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| Phoenix AZ |  Review on July 13, 2016: |
Nifiou
Rating:  | Review Topic: Adjustment of Status
Our green card interview took place today on July 13, 2016, at 10:30 am in Phoenix, for a marriage-based AoS from F-1 visa. We had submitted our application on Sept. 9, 2015, so it was a long wait!
We got to the field office at 10 as the interview notice said not to come more than 30 min in advance. Before passing security, I had to go back and put our cell phones in the car as they are not allowed in the waiting room. We then showed our interview appointment letter at the info desk. The lady told us to wait all the way at the end of the room, past all the windows and next to the "Authorized Personnel Only" door where interview offices are located.
The wait was long, from 10:10 to 11:30. There was a TV with Fox News showing speeches from Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, so we watched to kill time... We had brought a book but the TV was too loud anyway. Several other couples or single people were also waiting and being ushered in the interview offices by 4 or 5 different officers every 15 min or so, probably other green card or naturalization interviews. Some were accompanied by a lawyer or interpreter. A lady tried to get in with her English-Spanish interpreter, but the officer said he'd handle it and speak to her in Spanish.
Finally, our interview officer called my name, with a good French accent! She was a lady, maybe in her late 50s-early 60s, who married a guy from Québec. She knew not only enough French to mock his accent (she joked about that), but also how the green card process felt as she had to petition for him. She was very sweet and talkative, and throughout the interview talked to us about how her husband who is an aerospace engineer (she saw that that's my background too), her 8 kids, and her grandkids whose photo she had in her office. She was joking a lot, so the conversation was fun and relaxed, but we made sure to stay focused just in case and didn't make jokes back.
She first had us sit and explained the interview process. She said that after we'd swear, everything we said could be considered testimony in court. She also said we could stop the interview, leave the room, and/or leave the building at any time, in which case she'd make a decision on our application based on what we filed and what had been said so far during the interview. She then asked us to stand up and swear to tell "the truth, all the truth, nothing but the truth".
She pulled up our marriage certificate, and said this would be for a conditional green card (we've been married for just over a year). She asked us our names and dates of birth, noting that my second and third names (a common practice in France) were considered a middle name for the green card application. She said her husband had the same issue and later had to make sure he indicated all his names when buying plane tickets, etc., but that nowadays, I'd have the choice at naturalization to just keep my first and last name.
She mostly wanted to see any additional evidence of a good-faith relationship that we hadn't filed, but no more photos, saying we had supplied plenty (50 (!) from the time we met, 7 years ago, to the time of filing). Too bad, we had brought our wedding scrapbook. We gave her updated copies of joint bank account statements, car, renter's, and dental insurance, the tax return we filed jointly this year, and our joint lease renewal. We had supplied all this with the initial application, so these were just the documents we had received since (Sept. 15 - July 16), except for a couple of certificates of deposit which we switched from just my wife's to joint in May. At this stage, she said she had enough material with both our names on to approve our application without the need to ask us further questions. We were way over-prepared, having brought a 20-pound tote-bag with all kinds of evidence!! (My wife at the last minute had discouraged me from bringing our stuff in a large box, which would have been ridiculously overkill.)
I also gave her a sealed envelope with my medical exam form (I-693). I had filed one with our package, but I received a letter a month later saying the form (not the exam) was outdated, and that transcription onto the latest version of the form was needed. (I did the medical exam 7 months before filing. The doctor did the transcription onto the new form for free.)
She then went through the I-130 form (not the supporting documents) with us, asking us all the questions on the form and checking the appropriate parts of the form with a red pen. Sometimes she wrote on the form a comment or two. One of the questions is "do you have children, including from a previous relationship", at which point she said that's why some people choose to end the interview and leave the room. Apparently they have seen live drama with one of the spouses revealing their secret kids...
Then she went over the basic I-485 form. She asked if I had traveled abroad since filing. I told her I took a trip to Japan 2 weeks ago for a conference, but she didn't ask for my Advance Parole card since she said she saw it in the system. She didn't ask for an updated I-94, although I had followed the interview notice instructions and brought one. Then she asked the "are you a Nazi"-type questions. To "have you ever been arrested or had any tickets?", I mentioned 2 parking tickets in the past few years. She asked if I had paid them and I said yes.
Then she printed out the "congratulations" letter, told me not to worry about selective military service (I am 28, registration is from ages 18 to 26), and went with us over the procedure to remove conditions since we won't get a notice in two years. (Provide more documents with both our names on, and birth certificates of any children, to show our marriage is still going. We may not need another interview if this material is as convincing.) She said we'd receive the green card in the mail within 4 weeks. I asked about traveling abroad in 2 weeks; she said to keep using Advance Parole if we don't have the green card yet, and to get someone to check our mail since this is an important document. I didn't ask if she could stamp my passport with the I-551 stamp for travel.
Overall the interview lasted 30 min. The most painful part was to watch Trump on TV for an hour. We were back in the car by noon and went out to lunch to celebrate! Best of luck if you're interviewing in Phoenix, I hope this helps!
P.S.: A quick note about a prior biometrics appointment: mine was on Oct. 6, 2015, but I was traveling that week and couldn't make it. Instead I followed advice on the VJ forums and tried an early walk-in on Mon., Sept. 28, without telling anyone at USCIS. No one cared about the date on my appointment letter. Everything went quickly and smoothly. I had brought a book but didn't have time to open it before getting called in. I was out in no time!
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #19934