Hi everyone,
I just thought I'd post a review of our recent interview in Norflok, Va. for those of you who might have to go through this office for your green card!
From reading reviews of the office, you can notice that several people did not hear the magic "you are approved" but were told instead that they would hear from USCIS soon. I guess some office or IO are different in regards to how they deal with petitioners! Anyways, here's how it went.
We arrived an hour before our appointment. The office was busier than I thought it would be. We first went through a small security check point, had to leave all electronics in the car. Then we went and sat down to wait. We were called at around 9:15 (our appointment was at 9:00). The blond lady that interviewed us was not overly friendly, but very nice. We were told to stand, she swore us in, and then she asked me the questions on the forms (terrorists, prostitute, etc...) This was the only time in the whole interview that her gaze was definitely fixed on me and you could tell she was being the professional that she is! She then confirmed some information with me and Chris (birthday, place of birth, work, adress). She asked to see our evidence next, she looked at it very briefly (bank statements from our joint account, tax transcript from 2010 showing we had file jointly, a letter from the 401K stating me as the beneficiary, a letter from the vet showing we both owned our dog, cards we received with both our names on it, our reception invitation). I gave her a scrapbook of pictures from the time we started dating up to now, maybe 25 photos total. She could not have looked at them quicker! She asked us how we met while looking at the picture, she laughed with us at some comments we made. And then she explained that in two years minus 90 days I would have to apply to remove the conditions of the green card. After that I thought I would hear the "you are approved", but she said that she had seen everything she needed to see and that we would hear from her if she needed further information or anything. We were out by 9:30am.
When we got home soon before noon, I checked my e-mails, and there it was! An e-mail from USCIS that the card production had been ordered. Overall it went very well, I was very nervous but I am happy with the results (obviously). I thought I this interview was a little more stressful than the K-1, maybe because we did not get a definite answer when we were done.
Hope this helps! I'm very glad it's all over for the next two years for us! And good luck to anyone going through the Norfolk office!
