March 2010 filers

[zicomania 1]

I'm really growing impatient and if I check that website one more time and see no changes I'm going to crazy! My poor hubby is even getting impatient and he's one of the most patient people I know! It's very frustrating. At least send the EAD! He's so ready to go back to work. I really thought things would be better, but this is ATL..! I guess immigration runs like city government.

you will probably receive the IL this week or early next week

Edited May 26, 2010 by zicomania

[kadensmommie 0]

you will probably receive the IL this week or early next week

That would be awesome!!! Staying in constant prayer for us and everyone on VJ!

[ninnie 0]

Hey guys just finished my interview today. Approved i think!

Here's how it went....

Our interview schedule was at 2:35pm...there around 20 people in the waiting area but only 3 pairs are couples... I knew that they will have same boat with us bec i saw photo albums with them lol. We arrived at 2pm, we waited and waited and observed that the couple before us went inside but after 15mins the guy was sent out and the girl remained inside. this made me scared. Then the guy was waiting outside for 20 mins then the girl finally joined him but with teary eyed.then they were waiting for the IO for 10mins...then he showed up eventually and told them that they just wait for the verdict in the mail.

Finally after them the same IO called my name at 3:10pm. Good luck to us...lol

S1st we let us swore to tell the truth.

Then he ask us:

1. How and when we met.

2. How long have we been together.

3. What's the rush of having the civil wedding if we are going to do church wedding this July. so i told him that a lawyer

advised us to get green card or at least to get travel parole to reduce hassle when i will try to come back from Philippines.

4. then he ask us who was the lawyer and if he help us fill up the forms. we told him that we did it our selves and we can't remember the name of the lawyer.lol.. he did not like it.

5. he then followed..who attended the civil wedding.

6. What did we do on my husbands birthday. random..

7. He ask if we have additional documents. We gave our completion certificate for our pre-marriage preparation from our catholic church. We also gave him a copy of the front page of our joint credit card (with the same numbers), savings and checking.

8. he asks if we have the same car insurance so we said no.

9. Then we gave him photocopy of our drivers license with the same address.

10. We gave him our lease agreement and he had issues on the quality of the contract they gave us. Its good the management gave us a separate letter stating that we live in the same address.

11. Then he ask our pictures. We brought an album (150 photos)... I arranged it from old to new (started when we are babies..lol). Tip: Make sure you know the dates that you went on those pictures esp. if its out of town...Me and my husband travels a lot so we have pictures showing different states. then he ask us if we have plane tickets, hotel receipts and or wedding ring receipts. hehe we dont have anything.

Its just a blessing that he really enjoyed watching our photos. hehe

Then lastly he ask us if we still have supporting documents to give him then we said no.

He said its done just wait for the decision on mail..(3:30pm)

But before that he removed my I-94 from my passport.

He gave us our passports back.

then we left.

I check my passport and he wrote something. VIOPP.I dont know what this means! anybody?

I have a feeling that we were approved...that's what it meant right? lol

at 8:30pm i received this.

*** DO NOT RESPOND TO THIS E-MAIL ***

The last processing action taken on your case

Receipt Number: MSCxxxxxxxxxxx

Application Type: I485 , APPLICATION TO REGISTER PERMANENT RESIDENCE OR TO ADJUST STATUS

Current Status: Card production ordered.

On May 25, 2010, we ordered production of your new card. Please allow 30 days for your card to be mailed to you. If we need something from you we will contact you. If you move before you receive the card, call customer service at 1-800-375-5283.

If you have questions or concerns about your application or the case status results listed above, or if you have not received a decision from USCIS within the current processing time listed*, please contact USCIS Customer Service at (800) 375-5283.

Sincerely,

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)

Yay..confirmation of the approval!

Thanks VJ, everyone who help me in any other way.

Till the next journey!!!

11.

[Kerrin 4]

Hey guys just finished my interview today. Approved i think!

Here's how it went....

Our interview schedule was at 2:35pm...there around 20 people in the waiting area but only 3 pairs are couples... I knew that they will have same boat with us bec i saw photo albums with them lol. We arrived at 2pm, we waited and waited and observed that the couple before us went inside but after 15mins the guy was sent out and the girl remained inside. this made me scared. Then the guy was waiting outside for 20 mins then the girl finally joined him but with teary eyed.then they were waiting for the IO for 10mins...then he showed up eventually and told them that they just wait for the verdict in the mail.

