Lakawanna Blues

Hey Everyone,

I am happy to report that my application was approved yesterday in Oklahoma City. I found these tips online before my interview and just wanted to share them with everyone who is sweating bullets over their upcoming interview.

Worried about that scheduled marriage-based green card interview? Not sure what to expect from your examiner?

• Your burden is to prove (1) your believability (hint: being prepared is important!); and (2) genuineness of your marriage, as evidenced by children if any, joint tax returns, bills at a common living address, cross life-insurance policies, co-mingling of financial assets, wedding and other photos, and length of the relationship. USCIS relies on documents, documents, documents.

• Producing few documents may mean trouble. If you and your spouse live in different cities, you should produce airline itineraries, emails, exchanged cards, photos, and any other viable written documentation of your "commuting marriage."

• If the foreign spouse paid the American spouse to marry and be sponsored for the green card, then the green card will be denied. If there is a big age difference between spouses, expect to be grilled. If either spouse has been married multiple times, expect the same.

• According to the Field Adjudicator's Manual consulted by examining USCIS officials, the following are signs of a "sham marriage:" Large disparity of age; inability of petitioner and beneficiary to speak each other's language;vast difference in cultural and ethnic background;family and/or friends unaware of the marriage; marriage arranged by a third party; marriage contracted immediately following the beneficiary's apprehension or receipt of notification to depart the United States; discrepancies in statements on questions for which a husband and wife should have common knowledge; no cohabitation since marriage; beneficiary is a friend of the family; petitioner has filed previous petitions in behalf of aliens, especially prior alien spouses.

• If the alien spouse’s English is poor, take a translator.

• If the alien spouse has been arrested or convicted of a crime, don’t even think about attending the interview without procuring certified copies of all relevant police and court records and having them carefully examined by an experienced immigration lawyer. USCIS will require you to produce those same certified criminal records. So you might as well complete this task early!

• Men should wear slacks and collared shirts. Women should wear dresses of appropriate style and length or pant suits.

• Take all your identification documents, including the foreign spouse’s EAD and passport. Take an original and legible photocopy of all proof-of-marriage documents so you can put your hands on them quickly if asked, without fumbling.

• Leave cell phones and other electronic devices in your car.

• Early-morning appointment? Good sign. The USCIS examiner will have lots of other appointments. He will want to get you out the door. Most MBGC interviews end happily after less than 15 minutes.

• Afternoon appointment? Potentially a bad sign. The examiner may have spotted holes in your pre-filed paperwork or other defects. Could be a lengthy interview.

• Your attitude is the most important thing you will take into your interview. Preparation breeds confidence breeds optimism, enhancing your approval chances. This is not the same as plastering a smile on your face or ostentatiously holding hands.

• Listen carefully to the examiner. If you do not understand a question, ask the examiner to repeat it. Do not guess at answers. Do not volunteer information.

• At the start of the interview, you and your spouse will be sworn in. The examiner may turn on a video camera. He or she will ask you to be seated.

• Your examiner may or may not disclose his or her name. Get it! Ask politely. Have the examiner repeat the name if you did not hear it. Write it down or commit it to memory! This will be critical if your green card is denied.

• Young examiners may feel they have the most to prove. They may be overly-zealous, discourteous or even hostile. This is the exception. If it happens, shrug it off. Don’t get angry! To the contrary: Take a breath, stay calm, pause, and consider your answers even more carefully. Remember: Examiners have big caseloads and big pressure. They must make important decisions quickly. And they are often lied to.

• Expect the first minutes of your interview to be devoted to “housekeeping.” The examiner will ask for ID documents and may ask either spouse to confirm entries on the I-130, I-485 and G-325A forms. So memorize the most important info on those forms before the interview. Most critical: Date of your marriage, date of spouse’s admission into the U.S., and dates you began living together at your current and any earlier addresses.

• If the alien spouse is a Middle East male, expect tough questioning or worse.

