JayNarl

Hi,

It's a TV show, where they get actors to play out highly sensitive or uncomfortable scenarios in public, to see if members of the public would say anything, ie "What would you do?", it's a really great show.

See here :: http://abcnews.go.com/WhatWouldYouDo/parents-disapprove-interracial-couple-married/story?id=13409130#.UIssXcXA9rM

Great show, we always watch it when it's on

GrayL

Thank you I would look out for it.

It's great that all the May registered filers have been approved besides Dee07 whose case was transferred to the CSC. Good luck to all.

Thank you! Good luck to all the May filers in all your endeavours!

You deserve it all, and then some more. Congratulations!

We were only watching "What would you do?" last night about racism between interracial couples. It disgusts me to the absolute core that this happened to you, or to anyone in today's sociaty, I'm so very sorry.

Congratulations again

Thank you! As always we have had wonderful people support us and even though the members of VJ does not know us personally its good that we all look out for each other sharing experiences and advice. What documentary was this? My hubby would like for us to look at it

Congratulations! I am so glad that you were treated properly and got the chance to prove your marriage at the second interview. While you won't know what actions were taken with regards to the first officer I suspect that she will not get away with her behaviour unscathed. Good luck to the two of you.

Thank you! We asked that no one should ever be treated the way we were. There is no news as to what happened to her. But hopefully she would have learned an important lesson and treat others with dignity

My hubby is so excited he is planning our trip home to the Caribbean! Thank you guys

Wow, that is insane! I hope we don't have to go through something like that. I am glad that you were approved. Congratulations!

Just go in there and be confident. Remember to pray before walking in the room and even while you are in the room. It should be fine

Hope JayNarl get an answer soon and all the May filers will be done!

APPROVED

NataliaChicago----------(07/12)>>>>>Fgmail---------------------(07/17)

Widered-------------------(07/18) >>>>>Darusalam---------------(07/19)

Jiu--------------------------(07/19) >>>>>Old_Dog_Barking-------(07/23)

Julookings----------------(07/31)>>>>>DandT14------------------(08/02)

Menting--------------------(08/06)>>>>>Wonderfulstart-----------(08/07)

Gabiru---------------------(08/08)>>>>>Cj0301---------------------(08/08)

Tob187--------------------(08/08)>>>>>Rakosik -------------------(08/09)

Lornaevo------------------(08/15)>>>>>Jolofman------------------(08/15)

Jeserguevara------------(08/22)>>>>>Hmh33--------------------(08/29)

Angeltots-----------------(08/30)>>>>>Sethless------------------(09/17)

Moonpie------------------(09/17)>>>>>LindaC1990-------------(09/18)

Isa30-----------------------(10/17)>>>>> Waiting_In_SC----------(10/22)

PENDING APPROVAL

JayNarl--------------------(09/04 and 10/11)

We got our reply 2 weeks after our 2nd interview which was a Stokes. We were approved today!!!!! Thank you friends. OLD DOG BARKING you can add that to our status now. Thank you sir for all your encouragement.

Our family and friends called to say they got called by immigration as to attest to the validity of our marriage. They all spoke of their love and friendship with us. Today I was enjoying the beautiful weather outside and as I walked back into the house I noticed a black government vehicle drive by slowly past our house. I cannot say that it was immigration doing final checks but we got an approval later on in the day. Yes this is so real now. Thank you for everyone who helped with helpful words. We are approved now and I hope our experience can help someone else.

SECOND INTERVIEW

We got to the interview around 8 am although the interview was scheduled for 8.30am. Promptly a petite girl around 25 called my name. My husband myself and lawyer approached her but she stopped us and said that she only need me and my lawyer oh and to walk with all the documents. I was neither surprised nor afraid. I understood this was going to be a stokes interview. The interview so many people dreaded. I smiled to my husband and followed the lady into her office.

You see my husband and myself welcomed a stokes interview. We knew this interview would definitely prove that we were indeed a true married couple.

