Interview report from Tony/Anthea

[Tony_H 0]

Here’s our report of her interview yesterday. I am attaching our Relationship Evidence List for your reference as you read through our report. I was prepared with lots of evidences but only a few were looked at. I hope this report will be helpful to you who are preparing for your interview.

She arrived at the consulate at 8:24am for her 10:00am interview appointment, presented her passport and appointment letter to the security guard, then she entered into the security area. She was asked to leave her cell phone if she had one, send her bags through the X-ray machine, and then she walked through the metal detector.

She was shown to go down the right corridor for Immigrant Applicants into a very large waiting room (Non-Immigrants on the left to a different room). There were about two hundred people in that waiting room, individuals, mother and child, families, old folks, group of people, children of all ages, etc… There are 2 TV monitors in that room continuously giving detailed instructions on this entire process for applicants to listen to while waiting. There were instructions on where to get a number to wait, how to do your fingerprinting correctly, if you get your pink slip then to come back not before 4pm today to pick up your visa, if you get a blue slip then you need to follow its instruction on the slip to bring additional documents, and a few pictures of famous spots in the U.S. such as Grand Canyon and so on… Then she was directed to go to a window to get her number. She was given number A036 and was told to go wait at window #11. She guessed that the A prefix appears to be for fiancé and marriage applicants, and B prefix is for family applicants like children, parents, siblings, etc… There are 15 windows with protective glass. Her scheduled appointment time seems to be just a target time for the interview. So she went over to that area and nervously waited for a long time.

Shortly after she sat down to wait; there was an American man who came into the room with an interpreter, asked everyone to stand up and raise their right hand to take an oath that they are to tell only the truth and nothing but the truth. There were occasional reminders over the PA to arrange your paperwork in order and your evidence in time-chronological order. Apparently, many applicants were not organized enough at the interview. After the facts, she felt that she was more organized than most because it took very long for others to have their documents examined. It was a long agonizing wait then finally it was her turn to go to the interview window at around 11:15am. Up to this point, everyone working there were very courteous and pleasant. There is an electronic board always with 3 numbers changing frequently. They also called the numbers over the loudspeakers.

Her first interviewer was a nice 40’s Vietnamese man behind a secured window with a document tray below the glass with a small 2” open slit. This is the reason why you have to take all documents out of any plastic sleeves and their binder. He asked to see her paperwork and she slid her first batch through with a summary list of documents so he could see what she got in which order. He began to ask for those documents one by one and she continued to slide them over to him. He thoroughly checked the order and read them carefully as he asked her during this time:

- When was he divorced?

- When did he come to the U.S.?

- Are you related to him?

- Do you have any relatives in the U.S.?

He returned any extra copy of documents she had and the Single Status document. As he inspected the documents, he was checking off a white checklist. It appeared that he was verifying her answers against the paperwork. He also asked her to enter the name of her sponsor into a section of DS-156 and that she agrees to marry the petitioner/sponsor within 90 days after arrival in the U.S.. She also had to sign a form stating that she understands the reason for the interview. He took the medical exam result and returned the X-ray envelope. She asked if he wanted to see the immunization record, he said “No”. This process took about 5 minutes. He did not ask for any evidence. She still had her relationship evidence in a binder of plastic sleeves organized for quick access. Then she was asked to sit down and wait.

About 10 minutes later, she was called back up to window #9. Her next interviewer was a nice, late 20’s, & good-looking American woman with an interpreter. They greeted each other pleasantly in English. My fiancé was asked if she can speak English. She answered that she can but she might need some help. The lady asked my fiancé in Vietnamese to do the fingerprinting. Then she was asked to sign the DS-156 forms. The interviewer then asked:

- How did you meet each other?

- When did you start your communication?

- Do you continue to communicate?

- Can I see some emails?

My fiancé slid a list of emails (#4,5)and a stack of emails (#6) to her (please note that they already had these document in my I-129F application). The lady interviewer then asked:

- When did you first meet him in person? What date?

