AOS interview translator?

[Sebas&Lily 3]

Hello all, it has been a while since I've logged on but our interview is coming up in December and I was just thinking, my wife knows SOME English but I don't think she knows enough to be able to fully understand each question the Interviewing Officer will ask. Do they offer translators? Do we need to bring our own? Anyone have experience with this?

Thanks!

[VanessaTony 3,567]

they have SOME translators but usually you need to provide one. Typically it cannot be you but some people have been okay. Personally I would have someone else attend with you "just in case". You don't want to have to try and translate for your wife and have the IO think you're feeding her answers. In the event of a Stokes Interview then you DEFINITELY couldn't translate for her.

[Sebas&Lily 3]

I hear so much of this STOKES interview lately, where does that name come from?

Yes I was thinking to bring a close friend of mine who has a translator license (for DOL and other) just in case. I just wasn't sure if he would be let in or if they provide one.

Thank you for your reply Vanessa&Tony. There were 44 views and just one reply, yours

[VanessaTony 3,567]

I hear so much of this STOKES interview lately, where does that name come from?

Yes I was thinking to bring a close friend of mine who has a translator license (for DOL and other) just in case. I just wasn't sure if he would be let in or if they provide one.

Thank you for your reply Vanessa&Tony. There were 44 views and just one reply, yours

You know I didn't know where the name came from so I did a search.. here: http://www.avvo.com/legal-answers/stokes-interview-on-i-130-application--new-york-56061.html (there's an answer by a girl called Elaine that says the following)

"Stokes Interview. This is named after a federal court decision that requires a thorough review when a marriage interview would result in a denial. What does this mean? This means that the adjudicator was NOT convinced of the bona fides (validity) of the marriage at the initial interview. What could trigger this? Living Separately without explanation, no photos, vague answers (lack of details), inability to answer questions such as what are the names of my new spouses children from a prior marriage, many marriages and divorces-especially involving immigration petitions, appearing not to be a couple by behavior, significant age differences, and so on. "

As for the person who's translating, usually there's no problem letting another person in (if required). I never got an interview so I don't know what the interview letter says but I think I remember reading that it mentions translators on it... you should be fine though. Tell the friend to bring a book or something to do if he's not needed, and perhaps buy him dinner or lunch or something as a thank you. At least if he's there, you won't end up like one couple who had to ask other people waiting for interviews if they spoke this random language (they got lucky) otherwise they would have had to reschedule the interview (and that can take MONTHS to reschedule!

[grinchus 11]

Hi, I brought a friend of ours to the interview who is fluent both in English and Italian. As far as I could figure out, the translator didn't have to be "certified" just "qualified," and the qualification could be self-declared, i.e. just stating to the officer that, yes, they are bilingual. When you go in there you take an oath to answer the questions truthfully, and our friend/translator had to take an oath to translate exactly what was being said, both questions and answers. I'm glad we brought him. I am fluent in Italian and could have done it, but it is more credible having a third party present. Our interview took about 20 minutes. Good luck!

[payxibka 10,047]

they have SOME translators but usually you need to provide one. Typically it cannot be you but some people have been okay. Personally I would have someone else attend with you "just in case". You don't want to have to try and translate for your wife and have the IO think you're feeding her answers. In the event of a Stokes Interview then you DEFINITELY couldn't translate for her.

For any AOS interview or any joint interview for that matter, not only is it not a good idea for the spouse to translate, it is NOT allowed. Period.

[Sebas&Lily 3]

Aha, I see, thank you all so much, I will talk to my friend today and hopefully he will be available

[VanessaTony 3,567]

For any AOS interview or any joint interview for that matter, not only is it not a good idea for the spouse to translate, it is NOT allowed. Period.

Actually it is. I know several people who have done so. There are also a few posts on VJ about it.

[menina 50]

Actually it is. I know several people who have done so. There are also a few posts on VJ about it.

I brought an interpreter with me for my husband, but when the IO found out that I am fluent in Portuguese, he asked me to translate. Quick interview with immediate approval! I still think it is safer to have someone else there in case they don't allow the spouse to do it, but we are an example of a time when it was allowed.

[Sebas&Lily 3]

I see, so basically it's not a rule but seems to be up to the discretion of the Interviewing Officer which route he/she feels more comfortable to take

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

I see, so basically it's not a rule but seems to be up to the discretion of the Interviewing Officer which route he/she feels more comfortable to take

It depends on what, if anything, the IO is fishing for. If they suspect the couple don't share a common language and may have trouble communicating with each other then they may ask the US citizen spouse to translate for the applicant, rather than a translator you brought along, just to see if you can actually communicate with each other. On the other hand, if they suspect the applicant doesn't really know the answers to the questions, and the US citizen spouse is fudging the answers during the translation, then they'll ask the translator to translate. They've even been known to call a translator on the phone to translate during the interview. If it was a Stokes interview then it wouldn't be possible for the US citizen spouse to translate because the couple are separated during questioning.

By the way, the term "Stokes" stems from a civil case Stokes v. INS in 1976. That case resulted in the INS field office in New York establishing a separate unit, which became known as the "Stokes unit", for the purpose of conducting intensive interviews when a marriage was suspected to be fraudulent for the purpose of obtaining an immigration benefit. Only the New York field office actually has a "Stokes unit" specifically because of this case, but most USCIS field offices employ the same interview tactics when a fraudulent marriage is suspected, and they also refer to it as a "Stokes interview".

We brought my wife's niece to translate. Some of the questions require a better understanding of English than my wife or step-kids have, and go far beyond my ability to explain in my limited Vietnamese.

[Sebas&Lily 3]

^ heh good to know. I never know what this Stokes thing was about.

[Kang Lang 7]

during my husband's aos interview, i was able to translate for him, while my thai is pretty limited she did allow me to rephrase things into simpler terminology so he could understand what was being asked but our i.o. knew us.

[juliava 80]

I don't think you guys are going to have any problems even if your friend is not available to go to the interview with you for translation purposes. The interview questions are pretty basic.

[Sebas&Lily 3]

Everything went so smooth yesterday! We are so happy! Even though my wife was really tired from being stuck in airports due to Europe weather this past weekend, we did great! My translator was there and the IO was very friendly, asked me questions, asked her questions, we showed him pictures, he asked us if we are planning to have kids and we both answered 2 since we already talked about it . One of the funnier moments was when towards the end he was looking through our I129F paperwork, he asked if those are his to keep, my wife understood and she looked at me all serious and said "Nooo, those are ours" Hahaha we all started laughing and at the end he handed them back to us and said "Well, I guess these aren't mine" and smiled .

We had a good time, I was pleasantly surprised how well it went even with us running 5minutes late since I forgot the interview letter at home and had to turn around . I would've forgot and drove all the way to the interview but thanks to my wife (which I now call my "Address book"), we didn't get far from home and she asked me about it

The IO said he will make his decision right after he started explaining to us how to remove GC conditions down the road so I am pretty sure we are approved. He also said it only takes 1-2 weeks for us to get the GC at this time. He said at one time a different couple got theirs in 2 days after he processed all the documents and approved it.

Thank you all for your help so far