EmTi

7 hours ago, Bill Hamze said:

My wife (the IR1 visa holder), our kid, and I went to the CBP together at our POE. I let my wife answer the questions while I just handed over our passports. 
 

It was a breeze compared to the CO interview (which was also easy).  The CBP just asked about our address and said to call if the GC doesn’t come within 90 days. 

Thank you for that insight!! I’m excited. 

35 minutes ago, Mike E said:

Imho when the petitioner accompanies the beneficiary; a secondary inspection is less likely. I’m happy I was with my fiancée. 

Thank you. I did hear a few stories about the secondary inspection. It’s probably not horrible but the support probably helps. 

26 minutes ago, Timona said:

 

Your profile reads Barbados

Both are true. 

16 minutes ago, JeanneAdil said:

The only thing i heard of from an African coming was the way the ticket was purchased

online the USC purchased a ticket in 2 stages (2 separate tickets)  one to France (it was not a transit ) and then one from France to US

the airline would not allow the person on the plane as they had no visa for France 

France allows people to transit with a valid US visa but not to fly there in this fashion

 

and i hope i explained that 

be careful when buying online tickets 

if the person has to pick up a new one in a foreign country ,  check that country's site for rules

Thank you, that’s very helpful. 

20 minutes ago, Timona said:

 

Your profile reads Barbados

Yes. That’s accurate. And he’s African. 

15 minutes ago, EmTi said:

He’s from Africa and sometimes Africans go through more scrutiny. 

I’ve been with my husband before, just transiting through Germany for our next flight. We were pulled out of the line (the only ones) and asked about final destination and wanted to see our marriage certificate. 
so this is a major blessing for us to get to this stage so forgive me if I’m  overthinking things, but it’s been a difficult journey. 

4 minutes ago, Daphne . said:

He has been granted his visa, so not sure what kind of horror story you are expecting? CBP is mostly worried about ‘visitors’ who will try to abuse the system, not about people who arrive on approved immigration visas.

My husband and I probably read too many posts online, but stories of going through cell phones, inspecting baggage, re-interviewing - asking crazy questions. Things like that we’ve read before. But that must be the exception and not the norm. 

6 minutes ago, Crazy Cat said:

The ONLY "horror story" for a spousal visa holder I can recall seeing here on VJ was a Canadian... Valid immigrant visa holders very, very rarely experience issues with CBP.

Oh okay. Thank you!! 🙏🏽

1 minute ago, Crazy Cat said:

Save your money.

Thank you. 

3 minutes ago, EmTi said:

 

You entering with him will not help or hinder in any way

He’s from Africa and sometimes Africans go through more scrutiny. 

3 minutes ago, Letspaintcookies said:

In most cases it's a pretty straightforward process. Unless you feel he needs that emotional support there's no need for you to travel with him.

Thank you. I’d love to be that support for him. Weighing that against almost $2k in travel expenses is a tough one. 

31 minutes ago, Daphne . said:

No need to do that, unless his English is not good enough to answer any questions? 
 

You entering with him will not help or hinder in any way. 

His English is solid. I mean, he has a thick accent of course lol but it’s his primary language. I just heard of a couple of horror stories dealing with CBP. 

Question:
Is it better for me to be with my husband when he arrives at his point of entry and encounters CBP for the first time? 

I’m in the US but thinking of flying to him so that we can enter together and wondering if it’s worth it because tickets are so expensive right now. 

Just now, ROK2USA said:

Here is a thread I searched... 

Haven't read it yet... but it might give you some insight into the inner workings of the consulate... 

 

Thank you so much! 

3 minutes ago, ROK2USA said:

So he interviewed in Barbados but is not a citizen/ resident of Barbados? 

 

Your relationship sounds awesome... just trying to figure out where the red flags are.... Might be because he is not a citizen/resident and they're just trying to piece it all together. Hopefully you will be approved soon. 

Yes he is a resident. We both are. Since we have leased a place here for over 2 years. 

16 minutes ago, ROK2USA said:

They own an apartment together + building a place in his country. Then filed MFJ in the US. 

Sounds like they've been living together for a couple of months at least for the last two years and/or they ramped up their time spent together after initial filing?

Maybe CO wanted proof of time spent together in the last 2 years if they didn't document it when filing I-130? 

 

Was just wondering about the trajectory of the relationship. If they filed after first meeting and married after a few days together...

 

We are building a home in the U.S., not his country. And for timing, we married after knowing each other for about year and half. We met when I signed up to volunteer for a youth program he runs in his country. We dated long distance for that year, then married.  
 

