AOS interview: April 03, 2009 Help please!

[bonbon25 0]

Hi, my husband and I had our interview today at 2pm located in San Jose. Everybody was called for their interview except us and we were wondering why we had to wait for an hour and 25 minutes. Only then we found out, the immigration officer who picked up our appointment letter forgot about us. When we finally got in touch with someone, we got called in at 3:25 by an old lady immigration officer. She was cold, unfriendly, had a very serious face, and did not make eye contact at all. She did not make things easy for us and there was tension everywhere.

My husband and I have been together for almost 7 years now, but we've only been married for 5 months. I am the petitioner and my husband is the beneficiary. We don't live together because of school and work complications. But we do have evidence to show our marriage is bona fide. Starting with airline itineraries visiting each other going back from 2004 to present, joint checkings/savings account, joint auto insurance, joint credit cards, joint phone account, email love letters and online chat messages from 2003 to present, receipts from motels where we stayed whenever we visited each other, and receipts from places where we ate together. Also, we turned in my tax returns, 2005, 2006, and 2007 and since I have already filed for my 2008, I have included that as part of the supporting documents. We also turned in my pay stubs for the month of February and March, along with an employment verification letter from my employer. Even though we have turned all of these documents to support our marriage is real, the immigration officer gave us the face as if we're going to get denied anyway. Then as she was going through the supporting documents we submitted with the application I-485, she noticed the seal on my husband's court disposition letter was missing. They lost the seal and told us we have to go back to court and get another one because she was thinking we tampered with it. Oh my god, in my mind, I wanted to lecture her to tell their clerks to be careful when filing important documents. They lost the seal to the court disposition letter! Then she saw her colleague and asked for his opinion and said to him, 'we have a problem'. He started asking us questions like how we met, how old we were, why we're not living together. After we answered, he said 'thats a tough one' and then he left the room. Then, our immigration officer stood up and said she's late for her doctor's appointment. My husband and I were so confused and shocked by all this. It was as if she didn't give a ####### about us just because we don't live together even though we have tons of evidence to back up our marriage. It was the worst feeling in the world and felt like our life was taken out of us.

So now, we were given a piece of paper stating we have to turn in another one of my husband's court disposition letter with the seal included. It was their fault in the first place for losing it. Not only did our immigration officer made us wait for an 1 and 25 minutes, but she forgot about our appointment too. She never even apologized. She was not a nice old lady. Then she told us our interview has to be reviewed by her supervisor, and from the way she treated us after finding out we don't live together, she gave us the look that we have no chance of getting approved. On the way home, my husband and I were quiet the whole time, still shocked. We asked ourselves, why couldn't this happen to those whose marriage is a sham, you know? Why did we have to end up with that old lady? Why do they have to lose the seal to my husband's court disposition letter? Why do we have to suffer like this, you know? Today was a bad day. :(

Please tell us what you think will happen to our AOS for my husband. Please share any experience you have that might give us hope. Because right now, all we can do is wait for their answer and keep on praying. *sighs*

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Hi, my husband and I had our interview today at 2pm located in San Jose. Everybody was called for their interview except us and we were wondering why we had to wait for an hour and 25 minutes. Only then we found out, the immigration officer who picked up our appointment letter forgot about us. When we finally got in touch with someone, we got called in at 3:25 by an old lady immigration officer. She was cold, unfriendly, had a very serious face, and did not make eye contact at all. She did not make things easy for us and there was tension everywhere.

