Just came back from interview. My experience :)

[Lunastar]

Ok,
I just got back and I wanted to let you all know how it went, cause it felt like such an easy process, that I still can't believe it's over.

Our interview was at 10:00 am at the San Francisco office.
We arrived around 9:50 am (parking difficulties). We ended up parking at the corner of Sansome st., which costed $18. At that point I was so nervous that we were gonna be late, I wouldn't have minded paying $100 for parking.
We showed our IDs and interview letter to a guard outside, he told us to do the same again inside. Asked us many times if we had cameras or phone cameras. We went inside the building, showed our IDs and interview letter, and they asked us to put everything in these containers. Very much like airport procedure. Asked for the phone twice again. I made the thing beep, so had to take my shoes off. Apart from that, no prob.

We went to the second floor. Gave our interview letter to the lady at the counter, who told us to sit on a section and wait.
Before we even got to sit, my name was called. They asked us to wait on a hallway, which we couldn't find. After a while of walking around and asking, the officer found us. He was extremely nice and not that formal at all.
He showed us to the office, where we raised our hands and took the oath.
He didn't look at us that often, kept asking in a laid back manner about where we lived, told us some things about his experience in SF. He had our file, and looked through it while he talked. He punched some holes in some things too. He showed us a list and told us to give him all those documents. IDs, SSC, passports, job letter, W-2s. He told us he had the W-2s, so we shouldn't worry about it.
I had a folder full of all sorts of papers, plus a folder of pictures.
He asked my husband how long he's been working at his company. All the time commenting about commute and things like that. We were smiling and laughing often because of his jokes. He was pretty funny, actually.
Then he went into the questions in the application, am I a terrorist, have I been arrested and things like that.
The questions were repeated sometimes, and all the time he kept talking and making jokes, so I'll list them as they come to mind.
When and where we met, did my husband travel again after that (he met me outside the country), who decided to get married, who proposed, why I came to the country, did we go on a honeymoon, who was on our wedding, where we got married (he actually said it, he didn't ask it), did I know his parents, does he know mine, was I working, did I apply for an AP, what languages I speak , and so on. I had a problem at the POE, so he asked me about that. Mentioned the comments they wrote, and apologized that they weren't nice to me .
After that he asked me if there was any supporting evidence I wanted to give him, I gave him our health insurance letter, a copy of the cards, a bank letter from our joint account, telephone bill at my name, electricity bill at his name, cable both names. The lease was in a different pocket of my folder and I forgot to give it to him. He didn't ask for it. He didn't even go through the papers I gave him.
He asked me if there were any pictures. I opened the folder, asked him which ones he wanted to see (had them divided by cities), he said whatever I wanted, I showed the wedding pics first, he took one, said it was a good shot, and gave the other ones back. I took some more out, he looked a bit through those, and he was done.
He didn't ask for an affidavit, didn't ask for anything else.
He told me he was done and that we could go celebrate. Asked us where we were gonna go. Stamped my passport, wrote some things on it, and explained us that the stamp was good for one year, but that I should get the plastic card shortly.
By then I was glowing with joy, wanted to kiss my husband, but thought it wouldn't be appropiate. The officer kept making jokes, saying now we get to go, and so we did. Then I did kiss my husband, though the officer saw us and asked us jokingly to take it outside.

It was a very very very easy process, very smooth, and I thank that officer so much for being that nice. Of all the papers I took, all he kept was the job letter, my EAD, and one wedding pic. I guess I'll keep the folder to send all of that 1 year and 9 months from now . At least there should be some use for it.

I want to thank you all, for giving me info and confidence, and hope that all of you have such a great experience as I did. This gave me back hope in institutions.
I'll start bugging you all again in 1 year and 9 months. Meanwhile, anyone who wants to know about my experience, I'm happy to help.
YAY! Can't believe it's over for a while... No more waiting!!!

Here's my timeline:

04/11/2005 Forms sent
04/13/2005 Forms received
04/18/2005 forms rejected (bad check name)
04/25/2005 forms sent back to me
04/27/2005 forms sent to USCIS (DAY 1)
04/29/2005 forms received again (DAY 3)
05/27/2005 checks cashed (DAY 31)
05/28/2005 Received NOAs for I-130, I-765, I-485 (DAY 32)
06/01/2005 FP and BIO Completed (DAY 36)
06/15/2005 Request for more information (DAY 50)
06/17/2005 Request delivered TO uscis (DAY 52)
07/28/2005 EAD Approved! (DAY 93)
08/09/2005 Approval Notice mailed
08/12/2005 EAD card received (At last!)
09/02/2005 Interview notice received
10/20/2005 Interview at SF office. Passport stamped!!!