• If you and your spouse are separated during the interview, you have a credibility problem. Typical treatment: The examiner may point to a wall calendar and ask both spouses (separately) how they spent the last seven days and where they spent the last seven nights. Either spouse may be asked to write down the other’s name and/or the name of the spouse’s parents, with correct spelling.

• If an examiner is convinced that the primary purpose of a marriage is to secure a green-card, he may accuse the U.S. spouse of “committing a crime” by filing green card paperwork for the foreign spouse. The trouble will “go away” if the spouse withdraws the I-130 petition. Or, the examiner may threaten an “ICE investigation.” Don’t give in to this bullying – and you should welcome an ICE investigation if your marriage is genuine.

• If the examiner approves the green card, the alien spouse’s passport will be stamped. Expect the green card to arrive by mail about two weeks later – unless the alien spouse remains tied up in lengthy “security checks” or USCIS lacks your correct address. The latter is your responsibility.

• If the examiner denies the green card, you will have the chance to renew the application before an immigration judge.

thank you for the reply!!!! I do really appreciate it

You don't need to complete another I-864 as such. All you really need to take with you to the interview are updated wage slips and your most recent tax returns. Take a copy of the original i-864 that you submitted. If you submit a new and some of the information is different then it might make them a little suspicious IMO.

Yes you have to call uscis let your husband do it to talk this people maybe they are sleeping again !

You need to relax and be a little more patient. I mailed my application back in December and after I received my AP and EAD card in the mail (in march) I didn't hear anything until the end of August. I am finally going for my AOS interview tomorrow, so as someone who also got tired of waiting I would tell you that you need to be patient. There are people in this forum that have been waiting as much as 3 years for their applications to be approved so 6 months is nothing compared to that. Your turn will come just as mine has.

You should be ok, but call IRS and have them fax a copy thats what I did explain ur problem and they are pretty darn understanding, I never was so happy to speak with the Internal Revenue Service in my life - they will say the fax can take 48 hours but you should within two hours (Smiles)

I am thinking of going down to my local tax office because according to the IRS office, my local office should be able to give me one going back 3 years.

I have been reading my letter regarding my interview for AOS and starting to gather the relevant information/documents etc. It states that I need to bring;

All documentation establishing your eligibility for Lawful Permanent Resident Status. What kind of docs would these be exactly?

Thanks in advance,

Kirsty

i think that it is basically everything that they have listed on the checklist. It is a rather general statement.

Hey guys,

I was just going over all the information we need for our AOS interview on Thursday and realized that my husband's W2 for the 2007 tax year is nowhere to be found. I think that we may have left it in South Carolina (now living in Oklahoma). Do you think think that this will affect their decision. I have a copy of his tax return (E-filed as Married Filing Separately) so my question is do you think that will be enough. I have a co-sponsor (have her 2007 tax return and W2) because at the time my husband was not making enough money but now we are both working and will have our paystubs and employment verification letters. Will that be enough? I also worked (under the radar) and filed a tax return. Should I bring my tax return or should I not do so?

I would also be grateful to hear from anyone who has interviewed at the Oklahoma City office before.

I don't have an answer to your question except maybe you need to book an Infopass appt. Hopefully now that I have bumped your question, you will get an answer.

Hello,

It's been a while since I've posted but alas, I have a question/concern that I'm hoping someone can maybe help me with.

My husband and I had our AOS interview in the beginning of September. Everything went great, and the IO was very friendly and easy to deal with. As she was marking the paper as approved, she let us know she had to step away and would be right back.

When she returned, she informed us that she was unable to approve us at the moment (It was heartbreaking to see her cross out the approved box and mark the pending box!) because she stated that since my husband lived in the US as a child for a year, she would need to locate his files from that year and attach it with our current files. Now, I'm happy that our interview went well and we don't need to come back again or submit any additional paperwork, but I'm concerned about this delay. Has anyone else ever been in a similar situation? I'm unsure of how long I should wait before attempting to follow-up on this. She didn't give us any sort of time frame and just said we will receive a letter in the mail. That's not enough info to go by!!

