AOS Approval Garden City

[Neja 0]

I've seen that there has been a sudden surge of NYC interviews on VJ in the last week or so. I had mine this morning. It was scheduled for 10am. Hubby and I took Long Island Railroad out to Garden City station. Then decided that we would walk from the station to USCIS...hmm it's a lot longer than it looks on the map. It took us about half an hour to walk there. My advice is to take a cab..it's a long walk.

So we arrived at USCIS around 9:15 and joined the line up outside. Fortunately it moved pretty quickly. Then after going through security we went into a large room with chairs and people, dropped off our interview letter at Window #1 and sat down. So we're sitting there up close to window #1 cause people are coming out of a hallway and announcing names and we're thinking ok we'll be close to where they call the names out. Oh nooo...that's not who calls out our names....there is a woman who stands at the OTHER END of the room and yells...yes yells, does not use the PA system or anything....out names of people that have to line up and follow her upstairs. So hubby hurriedly gets up and walks over to the other side of the room so he can actually hear the names being called out. This huge room with hundreds of people and they expect everyone to hear the names being called out!! That was the ridiculous part. And there is a PA system which we heard other people's names being called out on so it's not like the PA system didn't work! So we moved over closer to the door so that we could hear better. And the funny thing is the woman tells everyone.."please sit down until you hear your name is called"...um no one can hear if they sit down!!

Anyways...so my name is called, we line up and we are taken upstairs to another smaller waiting room and wait for about 10 mins and then our name is called...wow that was quick...it was probably around 10:45 I guess...I don't remember.

The interview took all of about 15 mins. I had every single document we ever submitted to or received from USCIS with me. The first thing the interviewer asks for is wedding pictures. So I handed those over. He kept 2 of them. Then he asked for updated I-864 and copies of W-2s. Then joint documents so gave him bank statement and health insurance info. The only questions he asked was whether I had been in trouble with the law since I got here (of course not!!) and where we met. Told me I would get the green card in two months and wrote in passport that I was approved. That was about it. It wasn't really as nerve racking as I had thought it would be.

Anyways I think this post is long enough. Thanks to everyone for all the useful info.

[Jasman0717 8]

Congratulations Thanks for sharing

[SanDan 0]

Awesome! Congratulations

[den_y2005 0]

congrats

[darth bangkok 0]

Congrats!! We are going next week and I hope ours is as successful as yours was.

One questions though, what do you mean he wrote something in your passport that you were approved? do you mean 551 stamp? I hope so because we are planning to travel after Ning's interview and we don't want to have something tangible that shows she has a travel document (she doesn't have AP) before we make reservations. Or else we'll have to change our plans and go somewhere else.

Thanks

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

congratulations!!!!!

[dakotalimey 0]

Congrats

[NigerLA 1]

Congratulations on your successful interview. I hope you and I do not have to wait up to three months to get the cards I had my interview there on the 13th and was told the same thing.

I hope it comes in the mail by the end of the month.

[ceresa 3]

congratulations !

[eau_xplain 2]

Congratulations!

[Autumnal 25]

Congratulations! Seems the level of organization for calling out names could use an improvement, but let's hope for you that their processing of green cards is a little more orderly.

Thanks for sharing your interview experience; interesting they asked for the updated I-864 stuff and wedding photos right off the bat.

[Neja 0]

Yeah I was surprised too that he asked for photos first thing.

The immigration officer wrote "Approved pending section 245" in my passport. He said it was proof that I had the interview and the green card would come in 2 months. I'm sure hoping that it doesn't take that long. He asked if I was going to travel soon and we said that maybe in December..so maybe he would have stamped the passport if I was planning on a taking a trip...I don't know. I wasn't too worried I don't have any travel plans till later in the year.

Edited March 18, 2006 by Neja

[Neja 0]

Oh wait I just reread the writing in my passport it actually says :"Pending I-485 Section 245 Garden City NY" and then my A-number with the officer's signature and date.

[one_coolchiq 0]

CONGRATS HOPE YOU GET YOUR GC SOONER THNA 2 MONTHS

[darth bangkok 0]

Yeah I was surprised too that he asked for photos first thing.

The immigration officer wrote "Approved pending section 245" in my passport. He said it was proof that I had the interview and the green card would come in 2 months. I'm sure hoping that it doesn't take that long. He asked if I was going to travel soon and we said that maybe in December..so maybe he would have stamped the passport if I was planning on a taking a trip...I don't know. I wasn't too worried I don't have any travel plans till later in the year.

Thanks for that info. It makes me feel better that the officer would be accomodating to us if we bring it up at the end of the (hopefully) successful interview. This pre-interview time is very nerve-wracking!! I go from totally stressed out to calm and back every day! Its hard to imagine that the end of the road might be near!