Preparing for Green Card Interview – Same-Sex Marriage, Overstay, Big Age Gap, No Lawyer**

[Forit728 0]

Hi everyone,

I’m preparing for my marriage-based Green Card interview (Adjustment of Status) and I would really appreciate any guidance or shared experiences. Here’s my situation:

* I’m 27, and my husband is 57 — we’re a same-sex couple.
* We met online (Grindr) and talked a lot for two months before meeting in person. I visited the U.S. on a tourist visa and dated him for a month before marrying. We spent almost every moment together during that time.
* We got married four months after I entered the U.S. A paralegal told us I could stay and apply for AOS, and my overstay will be forgiven because he is United States citizen and I couldn’t bear the thought of being apart from my husband so I overstayed. We filed for AOS six months later (so, ten months after I first entered).

 

My case is now pending, and I’ve received my work permit (EAD).

Challenges in our case:

* We don’t have a formal lease because of his poor credit, but we submitted weekly rental receipts showing we live together.
* Other evidence includes:

  * Life insurance from his workplace where he listed me as a beneficiary.
  * Emergency contact from his work place listing me as his husband.
  *  An active joint account with a lot of transactions (only he works and earns money now).

* Screenshot of a WhatsApp call of us with my parents 
* I’m from a Western country, and he is white if it matters.
* My husband met my family over FaceTime. They are religious and don’t speak English, but they accept us and support our relationship.
* His family is not in contact with him.
* We didn’t submit our chat logs or message history initially.

* We filled Tax return as “Married filling jointly” but it was rejected and we will amend it in few months whenever possible

 

Our biggest struggle:
We are very poor and cannot afford a lawyer if we’re denied. We also don’t have shared health insurance or many joint financial documents because of our limited means. But we are truly in love. He is the best thing in my life, and my biggest fear is being forced to leave him. I want to fight for our life together, and I’m scared of losing him.

 

My questions:

1. What should we expect at the interview?
2. What documents or evidence should we bring to strengthen our case?
3. Should we bring our chat logs, message history, or other relationship proof we didn’t submit before? If yes should we upload it as unsolicited evidence?
4. Is there anything specific that same-sex couples should be prepared for in interviews?
5. Any advice, encouragement, or experiences would mean so much to us.

 

 

Thank you for taking the time to read. We just want to be together and are trying our best.

[Dashinka 25,890]

Expect the IO to review the entire I485 and probe the legitimacy of your marriage.  I would bring the chat logs with you to the interview, or at least a portion of them.  I would also bring some photos of you together particularly any from your marriage ceremony.  Personally, I would not worry about uploading any of this, I would just bring them to the interview.  I am not aware of any specifics relative to same-sex marriages that is needed.  My only advice is to be calm, answer all questions truthfully, and make sure you each know as much about each other as possible in case the IO decides to do separate interviews (I.e birthdates, where you lived, things like that).

 

Good Luck!

[Leumas 52]

Do you have family and friends that can write a notarized letter saying you guys are in a real relationship?  Any photos that you can include of both of you and with your family and friends?

[Forit728 0]

8 minutes ago, Leumas said:

Do you have family and friends that can write a notarized letter saying you guys are in a real relationship?  Any photos that you can include of both of you and with your family and friends?

We do not have friends, we are both introverts… My family wrote affidavits about us and I sent through unsolicited evidence portal. My family never been abroad and don’t know English, they met my husband through a FaceTime call and I translated for them, they approve and are happy for us, I submitted a screenshot of the 4 of us having the call if it helps…

Edited June 30 by Forit728

[Boiler 47,510]

Which Country?

[mam521 2,527]

@Forit728 please fill out your timeline: https://www.visajourney.com/timeline/profile.php?id=490153

 

Which country?

[Forit728 0]

18 minutes ago, mam521 said:

@Forit728 please fill out your timeline: https://www.visajourney.com/timeline/profile.php?id=490153

 

Which country?

I filled it, and Greece

25 minutes ago, Boiler said:

Which Country?

Greece

[Edward and Jaycel 1,957]

1 hour ago, Dashinka said:

Personally, I would not worry about uploading any of this, I would just bring them to the interview.

 

I will take the unusual (for me anyway ) position of disagreeing with you on this. As Jaycel's GC interview is coming up in about 3 weeks, we have been reading lots of reports of interview experiences around the web. May folks have been uploading updated evidence to the "Unsolicited Evidence" part of the documents tab in their portal before the interview and in a vast majority of those reports, the applicants report that the ISO thanked them for doing it because it saved them the time and effort of scanning in the documents there at the interview. There are even some field offices sending out an email to applicants a week or so before the interview asking them to upload evidence into the portal before their interview. See below 👇

 

 

[ineedadisplayname 529]

1 hour ago, Forit728 said:

We do not have friends, we are both introverts… My family wrote affidavits about us and I sent through unsolicited evidence portal. My family never been abroad and don’t know English, they met my husband through a FaceTime call and I translated for them, they approve and are happy for us, I submitted a screenshot of the 4 of us having the call if it helps…

Did you translate those too? Seems a bit desperate to be honest.

