Went to our AOS interview for the green card today at 2:25pm appointment. Arrived early did all the things you do, was called right on time for the interview. After ID checks we get to the office and get sworn in, next comes the new English fluency test. They have questions to ask to see if your fluent enough in English to answer questions at the interview. My wife is not exactly fluent, but her English is definitely good enough to have an interview conducted asking about me, my house, when I work, cars, etc. standard AOS interview questions. The sample questions are very technical and tough for even me to answer and I have been speaking English for over 40 years. she did ok I thought, but IO wasn't too sure, so she said just to be safe they would use the new translator by phone that USCIS started just a few days ago. Well, that's where the nightmare began. She had never used the phone translator before, miscalled the number about 3 times, prank called 2 people by mistake, finally went to get her supervisor to help her dial the phone ( You would think they would do some training before they put into effect a new procedure, at least make sure they know how to use the phone), so we finally get thru to the service and now it is close to 3pm PST, here is the complete hose, the service is only available from 8am to 5 pm EST, so 5am to 2pm PST, obviously we missed that by almost an hour now. I said I am sure my wife can handle the questions in English, lets not complicate things and get this done. Supervisor said there is a whole new list of questions they are asking for the AOS interview, and you have to really understand them to answer them correctly to match the information in the petition. The only option then was to reschedule the interview, so now I have to wait for a new interview where they are going to make sure it is before 5pm eastern time. Not only did I miss a day of work, get all dressed up, and smile and be nice to the clowns the whole time, now I will have to do it all over again. So moral of the story, make sure when you go to the interview your significant other is fluent in English, or make sure you go between the hours of 8am to 5pm eastern time, or do what I am going to do is bring a translator with me the next time around. May cost a few hundred dollars to have a interpreter there at my expense, but better than missing out on a simple interview.
So, anyone ever have to reschedule their AOS interview, and how long does it take to get the new interview. She said by law they have to give us 3 weeks notice of the interview appointment, so it will probably be a month from now, and I tried to convince her that I could be here with 1 days notice no problem if needed. but now, back into the mix waiting for an interview again that who knows when it will come. SO make sure you are prepared for the " NEW" procedure that they obviously are trying to start this month with no actual training on it. Really put me in a whole new level of dissatisfaction with how the whole Homeland security is run.