My husband and I have been together for almost 7 years now, but we've only been married for 5 months. I am the petitioner and my husband is the beneficiary. We don't live together because of school and work complications. But we do have evidence to show our marriage is bona fide. Starting with airline itineraries visiting each other going back from 2004 to present, joint checkings/savings account, joint auto insurance, joint credit cards, joint phone account, email love letters and online chat messages from 2003 to present, receipts from motels where we stayed whenever we visited each other, and receipts from places where we ate together. Also, we turned in my tax returns, 2005, 2006, and 2007 and since I have already filed for my 2008, I have included that as part of the supporting documents. We also turned in my pay stubs for the month of February and March, along with an employment verification letter from my employer. Even though we have turned all of these documents to support our marriage is real, the immigration officer gave us the face as if we're going to get denied anyway. Then as she was going through the supporting documents we submitted with the application I-485, she noticed the seal on my husband's court disposition letter was missing. They lost the seal and told us we have to go back to court and get another one because she was thinking we tampered with it. Oh my god, in my mind, I wanted to lecture her to tell their clerks to be careful when filing important documents. They lost the seal to the court disposition letter! Then she saw her colleague and asked for his opinion and said to him, 'we have a problem'. He started asking us questions like how we met, how old we were, why we're not living together. After we answered, he said 'thats a tough one' and then he left the room. Then, our immigration officer stood up and said she's late for her doctor's appointment. My husband and I were so confused and shocked by all this. It was as if she didn't give a ####### about us just because we don't live together even though we have tons of evidence to back up our marriage. It was the worst feeling in the world and felt like our life was taken out of us.

So now, we were given a piece of paper stating we have to turn in another one of my husband's court disposition letter with the seal included. It was their fault in the first place for losing it. Not only did our immigration officer made us wait for an 1 and 25 minutes, but she forgot about our appointment too. She never even apologized. She was not a nice old lady. Then she told us our interview has to be reviewed by her supervisor, and from the way she treated us after finding out we don't live together, she gave us the look that we have no chance of getting approved. On the way home, my husband and I were quiet the whole time, still shocked. We asked ourselves, why couldn't this happen to those whose marriage is a sham, you know? Why did we have to end up with that old lady? Why do they have to lose the seal to my husband's court disposition letter? Why do we have to suffer like this, you know? Today was a bad day. :(

Please tell us what you think will happen to our AOS for my husband. Please share any experience you have that might give us hope. Because right now, all we can do is wait for their answer and keep on praying. *sighs*

Not living together is a problem when you are in an AOS for as marriage visa. (K-1, K-3). Big problem. They are NOT denying you because of a missing seal. In our case we were in and out of the AOS appointment and I mean in and OUT of the building, wait time and all, in 13 minutes. There was not one question asked in the AOS interview. We were informmed the AOS was approved, what to do in 2 years, what forms to fill out, when to expect the green card..etc. 13 minutes from when we walked through the door, we walked back out approved. We live together and every document we sent with the I-485 says so. We didn't even show our joint accounts and our joint 2008 tax return was not prepared yet (it was January 15). What I am saying is, when there are "red flags" it is a lot to overcome. Your evidence consisits a lot of things which show you are NOT in a bona-fide marriage. To their eyes, it is not my place to judge. Phone calls and hotel receipts and emails are not the evidence they are looking for unless it is a K-1 visa interview.

I am of the firm belief that a decision is made either by reviewing the initial documents or 10 seconds into the interview, and if there is red flags and your husband is from high fraud country...big trouble. I have now been in 2 interviews K-1 and AOS and have yet to have even ONE question asked. NONE, zero, zilch.

I am not sure how to advise you in this, you cannot suddenly produce information you live together when you do not. Perhaps letters from friends or relatives testifying that you are married and somehow living as married people but in a non-traditional way. I don't know what else. I can only say they DO NOT deny green cards because of a missing stamp on a document. And what is the court dispostion for? You don't need to say here, but could that be a problem in itself?

[wifetobe 2]

The OP does not need to be criticized about her marriage, specially to be mocked and compared to your perfect interview that's just a kick in the teeth. To add the CIS was late conducting their interview, so really there's no need for that gary and alla The OP demonstrated enough evidence to prove they have a bonafide marriage IMO and reasons why they don't live together presently. The authorities are in the perfect position to check up on it and they WILL.

To the OP and her husband; You were not denied otherwise they would have not asked you to send in another seal. Some approve you there and then and some don't because they don't have the authority to make that decision. 90% of the time the IOs do not have the authority that's how it works. You will never get an apology for something that is their fault also.. alot of government employees do not like to admit they are wrong or they lost paperwork especially. It's a good sign that they just asked that you bring in another seal of the court disposition letter. Stay positive thinking and if you are in a true and genuine marriage then you have nothing to worry about at all.. it seems as though you do not have anything to worry about. The best of luck and keep us all posted of the results

[Otto 83]

Please tell us what you think will happen to our AOS for my husband. Please share any experience you have that might give us hope. Because right now, all we can do is wait for their answer and keep on praying. *sighs*

Sorry to say, there's simply not enough information to gleam any insight to a possible outcome.