 

Isn't Grindr like many dating apps location based? Was he in Greece or you in the US?

 

How long ago did you receive your EAD?  Your English seems good enough so you could try to get a job (market is a bit hard but maybe?) so you can contribute financially and show finances together. (Both incomes going into the same account)

 

I think as you two live together, know each other you should be fine. Also don't be afraid of saying i don't know if you really don't know the answer to the question instead of trying to make something up or try to guess what the officer wants to hear. 

 

"I visited the U.S. on a tourist visa and dated him for a month before marrying."

"We got married four months after I entered the U.S"

This doesn't add up already. Maybe it is your choice of words or my English, but for me this comes through as you got married after one month.

 

To clarify the timeline

- 2 months online

- you came to the US on tourist visa to visit

- 1st month "dating"

- 2nd and 3rd months what?

- 4th month getting married

- 5th to 10th month overstaying

- 10th month AOS filing

Edited June 30 by ineedadisplayname

[Forit728 0]

7 minutes ago, ineedadisplayname said:

Did you translate those too? Seems a bit desperate to be honest.

 

Isn't Grindr like many dating apps location based? Was he in Greece or you in the US?

 

How long ago did you receive your EAD?  Your English seems good enough so you could try to get a job (market is a bit hard but maybe?) so you can contribute financially and show finances together. (Both incomes going into the same account)

 

I think as you two live together, know each other you should be fine. Also don't be afraid of saying i don't know if you really don't know the answer to the question instead of trying to make something up or try to guess what the officer wants to hear. 

 

"I visited the U.S. on a tourist visa and dated him for a month before marrying."

"We got married four months after I entered the U.S"

This doesn't add up already. Maybe it is your choice of words or my English, but for me this comes through as you got married after one month.

 

To clarify the timeline

- 2 months online

- you came to the US on tourist visa to visit

- 1st month "dating"

- 2nd and 3rd months what?

- 4th month getting married

- 5th to 10th month overstaying

- 10th month AOS filing

I did translate them and attached the translation as well. 
 

Thank you for the compliment.

 

Unfortunately the job market is tough, I keep on applying for jobs with no success for now

We do have a joint account which my husband deposits his paycheck and we pay and do everything from there.

 

I came here on a tourist visa and stayed with a friend first, my intention at first was not to date but to have fun, we chat online two months first and third month dated in real until we got married.

Edited June 30 by Forit728

[Dashinka 25,890]

1 hour ago, Edward and Jaycel said:

 

I will take the unusual (for me anyway ) position of disagreeing with you on this. As Jaycel's GC interview is coming up in about 3 weeks, we have been reading lots of reports of interview experiences around the web. May folks have been uploading updated evidence to the "Unsolicited Evidence" part of the documents tab in their portal before the interview and in a vast majority of those reports, the applicants report that the ISO thanked them for doing it because it saved them the time and effort of scanning in the documents there at the interview. There are even some field offices sending out an email to applicants a week or so before the interview asking them to upload evidence into the portal before their interview. See below 👇

 

 

Thanks for the updated info.

[Edward and Jaycel 1,957]

1 minute ago, Dashinka said:

Thanks for the updated info.

 

Yeah I had no idea and apparently this is kind of a new thing since the new administration's rule change getting rid of most interview waivers. One officer told an applicant that it is their way of trying to streamline the process to help manage the influx of interviews that now need to be done.

[Dashinka 25,890]

11 minutes ago, Edward and Jaycel said:

 

Yeah I had no idea and apparently this is kind of a new thing since the new administration's rule change getting rid of most interview waivers. One officer told an applicant that it is their way of trying to streamline the process to help manage the influx of interviews that now need to be done.

Kind of off topic, back in 2015 when my wife AOS’d there were many interview waivers out there.  We had an interview, and she got her GC in about five months from filing the I485.  Those with interview waivers were seeing more like 12-14 months to get their GC, and some VJ members were opining how to switch from a waiver to an interview.

[Edward and Jaycel 1,957]

1 minute ago, Dashinka said:

Kind of off topic, back in 2015 when my wife AOS’d there were many interview waivers out there.  We had an interview, and she got her GC in about five months from filing the I485.  Those with interview waivers were seeing more like 12-14 months to get their GC, and some VJ members were opining how to switch from a waiver to an interview.

 

WOW.... that is crazy  Not too bad for us. The interview will take place 8 months after filing

[agrabs 253]

6 hours ago, Forit728 said:

 

 

I came here on a tourist visa and stayed with a friend first, my intention at first was not to date but to have fun, we chat online two months first and third month dated in real until we got married.

If I was the IO i would wonder how if you entered  with the intent to have fun for a couple of months and had truly intended to leave when your visa was up how you could just change your mind and be able to stay without needing to go home first to end a job/lease, and take care of other personal stuff.