I was sworn in and then she explained the process to me. Never once mentioning the name Stokes interview. I was ready and she started the questions

What is my name? Address? Date of birth? Husbands name, birth date. Do i have kids and what is their names and date of birth? Where was I born? Where was my husband born? What is my parents name and address? Tell her about my sisters and brothers. Do they live in the USA? Has my husband ever met any of my family? How about my in laws have I met them? When? Does my husband have siblings? What are their names and ages? These questions seem to form in succession. But the strange things was that they were already prepared like that.

How did you meet your husband? How long after did you move in together? Who lived with him at the time? Who invited who for a date first? Who does the cooking at our home? What school does my son attend? What grade? Whats his legal status? Who did he live with in Trinidad and Tobago? Where does his biological dad live?

She took a few moments to look over my paperwork and keeping the documents that were copied and placing them in a pile. She asked did i have these in the last interview and I answered yes! But the officer did not look at them.

Do you and your husband go on dates? When was the last date? Where did you go to? Did your son go with you? I see you have car insurance now, why didn't you have it before? I answered " I had just gotten my SSN number a few days before the last interview and the drivers license took some time to come in the mail. So my hubby did not have a chance to add me to his insurance.

Do you guys own your two cars? What type of cars are they? What color are they? Who bought the two cars? Who owns the home in which you live? Who helped you move into the house?

She stopped again and verified the documents. Tell me about your marriage? How many people were there? Did you have a reception after? What church do you attend? When was the last time you both attended church? Who married you? Why did you choose him to marry you? Did your husbands family attend the wedding?

Ok everything looks fine. I need to get two copies of these documents and I would walk you to the door. Do you have any questions you wish to ask me?

She walked me to the door and called my husband in. He was sworn in and asked the same questions. After about an hour she came out and called me, my son and my best friend who accompanied me to the interview for moral support in.She asked them how do they know me and she asked my son about his relationship with his step dad?

She explained that she had all that she needed and she would get in touch with us. My lawyer thought it all went professional and now were waiting for an answer.

Personally I felt 100% confident at the interview with our lawyer there. The officer was professional and never once was rude. I hope this can help others. I would let you guys know just as soon as I hear anything. Thank you for reading

My wife and I went to our marriage based AOS interview on the 4th of September 2012. All my paperwork met the requirements and beyond to satisfy the elements needed to prove a legal and good faith marriage. The officer called my wife around 12:30pm. Our appointment was originally set for 11 am. We approached and she asked “Who are you?” there was a clear and evident raise of tone and attitude and we immediately felt something was wrong. She then told us “Get in the first office please.” Then she said, “Who is *****.” She screamed again a few times, “Who is *****? Why are you lying?” These questions were shot at my wife before she could even answer. My wife then said “Are you talking about Laura ****?” She looked again and said, “How do you know Laura *****, who’s John ****, Where did you meet him my name? my name are you lying? Why are you lying? Where are your kids at?” My wife didn’t even get a chance to answer any question before officer

screamed, “Why are you lying myname? Answer the question!”

I saw my wife start to cry. This crushed me in side. I love my wife so much. To see her fall apart like this broke me. Myname is black and I’m a white male. A lot of people out there still just don’t like a white man with a black woman. I was surprised to find this happening at the USCIS. I told Officer, “That’s Laura’s maiden name and John and her are obviously married.” She then glared quickly to myname and said, “myname where did you meet her? I’m going to ask you again!” She never even asked my wife that question. I sat there and watched her say something completely different, then belittle my wife as my wife became hysterical with tears. Then Officer continued saying, “Why aren’t your children with you myname? Where are they?” My wife was so traumatized. I was about to ask for the interview to stop because Officer was attacking my wife. This was when Officer pushed two pictures in front of her; my wife was in such shock from Officer inappropriate actions and conduct, which were clearly unethical and malicious in all nature, that she couldn’t answer who her kids were. I answered for my wife saying that is her sons, name called.

I was so afraid if I stood up for my wife that the officer would become even more malicious. This is when the officer started to yell at me. “I asked her!!!” she said as she pointed to myname, “You be quiet!!!!!”