25 minutes ago, Jorgedig said:

I figured they didn’t live together in the beneficiary’s country if the consulate was questioning the lack of time spent together……

You’re correct. We don’t live together. But in 2020 we leased an apartment (in Barbados not his home country), because Barbados was closer to the US than his home country and he doesn’t need a visa for Barbados. So we chose a place where we can be together easily, I could easily travel back and forth. 
so, we share the Barbados apartment and I travel every few months to spend a month or so with him. 

59 minutes ago, Jorgedig said:

When they separated you during the interview, what questions were you both asked?

We were asked (grilled) mostly about the wedding, why it wasn’t traditional, cultural. And we’re asked about how we met. Then walked through the details of when I visited, what we did. 

51 minutes ago, Jorgedig said:

It is unusual, because most married couples going through US immigration do not live together overseas and have not been able to commingle finances in the US either.

 

Obviously something has made them doubt your bonafides.  When they separated you during the interview, what questions were you both asked?

We have an apartment but I travel back and forth to US. My primary home is US. If your spouse gets an ITIN it makes commingling finances a bit easier. 
 

They had suspicions due to my lack of travel to see him a few years ago and questioned our meeting each other online. we also did a judicial wedding with a few friends only. So we have done our best over the last few years to spend as much time as we can together, and regardless of what happens we blend our lives as best possible. 
 

but my questions remain for those who know the process:

has anyone gone through a stokes interview?
How long does it usually take to hear back?  

what does it mean for her to write her report? 

1 hour ago, Jorgedig said:

Was this interview for a visa, or for removal of conditions on a green card?

 

Having bills, a lease, and buying a home with someone who has not yet come to the US would be highly unusual.

It was a visa Interview, not removal of conditions. 
I don’t think it’s  highly unusual. We have a lease together in Barbados where we share an apartment. We are building a house and my husband is with me on the contract. We file taxes as a married couple. Etc. 

Applying for IR1 visa.
Hello, my spouse had an interview last week, I was not allowed to attend. But they didn’t ask him much, and said they’d be in touch. The same day, the Consular called me and asked if I could attend an interview with my husband. It turned out to be a stokes interview. They had suspicions due to my lack of travel to see him a few years ago and questioned our meeting online. 
we have had a lot of time together for the last 2 years and showed several pictures of that. I also mentioned that we have bills together, a lease together, buying a new house together, and more. But they were not interested in any of that, the only thing they wanted to see were the pictures. 
 

so after the interview she said she has to write up her report and it could be a few weeks. My question is - has anyone gone through a stokes interview? How long does it usually take to hear back? 

8 hours ago, ROK2USA said:

I believe you are never approved right after interview. 

Security checks always happen.

Some officers will say you are approved but that is not always correct... 

oh okay. Interesting. 

11 hours ago, Jrp126 said:

Want to say I'm not an expert and this information could be wrong, if anyone who do know please correct me. But with my understanding from what I've read online everyone who receives an approval from a consular officer it's only "tentative" until security checks are passed which is why you'd see a few people with approvals but no Visa's printed in passport. I received a green slip stating to mail my passport to the embassy with my address for collection and it stated my visa will be printed within 10 days from when the passport is received if there are no issues with security checks.

Oh! I didn’t know that. Thank you. 

On 5/13/2022 at 9:21 AM, Jrp126 said:

Had my interview today spent like an hour in but my visa application has been tentatively approved good luck to everyone

Congratulations!!!! What does tentatively approved mean? 

10 hours ago, Lil bear said:

The form must be current when submitted so you are fine with the I864 as submitted. Taking the 2021 tax transcripts is good 

Okay. So the new 864 printed and taken is not necessary right? 

My husband and I will be going to our interview soon for IR1. We were DQ in April, Our original submission date was October, 30 2021 and we used the now expired  i864. We were approved with that 864. 
 

I am wondering if we need to complete the new i864 and take it with us to the interview? We are taking my 2021 tax transcripts since we were approved with 2020 taxes. 

Hi everyone,

My spouse and I are getting ready for our interview, and I have a question: 

If I already uploaded photos from our spending time together for the last few years, should I also upload a travel log showing my travel to him or just bring it to interview? Because I’m wondering how much travel will they want to see? I could only find travel back to Oct 2020, not back to when we married in 2018. I mean we have wedding photos there and of course our marriage certificate but we also have photos of our other times together over the years. 
 

And for travel the most I could do is travel back and forth from Oct 2020-Now. And most of the travel is to Barbados where he lives now, not where he’s from (nor where we married in 2018).