Norwood

I'm afraid there's probably no real evidence to back up your idea. There are no doubt individual cases where red flags are raised, and the process will take longer. But I'd bet that most differences in process times are not based on any reason. I watched people get approved who had filed 3-4 months after I did, which was very frustrating.

Marriage is defined by state law in the US not federal at all.  That is completely incorrect.

It's sad that the Soc. Sec. agent didn't even know the law. Obviously US citizenship is not required for SSN.

Divorce does not stop your obligations of sponsorship.

I believe you can put in a service request if it's been more than 6 months since your NOA1 date. Call 800-375-5283 and get to a Tier 2 person. Tell them you are outside of normal processing times. This is what I did and my file was touched in about one week.

It's sad that the Soc. Sec. agent didn't even know the law. Obviously US citizenship is not required for SSN.

Yes they have cameras in the interview hall. I do not believe they are watching you and making judgements about your credibility while waiting to be interviewed. The pre-screener's impression given to the CO and the CO's concurrance to appove/deny/hold are what matters and believe me they do not have time to watch the cameras. They don't even have time to talk to someone who is watching the cameras. This would create a very unrealistic logistical challenge. That's my observation at the new Manila interview hall, where there were 250 people waiting and the staff said it was just a 4 hour working day that day.