Then she looked at me sarcastically as she looked through my income, What are you doing married to her and why do you have her son here when you can’t even take care of yourself with your disability?

Aren’t you 29? Why do your parents own your home?” I felt embarrassed as this lady discriminated me for being disabled. My wife and I just need some time to adjust. I am a certified paralegal and I also have a bachelors in Bio chemistry. I am just getting out of school. My wife who you all know as Jaynarl is a published author of 2 books on endangered animals in the Caribbean.

This lady was trying to say we have no right being married because we didn't have a big bank account?? What did it matter if my parents owned our home? They own a realty company and they also own my brother and sister homes.

She pointed a finger at a picture of my wife that she held up. “Who is this?” Officer kept repeating over and over again, to intimidate her. My wife said nothing. I was so confused myself as Officer just told me seconds before that she’s not asking me questions and to keep my mouth closed. After she discriminated against me, she was trying to tell my wife that a woman in the picture she was holding was not her and actually a photo of one of her former friends, as if my wife didn’t know what she looked like. They are both black. Officer then continued saying over and over again why is she wearing a wedding ring in the picture? My wife tried to answer, but her voice was so weak. She tried to tell her that she was the one wearing the rings in the picture and not her friend. Her friend who was previously getting married was not in that particular picture but the one before.

I answered and told Officer, “If her friends are wearing or not wearing rings this has nothing to do with our marriage.” Our marriage is a normal legitimate marriage we have plenty enough pictures all ranging from different seasons to different places we went and with different members of our family and friends. I grabbed my wife hands. I needed to let her know that I was there and I was at her side. This was not how we should be treated. I was feeling fear and I felt like crying and I constantly told myself (in my head, in the interview) that I cannot live without my wife in my life. This lady was clearly discriminating against my wife for her race and me for my disability. Officer did not want us to be together.

Then out of all my paperwork she grabs two pictures with another white male and black female couple, which wasn’t even us, but rather our friends. The lawyer suggested that in the future whenever someone has an interview and it becomes like ours that the Us citizen spouse immediately stop the interview and ask to call his or her lawyer. Do not leave the office without asking to speak to the district officer to file a complaint. Just some useful advice. Now we have to wait for a new interview. I guess they would probably visit our home, or jobs. This we would welcome.Its just so heart wrecking that when you have a legitimate marriage you have to face this #######.

My lawyer says this is not a normal interview. This officer has no right to discriminate against anyone. Discrimination is not a tactic used by the USCIS. You should never be judged or discriminated by anyone in public office. This law makes it illegal to discriminate against someone on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, disability or sex

This is just a summary of the interview. My wife was called a bad mother because her kids were in Trinidad. When I explained that we have her son here living with us, and that we are adjusting his status she went on to say why one son? Why do your parents have to take care of her and her son? The entire interview was demeaning and no one should be this.

This was our first interview and we were granted a second interview thanks to the director. We walked in thinking we were being given a second interview completely new and not a Stokes. But we were immediately separated and given a Stokes. I would post a copy of our Stokes interview for you to read.

I'm glad to hear that it went better this time around. All the best and keep us posted...

I would keep everyone posted. Thanks for reading

We got to the interview around 8 am although the interview was scheduled for 8.30am. Promptly a petite girl around 25 called my name. My husband myself and lawyer approached her but she stopped us and said that she only need me and my lawyer oh and to walk with all the documents. I was neither surprised nor afraid. I understood this was going to be a stokes interview. The interview so many people dreaded. I smiled to my husband and followed the lady into her office.

You see my husband and myself welcomed a stokes interview. We knew this interview would definitely prove that we were indeed a true married couple.

I was sworn in and then she explained the process to me. Never once mentioning the name Stokes interview. I was ready and she started the questions

What is my name? Address? Date of birth? Husbands name, birth date. Do i have kids and what is their names and date of birth? Where was I born? Where was my husband born? What is my parents name and address? Tell her about my sisters and brothers. Do they live in the USA? Has my husband ever met any of my family? How about my in laws have I met them? When? Does my husband have siblings? What are their names and ages? These questions seem to form in succession. But the strange things was that they were already prepared like that.

