List of Questions Consulate asks

[moroccan love 0]

My fiancee was asked this.... "tell me everything you know about her from the day she was born". What elementary school did she go to? What high school? Show me on the map where that high school is. Are her parents still married? How old was she when they divorced? Who are they married to now? What state do they live in? Do they approve of you?

That sounds very familiar, he had a similar experience

[moroccan love 0]

This has been too painful for both of us and I have been delayed in posting, but it might help others. I am doing this so you can see the questions and types of questions, but also how they do these interviews for some. He had a lot of knowledge and proved what was needed, but he was told he was not getting a visa and was being denied. He was given the 221g stating they were returning us to the states for further review (uh yeah).

My Senator's helped us obtain a second interview. The second interview was different and a different CO(s). Only one asked questions and they were supposedly the "acting" Senior Officer, which was interesting since the Senior Office responded to the first request. They made him nervous from the beginning. He was immediately told this was his big chance and if he blew it, then he would not be getting a visa. In the second interview, the CO spoke quickly and used very large words. He denied him a translator telling him his English was fine, but asked for one when he denied him. He said he wanted to be sure he understood. They then said they were returning us and extending the petition (knowing it was only going to be allowed to expire). I was livid and told my Senators it was prejudice because of the age difference. We proved (100s of pic, 4 years of conversations, calls, trips, etc.) what was necessary and our lawyer advised we demand further review. We were assured by the CO, no one is denied based on age and we simply did not prove our case. One of the Senator's offices was totally clueless of the law and what is needed to obtain a visa and went so far as to advise me I may not know my fiance well enough. She called an office in DC and they hinted at various things, but would not disclose information. When I explained what the law states, she was surprised, but told me that Senator X doesn't mind making an inquiry, but doesn't want to be involved in the "politics" of the situation. It is simply a courtesy. She then said, just go and marry him. I explained to her I would love to do so, however, the state of the economy and the fact I need my job doesn't warrant that as simply as it was stated. I further explained, if I lost my job, I could guarantee there would not be a replacement waiting for me and in turn I would not have the finances needed to support us.

The second Senator actually sent me the email they received and I was fortunate to know what they were at least telling them as a reason. I have no idea what was put on the returned petition and as a matter of fact, it still hasn't arrived in the states after months. I am sure they are waiting until it is close to the new expiration date. I have not received notice of this (extension) yet either. The reasons in the email stated we couldn't prove a valid relationship, didn't see each other more than twice (requirement was once), he couldn't give "exact" times and dates and we did not show we had anything in common. When asked about our future, my fiance could not give small dreams/goals, only larger ones. Regardless, here are his questions. By the way, I will also note.... We filed a previous petition in 2008. It was returned and allowed to expire. When we filed again in 2009, we received a NOIR and it stated the reason given for the return. There were four listed. The reasons he was denied the first time are as follows: 1.) He wrote me poetery. 2.) He said I did not receive a HS diploma, but did attend the university (he was correct, I didn't get a diploma, but a GED (equivalent to a diploma) 3.) When asked when we became more than friends, his answer was 1 year and then 3 months. He was referring to our engagement (1 year) and 3 months was when we became a couple. He was off by about 3 weeks regarding when we became a couple.

4.) When we met, he knew me by my nickname and did not know my given name until later. They called "me" a liar and a fraud to him, but on paper they state he could not tell them exactly when I disclosed this information. Those were the reasons for denying us a visa. Here are the questions from his more recent interview.

Questions asked during his interview.......

1. Where does her mother live? (he knew the answer)

2. What is (name of state)? He answered name of city) and was asked is that was a village, town, city or what? (he answered correctly)

3. Where is (state) on the map? He was not allowed to show him, he wanted to know East, West, South, North. To show he knew about the area, my fiance told him (city) was the capital of (state). (He was correct with the capital of my state)

4. Where is (city) on the map? He said (name of state)and again as above the N E S W, but not allowed to show him. He (CO) laughed and said where is it?

5. Where is (name of different state) on the map? same as above. He(fiance) said it is 90 minutes from (my city), again showing he knows.

