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Detroit MI USCIS Office Reviews
Average Rating: 4.5
/ 5
130 Review(s)
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| Detroit MI |  Review #4672 on July 1, 2009: |
웃
Rating: 
Click here if you found this review helpful | Review Topic: General Review
Had green card interview on July 1st, 2009: PASSED!
We had everything organized in a folder since forever (pictures/EAD card/BC/marriage license/passports/SS card/all NOAs/etcetera). Our main problem is that my wife doesn't speak English and we didn't bring an interpreter. We called last minute yesterday and the average cost would have been about $200. I didn't want to pay that for a 5-minute interview when I can translate myself from Spanish to English. I heard on VJ that I couldn't be the interpreter because I had an interest in the case (translating for my wife). I'm pretty sure we just got lucky and had a very nice and friendly officer. I'm certain she could have told us to come back another day when we had a professional interpreter.
So we had a 12:15pm appointment in the Detroit office. We got there around 12pm. There were about 20 couples in a very large room. We were instructed to drop the appointment notice at window 8 (the last window) and have a seat. Nobody was in window 8 and all the other windows were not occupied by officers. There were a pile of appointment notices at window 8. We sat down for probably 40 minutes waiting to be called. There were people going in by themselves, I'm not sure what type of interview they had, and others entering with what appeared to be interpreters or lawyers. We were very prepared to be sent back home immediately as soon as the officer found out my wife doesn't speak English.
Anyways, her name was called and we walked to the door to be escorted to the interviewing officer's office. We sat down and she was like "I'll be doing your interview today" in a very friendly and non-intimidating tone. She told us to stand up and raise our right hands to swear to tell the truth. She asked Diana a question and realized right away she didn't speak English. She asked her directly and my wife responded in an accent, "A little". Then she asked me if I spoke fluent Spanish and I said yes. She had me raise my right hand to swear to translate her questions without changing the wording around.
The officer went through a check list of things to look for. From what I picked up on this would not change for each individual case. She asked for basic things first: Our identification first, then passports, her social security card, her EAD card. Then we went on with the interview. She asked for the medical results and opened the envelope and read the results; checking off each vaccination on her checklist to make sure it was complete. Then she starting going down a list of yes/no questions. She started off asking Diana herself in English. To the first question (I forget what) Diana responded no (these types of questions are all "answer no" questions). The second question came along and she asked: "Have you committed a crime that you have not been caught for?" Well, it was something like that. Diana responded "No". The officer then asked her, "Do you understand what I am saying? Can you explain to me the question I just asked you!" Diana couldn't and so the officer said from that point on she would ask the question and I would translate from Spanish to English without changing the question around. I was disappointed because I knew the type of questions would be incredibly difficult to translate and my Spanish is ok, but far from perfect. I'd say I am about 70% fluent meaning I have major work to do on grammar, word tenses, vocabulary, etc., and it will probably take me another 4 years to get closer to a native level of fluency.
So I translated each question as best I could. I was holding back from laughing because I was having such a difficult time (but hid it well) and I knew how piss poor my translations were. Also, which I thought was hilarious while interviewing, was that I was making up words if didn't know how to say. For some of the words I didn't know translations for I would just say the word in English and add "ista" which I also found to be somewhat funny. Other times I would sort of mumble or just completely make up a word! I thought it was fairly obvious that when she read a three sentence, 50-word question and I translated it in 6 words :rofl: she might pick up on the fact that maybe I wasn't capable enough to translate. Either she knew and didn't care or didn't notice.
So we finally got through the 10-15 questions, and I was extremely relieved because the hard part was over. Then she asked for proof that we lived together, such as a bank statement. I told her we have a joint bank account with the last three statements and different envelopes addressed to her which had our address on them. It was completely fine and she didn't question anything or ask for more evidence. Then she asked for photos and we showed her about 20 photos (which she kept). We talked about the photos, and she asked a couple questions like what did you do after your wedding, did you have lunch. Then she asked where we had lunch and with whom. That was it.
