Attorney at AOS Interview

[YasJun 1]

My wife and I just received the notice with my AOS interview date. This is the date we've been waiting for what seems like forever! And now that it's here I'm a bit nervous. For peace of mind I'm considering having an attorney present. We just got married in April so we don't have much hard evidence such as joint bank accounts or credit cards. Our apartment lease is both of our names and we have hundreds of pictures of us over the years but I just hope that is good enough. Also, I do not have the I-94 card. For those reasons, I would feel more comfortable if a lawyer is there but I'm not sure if it will make a huge difference. Thanks for any advice!

[Moomin 292]

My wife and I just received the notice with my AOS interview date. This is the date we've been waiting for what seems like forever! And now that it's here I'm a bit nervous. For peace of mind I'm considering having an attorney present. We just got married in April so we don't have much hard evidence such as joint bank accounts or credit cards. Our apartment lease is both of our names and we have hundreds of pictures of us over the years but I just hope that is good enough. Also, I do not have the I-94 card. For those reasons, I would feel more comfortable if a lawyer is there but I'm not sure if it will make a huge difference. Thanks for any advice!

How about insurance/addud to title of car, having state ID whowing the same address for both of you? Any letter addressed to both of you? My husband paid my doctor's visit the fist few months I was here, his credit card statements reflect that also(until getting on his insurance).

Regarding a lawyer - at that point, it seems odd(IMO) to involve a lawyer, only because it looks odd to have on present when you have nothing to hide or fear. Being nervous is understandable. Why don't you have an I-94?

[YasJun 1]

I do not have the I-94 because it was lost. I came to the US with my mother in 1999 (when I was 10 years old) under Visa waiver program. There is a US immigration stamp in her passport. On the I-485 for I-94 number I was told to put unknown.

I'm still on my father's health insurance so we don't have any in both of our names. The only thing we have is the apartment lease together. I just received an EAD and plan on getting a driver's license and our addresses will match on our licenses.

We don't have anything to hide, I was just wondering if an attorney being present would be beneficial to us if we're asked about why we don't have a lot of evidence or if they ask about the I-94.

[Moomin 292]

Is it possible to get a photo copy of your mom's passport, both the biographic page and entry stamp?

USCIS is asking for proof that you entered with inspection. You cannot adjust without it. Somebody else might add to your question. I'm fairly sure you need to file for a replacement (form i-102) to get a copy of the i-94, bring the receipt notice to interview and you should be fine.

I'd wait up for some more replies though, to see if you can avoid the i-102 fee. And especially since I am not that familiar with VWP when they always made you have an i94.

[Darnell 8,478]

I do not have the I-94 because it was lost. I came to the US with my mother in 1999 (when I was 10 years old) under Visa waiver program. There is a US immigration stamp in her passport. On the I-485 for I-94 number I was told to put unknown.

I'm still on my father's health insurance so we don't have any in both of our names. The only thing we have is the apartment lease together. I just received an EAD and plan on getting a driver's license and our addresses will match on our licenses.

We don't have anything to hide, I was just wondering if an attorney being present would be beneficial to us if we're asked about why we don't have a lot of evidence or if they ask about the I-94.

IMO, since you're an overstay, is better to have an attorney present.

[cj0301 0]

from what i have read in most forums all AOS applicants should and must have i-94 in case of lost i-94 you can file i-102 to uscis to get a copy of it.

[YasJun 1]

Do I need to file for I-102 even I have my mother's passport that we came in on? It has the entry stamp. That is what I've included in the I-485 that was submitted. After reading these posts I'm definitely going in with an attorney. I really hope that I do not need the I-102 because we are limited on time and money. Does anyone know approximately how long it would take to receive a replacement I-94 after I-102 is filed?

[M Charles 0]

My wife and I just received the notice with my AOS interview date. This is the date we've been waiting for what seems like forever! And now that it's here I'm a bit nervous. For peace of mind I'm considering having an attorney present. We just got married in April so we don't have much hard evidence such as joint bank accounts or credit cards. Our apartment lease is both of our names and we have hundreds of pictures of us over the years but I just hope that is good enough. Also, I do not have the I-94 card. For those reasons, I would feel more comfortable if a lawyer is there but I'm not sure if it will make a huge difference. Thanks for any advice!

Your attorney won't be allowed to give any legal advice on how you should respond during the interview. The consular officer will probably ask him or her to wait at the side while the interview happens. The exception would be if you have a family member translating for you who happens to be an attorney, but even then, they will typically know your language enough to ask the attorney to refrain from coaching you during the interview.

[Dave&Judy 3]

Hello !

If we don't hire an attorney during our AOS filing process, can we hire attorney just to be present at the interview?

Is there anything we need to mention in the paperwork for that now?

What we need to do in order to take attorney at the interview like informing USCIS or something?

Any experiences about taking attorney at the interview?