Any related experiences or opinions will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

**I am going to update my timeline soon, jest of it for now is: Married March 2008, filed AOS in April, Interview in September!**

Hello all!

My wife (applicant) and I (petitioner) finally received her AOS to permanent residence interview date & time. I am really concerned, however, because I am in medical school and the interview is scheduled for a Wednesday morning in the middle of the semester. Since her AOS is based on our marriage (K1 visa), I definitely need to attend the interview with her yet can't afford to miss any class, as it is immensely frowned upon and will affect grades, etc. I called the USCIS National Customer Service Center to see what I could do as far as rescheduling and was told that for this school-related reason, they would not be able to grant an immediate reschedule, and would have to submit a request pending decision. She did say that we would be able to reschedule due to "her hospitalization, close relative death, jury duty, school graduation, or not present in the country", which made me think I should just go with one of these reasons and avoid a school-related request that may be denied. Do they request proof of the aforementioned reasons?

If we are able to reschedule, will this dramatically affect the processing time, require some steps to be repeated, and/or affect eligibility for other immigration benefits while her application is pending (as the interview letter states)?

Thank you soooooooo much to anyone who has any input/experience/knowledge of this particular situation!!! Best of luck to everyone!

I would not call myself and expert, but from reading ALOT of posts on this forum, I would strongly recommend that you go to the interview on the date that you have been appointed. Many people on this site even recommend that you still attend an interview date even if USCIS cancels it and notifys you in writing. If you do not go to the interview on the scheduled date you are very likely to get caught up (and lost) in the bureaucracy and mismanagement that plagues government. I certainly do not want to trivialize your predicament but I must say that don't think that your reason would be strong enough to warrant a re-scheduling because your situation is not "catastrophic" or "unavoidable" (i.e. you can skip school but you could not skip jury duty in most cases). I think this may be a situation in which you must risk getting a poor grade for the sake of your partner.

Perfect!!! Thanks much

My husband and I were married in South Carolina and our marriage certificate is the same as yours which is normal. I have chosen to hyphenate and that is the name that I have used on all my AOS applications. My new SS Card does not have the hyphen but it does reflect both my maiden and married names. I guess it's up to you and your wife to decide what her last name shall be.

Hey guys,

When should I start worrying about getting an interview date. It has been about 7 months since I submitted my original AOS.

If your husband don't have a co-sponsor, you really don't to file the AOS applications until you have everything and met the requirement because you have a K3 visa which is valid for two years, or better still you should had filed for EAD first both of you work and save up enough then file for the AOS at a later time when you have met the poverty guideline.....I really don't know what's going to happen but if there was a way I will say cancel the AOS application and file later when you have met the requirements, I am not sure if that's possible, but definitely someone will come around and tell you better..

Good luck....

I urge you not to give up so soon. Something will come up and like the previous person said, your K3 visa is valid for a little while longer. Sometimes the USCIS officers do not tell you all of the options available to you because they don't always know all the options. If you read many posts in this forum you will discover that there were many people that were given incorrect information and/or advice by USCIS officers across the country. They will NOT deport you at this stage because you have not done anything wrong. There are people who have been approved for a green card after overstaying their visas for 5 or more years so the chances of them coming after you are slim to none. I'm not saying overstay or anything but for right now, you need to put off going back to Switzerland and make sure that you have exhausted all your options before you pack up and go home. My husband and I had the same problem and it took us a while to find a sponsor. Eventually a friend of mine agreed and so we sent off the paperwork. If you read my timeline, you will see that our application was rejected more than once and when we eventually sent it in, they did not penalize us. Relax, stay calm and read posts in this forum for helpful tips and advice. All the best..

I did the same thing

but dont panic, I asked the same question on this board before and some told me that it was a majour mistake, I panic'd and cried. but it is realy no problem, just do what Kezzie said and attach the receipt of the I-130.