Finally after them the same IO called my name at 3:10pm. Good luck to us...lol

S1st we let us swore to tell the truth.

Then he ask us:

1. How and when we met.

2. How long have we been together.

3. What's the rush of having the civil wedding if we are going to do church wedding this July. so i told him that a lawyer

advised us to get green card or at least to get travel parole to reduce hassle when i will try to come back from Philippines.

4. then he ask us who was the lawyer and if he help us fill up the forms. we told him that we did it our selves and we can't remember the name of the lawyer.lol.. he did not like it.

5. he then followed..who attended the civil wedding.

6. What did we do on my husbands birthday. random..

7. He ask if we have additional documents. We gave our completion certificate for our pre-marriage preparation from our catholic church. We also gave him a copy of the front page of our joint credit card (with the same numbers), savings and checking.

8. he asks if we have the same car insurance so we said no.

9. Then we gave him photocopy of our drivers license with the same address.

10. We gave him our lease agreement and he had issues on the quality of the contract they gave us. Its good the management gave us a separate letter stating that we live in the same address.

11. Then he ask our pictures. We brought an album (150 photos)... I arranged it from old to new (started when we are babies..lol). Tip: Make sure you know the dates that you went on those pictures esp. if its out of town...Me and my husband travels a lot so we have pictures showing different states. then he ask us if we have plane tickets, hotel receipts and or wedding ring receipts. hehe we dont have anything.

Its just a blessing that he really enjoyed watching our photos. hehe

Then lastly he ask us if we still have supporting documents to give him then we said no.

He said its done just wait for the decision on mail..(3:30pm)

But before that he removed my I-94 from my passport.

He gave us our passports back.

then we left.

I check my passport and he wrote something. VIOPP.I dont know what this means! anybody?

I have a feeling that we were approved...that's what it meant right? lol

at 8:30pm i received this.

*** DO NOT RESPOND TO THIS E-MAIL ***

The last processing action taken on your case

Receipt Number: MSCxxxxxxxxxxx

Application Type: I485 , APPLICATION TO REGISTER PERMANENT RESIDENCE OR TO ADJUST STATUS

Current Status: Card production ordered.

On May 25, 2010, we ordered production of your new card. Please allow 30 days for your card to be mailed to you. If we need something from you we will contact you. If you move before you receive the card, call customer service at 1-800-375-5283.

If you have questions or concerns about your application or the case status results listed above, or if you have not received a decision from USCIS within the current processing time listed*, please contact USCIS Customer Service at (800) 375-5283.

Sincerely,

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)

Yay..confirmation of the approval!

Thanks VJ, everyone who help me in any other way.

Till the next journey!!!

11.

Congrats!!!!!

Thanks for sharing the interview experience!!!

[robotica97 0]

Hi everybody, just wanted to share that my husband AOS interview has been approved...

We had the interview today at 11 a.m we arrived at 10:30 they called us at 10:45 a.m. the IO was a very nice person, since my husband is still learning english he made the interview in spanish.I was a little nervous because I took my toddler to the interview and thakfully the IO didnt mind at all. He started the inerview with me (the petitioner) my name, address, DOB and date of marriage then asked me for our original Marriage certificate. Then he went through our daughters birth certificates, and asked me for the original BC of my daughters who was born aboard. Then he continued with my husband, he asked him, his complete name, place of birth, DOB and the name of his parents, date of last entry and POE to the US, he was only like just doublechecking all the information on the applications, at the end he asked my husband all the NO questions and that was all, he kept his visa and I-94 and told us that the welcome letter will arrive between 2 and 3 weeks ans then his green card (for 10 years )will arrive aswell, and in 3 years he will be able to apply for the US citizenship.

The interview lasted between 20-30 minutes, very smooth thank God. We got out and I huged and kissed him in the elevator, very very happy and thanfull we returned back home.

Thanks everybody for the support, I wish good luck to everyone and those who are still waiting for their interview letter, hang in there u will get it very soon.