Thanks 4 your !!

[asdfg 18]

Somebody earlier asked if they should hire an attorney .

Here is what I posted (based on my own experience). In fact if I could do it all over again, I would file the petition on my own and hire the attorney for the interview only. Below you can see my post :

The answer to your question (do I need to hire an attorney) is YES and NO.

Yes, hire an attorney and No, do not hire an attorney.

Let me go over pros and cons.

On Pro side:

the real purpose of attorney is to protect your rights and make sure no error is made that leads to

denial of benefit you are statutorily eligible for.

I am currently on the last stage of my AOS and instead of approval I got RFE (after approval of I-130).

The main reason, as I see it, is that I didn't have an attorney during the interview.

And here is what happened:

I was NEVER in my life arrested or charged with any crime, anywhere. No DUI/DWI , nothing at all , nothing but very minor traffic tickets ( I didn't even get points on DL record for it!).

And I-485 unlike N-400 specifically says "excluding traffic violations".

Since I NEVER was arrested or charged of crime I NEVER admitted to the same and answered NO to relevant

application question.

However, during the interview I had an officer who specifically asked me "Not even a traffic ticket?" (after I answered NO to original question on i-485),to which I answered "I had traffic tickets".

He then went on to change my answer to YES , added in hand writing "traffic violation" and asked me to place initials

next to it.

A month later, instead of an approval I got the RFE saying "in your app and during the interview you admitted to have been arrested ... now submit an original letter of arrest disposition".

So, I had to hire an attorney (and I found a good one) to file a response who submitted the RFE reply.

Weeks later there is not even acknowledgment of RFE response receipt on USCIS.GOV page.

Had I had a competent attorney who went to interview with me he could have intervened and advised me not to place initials to YES and he would correct the newly hired USCIS officer that proper answer to this question should be NO since I have NEVER been arrested in my life or charged with any criminal violation.

So, this is just one example of when attorney can be helpful even if your case is million percent straightforward.

But here are the Cons to consider:

First, most attorneys charge obscenely huge amounts for nothing.

For example they will charge you some $2500 to $3500 and then make you

to do all the work (fill out all the forms) and after you fill everything out they will say

"now sign here and there" and then they will mail the package to USCIS.

If you paid a Kinkos employee to do all the copies of documents for you , you would end up with

$5-$10 bill. Since you yourself have to fill out forms, you could pay zero for it and, to be on safe side,

you could ask couple of your relatives or friends with good comprehension of English to go over and make sure

there are no typos or errors in your application.

Another $18 you would pay to send your package via USPS Express-next day delivery and , having spent $30 or so

you would have submitted exactly the same package as $3500 attorney would.

This ,of course, does not apply to good attorneys who may spend time with you , really analyzing your case and giving you advise, spending hours to fill out forms, but such attorneys are extreme rarity and most attorneys see their profession as a treadmill where fools are coming to pay them money in exchange for doing nothing.

Another big problem, again due to lack of ethical standards , is that in many cases attorneys will actually

damage your straightforward case.

Not only they don't do anything on your case while charging you for over 10 hrs of hourly rate to submit

your application, but on top of that they often hire poorly educated and low paid paralegals who , since they get paid little more than a cashier in Wallmart, populate your application with errors and some may turn to be very very costly to fix down the road.

So, hiring an attorney you risk to end up with insult and injury, not a best thing you can buy out there for 3 grands.

Now you have to consider all the pros and cons and make your own decision.

If I were you I would fill out all forms and submit by myself (just pay great deal of attention

to all and every single line and avoid by all means any typos and errors, even keep your application for days

before mailing, read and review it over and over during various times of the day as you get a chance and correct any and all typos/errors you may find. Ask someone to review and make sure all your answers are correct, have then read all questions to you and answer them and make sure all your answers are correct).

Make 2 copies of all forms submitted and put in a safe place your copies.

Once done with paperwork mail it to USCIS via FedEx or USPS Express, save the receipt.

Next you will be fingerprinted , issued EAD/TD and appointment letter for interview (assuming you fill out your paperwork with no errors and submit all the initial evidence to establish your eligibility).

When your interview nears then make a decision if you need an attorney.

If you decide to hire one make a very thorough research, make sure you are hiring a competent one. Do as much googling on a firm/attorney as you can. Get a list of few selected attorneys who have: good record, lots of presence on net, published , written books,attended seminars, praised by peers (check Martindale-Hubbel rating. The highest is AV) and etc.

Then pick up the phone and call to see attorney in person or talk over the phone.

If they say "Pay $XXX or WE WON'T TALK" then hang up immediately. May be it's a great attorney but you don't want to spend $200-$400 to just find out if he or she is.

Interview them as you would a plumber or a building contractor - you will be paying , they will be working for you and you should make sure they are truly competent , not just in paper but in real life too.