(Friendliness/unfriendliness, 'looks' and/or even comments of an IO are not necessarily something to give a lot of weight to. The outcome may likely have been the same even if the experience had been a positive one.)

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

The OP does not need to be criticized about her marriage, specially to be mocked and compared to your perfect interview that's just a kick in the teeth. To add the CIS was late conducting their interview, so really there's no need for that gary and alla The OP demonstrated enough evidence to prove they have a bonafide marriage IMO and reasons why they don't live together presently. The authorities are in the perfect position to check up on it and they WILL.

To the OP and her husband; You were not denied otherwise they would have not asked you to send in another seal. Some approve you there and then and some don't because they don't have the authority to make that decision. 90% of the time the IOs do not have the authority that's how it works. You will never get an apology for something that is their fault also.. alot of government employees do not like to admit they are wrong or they lost paperwork especially. It's a good sign that they just asked that you bring in another seal of the court disposition letter. Stay positive thinking and if you are in a true and genuine marriage then you have nothing to worry about at all.. it seems as though you do not have anything to worry about. The best of luck and keep us all posted of the results

It was not meant as criticism. It is a fact. Not living together and not having the customary documents is a problem, as the OP has seen. Yes, of course they will check it out. And in pointing out my "perfect" (well, excellent, if not perfect) interview is to demonstrate that when the directions are followed, things tend to go smoothly. The OPs living arrangments are none of my concern and I wish her luck.

[bonbon25 0]

wifetobe, thanks for your encouraging words. I guess we just have to send the documents and hope for the best. Since we aren't going to get a second interview to be able to explain our situation, i'm thinking of writing them a letter along with the documents I'm sending. I hope it helps.

Gary and Allah,,what exactly do you mean by this? ""And in pointing out my "perfect" (well, excellent, if not perfect) interview is to demonstrate that when the directions are followed, things tend to go smoothly. The OPs living arrangments are none of my concern and I wish her luck."" If you followed "directions" yourself you woudda had those tax return ready, but you said you didn't. What I'm saying is your getting aproved is not entirely due to your completely following direction.luck had something to do with it too. I'm sure you know that even if you carefully follow what ur you are suppose to, something could still go wrong. . And you don't think any of our supporting evidence proves the bonafides of our marriage when all of them show we have a relationship which is the reason we got married in the first place. Anyway thanks for sharing your experience and congratiolations on getting your greencard.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

wifetobe, thanks for your encouraging words. I guess we just have to send the documents and hope for the best. Since we aren't going to get a second interview to be able to explain our situation, i'm thinking of writing them a letter along with the documents I'm sending. I hope it helps.

Gary and Allah,,what exactly do you mean by this? ""And in pointing out my "perfect" (well, excellent, if not perfect) interview is to demonstrate that when the directions are followed, things tend to go smoothly. The OPs living arrangments are none of my concern and I wish her luck."" If you followed "directions" yourself you woudda had those tax return ready, but you said you didn't. What I'm saying is your getting aproved is not entirely due to your completely following direction.luck had something to do with it too. I'm sure you know that even if you carefully follow what ur you are suppose to, something could still go wrong. . And you don't think any of our supporting evidence proves the bonafides of our marriage when all of them show we have a relationship which is the reason we got married in the first place. Anyway thanks for sharing your experience and congratiolations on getting your greencard.

Sorry if you took offense. I thought the advice of someone that didn't have problems would be of use to someone that did. My mistake. I do not credit any of our success in the visa process to "luck". Anyway, best to you, really. I will refrain from any further advice which may offend, sorry.

[rrobin 2]

Sorry to hear about your experience.

Not living together is a classical "red flag" which USCIS scrutinizes a lot. It sounds like they had already made up their mind that they are not going to approve you even though you had enough evidence to show your marriage, despite living apart, was for real. Don't lose hope, if everything is genuine, you will get your application approved.