How did you meet your husband? How long after did you move in together? Who lived with him at the time? Who invited who for a date first? Who does the cooking at our home? What school does my son attend? What grade? Whats his legal status? Who did he live with in Trinidad and Tobago? Where does his biological dad live?

She took a few moments to look over my paperwork and keeping the documents that were copied and placing them in a pile. She asked did i have these in the last interview and I answered yes! But the officer did not look at them.

Do you and your husband go on dates? When was the last date? Where did you go to? Did your son go with you? I see you have car insurance now, why didn't you have it before? I answered " I had just gotten my SSN number a few days before the last interview and the drivers license took some time to come in the mail. So my hubby did not have a chance to add me to his insurance.

Do you guys own your two cars? What type of cars are they? What color are they? Who bought the two cars? Who owns the home in which you live? Who helped you move into the house?

She stopped again and verified the documents. Tell me about your marriage? How many people were there? Did you have a reception after? What church do you attend? When was the last time you both attended church? Who married you? Why did you choose him to marry you? Did your husbands family attend the wedding?

Ok everything looks fine. I need to get two copies of these documents and I would walk you to the door. Do you have any questions you wish to ask me?

She walked me to the door and called my husband in. He was sworn in and asked the same questions. After about an hour she came out and called me, my son and my best friend who accompanied me to the interview for moral support in.She asked them how do they know me and she asked my son about his relationship with his step dad?

She explained that she had all that she needed and she would get in touch with us. My lawyer thought it all went professional and now were waiting for an answer.

Personally I felt 100% confident at the interview with our lawyer there. The officer was professional and never once was rude. I hope this can help others. I would let you guys know just as soon as I hear anything. Thank you for reading!

We did our second marriage based interview today. We did well and there was no inconsistency in our answers. We were given a stokes interview and it lasted about 4 hours. Exhausted now but would write up a detailed description of our interview later on. Thank you for everyone who supported us.

JayNarl, I am so pleased for you that you got another interview. Please keep us up to date with your progress forward.

Yes we would everyone in touch. That interview was so messed up that they had no choice but to give us the new interview when presented with the facts. Congratulations again on your approval!

My husband was persistent and got them to review our case. We now have a new interview not a Stokes and we requested that they tape it. They also promised us with a new officer. We should expect the letter in the mail. Thank you for all who wished us well. Were excited to have the new interview done so we could move on with our lives

My husband is very passionate about our case. Please understand that we wanted to help out by posting our story. Our lawyer is very good and experienced. Thank you for all the advice guys.

Ok, well you clearly don't need any help. So I hope everyone reads this and quits trying to help you.

We are not asking for help (husband here). We were just trying to inform people and help them prepare for the immigration process as aforementioned. We thank and love all of you who are here with us on this site and we will keep in touch with you. We do have other information, but we are not allowed to disclose this as it is an ongoing process with our lawyer. Thank you for understanding and wish you all the best in your interviews.

Ok, well you clearly don't need any help. So I hope everyone reads this and quits trying to help you.

Our lawyer and we are the one's who know the situation best. The immigration Officer never gave us a denial yet or stated that we were being denied. Furthermore, I am looking at the elements provided by the DHS for elements of a valid marriage. This is what immigration officers use. Speculation or hearsay is not what I am looking at. I know I have a valid marriage. I know we are in love. So I'm beyond the point where I have to prove to some here that we are in love and married. The original intent and scope of our post was to help prepare others for possible situations that may arise in their interview and inform them of their rights.

I think you're misunderstanding. Vanessa is trying to look at the situation as an unbiased observer, and from the IO's point of view. Clearly, the IO looking at your file saw fraud. No doubt about it. The question is, why?

Jaynarl, I'm the one who suggested you post your story in the main forum so that you could get help from the longer term members. I was concerned that you were going the wrong direction by claiming wrongdoing on the IO's part. But, I don't have anywhere near the knowledge that some of these other people have.

