Strange/Bad AOS interview in Fairfax, VA

[c_and_a 0]

So my wife and I, who were married in June 2008, had our much awaited AOS interview today in Fairfax, VA. We were totally nervous yet brought a ton of documents and thought things would go through relatively smoothly.

Our interview was scheduled for 10:45 and we ended up getting called at about noon, which really is typical and nothing I didn't expect. The IO was actually very nice and disarming and even apologized for the wait. I was encouraged.

We got into the interview and they started asking my wife (an F1 overstay) and I (USC) the basic questions which seemed to go okay. The rest of the interview proceeded very, very strangely.

First off, they didn't press us on any of the things I thought they would. Nothing about my wife's overstay, nothing about how she was able to live in this country for years without any work authorization (she had support from her family) and the lady didn't ask us ANY personal questions at ALL. No "how did you meet" or anything even remotely like that. We brought a ton of wedding pictures and some pictures of when my wife came to my home state to meet my family.

At the beginning of the interview she wanted us to establish our residency together so I gave her some of my pay stubs and some of our joint holdings that have our names together on our addresses. Now I consider myself to be able to read people relatively well and I could tell by her body language and the tone of her voice that it wasn't even to convince her but she stopped talking about it. I offered up a copy of our lease for more proof which she took and said it convinced her that we lived together. That's all good and all, but as an IO, shouldn't it be her job to press us for more information to convince her, not sitting on her computer doing who knows what what I am the one who takes the initiative to offer up more papers????

Our application was postponed for what I see to be an excessive interpretation of the rules and almost makes me wish I had a lawyer present. I graduated from college in May 2008 therefore I was working part time for the first half of 2008. I got a pretty good job after college and even working full time only 7 months out of last year my income was $715 dollars under the 125% of the poverty line on my tax returns for the whole year. Initially, I thought this could be a problem but since my wife was granted a work permit with no issues I thought that it was not a problem. I got a job last month with an annual salary well above the poverty line for two people and brought my first two (only) pay stubs for that job and an employment authorization letter from my (government) job stating my salary. I also brought all of my post-college pay stubs from my old job where I was earning in the ballpark of $1,500 dollars biweekly which obviously puts me at a pace way above 125% of the poverty line. But since I haven't sustained working full time for a full year (I have been out of college 8 months) apparently that isn't enough?! Just seemed a little bit ridiculous to me so now I have to find a co-sponsor when my income is way above the 125% threshold. NOT TO MENTION I'VE BEEN SUPPORTING HER FINANCIALLY 100% SINCE WE GOT MARRIED.

Now I have heard from people that this is sometimes used as a delaying tactic by IO's who want to examine your case a little bit more. I am wondering if the IO doubted the validity of our marriage (my wife is my rock and the best thing that's ever happened to me, even with all this going on). However she didn't ask us ONE QUESTION about each other and didn't ask to see any evidence regarding the validity of our marriage other than the proof of residency which apparently convinced her that we lived together.

Even though the IO was nice, I almost would have rather had a hard-arsed IO who robotically demanded documents and asked us personal questions since we came to the interview very well prepared and had nothing to hide. This IO just seemed to take no initiative regarding our case. I understand that I must provide information to convince her of the validity of our marriage, but I can't provide that information unless she tells us things we need to provide. She would still be on the fence about our residency if I hadn't offered up the lease, because she sure didn't ask for it. She wasn't even doing her job!

Has anyone else had a similar experience? While I am frustrated, the IO said we were "approvable" and probably wouldn't have to be interviewed again. She led me to believe income was the only thing holding us back.

[jhunjhun 7]

So my wife and I, who were married in June 2008, had our much awaited AOS interview today in Fairfax, VA. We were totally nervous yet brought a ton of documents and thought things would go through relatively smoothly.

Our interview was scheduled for 10:45 and we ended up getting called at about noon, which really is typical and nothing I didn't expect. The IO was actually very nice and disarming and even apologized for the wait. I was encouraged.

We got into the interview and they started asking my wife (an F1 overstay) and I (USC) the basic questions which seemed to go okay. The rest of the interview proceeded very, very strangely.

First off, they didn't press us on any of the things I thought they would. Nothing about my wife's overstay, nothing about how she was able to live in this country for years without any work authorization (she had support from her family) and the lady didn't ask us ANY personal questions at ALL. No "how did you meet" or anything even remotely like that. We brought a ton of wedding pictures and some pictures of when my wife came to my home state to meet my family.