6. What is (name of state in #5)? I don't know Where is (again name of state)? I don't know (he wanted direction and at this point my fiance was frazzled because he knew, he just didn't know the direction)

7. Why and when did your fiance quit (left) school? in beginning of her junior year in 19xx. (asked 2x)

He said, no, give me the age when she left school? I said I don't know they age, but she had many problems in the home with her family and to begin working (he knew the year and he knew why)

8. What kind of work? (answered correctly)

9. What kind of problems did she have? (answered correctly)

10. What did your fiance do when she got her diploma? (correctly answered)

11. What does (name of college) mean? (correct) He laughed and said to me I do not know what that is or what you are talking about. (large univ)

12. Who lived on the farm? (correct)

13. When did your fiancee get divorce? He asked, #1 or #2? then answered with both dates correctly

14. When did your fiancee get married? (correct w/ both)

NOTE: He answered with the year and CO said no, what month and when I said the month, he said what day.

Then he said, why do you know this very well, but you do not know the map? This was not a direct question, he was stating his opinion that he knew about me, but not the map.

15. What countries has she visited out of usa? (correct)

16. What cities in USA has she visited? (correct)

17. Has she visited her daughter in (city)? (correct)

18. How long ago did she see her last? (correct)

19. Did she fly, drive or take a balloon to (city)? (Fiance said "What?" and then said drive

20. How does she get to work? by car

21. What kind of car? (correct)

22. What color? (incorrect)

23. Why did you say (color)? Because she loves the color.

24. What state is near (state)? (coorect and stated distance) CO laughed and began talking about the map

25, How long does it take to drive from her home to her daughter's? (said many, but didn't know exact) CO laughed

Then he said, how long does it take you to drive from Casa to (his city)? He said 4 hours.

CO said, that is what I want you to tell me from her city to her daughter's, how many hours exact? he said he did not know the exact hours

26. Who did your fiance live with when she moved back from (state)? (correct (mother) answer, but the CO said they are not close, how did they live together? (keep in mind, he is asking about my teen years and my mother and I struggle like most hard headed people do during those years)

27. When did your fiancee move back from (state)and with who? July 19xx, with her mother.

28. Why did she move in with her mother if she did not get along with her mother? He didn't wait for an answer

29. Second time, What was the age of your fiancee when she left school? I said she left school in 19xx

Then he said to me I want know her age when she left school? I said I don't know

30. How old was your fiance when she started work? (correct)

31. What kind of work? (correct)

32. What is your fiancee's background? I do not know (never received clarification of what "background" they wanted, heritage, personal, etc.)

33. What was on farm? horses

34. How many? more than 11

35. What kind/what are they for? they are for racing, maybe 5 of them for this.

36. How many years did your fiance study before she left school? I do not know. (education timelines are different in Morocco and we never talked about the number of years, it was in the past, but he knew the year of study and grade and this is like previous questions, but slightly different)

37. Who did your fiance live with when she left home? (name), then they got married

38. Who moved from the farm to the apartment and why? (correct)

39. What kind of work? (correct)

40. What happened to the farm? I don't know.

41. How old was she when her parents divorced? She was 2 or 3 years old.

42. He asked how many hours I work in the week? He told the CO my schedule, but not total hours, I work OT a lot. The CO laughed

43. How many times has your fiance visted you? 2x

44. He said, nice pictures, where did you go? (named places)

45. Does she just have (name of my daughter)? he told him no, she lost twins before (miscarriage)

46. Why did she not have more? (correctly answered)

47. How old are you? (answered)

48. What do you do at work? (answered)(asked 2 times)

49. What did she do between the time she got her diploma and began working at (company name)? (answered correctly, just not enough)

50. What does she do at work? (correct)

51. What is that? (correct)

52. Have you asked her to live in Morocco? Yes

53. With who? (answered)

54. What kind of work will she do? I don't know

55. Will you support her to live with you? Yes

The next is what my fiance told me....

He asked the questions very quickly from the application. To see if we know each other or just working about application/information.

