AOS Interview experience

[Gomast 65]

hey everyone, I’m letting my wife use my profile to write what happened to us today. She is the USC:

 

Today we had our green card interview. I’m the wife . It was such a terrible experience and feeling. The officer interrogated my husband for over two hours . We submitted tons and tons of evidence of our relationship. We been together 4 years . I said 4 words ! He asked me about my past marriage about why it ended . He also asked me how I met my husband which our mother’s introduced us . He was not interested in the marriage portion at all other than the hard evidence. He grilled my husband for hours basically trying to find out if he ever worked illegally or over stayed his visa which he did not . We can’t even say at all which way it went good or bad . There’s a very small slight chance we’ll get approved. Otherwise I think it may be another interview or request for evidence. It was so strange to feel they didn’t care about to love or marriage part just grilling my husband. 
 

Now from my prospective. I’m the husband. The interview went on for 2 hours. 10:15am to 12:15pm. The officer started by asking my wife a couple of questions about her previous marriage. She petitioned for her first husband 15 years ago. They were married for 2 years. Then he grilled me. I filed for divorce in June 2017. We started dating in March 2018. He asked about my divorce in Israel, which was in November 2019. We applied for k-1 in January 2019. The post divorce order regarding custody was issued in may 2020. It seemed like he expressed some concern there. 
Then he continued to ask about me participating in military  groups because I marked “yes” in the I-485 because I was in the Israeli army. Apparently I made some mistakes marking “yes” for questions about groups who are using weapons. He corrected it. 
Then he questioned me about my mailing address for which I listed my parents home. I explained it was because we were trying to move out of our apartment. But it’s been 2.5 years that we are trying to find a house so I get his point. I am not on the lease agreement. Our landlord wanted to raise our security deposit if I were to be added. 
I wrote on the I-485 that I’m unemployed. In the interview I said that when I got my EAD, I started helping my parents a bit, and they have been helping us financially, but I’m currently looking for a job. I added that I report all the income on my taxes. 
He barely asked us questions about our marriage. The only question he asked was how did we meet. He didn’t ask any of the questions you typically see on forums or YouTube videos. 
mat the end of the interview, he didn’t give us an answer. He said that we will either get a yes, rfe or second interview. It can take anything between weeks to a year. 
 

What do you think? We are really concerned. What now? What do we need to be prepared for? If we get denied, do we need to we need to move to Israel and start the process again? Do we start the process again here while I’m in the US?

 

[Timona 3,941]

You will be alright. Grilling is normal for some instances. Take a breather. 

[Gomast 65]

Within the last 5 minutes we thought we might be ok . But we are so stressed because we couldn’t get any idea of how it went after the zillions of questions! 

[Gomast 65]

Btw, we submitted the affidavits from friends and family and the officer said that “just so you know for next time we need to do it with copies of their IDs”. 

[Mike E 11,723]

I expect approval.  Likely in 2 weeks or less.  

[Gomast 65]

My status was just changed to "Interview Was Completed And My Case Must Be Reviewed". What does it mean? Does it go to a supervisor?

 

The interviewer told us that he  reviewed our case for only 5 minutes yesterday, and that after the interview he will go over all of the documents that we provided during the interview.

[Allaboutwaiting 2,500]

17 minutes ago, Gomast said:

My status was just changed to "Interview Was Completed And My Case Must Be Reviewed". What does it mean? Does it go to a supervisor?

 

The interviewer told us that he  reviewed our case for only 5 minutes yesterday, and that after the interview he will go over all of the documents that we provided during the interview.

It is the normal status when the approval does not happen during interview. There are many possible reasons for the delay.

 

For instance, when we were interviewed some years ago, our K1 file was not at the field office and that delayed the approval a month.

Edited February 16, 2022 by Allaboutwaiting

[Timona 3,941]

15 hours ago, Gomast said:

My status was just changed to "Interview Was Completed And My Case Must Be Reviewed". What does it mean? Does it go to a supervisor?

