goodpoint

I agree. I had planned to "not speak unless spoken to" based on the reviews of other people. I was surprised that the officer's questions were not directed at a specific one of us. My wife pretty much didn't say anything at all except to confirm what was written on our application.

She did have a B2 tourist visa. We entered the US on what was basically a honeymoon and were convinced by my relatives to stay in the US. Relatives offered me a good interim job and the basics to re-setup my American life (furniture, pots and pans, etc.).

I was prepared to have to defend our lack of intent to stay in America but there were absolutely zero questions about it at the interview. I got the feeling that they only cared if our marriage was real or not and nothing else mattered to them.

**I do not have any questions -- just sharing my experience in the hope that someone will find it useful.**

I (USC) and my wife (Romanian) met about 2 years ago, married in Romania about 1.5 years ago, traveled to the USA and decided to stay permanently about 7 months ago.

We filed for AOS based on marriage in April 2014; forms 130 and 485.

We received our interview appointment in mid October (for today -- mid November).

We arrived in the San Bernardino USCIS office 1 hour early. I wore a suit and my wife wore a nice dress. We were called into an office together after about an hour and a half (30min after apt time).

We were asked to raise our right hand and were sworn to tell the truth.

The officer asked my wife to verify all of her contact information and checked her original birth certificate and marriage certificate. Then she asked my wife all of the Yes/No questions on the I-485 like "have you ever been a gang member" and so forth (all "no" answers) even though she already had those answers in writing.

I was asked my name and DOB.

Then the officer said "tell me how you two came to be together" which wasn't directed toward a particular one of us. I jumped in to answer because I knew my wife was so stressed she was about to have a heart attack. I made an effort to speak confidently and in a concise manner. I stated the following: The date and cicumstances of how we met, the date we had our first date, date of our engagement, date of our wedding, date we last entered the USA.

I had prepared a detailed file showing how I was earning money and supporting my wife (I was her sponsor) but I was never asked to prove anything like that. The officer simply asked "so, you have been the one supporting your wife this whole time, right?" I answered "yes" and that was all that was discussed about finances.

The officer then asked me to provide her with any documentation I had showing we had a "real" marriage. I had originals and copies but she just wanted the copies and didn't much look at the originals. I spoke somewhat quickly in an effort to explain each item before being cut off (I wasn't). I provided her with all of the following items:

- Joint tax return

- joint credit card

- joint bank account

- tags from flowers I had sent to her when we first started courting.

- B-day and anniversary cards to us from family (2)

- joint lease

- jointly owned car registration

- joint car insurance

- disneyland annual passes

- cell phone bill with both names on it

- reservations for birthday activity (email)

- Used concert tickets with names on them

- Pictures: I cherry-picked about 30 of our best pictures that showed us doing various things over a long time (family dinners, birthdays, disneyland, etc.); I had nice color sheets made at WalMart with 8 pictures printed per 8x10" page and provided those instead of black and white copies. The officer asked me to explain what was going on in some of the pictures (I had written captions in magic marker).

Having reviewed everything above, the officer said she would be right back and walked out of the room. She returned with a "Congratulations you are a permanent resident" letter and told us we were approved and to expect the card in the mail within 90 days. We couldn't have been happier and were very surprised at how easy it was.

Basically, I would say that if you prepare well and arrive organized (and really are married) the interview is very low stress and very easy. We were done in about 20 minutes. We had stressed about the interview but there really was no reason for it.

Hope this helps someone -- I read a ton of descriptions like this on VisaJourney that helped me a lot. Thanks to everyone else who shared and gave me advice along the way!

Thank you for the replies! That information really did put me at ease. It is great to hear that they will inform me of the appointment in more than one way and that I'm not the only one experiencing a delay at this step.

Now I can stop having these day-dreams(nightmares) about sinister neighbor kids raiding my mailbox and burning my appointment letter while cackling and making future plans to snatch my Netflix rentals.

I am a USC. My wife is Romanian. We are in the US living in Southern California and filed for an AOS (i-130,i-485) in April. We've done the biometrics and in late May we received an email update (no letter) stating that our status has been moved up to "testing and interview" and once they schedule our interview time they will mail us a notice. The email also said that if it takes more than about 30 days to call to find out what the problem is. I have called after 30 days, 60 days, etc. and just get a person reading the exact text of the case status that can be found on the website. When I do searches for other people's similar cases I keep seeing that they had their interviews scheduled in under 10 days. Should I be concerned?

