joint i-751 interview experience today

[deadbird 2]

So my husband and I went for our interview today. We got the feeling we annoyed our IO with all our evidence and stuff.

We're kind of known for overkill on evidence.

Our interview was at 8:00, we showed up as soon as they would let us in the building. Took a while to get through the xray area because we had HUGE amounts of stuff for the interview. I mean we're talking everything from all our household paperwork from 2007-2010 and beyond, every photo album, love letter, diary you name it. They asked us if we were moving in

We were the first couple in the immigration area and the person behind the counter took our interview notice, and we waited a little bit while the waiting area filled up with other couples and lawyers and all that, but luckily our names were called first. Our IO met us in the waiting area and directed us to a door and down a corridor to his office. He said his name was Mr. R but it's a bit fuzzy.

In his office, he laughed with us about all the stuff we dragged in with us because my husband was carrying most of it. Made us take an oath after we put everything down. First question was for our IDs and then he started directing questions at me (the USC), which was fine until he asked for my passport. Of course I had it, so he asked me what I did for a living.

I told him I work for the post office, because I've been working for the post office for well over 2 years, but I knew the answer on my passport paperwork was web designer (because that's what I was until I got laid off in Jan. 08 and couldn't find any work in that field afterwards due to outsourcing, etc). He pointed out that "it says you're a web designer"...well I'm not now. lol

Then it got even more weird, he asked how we met (high school) and why we didn't see each other from August 2001-March 2007 (couldn't afford to etc), and then he says to me, "well if you couldn't afford it, why did you pay to have your passport expedited?"

???? I didn't pay to have my passport expedited, or any paperwork for that matter, ever. So I told him that, and he got mad and said "YES YOU DID" and we had a "YES YOU DID" "NO I DIDN'T" back and forth about 3 times until I finally brought up that this wasn't the first time my passport has given me an issue.

See, coming back from Egypt in 2007, I was detained at JFK 40 minutes in some small room with a bunch of people who were waiting to get deported and because I was eavesdropping, I found out I'd been detained because my passport had been flagged as stolen. But...I've never lost my passport, ever. And that "what I do for a living" question came up at that point too, because they asked me a bunch of questions that were on my application.

So after getting through the whole back and forth with raised voices with the IO, I was pretty flustered and my husband said I got red in the face and broke out in hives. whoops. But what could I do? The IO was yelling at me and I couldn't prove that I didn't pay extra since whatever he was reading in our file said I did. I don't know what the hell issue is with my passport, but I'm going to find out because I'm sick of this and I don't remember much after that except he took some notes and let off the issue after I told him about what happened at JFK.

More questions about where we live, if we own the house (no, we rent from my mother who rents from my grandfather, who owns the house). Why don't we have utility bills and why haven't we moved out (can't afford due to both of us having been laid off at points during our marriage), though he eased up when he found out my husband lives with his mother-in-law

More questions for my husband about how he came to be here in the first place (B2 visa) and more about the guardian who sponsored him through high school (who was also the JOP who married us, but now unfortunately suffers from severe Alzheimers which came on suddenly around the time we got married). Questions about why my husband returned to Egypt after being in the US.

Asked us if we had any kids with other people, no. We have no kids, not even with each other, not yet anyway.

He asked to see our prom pictures from high school, and we also showed him pictures of a full-size lofted bed we built in the room we live in along with all the receipts for the lumber. After about 20 minutes of us bombarding him with pictures he asked us to put it all away and then asked if we brought anything else, like joint bank account statements or joint car ownership, etc.

Score! We had joint checking/savings, health insurance, and car insurance, and that's about it. No joint car ownership because I own all the cars due to the fact my husband didn't have a driver's license besides international at the time they were bought and registered. He took four of our original statements (earliest and also most recent) of joint checking/savings and didn't give them back. He also looked at car insurance since we recently changed from geico to progressive after we filed the i-751. After about 1/2 hour, we were done, just like that.

I asked him how it went "good/bad?" (with big smiles) and he said we'll get something in the mail in 3-4 weeks. And then he told us not to lose any sleep over it.

Even though it all looks good, I guess the lack of a definite "yes you're approved" left us both feeling kind of deflated and like the interview never happened, considering all the sleep we've already lost over it. LOL Maybe it's because we didn't sleep last night, being silly worry warts that we are.

[v333k 59]

thanks for sharing your story... hopefully you will hear good news soon!

[raymaga 25]

Good luck for good news shortly!!!

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

Long time no see Sparrow. Sorry for your interview troubles but I hope everything is alright and you were approved.

[dolphin1 5]

What an interview you had!!!! hopefully you will hear good news. Did you have an interview in the time of the AOS?

[jkD 0]

I had a similar issue with my passport too during my EAD to Cond. GC interview. Of course yours seems to be a yelling match, I can empathize how troubling it is. The IO told me the exact same thing that I would hear something soon. It took us a while to hear anything from them, but as you can see it turned out to be alright.

Hey, if you can prove that your marriage is legitimate you guys should be alright. Good luck to you guys.

[OBX 51]

Thanks for sharing your experience. Hope you hear good news soon.

[Bobby+Umit 161]

Sounds like you made it - congrats.

[No-Ten 1]

It seems you did what anyone in your position would have done, and now all you can do is wait for some good news!! The best thing also is the the officer told you guys not to loose any sleep. Good Luck!

[Dr Mirage 0]

Great Post.

We're gonna submitt our paperwork soon. We're one of those peeps who also have a history of too much evidence.

When my wife and I showed up at the AOS Intereview, ppl were staring at us because we had this rolling cart of files and binders. It was paperwork and evidence, photos.. etc from I-129F until AOS.

The interview happend and in the end, the IO didn't say if we passed or not, but said that he'll be checking up on somethings.

The IO didn't even asked us for much of anything except for Utility Bills.

Then that evening, email from CRIS, approval for GC notice.

Cheers.

[deadbird 2]

Thanks everyone! Not much sleep has been lost so far.

To answer a question: no, we didn't have an interview for AOS.

One thing I noticed was that the interviewer didn't seem to have looked at our paperwork much beforehand except for the questions he was prepared to ask, which was the passport thing. But after that he didn't seem to know anything about our living situation (explained in cover letter) or where I work (also explained in cover letter). You know, the only thing that really irks me about the whole thing is that the interview didn't really even seem to be about clarifying anything other than my passport issue that I don't even know about.

As for rolling cart: we were contemplating a rolling cart, but thought we wouldn't get through the security check with it. We had a couple huge expandable file folders that we use for current household paperwork and "old" household paperwork (old car insurance and repair bills for cars we don't have anymore, etc) and we found the biggest reusable shopping bags we could find (for those who have Aldi supermarkets nearby, they have some of the biggest!) because those things are actually pretty strong tote bags.

No touches or anything yet! It really feels like it never happened, how weird is that?

[w8inglongtime 29]

Good luck to you guys. Glad to see you didn't back down from the IO. They sometimes do that to see if you'll crack and give them information that they can use against your petition and it seems you held your own. Good luck again and keep us posted.

[PICHO 2]

Hi guys, sorry to hear about all your troubles in your interview. Hopefully you will hear good news soon!

[edp333 9]

Thanks for sharing. It is nice to hear how people handle obstacles sometimes.

Hope to hear you get the Card Production Ordered message soon.

[Brad and Vika 129]

Post with inappropriate comments removed