Did you get your LPR or citizenship through marriage to a USC, or is there anything else in your case that can be considered as a "red flag"?

[Bobby+Umit 161]

<SNIP>

So now, we were given a piece of paper stating we have to turn in another one of my husband's court disposition letter with the seal included

Please tell us what you think will happen to our AOS for my husband. Please share any experience you have that might give us hope. Because right now, all we can do is wait for their answer and keep on praying. *sighs*

Praying will not help you, getting the requested paperwork will.

Provide the paperwork they want and go from there.

Good luck.

[kumar1234 0]

Hi, my husband and I had our interview today at 2pm located in San Jose. Everybody was called for their interview except us and we were wondering why we had to wait for an hour and 25 minutes. Only then we found out, the immigration officer who picked up our appointment letter forgot about us. When we finally got in touch with someone, we got called in at 3:25 by an old lady immigration officer. She was cold, unfriendly, had a very serious face, and did not make eye contact at all. She did not make things easy for us and there was tension everywhere.

My husband and I have been together for almost 7 years now, but we've only been married for 5 months. I am the petitioner and my husband is the beneficiary. We don't live together because of school and work complications. But we do have evidence to show our marriage is bona fide. Starting with airline itineraries visiting each other going back from 2004 to present, joint checkings/savings account, joint auto insurance, joint credit cards, joint phone account, email love letters and online chat messages from 2003 to present, receipts from motels where we stayed whenever we visited each other, and receipts from places where we ate together. Also, we turned in my tax returns, 2005, 2006, and 2007 and since I have already filed for my 2008, I have included that as part of the supporting documents. We also turned in my pay stubs for the month of February and March, along with an employment verification letter from my employer. Even though we have turned all of these documents to support our marriage is real, the immigration officer gave us the face as if we're going to get denied anyway. Then as she was going through the supporting documents we submitted with the application I-485, she noticed the seal on my husband's court disposition letter was missing. They lost the seal and told us we have to go back to court and get another one because she was thinking we tampered with it. Oh my god, in my mind, I wanted to lecture her to tell their clerks to be careful when filing important documents. They lost the seal to the court disposition letter! Then she saw her colleague and asked for his opinion and said to him, 'we have a problem'. He started asking us questions like how we met, how old we were, why we're not living together. After we answered, he said 'thats a tough one' and then he left the room. Then, our immigration officer stood up and said she's late for her doctor's appointment. My husband and I were so confused and shocked by all this. It was as if she didn't give a ####### about us just because we don't live together even though we have tons of evidence to back up our marriage. It was the worst feeling in the world and felt like our life was taken out of us.

So now, we were given a piece of paper stating we have to turn in another one of my husband's court disposition letter with the seal included. It was their fault in the first place for losing it. Not only did our immigration officer made us wait for an 1 and 25 minutes, but she forgot about our appointment too. She never even apologized. She was not a nice old lady. Then she told us our interview has to be reviewed by her supervisor, and from the way she treated us after finding out we don't live together, she gave us the look that we have no chance of getting approved. On the way home, my husband and I were quiet the whole time, still shocked. We asked ourselves, why couldn't this happen to those whose marriage is a sham, you know? Why did we have to end up with that old lady? Why do they have to lose the seal to my husband's court disposition letter? Why do we have to suffer like this, you know? Today was a bad day. :(

Please tell us what you think will happen to our AOS for my husband. Please share any experience you have that might give us hope. Because right now, all we can do is wait for their answer and keep on praying. *sighs*

Not living together is a problem when you are in an AOS for as marriage visa. (K-1, K-3). Big problem. They are NOT denying you because of a missing seal. In our case we were in and out of the AOS appointment and I mean in and OUT of the building, wait time and all, in 13 minutes. There was not one question asked in the AOS interview. We were informmed the AOS was approved, what to do in 2 years, what forms to fill out, when to expect the green card..etc. 13 minutes from when we walked through the door, we walked back out approved. We live together and every document we sent with the I-485 says so. We didn't even show our joint accounts and our joint 2008 tax return was not prepared yet (it was January 15). What I am saying is, when there are "red flags" it is a lot to overcome. Your evidence consisits a lot of things which show you are NOT in a bona-fide marriage. To their eyes, it is not my place to judge. Phone calls and hotel receipts and emails are not the evidence they are looking for unless it is a K-1 visa interview.

