married on a tourist visa interview questions

[cheapcharlie 0]

I am a USC by birth, lived overseas for 4 years. In September my then-girlfriend came here to visit me for a month (or so we had planned). My mother has been ill for several years. My mother's health continued to decline. Our visit was going so well that we decided to extend her stay and I had my stuff from my apartment packed and shipped to me so I could be here full time to help my mother. Over the holidays it became clear to both me any my girlfriend that our relationship could handle relocating to the US permanently so we got engaged in January and got married in February. Filed for adjustment of status, played the waiting game, received no RFEs and have our interview tomorrow.

So my question is, what kind of interview questions are we likely to face? I've been through the standard list and since we are actually married in good faith it's all very straightforward. Clearly (at least to us) our intent was not for our marriage to happen so spontaneously. But when faced with a sick relative priorities can shift and plans can change. I'm assuming we'll be asked about her intentions when she entered the country, but I don't know how much they will delve.

As I said, this is truly a case of changed plans but I'm wondering what to expect. Any insight is appreciated.

[imzadi 0]

Hi cheapcharlie,

Your wife will most likely be asked about her intent to return to her native country. She will have to prove she had ties to her place at home, e.g. a job, bank account, apartment rent, a return ticket .... whatever applies.

The IO wants to make sure she had no intent to remain in the US upon entry.

I'm sorry to hear about your mother.

Good luck for your interview tomorrow!

[Lil Miss Sunshine 14]

got married on a tourist visa. during my aos interview, i wasn't asked about my intent of going home.. although i was nervous during that time. the IO focused more on evidences that prove our bonafide relationship..

good luck!

[cheapcharlie 0]

I don't think proving that she had ties to her home country will be a problem since getting the tourist visa was dependent on that in the first place. In fact she was denied a tourist visa twice before finally being approved on her third attempt. We'll bring all the supporting materials she presented then in case they want to review it.

Thanks

[christera22 8]

Just bring lots of evidences and try to show more a true married life. The IO wd be more interetsted what you are doing together after marriage. SO whatever you are doing together & such proofs count.

Edited July 20, 2009 by christera22

[cheapcharlie 0]

I was interviewed first and questioned briefly and generally about the circumstances of her arrival and my repatriation. He left it very open ended, perhaps giving me enough rope to hang myself. But I gave him a general overview of what happened and he was satisfied with that. He did question whether we had lived together overseas. I said "yes", which caused a bit of a problem. On the G-325 I only included our official addresses. When we lived together she maintained her mom's place as her official address but effectively lived with me (she'd stay at her mom's maybe once month). He said it wasn't a problem but said I should have disclosed that on the G-325 - they want to know where you lived, not what your official address was.

When he brought in my wife he went through all the basics with her (name, address, telephone number) and then asked her each of the questions that are on the application about whether she is a nazi/terrorist/hooker/drug dealer/etc. He did seem more concerned with what proof we have that we are living together but we cleared that hurdle with just a few of the basics (bank letter, utility bill, health ins, affidavits). I think the key phrase is "living together", that must be one of the crucial tests. I'd be willing to bet that you could have all the proof in the world that you are legitimately married and still be in trouble if, for whatever reason, you're not living together.

He took her I-94 and said that he wouldn't be stamping her passport but he would be approving the application and that we'd receive the green card within 3-4 weeks. Our case numbers always came up "not found" on the USCIS website but by the next day they were suddenly working and it said the application was approved. Welcome and I-130 approval letters showed up later that week. Green card arrived in the mail today, 8 days after the interview and 5 months and 2 days after receiving our first Notice Of Action. I worked hard on our applications and did my homework on the relevant issues. I'd like to think that's why we never got any RFEs, which would have slowed the process down. As much as a royal pain in the ####### as this whole process has been I can't really complain about having a green card in hand less than 6 months after we got married.

Good luck to everyone else out there and thanks again to those who offered their advice to me along the way.

Cheers.

[lechatnoir 0]

Congrats!! I hope ours goes smoothly as well. I have talked to a lot of people on here and haven't heard any negative stories about adjusting from VWP.

[trillium13 84]

I worked hard on our applications and did my homework on the relevant issues. I'd like to think that's why we never got any RFEs, which would have slowed the process down. As much as a royal pain in the ####### as this whole process has been I can't really complain about having a green card in hand less than 6 months after we got married.

Doing your homework and being diligent about having everything right does pay off. A good lesson for everyone going through this process. Double and triple check everything! A little time now could save a lot of time and stress later.

Congratulations to you!

[justashooter 430]

congratulations and good luck to you both in pursuit of a happy and productive marriage. send pix of the firstborn.

ps, best to your mother.

[TimandJoyce 1]

Nice! GC in less than 6 months!! Glad everything went fairly smooth.