He was always asking me about the map (many times, maybe 5 minutes or more) and laughing and asking me if that was all or if I wanted more questions? He would go round and round with the map and ask a question and then say "are you sure?" and ask again is it south/north/east/west. I kept telling him, as you wish and he would start to ask me more. He asked questions for about an hour.

He said okay and I said what can I tell my fiance and he said we cannot give you the Visa and I said, okay what can I do. He said you cannot do anything, we do not believe in your relationship. He gave him the paper and he said to the man, I love her very much and will continue our relationship because it is very strong and true. He was returning us to the US.

He (CO) said to me, you don't know anything about the map, why? You do not care about living in the United States?

OKay, that is all, do you think you get the Visa? I don't know. No, you are denied.

(CO)Is that enough or do you want to talk? As you wish. CO, okay and asked me more. (he did this 2x)

He didn't write down anything, just little things in the computer. Maybe did this 5/6 times.

He was the last person they interviewed and the only one that was asked so many questions.

Asked about where I lived when I left (state)? He asked this questions 3x. Making issue about relationship with my mother.

The map, the age when you left school and being close to mother and living with her. Made an issue because I lived with my mother when we are not close. (*my mother and I do not have mother/daughter relationship and have issues, but we are like friends and communicate much better now)

The second interview was not as long and the CO who conducted it was much more serious and sly. I am proud of him, we think he did well and honestly, he could have been perfect in the second interview and I think they would have denied him anyway.

FYI. Here are some "points/reasons" from the second interview......

"I can assure you that the difference in their age made absolutely no difference in the decision to return the case to USCIS for additional review. Age is a protected category and we do not return petitions based on differences in age."

"Her case is being returned to the Department of Homeland Security's Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for further review. Due to the personal nature of the information, the file will be sent via registered diplomatic pouch (Reg #). The Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services will be contacting your constituent to discuss the return of the petition to their office. However, if she wishes to seek information on the status of the case, she should contact the USCIS National Customer Service Center at 1-800-375-5283. She is advised to wait a few weeks before contacting USCIS to allow them to receive and review the file. You can let your constituent know that the validity of her petition has been extended by another four months, which should provide USCIS the time necessary to contact her and fully review her case"

I am sorry to be so long, but I hope it helps.

Good Luck

[TBoneTX 43,058]

Sounds as though you've been genuinely hosed. (Questions about maps?!) Fight it, si man.

[Peace.... 281]

This has been too painful for both of us and I have been delayed in posting, but it might help others. I am doing this so you can see the questions and types of questions, but also how they do these interviews for some. He had a lot of knowledge and proved what was needed, but he was told he was not getting a visa and was being denied. He was given the 221g stating they were returning us to the states for further review (uh yeah).

My Senator's helped us obtain a second interview. The second interview was different and a different CO(s). Only one asked questions and they were supposedly the "acting" Senior Officer, which was interesting since the Senior Office responded to the first request. They made him nervous from the beginning. He was immediately told this was his big chance and if he blew it, then he would not be getting a visa. In the second interview, the CO spoke quickly and used very large words. He denied him a translator telling him his English was fine, but asked for one when he denied him. He said he wanted to be sure he understood. They then said they were returning us and extending the petition (knowing it was only going to be allowed to expire). I was livid and told my Senators it was prejudice because of the age difference. We proved (100s of pic, 4 years of conversations, calls, trips, etc.) what was necessary and our lawyer advised we demand further review. We were assured by the CO, no one is denied based on age and we simply did not prove our case. One of the Senator's offices was totally clueless of the law and what is needed to obtain a visa and went so far as to advise me I may not know my fiance well enough. She called an office in DC and they hinted at various things, but would not disclose information. When I explained what the law states, she was surprised, but told me that Senator X doesn't mind making an inquiry, but doesn't want to be involved in the "politics" of the situation. It is simply a courtesy. She then said, just go and marry him. I explained to her I would love to do so, however, the state of the economy and the fact I need my job doesn't warrant that as simply as it was stated. I further explained, if I lost my job, I could guarantee there would not be a replacement waiting for me and in turn I would not have the finances needed to support us.