[DaniG 3]

Congrats, Ninnie & Robotica! Thank you so much for sharing your stories.

[fabulous02 1]

Yay! I hope my IO is also nice, interview's couple of weeks away! So excited and anxious!

Just curious... I was asked by my lawyer to make copies of tons of stuff... did you have to surrender some stuff to the IO?

I didn't have to surrender anything, but I did bring copies of everything I submitted in my original AOS package. I only had to give what the IO asked for. So in my case it was the rental agreement, utility bills and bank statements only.

Good luck....

[honeybeme 0]

March Filers!!! wohooooo

[icepeck 1]

I found these tips somewhere on this website and I just wanted to share them with everyone who is sweating bullets over their upcoming interview.

Worried about that scheduled marriage-based green card interview? Not sure what to expect from your examiner?

• Your burden is to prove (1) your believability (hint: being prepared is important!); and (2) genuineness of your marriage, as evidenced by children if any, joint tax returns, bills at a common living address, cross life-insurance policies, co-mingling of financial assets, wedding and other photos, and length of the relationship. USCIS relies on documents, documents, documents.

• Producing few documents may mean trouble. If you and your spouse live in different cities, you should produce airline itineraries, emails, exchanged cards, photos, and any other viable written documentation of your "commuting marriage."

• If the foreign spouse paid the American spouse to marry and be sponsored for the green card, then the green card will be denied. If there is a big age difference between spouses, expect to be grilled. If either spouse has been married multiple times, expect the same.

• According to the Field Adjudicator's Manual consulted by examining USCIS officials, the following are signs of a "sham marriage:" Large disparity of age; inability of petitioner and beneficiary to speak each other's language;vast difference in cultural and ethnic background;family and/or friends unaware of the marriage; marriage arranged by a third party; marriage contracted immediately following the beneficiary's apprehension or receipt of notification to depart the United States; discrepancies in statements on questions for which a husband and wife should have common knowledge; no cohabitation since marriage; beneficiary is a friend of the family; petitioner has filed previous petitions in behalf of aliens, especially prior alien spouses.

• If the alien spouse’s English is poor, take a translator.

• If the alien spouse has been arrested or convicted of a crime, don’t even think about attending the interview without procuring certified copies of all relevant police and court records and having them carefully examined by an experienced immigration lawyer. USCIS will require you to produce those same certified criminal records. So you might as well complete this task early!

• Men should wear slacks and collared shirts. Women should wear dresses of appropriate style and length or pant suits.

• Take all your identification documents, including the foreign spouse’s EAD and passport. Take an original and legible photocopy of all proof-of-marriage documents so you can put your hands on them quickly if asked, without fumbling.

• Leave cell phones and other electronic devices in your car.

• Early-morning appointment? Good sign. The USCIS examiner will have lots of other appointments. He will want to get you out the door. Most MBGC interviews end happily after less than 15 minutes.

• Afternoon appointment? Potentially a bad sign. The examiner may have spotted holes in your pre-filed paperwork or other defects. Could be a lengthy interview.

• Your attitude is the most important thing you will take into your interview. Preparation breeds confidence breeds optimism, enhancing your approval chances. This is not the same as plastering a smile on your face or ostentatiously holding hands.

• Listen carefully to the examiner. If you do not understand a question, ask the examiner to repeat it. Do not guess at answers. Do not volunteer information.

• At the start of the interview, you and your spouse will be sworn in. The examiner may turn on a video camera. He or she will ask you to be seated.

• Your examiner may or may not disclose his or her name. Get it! Ask politely. Have the examiner repeat the name if you did not hear it. Write it down or commit it to memory! This will be critical if your green card is denied.

• Young examiners may feel they have the most to prove. They may be overly-zealous, discourteous or even hostile. This is the exception. If it happens, shrug it off. Don’t get angry! To the contrary: Take a breath, stay calm, pause, and consider your answers even more carefully. Remember: Examiners have big caseloads and big pressure. They must make important decisions quickly. And they are often lied to.

• Expect the first minutes of your interview to be devoted to “housekeeping.” The examiner will ask for ID documents and may ask either spouse to confirm entries on the I-130, I-485 and G-325A forms. So memorize the most important info on those forms before the interview. Most critical: Date of your marriage, date of spouse’s admission into the U.S., and dates you began living together at your current and any earlier addresses.

