AOS Interview Tomorrow

[Chocobo 196]

Interview (Chicago) is tomorrow morning.  Got our binders put together (one for the IO to keep if needed/wanted, and a back up.)  Got the checklist of items.  Can't seem to find a good solid answer on whether or not the cellphones are allowed inside the Chicago office so long as they're OFF.  (Considering I can get into the courthouse at Daley Center, City Hall, and the clerk's office, I'm gonna go w/OK so long as they're switched OFF.  The USCIS page for the field office is no help either.  Blarg.)  Parking pre-paid.  Fingers crossed that our little guy will be good in the office.  

 

Any last minute tips/advice?  Hubby and I had a brief discussion last night trying to make sure we don't have any embarrassing mistakes like "What's your wedding date?"  "Um...er...umm"  LOL!  

 

Nervous and excited!! 

[hell0w0rld08 18]

Good luck! sounds like you are well prepared!

[D&D_NYC 58]

Good luck! Just got my interview notice yesterday. Your dual binders idea is really smart and you sound totally prepared. In the lead up to our interview, I'm encouraging my husband that this is not a "test" per se, and if there's something innocuous he genuinely doesn't remember, it's better to just say he doesn't know instead of scrambling to make something up or coming off as a line he rehearsed. Of course, we're a real couple so I'm not worried about not knowing the major things like anniversaries and birthdays, but he can be a bit spacey when it comes to timelines. 

 

There's an article in the USCIS Policy Manual that says that "visitors of USCIS facilities may be permitted to possess cell phones, personal digital assitants (PDAs), and tablets" but that "cell phones should be silenced while in the waiting area and any conversations should be kept to a low level so as not to disrupt others. Customers must completely turn off all phones during interviews or while being served by USCIS staff at the information counter." 

 

Implementation of these rules is no doubt inconsistent, so personally, I'd just turn it off before entering and keep it off the whole time. 

[Chocobo 196]

It went well!

 

Cell phones ARE allowed in the building but there are signs to not be on them in the waiting area.  (Saw plenty of people browsing things on their cell phones in the waiting room though.)

 

We checked in, got a ticket number, which kind of worried me, but our number was called right around our scheduled interview time.  From the time we walked into the building to when we were back outside on the sidewalk was about 40 minutes.  The IO was really nice.  She didn't even ask to see the binders.  Lol!  

 

She said she should have the case finished with review by this afternoon hopefully.  She didn't anticipate any problems and expects the green card to be issued soon!

 

Random funny: when IO started asking hubby random questions from the application like "are you involved in prostitution?" and whatever the one was about drug and weapon trafficking, hubby's eyes bulged a bit to actually be asked that (he of course answered "no! Of course not!")  The IO got a good laugh at hubby's facial expressions and explained that she had to ask these questions.  😁  

[InnocentLove 24]

@Chocobo Congrats on a successful interview!

My husbands interview is scheduled for 5/1 in Chicago.

Did your husband already have his vaccinations on his medical exam previously submitted to uscis? Did they ask for this at the interview? 

[Chocobo 196]

4 hours ago, InnocentLove said:

@Chocobo Congrats on a successful interview!

My husbands interview is scheduled for 5/1 in Chicago.

Did your husband already have his vaccinations on his medical exam previously submitted to uscis? Did they ask for this at the interview? 

No, he brought them with him to the interview.  The IO didn't open up the envelope while we were there, but she did ask for it.

 

If you are driving to the office for the interview (and not taking a cab or a bus) there are two parking lots/garages right by the office.  We did the one on Harrison and it was a piece of cake!  You can prepay for it, too.  (We used SpotHero.)

Oh and we got the text - APPROVED AND IN PRODUCTION!!! 😁👍😁👍😁👍

[InnocentLove 24]

41 minutes ago, Chocobo said:

No, he brought them with him to the interview.  The IO didn't open up the envelope while we were there, but she did ask for it.

 

If you are driving to the office for the interview (and not taking a cab or a bus) there are two parking lots/garages right by the office.  We did the one on Harrison and it was a piece of cake!  You can prepay for it, too.  (We used SpotHero.)

Oh and we got the text - APPROVED AND IN PRODUCTION!!! 😁👍😁👍😁👍

Awesome!! Thanks for replying and thanks for the information!! Glad that you all were approved! Congrats!

After feeling overwhelmed trying to find a Dr only to transcribe his vaccination record, and not redo the exam... I just found one that will do it for $20! I will be so glad when this process is over!!

[InnocentLove 24]

On 4/16/2019 at 4:29 PM, Chocobo said:

No, he brought them with him to the interview.  The IO didn't open up the envelope while we were there, but she did ask for it.