The second Senator actually sent me the email they received and I was fortunate to know what they were at least telling them as a reason. I have no idea what was put on the returned petition and as a matter of fact, it still hasn't arrived in the states after months. I am sure they are waiting until it is close to the new expiration date. I have not received notice of this (extension) yet either. The reasons in the email stated we couldn't prove a valid relationship, didn't see each other more than twice (requirement was once), he couldn't give "exact" times and dates and we did not show we had anything in common. When asked about our future, my fiance could not give small dreams/goals, only larger ones. Regardless, here are his questions. By the way, I will also note.... We filed a previous petition in 2008. It was returned and allowed to expire. When we filed again in 2009, we received a NOIR and it stated the reason given for the return. There were four listed. The reasons he was denied the first time are as follows: 1.) He wrote me poetery. 2.) He said I did not receive a HS diploma, but did attend the university (he was correct, I didn't get a diploma, but a GED (equivalent to a diploma) 3.) When asked when we became more than friends, his answer was 1 year and then 3 months. He was referring to our engagement (1 year) and 3 months was when we became a couple. He was off by about 3 weeks regarding when we became a couple.

4.) When we met, he knew me by my nickname and did not know my given name until later. They called "me" a liar and a fraud to him, but on paper they state he could not tell them exactly when I disclosed this information. Those were the reasons for denying us a visa. Here are the questions from his more recent interview.

Questions asked during his interview.......

1. Where does her mother live? (he knew the answer)

2. What is (name of state)? He answered name of city) and was asked is that was a village, town, city or what? (he answered correctly)

3. Where is (state) on the map? He was not allowed to show him, he wanted to know East, West, South, North. To show he knew about the area, my fiance told him (city) was the capital of (state). (He was correct with the capital of my state)

4. Where is (city) on the map? He said (name of state)and again as above the N E S W, but not allowed to show him. He (CO) laughed and said where is it?

5. Where is (name of different state) on the map? same as above. He(fiance) said it is 90 minutes from (my city), again showing he knows.

6. What is (name of state in #5)? I don't know Where is (again name of state)? I don't know (he wanted direction and at this point my fiance was frazzled because he knew, he just didn't know the direction)

7. Why and when did your fiance quit (left) school? in beginning of her junior year in 19xx. (asked 2x)

He said, no, give me the age when she left school? I said I don't know they age, but she had many problems in the home with her family and to begin working (he knew the year and he knew why)

8. What kind of work? (answered correctly)

9. What kind of problems did she have? (answered correctly)

10. What did your fiance do when she got her diploma? (correctly answered)

11. What does (name of college) mean? (correct) He laughed and said to me I do not know what that is or what you are talking about. (large univ)

12. Who lived on the farm? (correct)

13. When did your fiancee get divorce? He asked, #1 or #2? then answered with both dates correctly

14. When did your fiancee get married? (correct w/ both)

NOTE: He answered with the year and CO said no, what month and when I said the month, he said what day.

Then he said, why do you know this very well, but you do not know the map? This was not a direct question, he was stating his opinion that he knew about me, but not the map.

15. What countries has she visited out of usa? (correct)

16. What cities in USA has she visited? (correct)

17. Has she visited her daughter in (city)? (correct)

18. How long ago did she see her last? (correct)

19. Did she fly, drive or take a balloon to (city)? (Fiance said "What?" and then said drive

20. How does she get to work? by car

21. What kind of car? (correct)

22. What color? (incorrect)

23. Why did you say (color)? Because she loves the color.

24. What state is near (state)? (coorect and stated distance) CO laughed and began talking about the map

25, How long does it take to drive from her home to her daughter's? (said many, but didn't know exact) CO laughed

Then he said, how long does it take you to drive from Casa to (his city)? He said 4 hours.