• If the alien spouse is a Middle East male, expect tough questioning or worse.

• If you and your spouse are separated during the interview, you have a credibility problem. Typical treatment: The examiner may point to a wall calendar and ask both spouses (separately) how they spent the last seven days and where they spent the last seven nights. Either spouse may be asked to write down the other’s name and/or the name of the spouse’s parents, with correct spelling.

• If an examiner is convinced that the primary purpose of a marriage is to secure a green-card, he may accuse the U.S. spouse of “committing a crime” by filing green card paperwork for the foreign spouse. The trouble will “go away” if the spouse withdraws the I-130 petition. Or, the examiner may threaten an “ICE investigation.” Don’t give in to this bullying – and you should welcome an ICE investigation if your marriage is genuine.

• If the examiner approves the green card, the alien spouse’s passport will be stamped. Expect the green card to arrive by mail about two weeks later – unless the alien spouse remains tied up in lengthy “security checks” or USCIS lacks your correct address. The latter is your responsibility.

• If the examiner denies the green card, you will have the chance to renew the application before an immigration judge.

Good Luck to you all!!!!!

[icepeck 1]

Hey guys just finished my interview today. Approved i think!

Here's how it went....

Our interview schedule was at 2:35pm...there around 20 people in the waiting area but only 3 pairs are couples... I knew that they will have same boat with us bec i saw photo albums with them lol. We arrived at 2pm, we waited and waited and observed that the couple before us went inside but after 15mins the guy was sent out and the girl remained inside. this made me scared. Then the guy was waiting outside for 20 mins then the girl finally joined him but with teary eyed.then they were waiting for the IO for 10mins...then he showed up eventually and told them that they just wait for the verdict in the mail.

Finally after them the same IO called my name at 3:10pm. Good luck to us...lol

S1st we let us swore to tell the truth.

Then he ask us:

1. How and when we met.

2. How long have we been together.

3. What's the rush of having the civil wedding if we are going to do church wedding this July. so i told him that a lawyer

advised us to get green card or at least to get travel parole to reduce hassle when i will try to come back from Philippines.

4. then he ask us who was the lawyer and if he help us fill up the forms. we told him that we did it our selves and we can't remember the name of the lawyer.lol.. he did not like it.

5. he then followed..who attended the civil wedding.

6. What did we do on my husbands birthday. random..

7. He ask if we have additional documents. We gave our completion certificate for our pre-marriage preparation from our catholic church. We also gave him a copy of the front page of our joint credit card (with the same numbers), savings and checking.

8. he asks if we have the same car insurance so we said no.

9. Then we gave him photocopy of our drivers license with the same address.

10. We gave him our lease agreement and he had issues on the quality of the contract they gave us. Its good the management gave us a separate letter stating that we live in the same address.

11. Then he ask our pictures. We brought an album (150 photos)... I arranged it from old to new (started when we are babies..lol). Tip: Make sure you know the dates that you went on those pictures esp. if its out of town...Me and my husband travels a lot so we have pictures showing different states. then he ask us if we have plane tickets, hotel receipts and or wedding ring receipts. hehe we dont have anything.

Its just a blessing that he really enjoyed watching our photos. hehe

Then lastly he ask us if we still have supporting documents to give him then we said no.

He said its done just wait for the decision on mail..(3:30pm)

But before that he removed my I-94 from my passport.

He gave us our passports back.

then we left.

I check my passport and he wrote something. VIOPP.I dont know what this means! anybody?

I have a feeling that we were approved...that's what it meant right? lol

at 8:30pm i received this.

*** DO NOT RESPOND TO THIS E-MAIL ***

The last processing action taken on your case

Receipt Number: MSCxxxxxxxxxxx

Application Type: I485 , APPLICATION TO REGISTER PERMANENT RESIDENCE OR TO ADJUST STATUS

Current Status: Card production ordered.

On May 25, 2010, we ordered production of your new card. Please allow 30 days for your card to be mailed to you. If we need something from you we will contact you. If you move before you receive the card, call customer service at 1-800-375-5283.