Ask pointed questions (not necessarily related to your case but find something relatively obscure to test how current the attorney is on current laws/rulings/case precedents).

This will help you to make a better judgment instead of blindly assuming that they are proficient.

If all checks and they agree to charge reasonable fee (interview lasts only 30-45 mins and you wait another hour or so to be called in) then you may pay relatively small fee in exchange for professional representation and to avoid situation like one I got myself into.

Tell your attorney NOT TO INTERFERE unless USCIS officer makes an obvious error or asks totally irrelevant to AOS forms questions.

If your attorney interferes , interrupts the officer and keeps telling you what to answer then the officer may grow suspicious that there is something wrong and this will cause major hurdles in processing of your case.

If you are lucky and the USCIS officer is experienced and knows his job well then you may not need any attorney at all. Google and find out if the local office had recently hired a lot of new officers. Older and more experienced the officers - higher chances you will pass the interview and be approved on the spot (assuming your case is straightforward and you submit all evidence needed with your application).

Good luck to you and all the best.

Edited July 30, 2012 by asdfg

[Dave&Judy 3]

Somebody earlier asked if they should hire an attorney .

Here is what I posted (based on my own experience). In fact if I could do it all over again, I would file the petition on my own and hire the attorney for the interview only. Below you can see my post :

The answer to your question (do I need to hire an attorney) is YES and NO.

Yes, hire an attorney and No, do not hire an attorney.

Let me go over pros and cons.

On Pro side:

the real purpose of attorney is to protect your rights and make sure no error is made that leads to

denial of benefit you are statutorily eligible for.

I am currently on the last stage of my AOS and instead of approval I got RFE (after approval of I-130).

The main reason, as I see it, is that I didn't have an attorney during the interview.

And here is what happened:

I was NEVER in my life arrested or charged with any crime, anywhere. No DUI/DWI , nothing at all , nothing but very minor traffic tickets ( I didn't even get points on DL record for it!).

And I-485 unlike N-400 specifically says "excluding traffic violations".

Since I NEVER was arrested or charged of crime I NEVER admitted to the same and answered NO to relevant

application question.

However, during the interview I had an officer who specifically asked me "Not even a traffic ticket?" (after I answered NO to original question on i-485),to which I answered "I had traffic tickets".

He then went on to change my answer to YES , added in hand writing "traffic violation" and asked me to place initials

next to it.

A month later, instead of an approval I got the RFE saying "in your app and during the interview you admitted to have been arrested ... now submit an original letter of arrest disposition".

So, I had to hire an attorney (and I found a good one) to file a response who submitted the RFE reply.

Weeks later there is not even acknowledgment of RFE response receipt on USCIS.GOV page.

Had I had a competent attorney who went to interview with me he could have intervened and advised me not to place initials to YES and he would correct the newly hired USCIS officer that proper answer to this question should be NO since I have NEVER been arrested in my life or charged with any criminal violation.

So, this is just one example of when attorney can be helpful even if your case is million percent straightforward.

But here are the Cons to consider:

First, most attorneys charge obscenely huge amounts for nothing.

For example they will charge you some $2500 to $3500 and then make you

to do all the work (fill out all the forms) and after you fill everything out they will say

"now sign here and there" and then they will mail the package to USCIS.

If you paid a Kinkos employee to do all the copies of documents for you , you would end up with

$5-$10 bill. Since you yourself have to fill out forms, you could pay zero for it and, to be on safe side,

you could ask couple of your relatives or friends with good comprehension of English to go over and make sure

there are no typos or errors in your application.

Another $18 you would pay to send your package via USPS Express-next day delivery and , having spent $30 or so

you would have submitted exactly the same package as $3500 attorney would.

This ,of course, does not apply to good attorneys who may spend time with you , really analyzing your case and giving you advise, spending hours to fill out forms, but such attorneys are extreme rarity and most attorneys see their profession as a treadmill where fools are coming to pay them money in exchange for doing nothing.

Another big problem, again due to lack of ethical standards , is that in many cases attorneys will actually

damage your straightforward case.

Not only they don't do anything on your case while charging you for over 10 hrs of hourly rate to submit

your application, but on top of that they often hire poorly educated and low paid paralegals who , since they get paid little more than a cashier in Wallmart, populate your application with errors and some may turn to be very very costly to fix down the road.

So, hiring an attorney you risk to end up with insult and injury, not a best thing you can buy out there for 3 grands.

Now you have to consider all the pros and cons and make your own decision.

If I were you I would fill out all forms and submit by myself (just pay great deal of attention

to all and every single line and avoid by all means any typos and errors, even keep your application for days

before mailing, read and review it over and over during various times of the day as you get a chance and correct any and all typos/errors you may find. Ask someone to review and make sure all your answers are correct, have then read all questions to you and answer them and make sure all your answers are correct).