CO said, that is what I want you to tell me from her city to her daughter's, how many hours exact? he said he did not know the exact hours

26. Who did your fiance live with when she moved back from (state)? (correct (mother) answer, but the CO said they are not close, how did they live together? (keep in mind, he is asking about my teen years and my mother and I struggle like most hard headed people do during those years)

27. When did your fiancee move back from (state)and with who? July 19xx, with her mother.

28. Why did she move in with her mother if she did not get along with her mother? He didn't wait for an answer

29. Second time, What was the age of your fiancee when she left school? I said she left school in 19xx

Then he said to me I want know her age when she left school? I said I don't know

30. How old was your fiance when she started work? (correct)

31. What kind of work? (correct)

32. What is your fiancee's background? I do not know (never received clarification of what "background" they wanted, heritage, personal, etc.)

33. What was on farm? horses

34. How many? more than 11

35. What kind/what are they for? they are for racing, maybe 5 of them for this.

36. How many years did your fiance study before she left school? I do not know. (education timelines are different in Morocco and we never talked about the number of years, it was in the past, but he knew the year of study and grade and this is like previous questions, but slightly different)

37. Who did your fiance live with when she left home? (name), then they got married

38. Who moved from the farm to the apartment and why? (correct)

39. What kind of work? (correct)

40. What happened to the farm? I don't know.

41. How old was she when her parents divorced? She was 2 or 3 years old.

42. He asked how many hours I work in the week? He told the CO my schedule, but not total hours, I work OT a lot. The CO laughed

43. How many times has your fiance visted you? 2x

44. He said, nice pictures, where did you go? (named places)

45. Does she just have (name of my daughter)? he told him no, she lost twins before (miscarriage)

46. Why did she not have more? (correctly answered)

47. How old are you? (answered)

48. What do you do at work? (answered)(asked 2 times)

49. What did she do between the time she got her diploma and began working at (company name)? (answered correctly, just not enough)

50. What does she do at work? (correct)

51. What is that? (correct)

52. Have you asked her to live in Morocco? Yes

53. With who? (answered)

54. What kind of work will she do? I don't know

55. Will you support her to live with you? Yes

The next is what my fiance told me....

He asked the questions very quickly from the application. To see if we know each other or just working about application/information.

He was always asking me about the map (many times, maybe 5 minutes or more) and laughing and asking me if that was all or if I wanted more questions? He would go round and round with the map and ask a question and then say "are you sure?" and ask again is it south/north/east/west. I kept telling him, as you wish and he would start to ask me more. He asked questions for about an hour.

He said okay and I said what can I tell my fiance and he said we cannot give you the Visa and I said, okay what can I do. He said you cannot do anything, we do not believe in your relationship. He gave him the paper and he said to the man, I love her very much and will continue our relationship because it is very strong and true. He was returning us to the US.

He (CO) said to me, you don't know anything about the map, why? You do not care about living in the United States?

OKay, that is all, do you think you get the Visa? I don't know. No, you are denied.

(CO)Is that enough or do you want to talk? As you wish. CO, okay and asked me more. (he did this 2x)

He didn't write down anything, just little things in the computer. Maybe did this 5/6 times.

He was the last person they interviewed and the only one that was asked so many questions.

Asked about where I lived when I left (state)? He asked this questions 3x. Making issue about relationship with my mother.

The map, the age when you left school and being close to mother and living with her. Made an issue because I lived with my mother when we are not close. (*my mother and I do not have mother/daughter relationship and have issues, but we are like friends and communicate much better now)

The second interview was not as long and the CO who conducted it was much more serious and sly. I am proud of him, we think he did well and honestly, he could have been perfect in the second interview and I think they would have denied him anyway.

FYI. Here are some "points/reasons" from the second interview......

"I can assure you that the difference in their age made absolutely no difference in the decision to return the case to USCIS for additional review. Age is a protected category and we do not return petitions based on differences in age."

"Her case is being returned to the Department of Homeland Security's Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for further review. Due to the personal nature of the information, the file will be sent via registered diplomatic pouch (Reg #). The Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services will be contacting your constituent to discuss the return of the petition to their office. However, if she wishes to seek information on the status of the case, she should contact the USCIS National Customer Service Center at 1-800-375-5283. She is advised to wait a few weeks before contacting USCIS to allow them to receive and review the file. You can let your constituent know that the validity of her petition has been extended by another four months, which should provide USCIS the time necessary to contact her and fully review her case"

I am sorry to be so long, but I hope it helps.