 

If you are driving to the office for the interview (and not taking a cab or a bus) there are two parking lots/garages right by the office.  We did the one on Harrison and it was a piece of cake!  You can prepay for it, too.  (We used SpotHero.)

Oh and we got the text - APPROVED AND IN PRODUCTION!!! 😁👍😁👍😁👍

Hi again!

so we had our interview yesterday. Today the case status has updated to: interview completed and case must be reviewed. Didn’t get the text notification of that either. How soon after your appointment did you receive the text saying that the green card was being produced? 

I’m so tired of this process. Every time I feel that we are closer to my husband being able to work, drive, etc...another curve ball is thrown🤦🏽‍♀️😐.

[HSsweethearts4E 117]

Hey, congrats!! Glad everything went so well! I just have a question! Did you end up taking any financial documents (pay stubs, letter from employer, etc) to the interview with you? I know the interview letter says to take them unless already submitted (which we did), but I have seen a lot of people on several threads mention that they still brought them...just curious if you brought those!! 

 

On 4/16/2019 at 12:23 PM, Chocobo said:

It went well!

 

Cell phones ARE allowed in the building but there are signs to not be on them in the waiting area.  (Saw plenty of people browsing things on their cell phones in the waiting room though.)

 

We checked in, got a ticket number, which kind of worried me, but our number was called right around our scheduled interview time.  From the time we walked into the building to when we were back outside on the sidewalk was about 40 minutes.  The IO was really nice.  She didn't even ask to see the binders.  Lol!  

 

She said she should have the case finished with review by this afternoon hopefully.  She didn't anticipate any problems and expects the green card to be issued soon!

 

Random funny: when IO started asking hubby random questions from the application like "are you involved in prostitution?" and whatever the one was about drug and weapon trafficking, hubby's eyes bulged a bit to actually be asked that (he of course answered "no! Of course not!")  The IO got a good laugh at hubby's facial expressions and explained that she had to ask these questions.  😁  

 

[Chocobo 196]

12 hours ago, InnocentLove said:

Hi again!

so we had our interview yesterday. Today the case status has updated to: interview completed and case must be reviewed. Didn’t get the text notification of that either. How soon after your appointment did you receive the text saying that the green card was being produced? 

I’m so tired of this process. Every time I feel that we are closer to my husband being able to work, drive, etc...another curve ball is thrown🤦🏽‍♀️😐.

Our interview was at 8:30 and I think we got the text by 3p.  We got a couple texts the next day, too.  If I recall right, there were 3 - case being reviewed, card being produced, then card mailed.  We got all 3 within 24h of the interview. 

[Chocobo 196]

3 hours ago, HSsweethearts4E said:

Hey, congrats!! Glad everything went so well! I just have a question! Did you end up taking any financial documents (pay stubs, letter from employer, etc) to the interview with you? I know the interview letter says to take them unless already submitted (which we did), but I have seen a lot of people on several threads mention that they still brought them...just curious if you brought those!! 

 

 

We did.  I made up a binder of a bunch of stuff just in case they wanted to see it.  Our IO never asked for them, but when she asked for hubby's social security number, I was able to flip to the tab with our tax return and give the number to her.

 

I would recommend making a binder of documents to take with you just in case.  If nothing else, they can be good for you to refer back to something quickly.

[NYC-AB 56]

6 hours ago, Chocobo said:

We did.  I made up a binder of a bunch of stuff just in case they wanted to see it.  Our IO never asked for them, but when she asked for hubby's social security number, I was able to flip to the tab with our tax return and give the number to her.

 

I would recommend making a binder of documents to take with you just in case.  If nothing else, they can be good for you to refer back to something quickly.

Hey, quick question: I know the AOS interview letter says to bring originals/copies of everything we submitted (that should be easy enough, though I guess it's not really possible to bring "originals" of digital photos, e.g.)... when bringing NEW materials as evidence to support our marriage/relationship, do we also need to bring originals? E.g., an original photo album? Or can we just bring a copy of that photo album?

[Chocobo 196]

2 hours ago, NYC-AB said:

Hey, quick question: I know the AOS interview letter says to bring originals/copies of everything we submitted (that should be easy enough, though I guess it's not really possible to bring "originals" of digital photos, e.g.)... when bringing NEW materials as evidence to support our marriage/relationship, do we also need to bring originals? E.g., an original photo album? Or can we just bring a copy of that photo album?

The originals they're looking for are the original certified copies of legal documents (like marriage certificate, birth certificate, etc.) because they want to see the ink or raised texture of the certification stamp. They also want to see your original passport, ID, etc.  Copies of photo albums are fine though. 

 

Any photos you bring, have an extra copy for your IO to keep if they'd like.  It'll save them from having to make a copy.