- How did you continue to communicate with each other?

- How many times did he visit you?

- When were the dates?

- What kind of work does he do?

- Does he have any children?

- When was the date of engagement?

My fiancé answered quickly and precisely to each question. Everything that my fiancé said was noted by the interviewer. The lady then asked to see our pictures. My fiancé slid over the 1st pack of my family & personal pictures (#48). The lady looked at them all very quickly but picked out a picture of my college diploma and put it aside for some reasons. She continued to look over other groups of pictures quickly such as my 3 trips’ pictures, and very carefully at the Engagement party’s pictures. She seemed to note all the dates carefully. She did not seem to pay too much attention to the wedding studio pictures. My fiancé then asked if the lady would like to see our video conference logs, the lady waived her hand and said Ok, Ok, OK, that’s enough, no need. Then the lady interviewer signed the pink slip quickly, handed it to my fiancé, and said “You passed, and you can come back to pick up your visa at 4pm”. Then the interviewer returned all pictures and document originals such as everyone’s birth certificate, ID card, Family Household Book, divorce papers, but not her passport.

This process took between 5-10 minutes. Then my fiancé left the consulate at 11:40am. I got her text message of the good news about 7 minutes later.

LIST OF RELATIONSHIP PROOFS

1. Petitioner’s Statement of Intent

2. My Statement of Intent

3. My Web Personal Posting

4. Email List for 2/20 – 4/28/06

5. Email List for 4/28 – 10/24/06

6. Email Letters from 2/20 – 3/21/06

7. Petitioner’s and my Phone Number Proofs

8. Sprint Calling Log to Vietnam

9. U.S. Calling Cards

10. Calling Card Proof of Purchases

11. Vietnam Calling Cards

12. Call Logs from Vietnam

13. My ADSL Internet Bill

14. My Yahoo Profile

15. Petitioner’s Yahoo Profile

16. Yahoo Chat Log for 2/20 – 3/8/06

17. Sample Sightspeed Chat Session 10/26/06

18. My Sightspeed Profile

19. Petitioner’s Sightspeed Profile

20. Sightspeed Call Log – April to December 2006

21. My Skype Profile

22. Petitioner’s Skype Profile

23. Skype Call Log – May to December 2006

24. Copy of Petitioner’s Visa Entries: April, July, & November 2006

25. First Trip Itinerary

26. First Trip Ticket and Stubs

27. First Trip Mileage Deduction – American Airlines

28. First Trip Money Exchange Receipts

29. First Trip Hotel Bill

30. Second Trip Itinerary

31. Second Trip Ticket and Stubs

32. Second Trip Mileage Deduction – U.S. Airways

33. Second Trip Money Exchange Receipts

34. Second Trip Home-Stay Registration

35. Third Trip Itinerary

36. Third Trip Ticket and Stubs

37. Third Trip Mileage Deduction – Continental Airlines

38. Third Trip Money Exchange Receipts

39. Third Trip Home-Stay Registration

40. Engagement Ring Packing List & Appraisal Certificate

41. Wedding Gown & Studio Picture Receipts

42. Engagement Party Contract & Receipt

43. Engagement Party Invitation

44. Mailed Greeting Cards from both

45. A Sample E-Card

46. Ex-wife Information

47. Ex-wife Residence Proof

48. Pictures: 1st Trip, 2nd Trip, 3rd Trip, Engagement Party, Petitioner’s Family & Personal, Studio

[sealedkiss 1]

Thanks, Tony. There's something curious: picture of college diploma. I got one. Maybe I ought to send it to her.

[Lurker 0]

Thank you for your very detailed experience. This goes on to be one of the more detailed experiences I have read. Thank you.

[David-Hien 11]

Thank you, Tony.

This is a great experience, I can have at least a general picture about the Interview.