I assume that your main goal is to get your wife her greencard. People like Vanessa and Harpa are the ones who have the knowledge to help you. It's nice to have people come, pat you on the back, and agree with everything you say. But you're going to get help from people who see things differently than you do. People who can offer new information.

If you really want help, you should answer their questions and be open to hearing their opinions.

If Vanessa had read our earlier post it stated that Laura was our friend from church. She and her husband had given us the affidavit of support. She is a US citizen by birth. A mother and a wife.

The first questions shot at us were Who is Laura ****? My sponsor gave me the files to mail with the application. She has private stuff in there. Her San and her job information. I am not going to read her stuff. We got it in a sealed package. So for not knowing her maiden name and hesitating. As said in earlier post " we posted this topic because we wanted to help someone else if ever in a situation." We welcome a Stokes interview, we have nothing to hide. VANESSA is implying that we do.

an I please have a moderator who is a higher admin please write me, or a few moderators. Thanks.

Justin

JayNarl, I have read the original post 6 times and I still can't make heads or tails out of it. The use of "myname" is extremely confusing and it appears you have used "myname" to describe two different people in your story. But the one thing I can say with some certainty is that I seriously doubt race played a role in this, there is absolutely nothing that points to race other than your opinion. It does appear that something sent up some serious red flags well before you ever walked into your interview. Your lawyer needs to find out what it was that caused all of the problems.

I'm sorry you had such a difficult time and I wish you luck in the future.

my name was used to replace our real names

Thanks Ceaser & Cata,

Husband here again. Thanks Ceaser & Cata. I was born in America and my family has been here since the Native Americans. I appreciate your support because as an American Citizen I was shocked at the treatment that we got in the interview. I sure hope nobody else has to go through what we went through. Remember you can always go out of the room and call your lawyer, or immediately ask for a supervisor. My only mistake was not calling a lawyer or getting a supervisor during the meeting and abruptly ending the meeting.

I guess I find it hard to believe someone would actually go to the trouble of posting on a forum like VJ if their story isnt truthful.

All my statements have been made assuming all relationship, marriage, etc, is done in good faith and that the adjudicator was in fact disrespectful and abusive. Thinking what if it were me, I married quick and would hate to be drilled in this manner.

I take the post as written by the OP, and if it is a scam I would hate to be in his shoes cause they will find out (and I hope sooner rather than later). I have no simpathy for people trying to take advantage of the immigration process.

Husband here again. Vanessa&Tony. What we told her was clear and evident as I mentioned above and all evidence that supported the elements of a valid marriage under law and immigration law was overwhelming. Where would you derive such a fictitious statement about Laura? Laura was born in the United States of America, like her father before him and his father before him and so on. You need to focus more on an analytical perspective and stop trying to pick what ifs out of a paper and stop filling in what you believe is blanks with your own conclusions. Married for money? We both are poor. Just another false allegation that you are trying to post to the forum. We are renting from my parents because we are poor and trying to get on our feet. Does this sound familiar? Most couples start off with nothing and build a life, that is what normal marriages about. I don't know about you Vanessa, but we didn't marry for money. We both are poor and your accusations are out of line. I am going to kindly ask you to stop posting in this forum with such rude behavior. As for all others, we can on this forum so we could inform you of your rights and help you through the immigration process. We were very well prepared and as the American Citizen (husband) knew about my wife. I didn't even have to study for hours and hours. I know my wife because she is my best friend. Enough said.

You know "felt" isn't fact. The officer, by the writings of the OP, never mentioned race at any point in the interview.

I've said this before, but when someone is self-conscious about something they tend to see what might not be there. Take, for example, getting your hair cut. If it's some new radical change and you're not 100% sure about it, you might hear someone laughing behind you and wonder if it was about you, you might see your friends and they don't say anything about it so you think "well if they liked it they'd say right?". If you saw them whispering as you walked up you'd assume it was about your hair and it's just so awful.

