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| Charleston SC |  Review on March 23, 2011: |
LIndsay1811
Rating:  | Review Topic: Adjustment of Status
We arrived at the USCIS office in Charleston SC around 10 am. Our appointment was at 10:30 am. We checked in with the first security guard when we arrived, showed him our appointment notice and signed in. After signing in, we proceeded through the metal detector and had our box of documents scanned through the little xray machine (like at the airport). The guard asked us if we had weapons and of course we answered no. We were instructed to proceed into the waiting room and check in at Window 2. We walked up to window 2 and handed the lady our appointment letter. She was a very nice lady, she took our letter and told us 'have a seat and someone will be with you shortly'.
There were a few other couples in the waiting area and we were surprised that no one else was dressed nicely. It seemed that everyone was wearing blue jeans and t shirts while we were dressed up nicely. We waited for around 30 minutes or so, just talking with each other about a movie we had recently seen and other random things, everything seemed quiet and under control in the waiting room, a few of the couples had been called back (one had already completed their interview and left smiling) when the lady at window 2 (directly in front of us) simply fell out of her chair. She yelled for help from the back and being that we were separated from her by glass, we could not help her.. A IO from the back came running to the front and helped her up, spent a few minutes determining whether or not they needed to call an ambulance and then they decided she was ok. From our point of view it looked as though she scrapped both of her arms and elbows pretty bad but was ok. That instance did not do much for our anxiety levels! :O
About 30 minutes later a lady IO (Believe her name was haney) came from the back and called our names. She seemed to be really nice.. took us to the back, and into her office. She asked us to remain standing and raise our right hand. Then she asked us to swear to tell the truth, then asked us to have a seat in front of her desk. She then asked to see our Driver's licenses, passports, I 94 form, EAD card and social security cards. She took out our big pile of paperwork and started going through it. She stopped in the beginning to ask our names. She asked about my prior name from a previous marriage and then she stopped to look at the divorce decree. She then asked me when i was actually separated from my first husband and what had happened to that marriage and why i had divorced. I told her the date of separation and then told her that it just fell apart but I didn't really know how to answer that question. She asked my husband for his full name. Then she asked me for our address, and asked my husband where and when i was born. Then she asked me when and where my husband was born. Then she flipped through our paperwork for what seemed like forever.. Stopped around the I864 forms and scrutinized them for about 10 minutes or so, not saying anything. She then checked her charts and seemed to be concerned. She stopped and asked me why my w2 from 2008 and 2009 had different amounts on them and i explained to her that I usually receive a bonus at the end of the year and that I had brought along 2010's W2 in case she wanted to see it. She agreed and asked to see this document and I pulled it out of our folder and handed it to her. She seemed to be satisfied with this. She continued to flip through our paperwork and asked my husband a few question to verify that he is who he is. His parents name, his address, etc. Then she asked me when and how we met and when we met in person for the first time. She skimmed through the pictures and other documents we had submitted with our application (pictures, phone records, plane tickets). She then said she had to check a few things on her computer. She spent a few minutes checking things on her screen and making marks on her file. She then asked a lot of other standard questions like 'have you ever been involved in a gang, prostitution, etc. She went back through the file again and stamped the date on several places on the file. Then she reached over and picked up the green stamp for approval and stamped the filed a few times 'approved' in red. She then closed the file and said 'you're now a legal permanent resident of the United States of America'. Then she gave us some instructions about how to remove the conditions in two years. Afterwards she suggested that we keep a good file of evidence for the next two years and said if we submitted a neat and clear package with lots of evidence we probably wouldn't need another interview. :D
Overall, we feel very fortunate and had a great experience! 
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #7305