Then she asked for my 2008 tax returns. I told her I don't have them because I am still filing as a dependent on my father's returns. My father filed an extension which wasn't ready yet and I didn't work last year because I was finishing my last year of college. She said that I wasn't given a pass on the affidavit of support and that she may need to see some new information, such as a 2008 return, to give us a pass. She went through my dad's returns and said they looked good, and that he was well over the poverty limits. She said that if there is reason not to give the pass on the affidavit, it is usually very obvious and sticking out very clearly. She ended up giving us the green light on the affidavit, and then proceeded to put a stamp in Diana's passport and explain that what the next step was (to file to remove conditions in two years). Then she congratulated us and that was it, we walked out after a 15-20 minute interview. It was a very casual interview, all the questions were very simple. She did ask me if I knew her parent's names and that was the only "quiz" question we received.
She didn't once ask to see our marriage license, my birth certificate, or her birth certificate. Everything we sent for AOS was in a big file and she already previously went over all the paperwork minutes before our interview to review our case. Overall, it was painless.
| | | Detroit MI | Review #4600 on June 18, 2009: |
sammygh
Rating:
Click here if you found this review helpful | Review Topic: Adjustment of Status
We were thrilled to have a quick and easy experience at the Detroit office this morning. The new building is very nice - convenient parking, friendly security guards, very bright, comfy chairs. We were especially impressed with the quotes and pictures on the wall, showing famous foreign-born Americans and quotes from past presidents about citizenship – they clearly put some thought into making the space comfortable and inviting.
Security was very quick with no wait when we arrived; the guard only asked to see my husband’s (USC) ID and asked us what we were there for. She directed us to place our interview appointment letter at one of the windows. There was no one at that window, so we just left the letter and sat down to wait. After a few minutes we got a bit worried that maybe we should have gotten a number from somewhere (they kept calling out the next numbers for service) but just as I was getting up to ask someone, they called my name, about 20 minutes before our appointment time. The officer interviewing us had an extremely deep voice and was very matter-of-fact and efficient. He walked us back to his office and swore us in. Then he asked us to sit at two chairs that were by the back wall of his office and he sat behind his desk and looked quickly through our file. He then asked us how we met (in graduate school) and what program we attended. I wasn’t entirely sure which one of us should answer since he did not direct the question to one of us in particular, but it was fine (of course!). My husband also mentioned that we currently live separately because he has a post-doc in another state and I had to finish my program – this was a fact we were nervous about and worried would be seen as a red flag, but the interviewer did not comment on it besides asking us which football team we would root for... (our alma mater and husband’s school are big rivals). Then the officer stated that for him, the most important evidence is financial; that some people are big on pictures, but personally he believes all that shows is that you have a camera. He asked us to pull our chairs up to his desk and provide him any financial information we brought. I asked whether he wanted information about husband’s (USC) employment/income for the affidavit of support, but he clarified wanted our joint information. I had brought a HUGE binder with all of our evidence and began to pull out our bank statements, credit card statements, AAA joint insurance, family cell phone plans, etc. He asked if these were copies he could keep and began to file them away. When I got to the proof of life insurance, my husband pointed out that I was the beneficiary of his plan and then the officer basically said, ok, I don’t need anything else, this is pretty serious proof you are married if you trust someone with your life insurance money or else you are crazy ;-) He gave us back everything else! At that point he pulled out a stamp and stamped approved on our file.
He then asked me all of the “have you ever committed a crime/been a terrorist/practiced polygamy” questions and checked all my personal information. We let him know I’d be moving to my husband’s address in a few weeks and asked whether we needed to change that information with the USCIS someplace else. He changed it on the form and said we wouldn’t (I will probably do so anyways, just to be sure). I don’t believe he asked us any other questions about our relationship, just made chit chat about my home country and his visit there several years ago as he organized my file and added some stuff into the computer. He then took my EAD and AP documents and let me know there were some delays in card production – he did not give an estimate for when it would be ready but complained that “fixing” the system made it less efficient… He also explained the removal of conditions deadline and recommended items he would want to see in our packet in order to avoid a second interview. He repeated that pictures were not important to him but other officers looked at them, and stated that financial documents such as insurance, wills, cancelled checks from joint accounts (showing that you actually use them, not just have them), any mortgages or joint property ownership – his focus was on items that demonstrate you USE the finances given that you can just add anyone you want to your bank account… I thought that was helpful, practical advice and will be sure to include that evidence when removing conditions.
