Inconclusive AOS Interview LA. Need help to clarify.

[J/G 85]

Dear VJ Users -- 

 

So my husband and I attended our interview. Upon arrival, we were told that might be 1-2 hours delay from our original schedule. We were advised to either go out and have lunch and then come back and wait or just sign in and then wait. We decided on the later. We were waiting for 1.5 hours before being called for our interview. The lady interviewing us was SUPER pleasant. Brough us to her office, swore us in, took my fingerprints, asked for our IDs, and asked me to put all my supporting documents on the table, all of it.  

 

What seems to be strange for me that she was not familiar with our case. I thought she was 'acting' by asking us all these questions like where do I live; how many time I've been to the US; where did I stay during those visits (I was visiting my husband, of course, I stayed with him); She was surprised that my husband is not from the same country where I was (side note he's Italian and looks completely Mediterranean and I look somewhat Asian). The whole time I really thought that she was acting to 'trip' us... but the more questions she asked the more I realized that she has no prior knowledge of our application nor was she has any access to our I-129F petition. 

 

She went through all my supporting documents took most of the copies (photos, banking, utilities, etc. etc.) and then asked me to show here original documents. and then she asked me "Where are your old photos?" in my head I was like, "huh??...." so I asked her if she referring to photos I submitted to during my I-129F petition and she said yes so by the grace of God I happen to have the exact copy in my possession. Passed in on to her, she went through the photo booklet that I made (I'm a part-time graphic designer so my photo booklet was LIT!). And then she asked us, "So how did the two of you meet?" then I've concluded that she was not acting, she really was not familiar with our case. 

 

The interview took about 20-30 minutes, I was so nervous but my husband did super well. The IO asked us to wait outside while she made copies of our ID. 10 minutes later she showed up at the door with a white sheet paper I was like, "YYYYAAAAASSSSS!!" but as I walked closer to her she didn't seem congratulatory at all... I was like, "Yass?"  she then mentioned that the interview is finished, there are still some documents she has to retrieve from the system but all of our applications and document we presented to her were all in good condition and she didn't think that there's anything wrong. I asked her what document seems to be missing, she said: " I need a copy of the approved I-129F form". I showed her the copy that was given to me by the embassy prior to my K-1 interview last year and she said, "Yes, it's this document that I need but I must receive that from the central system, not from the applicant. I cannot make any decision before receiving that document. I've requested in the system but I can not promise or cannot guarantee when will I have it with me." She gave us our IDs back, gave me the sheet, I read it and my husband asked, how long do we have to wait to hear from her / USCIS, she said, "Within the next 1 or 3 months, oh I'm sorry I mean 1 or three weeks. I am sorry but this happens to every K-1 case in LA Office. I don't know why they didn't furnish me all the documents for each case." I asked her why do you think it's happening? She said, "Could be many reasons, bad organization perhaps..." and she gave me a sour smile and apologized again.  

 

By this time I already mentally checked out... I was so hoping that this will be a one time deal and we would be celebrating by sipping champagne at 3 pm after the interview. Instead we were told to wait again... The walk back to Aiso Parking Garage was the longest walk I've ever done in my life (and I live in Cameroon during 2008 riot when there were no Taxis operating)... I felt like sh!t but tried not to show it to my husband because I didn't want him to feel worse than he already was. But the more I think of it I kind of feel a little better because our situation could be worse, from beginning to end our application was literally a breeze, this minor hick-up should just be a minor hick-up nothing more. And our IO was SUPER pleasant, nice, friendly and chatty. At the beginning I kept thinking, this is because we're gay and I came from a Muslim country this is why she put our case on hold... but then I thought... huh... she didn't even have our old photos and our story of how we met... I think she really didn't have our I-129F forms... she wasn't acting.... 

 

What do you guys think will happen to me??? Thoughts?? Ideas??? Anything???

Thank you. 

J/G

 

Also here are some tips for those applicants preparing for your AOS interview:

1. If it possible to take LA metro/train, please do so. it's $1.75 / person / trip.... We paid $12 for parking, that's BS. The Union Station is 3 minutes walk from the Federal Building. I was just too nervous and didn't want to be late so we decided to drive in retrospect train would've been such a great idea.
2. Bring a copy of EVERYTHING you submitted (I-129F Petition Pack, K-1 Visa Application Pack, and your AOS/EAD/AP Application Pack). You never know what the IO / the USCIS are missing from your pile / asking you to show them during your interview. 
3. Eat breakfast/lunch before your interview.... you'll be waiting a long time... 
4. There is a candy bar machine and a water fountain just outside the waiting room.
5. Dress up. Look nice and proper.
6. There's no issue with bringing Phone into the building.

 

I'll post this too at the office review. 

 

SIDE NOTE: Although I said that this whole thing was basically a breeze for both of us and we did EVERYTHING ourselves, This (I-129F, K-1 & AOS) has been a LOOOOOONNNNGGGG process. It's kind of a make or break process. I cannot imagine people going through this without a genuine love for their husband/wife and want to bring her/him to live in the US and start a life together. It took a lot of time, energy and effort and it's not fun or at the least enjoyable. It's rather stressful actually. I am glad I arrived at this point and so many of you have been through it and successfully done so, CONGRATS. I hope my turn is coming soon. 

[Dashinka 25,957]

At this point I wouldn’t worry.  Not everyone gets a decision at the interview. In our case we didn’t hear until 3 days later.  Did she discuss that this was for a conditional GC and that you would have to do the ROC in 2 years or so?  Also, don’t try to read too much into her questions, it doesn’t mean she wasn’t familiar with your case, she may have been just verifying information to determine if there was any misrepresentation.  They also almost always go through the information on the I485 form to verify the answers you gave.

 

At this point all you can do is keep your fingers crossed and hope for the best.

 

Good Luck!

[J/G 85]

2 minutes ago, Bill & Katya said:

At this point I wouldn’t worry.  Not everyone gets a decision at the interview. In our case we didn’t hear until 3 days later.  Did she discuss that this was for a conditional GC and that you would have to do the ROC in 2 years or so?  Also, don’t try to read too much into her questions, it doesn’t mean she wasn’t familiar with your case, she may have been just verifying information to determine if there was any misrepresentation.  They also almost always go through the information on the I485 form to verify the answers you gave.

 

At this point all you can do is keep your fingers crossed and hope for the best.

 

Good Luck!

Hi Bill & Katya -- 

Thank you. She did not mention about GC / ROC. She did mention that we will not be required to come for another interview. We will just receive the mail from her / USCIS. 

J/G

[geowrian 22,339]

It sounds like she just needs to wait for a document to arrive before she can make a decision on the case (which sounds like it went fine).

[J/G 85]

UPDATE:  

 

This morning (29 Dec 2017) I received a letter from the USCIS saying that my AOS has been APPROVED.

 

 

YYYYYEEEEAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!