The OP needs to stop looking at his race and her race as an issue. Look instead at the other things the officer did or said. Stop being indignant about what they THOUGHT she was implying and instead look at what she said.

From the OP its obvious there's a red flag somewhere. The OP hasn't posted what information they mailed with the application, only what information they brought with them to the interview. From the IO's point of view... 4 months after meeting a illegal alien (with around 2 years of overstay), the OP married her and then they filed AOS. They have 30 affidavits attesting to relationship but they don't really mean anything, especially if the IO believes the marriage was arranged so the illegal alien was able to remain in the US, because of COURSE the OP's wife's friends would say the marriage is legit, they don't want her to leave, and the OP's friends would lie so he gets money.

This Laura person seems to be a bit of a trip up so I'm wondering if this Laura person has ALSO filed some form of paperwork and is suspected of marrying simply to remain. It would make sense if they believe you're part of some immigration ring... in fact, in re-reading your OP this is what I think is happening. This Laura person seems to be important, then she mentions how is the OP supposed to support a kid which implies that she thinks money has changed hands, or the OP's wife is working illegally or something else. I believe they think this marriage is fraud, you're unable to work so you accepted the chance to marry an illegal alien and get paid to help her AOS. Perhaps you should also find out what's going on with the 30 people who did affidavits. If they are in the middle of a process, there could be something you don't know and the age old saying "be careful who your friends are" might be playing a part here...

Thank you!Everything here is the truth. We were treated unfairly and we don't know why? What caused this treatment?

Maybe it was when I hesitated at the first question when she asked who was Laura ****? Maybe it was when she realized that my husband was white. Maybe she was just having a bad day. Whatever the reason you don't treat people like this.

We have a lawyer who has handled cases like this and she is working on it.

This post was not to ask for sympathy or to point fingers at the immigration system. We posted this so that another couple Would not have to go through what we went through. They would know they could stop the interview and ask to speak to the district officer. Thank you for all your suggestions. All we can do now is wait for a second interview most likely a Stokes and let them see they were wrong in how they treated us.

I am sorry you had such a bad experience.

I can only imagine this reason for the hard time(although not for the rudness) was that your wife, had OVERSTAYED her previous visa and then turned up married to yourself, I am not saying

she married you to avoid being deported, but, that is how the officer could have seen the whole situation and resulted in such a stressful interview.

I am sure you are in love and have close family and friends within your group and do have a bonified marriage but again, these officers see this kind of thing red flagged to them on a daily basis and can become cynical over time.

It is their job to weed out illegals trying to yank the system(so to speak).

Good luck in your follow up interview, please let us know how it goes.

I understand your perspective but the elements to satisfy a marriage by DHS code was clear and evident as our lawyer stated. No where in the INS code does it state that a marriage has to meet some criteria of longevity, however, it does say they will look at the length of a marriage to determine if it might be a fraud aka sham wedding. This is just one thing they will look at, but they too will look at all other aspects such as pictures with family, paperwork, commingling. I assure you as I am a certified paralegal I did study all aspects of possible reasons why the lady may have seen it as a fraud. Regardless, from the beginning she had a malicious attitude towards me being white (I pretty much fit the definition of Caucasian. I have blue eyes, and blondish brown hair (gets blonder in summer or high sun light). My wife is dark-skinned. Did you read the dialogue that was posted between us and the immigration officer? If she had looked at our file which is her job, it was obvious that I was white and she was black. So why did the immigration officer get nasty with me when there was only her and I and ask me "who I am rudely!"? The paperwork we filed clearly showed our races, so why would the immigration officer ask this question? Unless she either A) never looked over our paperwork, (B) didn't realize we filed a married petition and only two of us were there (both have to be there). So either she was racist and discriminatory, or she was incompetent in her job.

To the other person who asked. She looked at a picture of my wife's friend and my wife and kept going who is this, who is this, why does your friend have on a wedding ring when you said she is not married. When in fact the friend didn't have on a wedding ring. It was my wife with a ring and her friend with no ring. I told my wife after the interview what is lady on drugs or something or crazy?!?