The whole thing did not take more than 10-15 minutes and we were back in our car 5 minutes after our original appointment time! It was quick and easy, although I was almost disappointed he didn’t look through our binder – I’d worked so hard on it ;-)
| | | Detroit MI | Review #4562 on June 11, 2009: |
Knight2000
Rating:
Click here if you found this review helpful | Review Topic: Adjustment of Status
Well, this time we got a different officer, and she's much better than the last one. Anyway, our appointment was June 9th at the new building, and let me tell you it's a 100 times better than the old location. There's plenty of space for parking and it's free, not like the Mt. Elliott St lot where you have to pay $7 at a crappy space where there's hardly any room. Our appointment was at 11 AM, but we got there at 10:30 and handed the lady at the window our letter. My lawyer came at 10:45 and we waited for about 15 minutes. The officer called us, took us to her room, swore us in and proceeded with the interview. Usually, they would videotape the entire interview, but there was no power that day so they had to do everything the old fashion way, which is by writing. She asked us for some documents like income tax forms, bank statements, wedding album, my wife's social security card and her driver's license. My wife is Iranian and she has an Iranian driver's license, but I took it down to Ann Arbor to get it translated about a month ago, and she has permission from the Secretary of State office to take her upcoming road test. Then she told me to step out and she started asking her some questions. About 5 minutes later, she told me to come back and started asking the same thing she told her. Everything went well and she said to my wife "I'm going to approve you." My wife's Iranian passport was on her desk so she took it and stamped it with the I-551. She said that her actual card will be mailed in 2 weeks, and lastly the officer and my lawyer told her congratulations.  
| | | Detroit MI | Review #4423 on May 21, 2009: |
cwgirlcody
Rating:
Click here if you found this review helpful | Review Topic: Adjustment of Status
We had our Interview on May 19th, 2008 and it was easy. We got there about 20 minutes before our appointment. Parking was free and right next to the building. We went through security and then dropped the appointment letter of. We waited 5 minutes and were called in the office. The officer had our file in front of her and basically just asked us all the questions from the form again. She also asked how we ment, if my husband met my parents yet and if I had met his son yet. That was it. She gave me the stamp in my passport right there, because she said they are changing the computers right now and the card production will take a little longer. She kept my AP and my employment authorazation and that was it. It took all together about twenty minutes!
| | | Detroit MI | Review #4416 on May 20, 2009: |
Knight2000
Rating: 
Click here if you found this review helpful | Review Topic: Adjustment of Status
My wife and I had her interview on February 5th. Her appointment time was 11 AM, but we got there at 10:45. The other people who came with us was my immigration lawyer and my Mom. All of us walked in, waited about 30 minutes because the entire lobby was packed. Finally, the immigration officer called my wife's name. Before going in she asked "who are these 2 people?" I told her that's my attorney and the other lady is my Mom. My wife is from Iran and she knows english, but she has a little bit of a problem communicating, so the officer told my Mom to wait outside then she'll call her if she's needs her. She told us to come over to her little office space, raise our right hands and promise to tell the truth, and we both agreed. I had a bag with me full of wedding pictures, bank accounts, income tax forms, utility bills, etc. Whatever she wanted, I was ready to give her what she asked for. Then she asked my wife a few questions like "how did the two of you meet?", "what's your current address?". My wife knew all the answers, and it took her less than a second to respond. The interview went great, but at the end she said she was missing some kind of T file to put all of the documents together. She said without that T file, she can't make a decision. Now it's a little over 3 months and my wife still didn't get her green card. I called my lawyer and said he went down to Detroit to find out what happened about our case. He said that blonde officer was the worst one in the building. If she would have had everything during the interview, we wouldn't have waited this long. Now, we have to go back down there on June 9th, but this time we got a different officer who has more experience. Hopefully, this will be the last time. 
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