If you have questions or concerns about your application or the case status results listed above, or if you have not received a decision from USCIS within the current processing time listed*, please contact USCIS Customer Service at (800) 375-5283.

Sincerely,

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)

Yay..confirmation of the approval!

Thanks VJ, everyone who help me in any other way.

Till the next journey!!!

11.

Congratulations!! Thanks for sharing your experience.

[DaniG 3]

I found a really detailed guide about the interview written by an attorney here: http://forums.immigration.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=17855&d=1141527377

It was really helpful to my husband, who doesn't know much about immigration and the legal system.

[DaniG 3]

Just got back from our interview today - approved

It was much more relaxed than we expected and the officer didn't ask us any of the uncomfortable questions I've read in guides. We were both called into the office of the IO and he made copies of our ID's. Then he briefly went over our application, asking trivial questions from time to time, such as what kind of visa I entered the US with and what our address is (on this one he also asked my USC husband if it was on the east side of Hwy X, and later he shared he lives in this area as well).

After that he asked what evidence we brought (I had a big accordion folder full of all kinds of documents + 2 picture albums). He only wanted to look at and make copies of specific things - our lease, our joint bank statement, and joint insurance. He did not care about anything else and did not even look at the pictures, just told us to find him one from our wedding where we were together with my husband's parents.

He gave us a piece of paper with instructions about removal of conditions and went over it in detail.

At that point we were sworn in. Then he went on to ask me the I-485 questions and I had a hard time keeping myself from laughing. I don't know how IO's stay serious when they ask everyone if they're a terrorist! Once we were done, he complimented our application, saying we did a great job without even speaking to an attorney (I have to thank VisaJourney here!).The IO said he is approving the I-130 and congratulated us.

The one negative thing about the interview is that he said that the moment he approved the I-130, the EAD application is automatically canceled and I would never get it. They have changed the format of the green card however, so it will not arrive right away, which means I will be unemployed for at least a few more weeks. I had a job offer and was hoping to start the beginning of next month...but at least for a while I will not have to deal with any more paperwork

[danimead 4]

Just got back from our interview today - approved

It was much more relaxed than we expected and the officer didn't ask us any of the uncomfortable questions I've read in guides. We were both called into the office of the IO and he made copies of our ID's. Then he briefly went over our application, asking trivial questions from time to time, such as what kind of visa I entered the US with and what our address is (on this one he also asked my USC husband if it was on the east side of Hwy X, and later he shared he lives in this area as well).

After that he asked what evidence we brought (I had a big accordion folder full of all kinds of documents + 2 picture albums). He only wanted to look at and make copies of specific things - our lease, our joint bank statement, and joint insurance. He did not care about anything else and did not even look at the pictures, just told us to find him one from our wedding where we were together with my husband's parents.

He gave us a piece of paper with instructions about removal of conditions and went over it in detail.

At that point we were sworn in. Then he went on to ask me the I-485 questions and I had a hard time keeping myself from laughing. I don't know how IO's stay serious when they ask everyone if they're a terrorist! Once we were done, he complimented our application, saying we did a great job without even speaking to an attorney (I have to thank VisaJourney here!).The IO said he is approving the I-130 and congratulated us.

The one negative thing about the interview is that he said that the moment he approved the I-130, the EAD application is automatically canceled and I would never get it. They have changed the format of the green card however, so it will not arrive right away, which means I will be unemployed for at least a few more weeks. I had a job offer and was hoping to start the beginning of next month...but at least for a while I will not have to deal with any more paperwork

Congrats on your approval.

I have my interview in Des Moines in a few weeks so I really appreciated this review.

[DaniG 3]

It's great to see someone else from Iowa! Des Moines is a nice place to have the interview - I've never read any bad reviews about that office. Just make sure you bring good evidence. It seems that they have a list of items they *must* get from you that show joint residence and commingling of assets, so make sure you have those even if you have tons of other stuff (like letters, itineraries, affidavits, etc).

P.S.: One thing I forgot to mention above was that the IO also asked for our credits cards and made copies of them as proof we have a joint account.

Edited May 28, 2010 by DaniG

[davaocitygirl 0]

We are still waiting for the EAD, AP and the interview date! Frustrating.