Good Luck

Hello and so sorry to hear all this regarding his interview. I have a few questions. Personally, do you think not being able to see him more than twice since you have together could have been an issue with denial of the visa and also your age difference. I see in the last part of your letter, that they did not consider the age difference to be a problem (but we all know different). I too am dealing with a age gap in our relationship and I think by far this is my biggest concern of denial. Are you gong to consider getting married at this point? This is such very stressful process to be with the one's we love and I do hope the both of you find a way to be together as we all wish for. Take care.

[moroccan love 0]

Hello and so sorry to hear all this regarding his interview. I have a few questions. Personally, do you think not being able to see him more than twice since you have together could have been an issue with denial of the visa and also your age difference. I see in the last part of your letter, that they did not consider the age difference to be a problem (but we all know different). I too am dealing with a age gap in our relationship and I think by far this is my biggest concern of denial. Are you gong to consider getting married at this point? This is such very stressful process to be with the one's we love and I do hope the both of you find a way to be together as we all wish for. Take care.

Honestly, the time together could have been issue, but we more than met the requirements so technically they are not allowed to use this. Two visits within two years is more than what is needed. It was also explained an illness and death kept me from a third visit.

The same with the age, but I do believe this did have an impact. It isn't that the age difference is not known in Morocco. His parent's have the same gap. Plus, he didn't know my age when we met and it was not really a topic of discussion or concern. The one Senator's office said you need to prove "equity" in the relationship. I think that is a reasonable way to look at it. We did this, but with a high fraud country, anything can happen. There are numerous red flags that can be addressed with any couple and the trick is to address them first. Our lawyer explained it is really the age difference. Yes, we wish to marry and we are working on a resolution to my time contraints at the moment. Sadly, it has damaged us emotionally in a way that is difficult to explain. It did not damage the relationship or our love, but it feels like someone ripped out your soul.

Marc Ellis wrote about situations like this recently. He is on the forums here and very helpful. It explains about a lot of what we have experienced as well as others. If you would like to see it, I can send it to you via mail here. I do not know if it is a violation to post the link here. It is from a website "Immigration Daily".

Thank you and best of luck to you.

Edited July 17, 2010 by moroccan love

[Peace.... 281]

Hi Lisa.,

I was doing some searching today and saw some additional questions that the CO may ask as well regarding couples who are already married:

Your Relationship/Wedding/Marriage

How long have you known each other?

Where and how did you meet? Was anyone else around?

What did you do on your first meeting? What did you first notice about your future spouse? Do you remember what either of you were wearing?

What language do the two of you converse in?

When did the relationship turn romantic?

Did your spouse meet any of your relatives? If not, why not? Did you meet any of your spouse’s relatives? If not, why not?

How much time did you spend together before you decided to get married? Why did you decide to get married? Who proposed to whom? How did the topic come up? Why did you decide to have a long/short engagement? What do your parents/friends think of your decision to marry this person? What do your spouse’s parents/friends think?

When and where was your wedding ? Do you have any photos of the ceremony and/or reception? Who from the US came to attend your marriage? (Why did others not come here to attend the marriage?) How many people were at your wedding? Did you have a reception? Describe.

Did you go for a honeymoon? If so, when and where?

How has your relationship been since you got married?

Why do you want to come to the US? What do you like and dislike about moving there?

Did you get married to get in to the US? Did you pay your spouse to get married or make any other deals?

What are your concerns about being married to someone from another culture?

What do you think the biggest problems will be, and have you thought about how you will deal with them?

Do you think that your relationship will work?

Do you trust your spouse?

Employment/Education

If your spouse is working:

• What does your spouse do for living?
• Where does s/he work?
• Employer name & location; phone number if possible
• What are his/her job duties/job title?
• How much does s/he make per hour/annual salary?
• What is your spouse’s work schedule?

If your spouse is in school:

• Provide details of the degree/diploma s/he is registered in; what kind of courses taken
• What year of study?
• Total length of program/ expected completion date?

Describe your spouse’s education history