 

The interviewer told us that he  reviewed our case for only 5 minutes yesterday, and that after the interview he will go over all of the documents that we provided during the interview.

 

Normal. Relax

[Rocio0010 5,562]

Hi there! First of all, so sorry you had to go through this.

On 2/16/2022 at 2:07 PM, Gomast said:

We submitted tons and tons of evidence of our relationship

What evidence did you submit? This would be helpful to know, in case you get a RFE we might be able to tell you where to add more evidence.

On 2/16/2022 at 2:07 PM, Gomast said:

if he ever worked illegally or over stayed his visa which he did not

Even if he did, that would not really matter because both would be forgiven based off on his marriage to a USC.

 

On 2/16/2022 at 2:07 PM, Gomast said:

He asked about my divorce in Israel, which was in November 2019. We applied for k-1 in January 2019

So let me check if I understood it right: You applied for divorce in November 2019, but filed for a k1 earlier the same year, 2019? This could be a red flag. 

 

On 2/16/2022 at 2:07 PM, Gomast said:

Then he continued to ask about me participating in military  groups because I marked “yes” in the I-485 because I was in the Israeli army. Apparently I made some mistakes marking “yes” for questions about groups who are using weapons. He corrected it. 

I guess I am second guessing myself, but this is definitely a concern for them. Whether it is valid or not, that is a whole other issue, but this might be the excuse they are finding to sit on your case. Probably they are running further background checks. 

I don't want to sound mean. English is my second language so sometimes I can come off rude when I don't mean to. But given your background with the Israeli army, you should have gone with an attorney before filing. 

 

At the end of the day, if it is a bona fide marriage, you will be approved.

[powerpuff 5,897]

@Rocio0010 you might want to check out OP’s other thread to fully grasp the intricacies  

 

[Rocio0010 5,562]

6 minutes ago, powerpuff said:

@Rocio0010 you might want to check out OP’s other thread to fully grasp the intricacies  

 

Thank you! The case is jacked up!

[Gomast 65]

2 hours ago, Rocio0010 said:

Hi there! First of all, so sorry you had to go through this.

What evidence did you submit? This would be helpful to know, in case you get a RFE we might be able to tell you where to add more evidence.

Even if he did, that would not really matter because both would be forgiven based off on his marriage to a USC.

 

So let me check if I understood it right: You applied for divorce in November 2019, but filed for a k1 earlier the same year, 2019? This could be a red flag. 

 

I guess I am second guessing myself, but this is definitely a concern for them. Whether it is valid or not, that is a whole other issue, but this might be the excuse they are finding to sit on your case. Probably they are running further background checks. 

I don't want to sound mean. English is my second language so sometimes I can come off rude when I don't mean to. But given your background with the Israeli army, you should have gone with an attorney before filing. 

 

At the end of the day, if it is a bona fide marriage, you will be approved.

Thank you for your response.

 

I applied for a K-1 on 1/14/19. Divorce was on 10/9/18. Yes, it could be a red flag. But I tried to explain the circumstances to the CO, and this is the reason that the K-1 was approved: I applied for divorce on 5/28/17. My Ex refused to grant me the "Get" which is her Jewish divorce consent. In the meantime, we were separated and I have been dating my current wife since March 2018. So basically my wife and I waited for the divorce to be finalized and then we got married.

Regarding the Israeli army, the CO asked me during the interview whether I got the I-485 questions wrong. He indicated that the armed groups mentioned on the form do not include the Israeli army. So I told him that if that's the meaning, then the answers are "no", and that I was never involved in these groups. The USCIS can also check my background, I worked in the US under H1B visa between 2009-2017, with a perfectly clean record.

 

BTW, I have no idea why my second I-131 was denied and my EAD was approved two weeks after (the first AP was also approved). The USCIS said misrepresentation, but did not provide further explanations. 

[Gomast 65]

LOL, I have no other document to provide. I literally submitted every document in this forum and in Jim Hacking's checklist.