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| Washington DC |  Review on May 9, 2014: |
nmic7
Rating:  | Review Topic: Adjustment of Status
We had our interview yesterday, May 5 2014, at the USCIS office in Fairfax, VA. I am the USC and my wife is the beneficiary. We were scheduled for 8:40 a.m. and got there around 8:00 a.m. with a bunch of documents, namely: all the originals for the documents that we sent with our application, a photo album, and some more evidence (copies of debit cards in both our names, a voided check that shows both our names, and latest bank statements for our joint checking account; joint health insurance; joint dental insurance; 2013 tax return - which I filed as single at first because my wife didn't have an SSN but as soon as she got one, we ammended it to Married Filing Jointly; receipts for wedding bands; plane tickets, hotel tickets and different other tickets from our latest trip and for our upcoming trip; forms from work showing that I have listed my wife as beneficiary in case something happens to me; also, I recently started a new job so I brought my latest and only paystub and a letter from my employer; my wife's SS card and paystubs - everything listed was original plus copy).
First of all, I really liked everything about the office - very clean, spacious, everyone was very friendly and nice. We left our interview notice at the front desk and at about 9:00 a.m. an immigration officer (African American man, in his 50s) called my wife's name. We both got up, took the files and the photo album and followed him. We felt relieved that he was very easy going and polite. He smiled all the time, opened the doors for us, etc.
After entering his office, he asked us to remain standing so we can take the oath. Then we sat down and said he will begin talking to the petitioner. He started verifying all the information in the forms which was related to me - full name, SSN, address, names of parents, phone number, etc. After this, he turned his attention towards my wife and started asking the same questions related to her information. Everything was fine so he procedeed to the yes/no questions on the form. I must add that he kept smiling all the time and maintaing a very relaxed atmosphere. After the questions, he asked me how we met. I told him our story for a few minutes. He seemed to really enoy it. My wife would occasionally say something, or he would make a joke or ask a question. Very nice. I kept wondering when something would go wrong - maybe he would change his attitude or maybe he would interpret something the wrong way. But that didn't happen. After stating the facts, he asked if we had pictures. My wife handed him the photo album and we was very impressed. She actually made a beautiful scrap book with our pictures and different stickers and small stories. He complimented her and joked about how you can tell that a woman put it together. Also, when I was telling him how we met, he took some notes on a post-it which he placed in our file. He looked through the album, sometimes asking where a certain picture was taken. He returned the album to my wife and then asked if we want to add anything to the file. That's when we showed him the additional documents and he kept all the copies except the pay stubs and employment letter - he said that he doesn't need those. We forgot to make a copy of the wedding bands receipts so he said he will make one and return it to us. After this, he asked me what I do for a living and what are our plans for the future. He then said that we will get a decision in the mail in 2-3 weeks and that things move fast nowadays. He escorted us to the waiting room while he made a copy of the receipts, then came back to give them to us, and said goodbye. Overall it was a wonderful experience, he was such a nice guy, the kind of person one would like to have as a friend.
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #14415