire package done, cover letters and all, I'm just waiting on the tax portion because we have to get my wife's step dad to co-sponsor and she also has to back file her taxes for 2010 and 2011.

Quick question: I plan on sending photos and affidavits etc for the proof with the package obviously, but for the interview, are you suppose to bring new photos and affidavits or are you essentially just creating a more detailed binder with stuff you already have sent in and adding to it? Like for example, I don't imagine they expect you to send 160 photos with your package, but that's definitely something that would be beneficial to bring to an in-person interview? And then maybe send 30-40 with your package?

[devo6786 10]

Oh is it? I swore I read somewhere about people saying they got approved for their GC with no RFE or interview, but maybe I miss-read.

Yeah there are a coupe things I won't be able to find, like we sent packages to each other before we met (because we met online) and I don't have receipts for that but I've basically saved everything else. We also have a couple tattoo, and we'll be getting rings sometime within the next few weeks for our Christmas presents to each other.

I'm definitely the more organized one out of the two of us haha so I pretty much have the entire package done, cover letters and all, I'm just waiting on the tax portion because we have to get my wife's step dad to co-sponsor and she also has to back file her taxes for 2010 and 2011.

Quick question: I plan on sending photos and affidavits etc for the proof with the package obviously, but for the interview, are you suppose to bring new photos and affidavits or are you essentially just creating a more detailed binder with stuff you already have sent in and adding to it? Like for example, I don't imagine they expect you to send 160 photos with your package, but that's definitely something that would be beneficial to bring to an in-person interview? And then maybe send 30-40 with your package?

We only sent 4 photos in our package that were photocopied. We brought those and 156 more to our interview, lol.

So yes, we sent the MINIMUM in our original package. Only what they asked for. For the interview I brought everything I could possibly think of that would show that we are a married couple.

RFEs not everyone gets, only if they need more information. We got an RFE for the medical exam...because we didn't know my partner needed one. It will be better to get that all out of the way before you file. Just make sure you keep copies of EVERYTHING the doctor gives you. Bring those tot he interview, even if you sent them originally.

Interviews, everyone in your case (our case) has.

[WillyLin 13]

congrats!

Glad to read a great interview experience you had!

I am doing biometric on 18th ( in 7 days) and waiting for the interview appointment letter

devo6786

I saw your timeline that you have biometric on the 9th (day after interview the 8th ), hows that possible?

[devo6786 10]

congrats!

Glad to read a great interview experience you had!

I am doing biometric on 18th ( in 7 days) and waiting for the interview appointment letter

devo6786

I saw your timeline that you have biometric on the 9th (day after interview the 8th ), hows that possible?

Sorry, it was supposed to be 10/9 for the bio appointment. I fixed it

[PaulyBar1982 0]

Congrats!!

Thank you so much for the info! these really helps to get us ready for the interview!!

[kpe0307 0]

Hey there! Husband and I just filed our application here in Texas. I just had my biometrics taken yesterday. It was scheduled for 12/30 but I decided to take a chance and walk-in. Hopefully, it'll help make the application process faster.

Congratulations to both you and your wife! Hubby and I have been together for about 10 years now. I am collecting and organizing as much evidence as I can so our journey will hopefully be as smooth as yours was.

Congratulations again!