AOS Interview - Advice?

[snowcat 58]

My husband and I are going to have our AOS interview in a little less than a month (just got the letter yesterday). I just wanted to ask for your advice on what I should expect and what I should bring? I've read some threads about AOS interviews, and am getting scared reading about the bad experiences. I guess I can list down some questions I have below, any other advice is welcome (I'm sorry if this gets long; I just want to be thorough!):

 

1. My husband and I have a joint bank account, which we opened very recently, after our wedding celebration in his hometown (we got married at SF City Hall last 2017 for legal purposes, then had a wedding reception type party in his hometown last Sept 7th, then will have another wedding ceremony + reception in my hometown in the Philippines in Feb 2019). We didn't think of opening a personal joint bank account earlier because we were doing fine with our own personal accounts, plus, since he's currently the sole provider of our household (while I work on a business we've started together), he's the one paying all of the bills. However, since we received many checks during our wedding addressed to both of us, we finally opened a joint bank account so we can deposit our wedding money in it. Anyway, I plan on bringing a bank statement from this account, though it will show that the account was only recently created and not much activity has taken place. Will this cause any issues? (We also have a joint business account for the small business we own - will this help?)
2. Other documents we have that I will bring are: our tax documents (which show that we now file jointly), our health insurance cards (which show both our names), and our car insurance (which also show both our names). The car title is only under his name; I had been meaning to add myself to it, but I kept losing my CA Driver's License and never got around to doing it. I can't do it now, since I'm still awaiting my EAD/AP card, which I had renewed, and can't get a DL without it. Similarly, the lease of our apartment is only under his name too; we didn't think it was necessary to put me in it because he is the one paying rent and we do not intend to stay in this apartment forever - we will eventually purchase a house together, somewhere cheaper, in the future. Our utility bills are also only under his name, since he had been living in our apartment by himself first, and we just never thought to add me to any of them, especially since he is, again, the one paying the bills. Will me not being on our car title, rental lease, and utility bills cause any issues? I don't know if we have enough time to add me to any of them and show up with proof by the time of the interview... 
3. I do not have to bring my vaccination records, right? I had submitted my AOS application before my I-693 expired, and had submitted the original DS-3025 in my AOS packet (I know, I probably should have made a copy of that, but didn't). I don't have anything else I can bring to the interview to prove my vaccination records... 
4. I don't know if they'll look at these, but I also plan on bringing photos of us from the day we met, lots of photos from our first wedding at city hall, then more photos from our wedding celebration in his hometown. I also have letters and wedding invitations from friends/family addressed to both of us. Will these help at all?

 

Again, any advice on what to expect and what I should bring in addition to what I stated above (and to what is listed on the letter) will be great. I'm very nervous and want to make sure my husband and I are thoroughly prepared.

 

Thanks!

 

 

 

 

 

[Ben&Zian 4,398]

31 minutes ago, snowcat said:

My husband and I are going to have our AOS interview in a little less than a month (just got the letter yesterday). I just wanted to ask for your advice on what I should expect and what I should bring? I've read some threads about AOS interviews, and am getting scared reading about the bad experiences. I guess I can list down some questions I have below, any other advice is welcome (I'm sorry if this gets long; I just want to be thorough!):

 

1.  My husband and I have a joint bank account, which we opened very recently, after our wedding celebration in his hometown (we got married at SF City Hall last 2017 for legal purposes, then had a wedding reception type party in his hometown last Sept 7th, then will have another wedding ceremony + reception in my hometown in the Philippines in Feb 2019). We didn't think of opening a personal joint bank account earlier because we were doing fine with our own personal accounts, plus, since he's currently the sole provider of our household (while I work on a business we've started together), he's the one paying all of the bills. However, since we received many checks during our wedding addressed to both of us, we finally opened a joint bank account so we can deposit our wedding money in it. Anyway, I plan on bringing a bank statement from this account, though it will show that the account was only recently created and not much activity has taken place. Will this cause any issues? (We also have a joint business account for the small business we own - will this help?)
2. Other documents we have that I will bring are: our tax documents (which show that we now file jointly), our health insurance cards (which show both our names), and our car insurance (which also show both our names). The car title is only under his name; I had been meaning to add myself to it, but I kept losing my CA Driver's License and never got around to doing it. I can't do it now, since I'm still awaiting my EAD/AP card, which I had renewed, and can't get a DL without it. Similarly, the lease of our apartment is only under his name too; we didn't think it was necessary to put me in it because he is the one paying rent and we do not intend to stay in this apartment forever - we will eventually purchase a house together, somewhere cheaper, in the future. Our utility bills are also only under his name, since he had been living in our apartment by himself first, and we just never thought to add me to any of them, especially since he is, again, the one paying the bills. Will me not being on our car title, rental lease, and utility bills cause any issues? I don't know if we have enough time to add me to any of them and show up with proof by the time of the interview... 
3. I do not have to bring my vaccination records, right? I had submitted my AOS application before my I-693 expired, and had submitted the original DS-3025 in my AOS packet (I know, I probably should have made a copy of that, but didn't). I don't have anything else I can bring to the interview to prove my vaccination records... 
4. I don't know if they'll look at these, but I also plan on bringing photos of us from the day we met, lots of photos from our first wedding at city hall, then more photos from our wedding celebration in his hometown. I also have letters and wedding invitations from friends/family addressed to both of us. Will these help at all?

 

Again, any advice on what to expect and what I should bring in addition to what I stated above (and to what is listed on the letter) will be great. I'm very nervous and want to make sure my husband and I are thoroughly prepared.

 

Thanks!

 

 

 

 

 

]

We only submited copy of joint lease on our apartment. Plus copy showing we have a joint savings account at our bank in our intial I-485 packet. Nothing else literally.

 

Weddings photos could be helpful (we never submitted anything of that nature ourselves as we had just a simple court house marriage).. Joint bills would be helpful. Also joint medical from ones company. Showing of being the beneficiary of life insurance policies. Joint bills like cell phone policies, car insurnace, ect.

Edited September 28, 2018 by Ben&Zian

[notantifun 196]

I just had my AOS interview last September 13. Bring all the same documents that you submitted when you filed your AOS, originals and copies too. I was the one who assembled our AOS packet so it was really helpful that I already had a packet ready, a duplicate of the same packet we submitted (I made copies of the same docs we submitted). The IO only asked for documents of our combined finances, which we didn't have when we filed. We still don't have a joint account, I'm not in our mortgage, not in car insurance, not in any of our utilities (honestly, due to laziness). What we submitted as proof of commingling finances are SOA of my husband's credit card which I'm an authorized user (I highlighted my name in the SOA) and insurance cards (health, dental). My husband and I agreed that we will combine our finances once I start working and contributing and that that's what we were going to tell the IO if we ever get quizzed why we haven't combined yet.

 

They lost my husband's birth certificate (gosh, I submitted both original and copies) and so IO asked for that. They even lost a few pages of my 1-485 form so the IO printed those. 

 

We got asked the usual questions, where, how we met, etc. I was asked more questions of course, husband's name, don't, job, etc. All the yes or no questions.

 

At the end of the question and answer, I asked the the IO if there there was anything else she needed (I had a thick file with me). She asked what else I've got and I showed her my file and she saw the pictures. She was very amused at our family pictures (my husband and I with our dogchildren), saying "Oohh, I like the ones with dogs." Our IO was very pleasant and we were very pleased at how the interview went. She commended how organized my packet was and that was a proud moment for me I tell you.