I am starting to seriously worry that my interview appointment got lost in the mail somehow and I have an appointment that I don't know about and therefore will not show up for.

Any related advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!!

Thank you! I really appreciate you answering!

Thanks Harpa!

Is there a specific duration for that authorized stay or does it simply end when a decision is made?

My wife is here on a B visa and we filed for AoS (I130, I485). I realize I-797C is a receipt and nothing more. However, my understanding of the process is that she is allowed to wait in the US while the case is decided, even though her visa will expire before then (August). Therefore, a I-797C receipt should also mean that she is legally allowed to overstay her visa stamp until a decision is made. No?

Or is there another form that will show up soon that says she is allowed to wait here?

Oh goodness... I think this visa stuff is making me crazy. Nobbie was absolutely right... I misread the emails. The one about the fingerprint fee says it is also for the I-485 but it was scrolled off my screen. My bad!

Thanks for the help!!

Oops, you are right, what I wrote was not clear. When I said "today I received three emails with case tracking numbers for just the three things mentioned above", I meant the three things in the topic of this post. So, I have case numbers for the I-130, I-765, and the Biometrics fee. I do not have a case number for the I-485.

My personal checks didn't have my current address, so I used money orders. $420 for the I-130, one for $85 for biometrics and a third one for $985 for the I-485.

I mailed in my I130, I485, I 765 packet a week and a half ago. Today I received three emails with case tracking numbers for just the three things mentioned above. I am probably worrying over nothing (I expect a lot of that goes on during a visa journey). Should I be concerned that I didnt get a case number for the I-485 or anything else that may have been missing?

I just double checked that my I-485 was indeed signed and accompanied by a check for $985 + $85. Obviously they accepted the $85 but no mention of the $985 or the I-485.

Thanks!

Thanks everyone

I am filing I-130 and I-485 concurrently for AoS.

I have an unused return plane ticket that helps prove intent to return to Romania. Should I include the ticket somewhere in my i-485 packet?

It is already included as part of my I-130 packet as part of the marriage bona fide's (proof of travel with my wife).

...or is this the sort of thing I save for the interview?

Thanks!!

Thank you!

Yes, that is correct, I recently changed jobs, so I am concerned my current income will be disputed (I am self employed with little evidence). So I am using cash assets to cover all my bases.

I am getting close to mailing out my I130/I1485 packet. For most of the items, it is obvious why they are included in the packet. However, I am worried that the USCIS reviewer my not understand or misinterpret some of my supplied evidence.

For example, I am using bank account assets. I included my bank statement. Next I included a document showing that I recently sold a house and had a large cash deposit into my bank. The intent was to show where that money came from. Should I include an attached note to these forms explaning why they are included? Should it be a small sticky note clipped to that particular piece of evidence? Or am I supposed to have no explanations of this type other than on the cover letter?

How much text is on a typical cover letter aside from the table of contents? Are people writing out their whole story and explaning each piece of evidence in paragraph form in the cover letter?

Any help is very much appreciated, as always!

Ah understood. Thank you Harpa. I have read a ton of your posts over the past few days and I just want to say I really appreciate the time you take helping everyone out!

Thanks! Much appreciated!

I was under the impression that you could AoS from a B Visa for any reason as long as you didnt enter the country with the INTENT to stay? Is that not accurate? I am selfishly asking because I am filing a AoS from a B2 for my wife who came to the US with me on vacation but we are simply staying because we got surprised with a great job offer. Are they going to send her out of the country to file forms (our worst nightmare)?

Hello,

I am a US Citizen in the US with my Romanian wife, working on the adjusment of status packet. Visajourney has been an amazing resource so far, thanks to everyone for their contributions!

My question is in the title of this post. I know they switched to an electronic I-94, but the only thing I can find online at the US Customs and Border Protection website is the half-page form titled ""Admission (I-94) Number Retreival". That document says my wife's I94 number, name, admit until date, birth date, entry date, passport information, and nothing else.

I think this is the only "I-94 form" that exists now, but it is confusing because the top of the form simply says "Admission (I-94) Number Retreival"... it makes me wonder if not that I have "reteived" her I-94 number I am supposed to use that number somewhere else to get a more detailed/offical I-94 form.

Thanks in advance!!

Joe