Don't worry too much about this. I did the exact same thing as you. My I-130 was sent in Sept 2007 but I only sent in my 1-485 at the end of Dec 2007 because of financial issues. It extended the processing time but so far I have had no problems and have just received my EAD and AP approval notices in the mail. The i-130 and 1-485 don't HAVE to be sent in together but it makes the process quicker for you. My I-130 was in California and after I sent in my I-485 application, the I-130 was sent from the California Service Center to the Missouri Service Center to join my I-485 application.

Trust me, this is nothing to worry about. You are one of many people that have sent in these applications separately.

We had an interview today in Sacramento, CA.

And yes, we are approved!!!!! What a long and hard journey it has been!

I still cannot believe that this is over. I keep asking my husband if the interviewer said we were approved. The interviewer said that I should be getting my green card in two weeks.

Here is the details of our interview:

We arrived about 30minutes early. We waited for a while, but I think we got called in earlier than our appointment time. (we forgot our watches...)

The interviewer first appeared unfriendly and made us nervous, but as we talked, he showed himself as a very nice person.

He looked through our file, asked me to say my name, address, phone number, SSN, etc.

He also asked a few questions about our relationship, and asked to see our photos.

Oh, and he asked if we have the same keys to our house with us today, and I didn't bring mine because my husband had his. That was a surprise question.

And he took my EAD and Advance Parole, and he asked us if we had any questions. And he said "ok, now I approve your case, and you should be getting your card in two weeks."

I think the whole interview took less than 15 minutes.

I want to thank VisaJourney and all of you for advice and support, and good luck to those who are still waiting.

Congratulations! It looks like you and your hubby have a similar timeline to mine. I just got approved for my EAD and AP so hopefully I will receive a letter requesting an interview soon.

agreed, you should get married in the us, file for aos ap and ead and once your fiancee has her ap or gc you can go to panama and have the religious ceremony! when you get married outside the us you would have to file a new different visa (k3 or cr1) and your fiancee would have to wait in her home country until she gets the visa before she could reenter.

I was on a student visa when my husband (a US citizen) and I got married last year in July. Basically it is better for you to get married in the US and then apply for her to adjust her status from F1-student to Permanent resident. As part of the application you can file for an EAD which is an Employment Authorization document that will give her permission to work whilst her application for a green card is being processed. You can also apply for what is called Advance Parole which basically allows her to leave the US if necessary whilst her application for permanent residency is still pending. Once you have sent off the application for her to become a permanent resident, she no longer has the status of an F1 student but of someone who is adjusting their status. This is not a bad thing. She can continue to go to school whilst her application is pending if she wants to or once her work authorization (EAD) comes through (usually within 90 days) she can take a break from school and work full time or she can continue to go to school if she wants to. I have decided to take a break from school at the end of this semester because my husband has a lot of medical bills and it is better for me to work to supplement our income. My advice would be to start the ball rolling as soon as possible because the process can take anywhere from a few months to 2 years (depending on the case). Hope this helps a little.

I am happy to report that I got emails yesterday and today informing me that I my EAD and AP had been approved. I was getting desperate there for a minute but I am glad that they managed to approve me in 70 days. Now all I am waiting on is the interview date.

tell me abt that, had interview on Jan 22nd aproved pending namecheck , am ready to go home, no updates online , hope the new memo really helps and i can see my GC soon...

To my pleasant suprise when I checked my email this morning, I discovered an email from CRIS notifying me that my EAD card production had been ordered. Just when I thought I couldn't wait any longer, I received this email and it has given me one less thing to worry and wait for.

Good luck to all those still waiting for news.

Thank you for all your responses. I realize that this process takes a long time and that patience is essential to getting through it. I have spent the last 10 years of my life applying for one visa or another and so I am aware of how the process can be frustrating. My impatience is not for the greencard itself but my work authorization because my husband and I have mounting medical bills and child support (for my husband's child) that is due every month despite the fact that my husband is medically unable to work right now.