I am of the firm belief that a decision is made either by reviewing the initial documents or 10 seconds into the interview, and if there is red flags and your husband is from high fraud country...big trouble. I have now been in 2 interviews K-1 and AOS and have yet to have even ONE question asked. NONE, zero, zilch.

I am not sure how to advise you in this, you cannot suddenly produce information you live together when you do not. Perhaps letters from friends or relatives testifying that you are married and somehow living as married people but in a non-traditional way. I don't know what else. I can only say they DO NOT deny green cards because of a missing stamp on a document. And what is the court dispostion for? You don't need to say here, but could that be a problem in itself?

It's fine to mention your opinion but you should try not to discourage the other person or rub it in their face. Hope you continue to provide constructive help to others through your experience.

[Anh map 2,098]

OP, what status is your husband adjusting from? How long has he been in the US?

You describe lots of evidence of your relationship over the past years. What evidence of married life did you supply? You didn't mention much from the past 5 months, the time since you've been married. That is where your story could be weak. Living apart is not the norm, so you should expect to have to overcome that challenge. Is he living with a member of his family?

Do you have a joint bank account? Joint credit card? Mail sent to the both of you at the same address? (I understand that you don't sleep in the same place, but is there one "home" address for the two of you?) Drivers License or State ID with a common address? Added to your health insurance?

I am guessing that the court seal is the wax type that is stuck onto / affixed to the form and that it got peeled off? That's an unfortunate event, but I can't think that is the reason for the statement "we have a problem."

From what you've told us here it's tough to give an opinion.

[bonbon25 0]

OP, what status is your husband adjusting from? How long has he been in the US?

You describe lots of evidence of your relationship over the past years. What evidence of married life did you supply? You didn't mention much from the past 5 months, the time since you've been married. That is where your story could be weak. Living apart is not the norm, so you should expect to have to overcome that challenge. Is he living with a member of his family?

Do you have a joint bank account? Joint credit card? Mail sent to the both of you at the same address? (I understand that you don't sleep in the same place, but is there one "home" address for the two of you?) Drivers License or State ID with a common address? Added to your health insurance?

I am guessing that the court seal is the wax type that is stuck onto / affixed to the form and that it got peeled off? That's an unfortunate event, but I can't think that is the reason for the statement "we have a problem."

From what you've told us here it's tough to give an opinion.

Hi Anhmap, My husband's status was F-1 student and he had been legally in the US for 8 years.

After we got married we got joint bank account, car insurance, credit cards, phone accounts. We actually got the joint credit cards when we were still dating which proves we already shared and trusted each other with finances even before the marriage. For 2 years when the time we were not yet married, we have accumulated a huge stack of western union receipts that shows we wired money to each other. I understand that our living arrangement triggers suspicion and they have all the right to scrutinize our case, but if the whole bonafide marriage is based on living arrangement then almost anybody could just get past the system since they can just pretend to be living together without a real relationship. I wish they would look more into the genuineness of the relationship which led us to our marriage in the first place. Besides we showed job letter and applications/letter from employer showing I have been attempting to transfer my job so I can join my husband.

As for now I can only hope the additional supporting documents I'm gonna send will help. I also want to attach a letter explaining what the documents are for. In the letter I will also explain a little bit more about our situation because since they were late for an hour and a half and when we got interviewed the IO was in a hurry for some appointment. We had all the supporting documents but she wouldn't accept them and told us instead to send whatever we think will support the bonafides of our marriage along with the court disposition with seal on it. Our interview was cut a little too short really.

Anyway thanks everyone for answering. I will be keeping you all posted as our case progresses. And to all of y'all going through some hard times such as ourselves, we wish you luck and hope all will turn out good for you.

PS. my husband received his EAD today. finally, a smile from my husband's face. we think thats a good sign. can he start working now or does he need a social security first? we hope our i-130 and i-485 will be approved as well.