Make 2 copies of all forms submitted and put in a safe place your copies.

Once done with paperwork mail it to USCIS via FedEx or USPS Express, save the receipt.

Next you will be fingerprinted , issued EAD/TD and appointment letter for interview (assuming you fill out your paperwork with no errors and submit all the initial evidence to establish your eligibility).

When your interview nears then make a decision if you need an attorney.

If you decide to hire one make a very thorough research, make sure you are hiring a competent one. Do as much googling on a firm/attorney as you can. Get a list of few selected attorneys who have: good record, lots of presence on net, published , written books,attended seminars, praised by peers (check Martindale-Hubbel rating. The highest is AV) and etc.

Then pick up the phone and call to see attorney in person or talk over the phone.

If they say "Pay $XXX or WE WON'T TALK" then hang up immediately. May be it's a great attorney but you don't want to spend $200-$400 to just find out if he or she is.

Interview them as you would a plumber or a building contractor - you will be paying , they will be working for you and you should make sure they are truly competent , not just in paper but in real life too.

Ask pointed questions (not necessarily related to your case but find something relatively obscure to test how current the attorney is on current laws/rulings/case precedents).

This will help you to make a better judgment instead of blindly assuming that they are proficient.

If all checks and they agree to charge reasonable fee (interview lasts only 30-45 mins and you wait another hour or so to be called in) then you may pay relatively small fee in exchange for professional representation and to avoid situation like one I got myself into.

Tell your attorney NOT TO INTERFERE unless USCIS officer makes an obvious error or asks totally irrelevant to AOS forms questions.

If your attorney interferes , interrupts the officer and keeps telling you what to answer then the officer may grow suspicious that there is something wrong and this will cause major hurdles in processing of your case.

If you are lucky and the USCIS officer is experienced and knows his job well then you may not need any attorney at all. Google and find out if the local office had recently hired a lot of new officers. Older and more experienced the officers - higher chances you will pass the interview and be approved on the spot (assuming your case is straightforward and you submit all evidence needed with your application).

Good luck to you and all the best.

You are simply

Thanks for explaining in detail, and logical !

i think if you hire an attorney or interview, you need to sit with him and explain your case before interview so that he can help you at the interview. that makes sense...

How we inform USCIS that this attorney will be joining us at the interview otherwise they won't allow somebody with you to get in, right?

Edited July 30, 2012 by Dave&Judy

[asdfg 18]

You are simply

Thanks for explaining in detail, and logical !

i think if you hire an attorney or interview, you need to sit with him and explain your case before interview so that he can help you at the interview. that makes sense...

How we inform USCIS that this attorney will be joining us at the interview otherwise they won't allow somebody with you to get in, right?

You are welcome!

I am not sure how exactly to notify local USCIS, may be your attorney can mail G-28 to local office in response to appointment letter (once you receive it). In any event that's for the attorney to sort out.

You can ask the him/her in advance, even before filing your AOS. You can say "here is what I will do, can you represent me during the interview ONLY?"

A good attorney will work with you. He has nothing to lose, you are not taking his time to file your package, he will in fact do the least amount of work (sit as a witness during your interview and make sure no admin. error is made while at it) and he will get paid for it. Why not?

Just follow the steps about vetting an attorney, call some and chose the best (quality and personality wise).

Remember, a good attorney while not able to make a statutorily ineligible client (convicted felon, etc) eligible for AOS, will nevertheless make sure you don't get delayed or denied due to incompetence and outright administrative error

of the interviewing officer.

Good luck!

Edited July 30, 2012 by asdfg

[YasJun 1]

asdfg Thanks for that response. I agree that an attorney (especially one that isn't familiar with the case) can cause more problems sometimes. I filed all of the paperwork myself. I had my paperwork reviewed by an attorney before turning it. Since then I've gotten an RFE and have called the attorney multiple times and they have given me advice over the phone. We are going to this attorney on Wednesday for an interview prep. I'm pretty sure I will have them present at the interview also, just to be safe.

[asdfg 18]

asdfg Thanks for that response. I agree that an attorney (especially one that isn't familiar with the case) can cause more problems sometimes. I filed all of the paperwork myself. I had my paperwork reviewed by an attorney before turning it. Since then I've gotten an RFE and have called the attorney multiple times and they have given me advice over the phone. We are going to this attorney on Wednesday for an interview prep. I'm pretty sure I will have them present at the interview also, just to be safe.

You are welcome YasJun.

What exactly did you get RFE for, if I may ask?

[YasJun 1]

I got an RFE for I-864. My wife had just started her full time job so her taxes from the year before did not prove 125% of the poverty guideline. We sent a letter from her employer verifying her annual salary which met the guideline. I guess it wasn't good enough since it did not match her taxes. I found another sponsor though and sent in another I-864. My interview is now set for August 14.

Edited July 30, 2012 by YasJun