Washington DC field office interview yesterday , i passed.......... but not without a FIGHT!!!

[lucardo3 220]

Glad it was solved at the end. Also good that you were polite at all times, as i know those officers are also going through hell with all that furloughs coming up soon!

[R&OC 349]

I am sorry you had such an awful experience. Had my interview about a week ago and my application was handled very professionally. His supervisor then conducted the oath later and both of them were extremely polite and competent. What a difference individuals make!

[BadAmmoWitch 208]

L

O

L

 

How ridiculous is that? Well, I'm happy it worked out for you, Mr. Doe.

[CMJuilland 484]

WOW!  This office has jurisdiction over the area where my wife and I live, and we're quite familiar with it.  This level of incompetence, though, is (thankfully) not (yet?) something we have experienced, but it's good to know that we should probably brace ourselves for our next encounter (which will most likely be a combo ROC/citizenship interview)...  Glad that it got resolved, but good Lord!  I don't know if I could have been so patient; good for you! 

 

I hope you will at least have a nice oath ceremony; congratulations on becoming a citizen  

Edited August 14, 2020 by CMJuilland

[Lucky2Lucky 2,526]

8 hours ago, Joiedevivre said:

Good lord and people like this decide over our future and lives 🤦‍♀️

I'd laugh but it's the sad truth.

[Joiedevivre 38]

1 hour ago, Luckycuds said:

I'd laugh but it's the sad truth.

True. Just ridiculous...

[Yeonin 127]

On 8/13/2020 at 4:15 PM, fcat said:

 

For this post my wife with be Miss Doe and i will be Mr Smith.

 

In 2013, i got married to my US wife in Arlington, VA. I then returned home to the UK and started the CR-1 Visa process.

We filed the I-130 and everything else needed to get the CR1 Visa, early on in the process we decided between the two of us that i would be taking my wife's surname, i would no longer be Mr Smith but become Mr Doe and we filed accordingly, putting my name down as Mr Doe on the DS230. I sent our marriage certificate to the UK passport office, the UK DMV and the UK tax office and received my new passport and drivers license back under the name Mr Doe.

In Feb 2014 i moved to the USA, My visa was under the name Mr Doe in my passport that was in the name of Mr Doe, I've been in the US 7 years, my name is Mr Doe, my state driving license, my passport, my mortgage, my bank accounts, insurance and everything else is as Mr Doe, i AM and have been for the past 7 years Mr Doe after legally changing my name through marriage.

My interview at the DC field office (Fairfax, VA) was yesterday at 12:15pm, at 12:45pm a lady (Who we will call Karen 1) came out to the waiting room and called my name. She was polite, asked how i was and led me to an interview rooms. We sat down, she explained she would be conducting the interview and doing my civics test, she said the process shouldn't be more than 30 minutes. She started with the civics test which i passed by answering the first 6 questions correctly. She then asked me to read a sentence on the iPad screen and then to write a short sentence on the screen, which i did correctly. She then opened what looked like my immigration file, a thick brown folder full of paper documents. She started to go through my N400 application, asking several questions like was my address correct, how long i had lived at that address, confirming my wife's name etc etc She then asked when i got married and i said Jan 2013. She looked at the papers and then looked at me and said " So you returned to England for 12 months after you got married ?" I said " yes, i did the CR-1 visa process, that's the correct process to go through after being married in the US, the petition was then filed from the UK" to which she replied, "mmmm that's unusual, most people come over and get married then apply for their Visa here"  i told her i didn't do a K1 but a CR-1. It was at this time that i realized i maybe knew more than she did about the process! She said she had never heard of the CR1 process!!!

She kept looking through my file and reading out aloud, " ok, your I-130 is here, you marriage certificate, your divorce certificate (from previous marriage in the UK) and as she was doing this I'm thinking, what has this to do with things? all this has been checked out and was part of the Visa application process not my N400.

She then stopped at my birth certificate and flipped backwards and forwards between that and my marriage certificate. She then said to me " why is your name now different to your birth certificate?"  I said because after we married i took my wife's surname.  She immediately said back to me, "oh, you cant just do that, that's not allowed,  where is the official paperwork that you changed your name?"  She then said "you should have filled in a DS30" to which i replied, " i did fill in a DS230 and you should have a copy of that in your file"  after looking through the file for several minutes she said there was no DS230 in my file. I said "well the process is the same for the Husband taking the wife's name as it is vice versa, the marriage certificate is proof enough of my name change".  she then started rambling on how DC, Maryland and VA and all the other states have different rules about surnames!! She said " its fine though, she could fill a few forms in on her computer and all i would have to do was get an appointment at the Arlington courthouse, get the papers signed and stamped and then return them in the mail to USCIS and we'll give you another interview!! i KNEW this wasn't correct and i said " I'm sorry but this is not needed, my name has already been changed legally already" She then said she would go speak to her supervisor.