At the beginning of the interview she wanted us to establish our residency together so I gave her some of my pay stubs and some of our joint holdings that have our names together on our addresses. Now I consider myself to be able to read people relatively well and I could tell by her body language and the tone of her voice that it wasn't even to convince her but she stopped talking about it. I offered up a copy of our lease for more proof which she took and said it convinced her that we lived together. That's all good and all, but as an IO, shouldn't it be her job to press us for more information to convince her, not sitting on her computer doing who knows what what I am the one who takes the initiative to offer up more papers????

Our application was postponed for what I see to be an excessive interpretation of the rules and almost makes me wish I had a lawyer present. I graduated from college in May 2008 therefore I was working part time for the first half of 2008. I got a pretty good job after college and even working full time only 7 months out of last year my income was $715 dollars under the 125% of the poverty line on my tax returns for the whole year. Initially, I thought this could be a problem but since my wife was granted a work permit with no issues I thought that it was not a problem. I got a job last month with an annual salary well above the poverty line for two people and brought my first two (only) pay stubs for that job and an employment authorization letter from my (government) job stating my salary. I also brought all of my post-college pay stubs from my old job where I was earning in the ballpark of $1,500 dollars biweekly which obviously puts me at a pace way above 125% of the poverty line. But since I haven't sustained working full time for a full year (I have been out of college 8 months) apparently that isn't enough?! Just seemed a little bit ridiculous to me so now I have to find a co-sponsor when my income is way above the 125% threshold. NOT TO MENTION I'VE BEEN SUPPORTING HER FINANCIALLY 100% SINCE WE GOT MARRIED.

Now I have heard from people that this is sometimes used as a delaying tactic by IO's who want to examine your case a little bit more. I am wondering if the IO doubted the validity of our marriage (my wife is my rock and the best thing that's ever happened to me, even with all this going on). However she didn't ask us ONE QUESTION about each other and didn't ask to see any evidence regarding the validity of our marriage other than the proof of residency which apparently convinced her that we lived together.

Even though the IO was nice, I almost would have rather had a hard-arsed IO who robotically demanded documents and asked us personal questions since we came to the interview very well prepared and had nothing to hide. This IO just seemed to take no initiative regarding our case. I understand that I must provide information to convince her of the validity of our marriage, but I can't provide that information unless she tells us things we need to provide. She would still be on the fence about our residency if I hadn't offered up the lease, because she sure didn't ask for it. She wasn't even doing her job!

Has anyone else had a similar experience? While I am frustrated, the IO said we were "approvable" and probably wouldn't have to be interviewed again. She led me to believe income was the only thing holding us back.

goodluck guys....

I'm afraid that this will raise a red flag in our interview as well....i'm afraid that they're going to ask us about income...my wife's income was below the poverty limit for 2007 but for 2008 it was above the poverty line...the only thing that we can't file 2008 income return early b'coz I don't have SSN.....

did you guys bring your W-2 for 2008?

hopefully someone here will tell you something about their experiences!

[c_and_a 0]

goodluck guys....

I'm afraid that this will raise a red flag in our interview as well....i'm afraid that they're going to ask us about income...my wife's income was below the poverty limit for 2007 but for 2008 it was above the poverty line...the only thing that we can't file 2008 income return early b'coz I don't have SSN.....

did you guys bring your W-2 for 2008?

hopefully someone here will tell you something about their experiences!

I didn't bring my W-2 because I was paid principally through a 1099 for my old job. I did bring my 1099. However I did have something like $7,000 of income that was put on a W-2 for 2008 taxes that my flakey old employer hasn't sent me yet. I called them to complain and they said the W-2's would be sent out on Friday. That is just like them, barely staying within the realms of legality, they paid well, but they did that kind of stuff all the time.

Even with the $7,000 (which she verified through pay stubs) I was $715 under the poverty line due to the fact I worked full time only 7 months of the year because I was a student at a tough, well-known college.

I think even though you haven't filed for 2008, if the income is reflected on the W-2's, you SHOULD be okay. Good luck.

But yes, it is essential that you bring your W-2's.

Edited January 29, 2009 by c_and_a

[JeffnBhing 0]

Right here is where the problem started:

We got into the interview and they started asking my wife (an F1 overstay) and I (USC) the basic questions which seemed to go okay. The rest of the interview proceeded very, very strangely.

The IO didn't ask the questions you expected because she found a red flag, once they see this the interview is done. You will need to wait for the papers to see what they are looking for. The good thing about this is once you provide what they want they will ignore the rest of the interview as if it was already completed. This is how it went in my wife's visa interview when she was denied because of my lack of income. I went to the top people and had the decision reversed and the rest of the interview was disregarded. Visa picked up 2 days later.

Good luck!