I wanted to share with you our experience going into the green card Interview.
We were scheduled for Tuesday January 31st at 10:15 am, at the Miami-Kendall office. I've known this date for over a month and we thought we prepared accordingly.
Below is a list of things I brought to our interview:
Some may have thought this list was a little overkill..... and it was . Yes I brought every item in that list plus, a complete copy of the package we sent initially and a second photo album, altogether I brought a little over 200 photos (our wedding album, a second album and 100 loose photos).
The night before the interview I went over my checklist obsessively until I thought it was all good, I left everything prepared and ready to go, and the morning of the interview I made it my goal to leave as early as reasonably possible.
That's tip #1: Don't be late. not if, no buts, you can't be late for this.
Our appointment was for 10:15 am
We got to the place a full 47 minutes before interview (9:28 am), taking all the time we gathered our things and walked in. With interview letter in hand we passed security and they told us where to check in. At the check-in counter they asked for my name, interview letter and ID (my passport) they kept the letter and told us to take a seat. They said nothing about our phones, we had them all the time (SILENCED), so during our wait my husband and I were mostly on facebook and other SNS. The first time they called our names was at 10:00am (we had been waiting about 30 minutes or so) the lady from the check-in counter was the one who called my name to give us back the interview letter and said they will call us again shortly and she pointed to a door telling us to take a seat close by that door. The door kept opening and closing as they called other people and as the other couples left their interviews, When it was our turn 40 minutes later (10:40ish AM) This time the door open, a lady called my name and then we followed her into her tiny windowless office.
Her attitude was not at all friendly, not mean, just very not none-sense kinda of thing. It was clear that small talk was not an option.
First thing she said once we were in her office was "stand up, lift your right hand", and then she swore both of us, ( we did have to lift our right hands and promise we were telling the truth) after that she asked for the interview letter and Both our IDs, she then started to go over my application, The one I sent back n May. There was so much silence, as she used a red pen to check and write stuff down not even looking at us she asked me "Have you traveled outside the US since your arrival?", I Haven't, then she asked "Have you applied for US residency before?", I haven't and then still looking at the application, she said my husband's name then asked him "where do you work? what do you do? " he answered "Have you sponsored anyone else before?" he hasn't. Then she asked him if he could verify our address so he did, next she asked me all the default list of "are you or have you ever worked as a prostitute? are you part of the communist party, do you plan to be a terrorist? bla, bla, to which I answered NO to all of it .
Here is a list of all questions we were asked:
How and when did you two meet?
When did you start dating?
She asked to see the original certified copy of my husband's birth certificate and then asked if I had photocopy, I did have one so she took it.
She asked where was I born
The first name of both my parents
She asked if I was working.
She asked for my social security number
Then she asked if we brought any pictures :
First I gave her our wedding album, as she flipped through it her attitude relaxed for the first time since ever. We had a wedding at a Banquet Hall with 70 guest and 6 bridesmaids a ring boy and flower girl. The album itself looks very professional since it was put together by our wedding photographer, I don't mention this to brag, I say it because looking back and thinking of her attitude, from my perspective if it was not a turning point it was a key point. Both our families were in the pictures, more his than mine for obvious reasons. As she went through the album I tried my best to tell her who these people were, for example "oh, that is my mother in law, her name blank.... oh these kids are my husband's niece and nephew (cutest 5 and 6 year-olds you'll ever see) They were our ring boy and flower girl... That's my cousin "Blank" she was my maid of honor and she signed our wedding certificate as a witness... you get the idea. I also showed her one of our wedding invitations and the cards we made for "save the date" (she kept both) I did offer to show our wedding guest book and a couple of congratulatory cards from the wedding guest but she said it was okay and didn't need to see those. Next I brought out the Loose pictures which I had pre-grouped and separated by categories, these were pictures from our California-Vegas honeymoon, Family events and Birthdays, just the two of us at different dates (museums, las vegas roadtrip, restaurants etc) and she actually laughed at the halloween pictures of us dressed as pokemon (Halloween 2016 I was pikachu and hubby was Ash) for Halloween 2015 we were the King and Queen of Hearths . I said Pictures were important, I brought over 200 altogether and she didn't get to see even half of that. This is why is soooo important you make a point of selecting the "must see" group and show that first (Family pictures, Trips, places and experiences you've shared together, Holidays, major events like graduations) , from this group I can tell you she kept over 35 pictures for her file even the Halloween ones, she never saw my second album.
Last, thing she asked was we had any other Proof that we were living together as a married couple
For this I handed the following documents:
Joint account Bank statements
Phone bill with both our names
Rent receipts with both our names
Rent Lease with both our names
Car Insurance Card with both our names
3 years worth of instant messaging on Viber (we have A LOT! so I selected only about 30-50 pages per year for a total of 100 something pages, I printed this and put it on a tabbed by year folder)
With this, the interview concluded as she explained to us that we would know the decision within 30 days and if approved, my green card would be under conditional status for 2 years and that it was our responsibility to file for form I-751 within 90 days BEFORE the expiration of my temporary green card. She USCIS wouldn't send any kind of reminder, it's something completely up to us.
After leaving the interview and as my nerves settled on our way back to the car, I was mortified to realize ALL THE STUFF I FORGOT TO SHOW!!! I never gave her or showed our joint tax return for 2016, or the copies I made of our joint credit cards, I didn't show I was on his health insurance plan, or his letter of employment, and most of all and to my horror I forgot to bring up the fact that back in July I received an RFE because my medical exam was missing a signature so I was supposed to go back to my doctor fix it and bring a fresh copy sealed to the interview, I DID this, I had it and because I was nervous and the officer didn't ask for it I forgot .
So my husband and I get in the car and on the drive to a place to grab lunch we keep telling each other "it didn't go so bad, we knew the answer could probably not be intimidate, we answered what she asked bla bla" now it's a waiting game we can add more evidence later if they ask for more it'll be fine. Our attitude was mostly "Please don't freak out yet" but by the time we made it to the restaurant I check my phone and lo and behold there two almost identical emails from USCIS as a "Post Decision Activity" one for the i-130 and one for the i-485 and it said our Application Was approved!!!! I read 4 times before I showed it to my husband and then we had Mojitos!!
I'm still waiting for the confirmation letter on the mail but it's only been 24 hours, the weight I've got off my shoulders can't be measured right now. I hope this helps you get some perspective and give you hope in your process. Thank you all for all your support!!!
Hello everyone! I'll start a thread for those who are filing their I-130 in September 2017. I send it yesterday, September 13. I'm hoping for the best!! ❤️ Hope we can update each other.