The main reason for my frustration is that there does not seem to be any consistency with the way applications are processed. Some people get their EAD's within weeks and others get theirs well after 90 days. My whole application packet is at the Missouri Service Center and lord knows how far along it is in the process. I am trying to keep myself distracted but it is difficult when my husband is legally allowed to work but physically unable to right now and I am not legally allowed to work and yet physically able to.

Like all the millions of other applicants, I will continue to wait because that is what I must do. I certainly didn't mean to sound selfish or inconsiderate because I know that there are many other people whose situations are worse than mine and that 60 odd days of waiting is a drop in the bucket. I just wanted to let my feelings and frustration out because this is the only place where I thought I could find understanding and a little compassion.

Dear Forum,

Is it just me or does this whole process tax you to death. I haven't had any touches to my application since the 25th of January and am beginning to think that that my application hasn't disappeared down the USCIS black hole. It has been 65 days and I am starting to go crazy because of the waiting. My patience has run out (mainly for my EAD) and I know that I need to have plenty of it in order to get through this whole process.

This forum has great advice for those going through the immigration process but sometimes I get a little envious and a little angry of the fact that others who applied after me are getting their applications processed before mine. Of course, I know that each case is different and that the processing times depend on so much more than we, the applicants know about. It's sad how we have spent so much money applying and yet we will never get the quality of service to match the money we spent.

Like everyone else, I will continue to wait because I have no choice. I will continue to watch the political race and be annoyed at how the immigration system has become all about illegal immigrants as though legal immigrants are a myth. I will continue to keep my fingers crossed every day when I check my email and the USCIS website for updates and I will hope that one day soon I will be able to post a topic entitled "YAY! IT FINALLY CAME.."

To all those that applied before me and still haven't had a response, I am sorry for sounding like a cranky bratty 2 year old because I know that your impatience is only multiplied by my measly 65 days of waiting. It hasn't even been 90 days yet and I know I should suck it up but I can't. My life is on hold and that upsets me just as much as your life being on hold upsets you. I wish you all good luck and God speed for your applications.

Thank you for taking the time to read my post.

With love and plenty of good luck

Mrs. Wilson

Hey guys,

I ran across this website that helps you track your application along with others that sign up. It gives you a better way to see who else has applied around the same time as you and how long their application is taking to proces. The site is http://www.trackitt.com/usa-immigration-tr...rs/family-based

Hope it helps.

Hey guys,

I ran across this website that helps you track your application along with others that sign up. It gives you a better way to see who else has applied around the same time as you and how long their application is taking to proces. The site is http://www.trackitt.com/usa-immigration-tr...rs/family-based

Hope it helps.

Hey guys,

I ran across this website that helps you track your application along with others that sign up. It gives you a better way to see who else has applied around the same time as you and how long their application is taking to proces. The site is http://www.trackitt.com/usa-immigration-tr...rs/family-based

Hope it helps.

Hey guys,

I ran across this website that helps you track your application along with others that sign up. It gives you a better way to see who else has applied around the same time as you and how long their application is taking to proces. The site is http://www.trackitt.com/usa-immigration-tr...rs/family-based

Hope it helps.

When the date changes it means your case was touched = move from one desk to other or somebody is checking your documents.

Good Luck

Thanks for the information. I guess my case hasn't been touched since January then.

Hey Guys,

I WAS WONDERING HOW AND WHERE DO I GO TO SEE THAT MY CASE HAS BEEN "TOUCHED"???? I already have a profile set up on the USCIS website for all 4 of my applications but I cannot find where it shows that my case has been "touched". Please advise.

Thanx

My biometrics appointment was on a Friday at 8am and only took about 15 minutes in Charleston, SC. The great thing is that people who are there for biometrics do not have to stand in the same line as people with infopass appointments therefore it takes alot less time. You shouldn't be there for more than an hour altogether so don't worry about it.