Hien

[Tony_H 0]

Thanks, Tony. There's something curious: picture of college diploma. I got one. Maybe I ought to send it to her.

I sent many pictures to her at the beginning of our relationship and she brought the following with her to the interview which were viewed: my Calif driver license, copy of my most recent business cards, my 2 college diplomas, pictures w/friends in high school, high school graduation, college graduation, graduate school graduation, a few pictures of my mom and dad over the years, a couple of pics of my family altogether, a picture of me in my room with her picture on my laptop as the wallpaper, my picture as a best man at a friend's wedding, many pics of mine at work with other people, lots of my travelling pics in Moscow, Brussells, Paris, Amsterdam, Hawaii, San Francisco, Arkansas, etc... with friends or alone, and various other miscellaneous pics over the years of my life. She believe that it helped the interviewer get a good perspective of me during the interview and gave a good impression of our relationship.

For the 3 trips' pics, we had several pictures of us hugging and kissing each other, somewhat intimate but not too much. Also there were lots of pics of us with other people that we went out with, and all with date stamps. We believe it also helped her see that our relationship is real.

For the engagement, we had several pics that showed the 2 of us with the background of the entire party room with all the tables and people. There were pictures of me talking to the guest with a microphone on stage standing with her and our families, dancing with the guests, cutting the cakes, pouring the champaign, our names and the event name on the backdrop, and our visits at every table, and of course lots of pictures with guests and the entire family with lots of people.

The last thing but not least was during the second interview, my fiance made sure that the interviewer saw our very organized large binder of proofs laid out on the counter as she was being asked for them. That gave the interviewer the impression that we are very organized and ready to show her anything that she wanted to see.

And one other observation about her interview, because she arrived at 8:24am, her interview time was almost at the end of the morning at 11:15am with her number being A036 for fiance/marriage cases. There were more people left for interviews but not that many. So arrive as early as possible to get done earlier. The B numbers were probably for family sponsorship cases, and C numbers were in the next room probably or business, tourists, students, and etc... cases.

I hope that all this will help you somehow.

Tony

[GREEN/TRAN 0]

thanks for this tony it helps alot,did they look at ur tax information?

[Jasman0717 8]

Congratulations, nice post

[andrew va thuy 0]

Congratulations !!! And thanks very much for the play by play of what to expect, what evidence seemed important , what you presented and how. That was fantastic & invaluable to provide that to us VJ's. What a relief to have that behind you !!!

[Tony_H 0]

thanks for this tony it helps alot,did they look at ur tax information?

The lady interviewer did not look at my tax return or any of the required INS documents, however, the first man interviewer did. For the I-134, he first took the tax return only and gave back all the I-134 supporting documents but since my income for 2005 was low, he then wanted the info on my bank accounts, mortgage, mutual funds schedule, employment letter. He looked at the house valuation, life insurance statements but returned them shortly after along with her Single Status document. Basically, at that time, he took almost everything from the required list in pack 4 except for those I mentioned in the last sentence during this part of the interview.

After her second interview, some of the originals were returned as I mentioned in the previous post.

On the pink slip, there is a checklist for 2 types of documents: Visa Docs and Financial Docs; that got checked off depending on our situation of I-129F or I-130.

[andrew va thuy 0]

For some reason before your posting I had the idea that the fiance was interviewed privately, but now I understand she stands, documents in hand - speaking through a plate glass window with a 2" slit at the bottom with 100 people to overhear her replies. I can see why this can be frsutrating for the fiance and also how the staff could also get stressed and short on patience. Your report has done so much to clear the fog ! Thank you again !!!

[dkalXuan 0]

First off and most importantly CONGRATS!!!!!!

i want to thank you for the very detail information that you gave.

We are just a week away and i am not getting ANY SLEEP this is stressin me out

I wish nothing but the best for you and your wife

take care

David

[Tony_H 0]

Here is a copy of the Pink Slip for your information.