She returned 15 minutes later and said  "yes, its as i thought you will have to do a name change through the courts" by this time my palms were sweating and  i was becoming frustrated trying to explain that she had it wrong, i was polite but firm. I then asked to speak to her supervisor (whom we'll call Karen 2), she said "certainly, I'll go get her". Karen 1 disappeared for 5 minutes and came back saying Karen 2 would be in in 10 minutes. We both sat there in silence until Karen 2 arrived about 15 minutes later.

 

Karen 2 said she had spoke to one of her colleagues and that no one knew exactly what the situation was and should be, i said " there is one person that knows, me!!" between Karen 1 and 2 they agreed that i had to do a name change. I then started to show Karen 2 a copy of my DS230 from 7 years ago on my cell phone, she would not look at it and snapped back at me " I'm not interested in your DS230, that's a Department of State form, nothing to do with this and they have been known to make mistakes"  I was like #######!!! i told her that Karen 1 had mentioned that there was no DS230 in my file and she had been looking for it but Karen 2 was not having anything to do with it!  I then asked what if my wife had taken my name would she have had to go through the courts? She said "no that's normal when 2 people get married, what you have done is not normal and is not really allowed" At this point i was still very calm but inside i was fuming and i thought F**k it, I'm gonna fight my corner and if i piss them off then so be it. She then said, "you will have to change your name through the court",  i said " so what name am i changing it from? Mr Smith does not exist anymore, he hasn't done for 7 years, my passport, green card, bank accounts, mortgage state ID are all in the name Mr Doe and it was changed to that legally in the UK and on the DS230, so how can i change my name and what do i change it to?" she just stood there looking confused and didn't know how or what to say. I then asked her how my Visa and all the correspondence from USCIS was issued and addressed to Mr Doe, where had they got that name from ? again, she couldn't answer and didn't know how to respond.

My questions to Karen 2 went on for over 15 minutes but what seemed like an hour! she was very arrogant and ignorant and didn't want to talk to me, just to Karen 1. 

Then Karen 1 turned to Karen 2 and said ( and this is verbatim i kid you not) "I've just googled it and it says its OK"  Karen 2 said, "what website does it say that on ? is it the courthouse website?" Karen 1 said " no it just says it on google that a man can take the wife's name"  Karen 2 then said to Karen 1, ' OK put it through" and walked off!!!!

 

I was in there just over 2 hours, LOTS of questions and conversations between me and both Karens that I've forgotten and I cant even remember the amount of times i asked things and they didn't know what to say. I left the office happy but totally frustrated and shaking!

if i had just left it and taken their word for it or not stood up for myself i would have not been approved!!

 

So my Oath is next Tuesday and I'm looking forward to it but the whole things left a real bad taste in my mouth:( My wife says i should write a letter of complaint, im just gonna move on but i wanted to vent through this forum that has been a great wealth of information over the past 7 or 8 years,

 

Thanks

K & S DOE!!!

 

Mannnnn o Mannn my lawyer heart is racing like he'll, how do people like that even get a Job with such responsibilities...but then again this is the USA...most if not everything with the immigration process is questionable and the people on the other side of the table too.. Eventhough it has left a bad taste in your mouth, congratulations and many blessings on your new journey! 

[mister-love 31]

The problem she doesn't know the deffirence between k1 visa and CR1 visa!! And she is working with USCIS!

And she even sais she never heard about CR1 visa 🤦🏽‍♂️🤦🏽‍♂️🤦🏽‍♂️

[Fr8dog 312]

On 8/16/2020 at 7:10 PM, Yeonin said:

Mannnnn o Mannn my lawyer heart is racing like he'll, how do people like that even get a Job with such responsibilities...but then again this is the USA...most if not everything with the immigration process is questionable and the people on the other side of the table too.. Eventhough it has left a bad taste in your mouth, congratulations and many blessings on your new journey! 

The Dutch version (IND) is not better, you should hear some of the stories my sister used to tell (she did Dutch immigration law for awhile).

[Limey 550]

On 8/13/2020 at 4:15 PM, fcat said:

if i had just left it and taken their word for it or not stood up for myself i would have not been approved!!

 

I've always found the US immigration people respectful and knowledgeable, but I guess a they viewed a man changing his name as a bit of a curveball. Its terrible when you have to deal with people in authority who don't know how to do their jobs.

This whole experience sounds a lot like my brother had with UK immigration for years (he lives in the EU). They constantly tried to prevent his wife entering the UK (she is south american) despite the fact that he was to be considered an EU resident (not UK) and so they had to permit his wife entry by law. The UK immigration guys would know nothing and he'd have to keep insisting they called their own legal advice line, which they'd refuse to do ("you think you know my job better than me?"). Eventually they always did call the line, and they were always told that they had to admit her, but it got very annoying to go through this on every trip to the UK. After Brexit he just won't bother even trying.

 

Glad you made it through eventually!

Edited August 19, 2020 by Limey

[fcat 79]

Well i did the oath ceremony yesterday and all went well, applied at the post office this morning for my passport:)

[Valor 131]

42 minutes ago, fcat said:

Well i did the oath ceremony yesterday and all went well, applied at the post office this morning for my passport:)

Congratulations! Did they let you pick your oath ceremony day after the interview?