[rajeshch]

Congratulations Lunastar.I am happy for you.Hope a day comes when i could write about me receiving my GC if the FBI sends the namecheck results back.All i can do is wait

[jac2005]

wow.....seems like it went real smooth...Congratulations!!!....Looks like your name check and stuff was already all done.....sigh..wish we were all that lucky....

[LucyMO]

congratulations! and good luck!

[ari4u]

Phew... finally an end to your tension and worries...
Congratulations and good luck!

Ok,
I just got back and I wanted to let you all know how it went, cause it felt like such an easy process, that I still can't believe it's over.

Our interview was at 10:00 am at the San Francisco office.
We arrived around 9:50 am (parking difficulties). We ended up parking at the corner of Sansome st., which costed $18. At that point I was so nervous that we were gonna be late, I wouldn't have minded paying $100 for parking.
We showed our IDs and interview letter to a guard outside, he told us to do the same again inside. Asked us many times if we had cameras or phone cameras. We went inside the building, showed our IDs and interview letter, and they asked us to put everything in these containers. Very much like airport procedure. Asked for the phone twice again. I made the thing beep, so had to take my shoes off. Apart from that, no prob.

We went to the second floor. Gave our interview letter to the lady at the counter, who told us to sit on a section and wait.
Before we even got to sit, my name was called. They asked us to wait on a hallway, which we couldn't find. After a while of walking around and asking, the officer found us. He was extremely nice and not that formal at all.
He showed us to the office, where we raised our hands and took the oath.
He didn't look at us that often, kept asking in a laid back manner about where we lived, told us some things about his experience in SF. He had our file, and looked through it while he talked. He punched some holes in some things too. He showed us a list and told us to give him all those documents. IDs, SSC, passports, job letter, W-2s. He told us he had the W-2s, so we shouldn't worry about it.
I had a folder full of all sorts of papers, plus a folder of pictures.
He asked my husband how long he's been working at his company. All the time commenting about commute and things like that. We were smiling and laughing often because of his jokes. He was pretty funny, actually.
Then he went into the questions in the application, am I a terrorist, have I been arrested and things like that.
The questions were repeated sometimes, and all the time he kept talking and making jokes, so I'll list them as they come to mind.
When and where we met, did my husband travel again after that (he met me outside the country), who decided to get married, who proposed, why I came to the country, did we go on a honeymoon, who was on our wedding, where we got married (he actually said it, he didn't ask it), did I know his parents, does he know mine, was I working, did I apply for an AP, what languages I speak , and so on. I had a problem at the POE, so he asked me about that. Mentioned the comments they wrote, and apologized that they weren't nice to me .
After that he asked me if there was any supporting evidence I wanted to give him, I gave him our health insurance letter, a copy of the cards, a bank letter from our joint account, telephone bill at my name, electricity bill at his name, cable both names. The lease was in a different pocket of my folder and I forgot to give it to him. He didn't ask for it. He didn't even go through the papers I gave him.
He asked me if there were any pictures. I opened the folder, asked him which ones he wanted to see (had them divided by cities), he said whatever I wanted, I showed the wedding pics first, he took one, said it was a good shot, and gave the other ones back. I took some more out, he looked a bit through those, and he was done.
He didn't ask for an affidavit, didn't ask for anything else.
He told me he was done and that we could go celebrate. Asked us where we were gonna go. Stamped my passport, wrote some things on it, and explained us that the stamp was good for one year, but that I should get the plastic card shortly.
By then I was glowing with joy, wanted to kiss my husband, but thought it wouldn't be appropiate. The officer kept making jokes, saying now we get to go, and so we did. Then I did kiss my husband, though the officer saw us and asked us jokingly to take it outside.

It was a very very very easy process, very smooth, and I thank that officer so much for being that nice. Of all the papers I took, all he kept was the job letter, my EAD, and one wedding pic. I guess I'll keep the folder to send all of that 1 year and 9 months from now . At least there should be some use for it.

I want to thank you all, for giving me info and confidence, and hope that all of you have such a great experience as I did. This gave me back hope in institutions.
I'll start bugging you all again in 1 year and 9 months. Meanwhile, anyone who wants to know about my experience, I'm happy to help.
YAY! Can't believe it's over for a while... No more waiting!!!

Here's my timeline:

04/11/2005 Forms sent
04/13/2005 Forms received
04/18/2005 forms rejected (bad check name)
04/25/2005 forms sent back to me
04/27/2005 forms sent to USCIS (DAY 1)
04/29/2005 forms received again (DAY 3)
05/27/2005 checks cashed (DAY 31)
05/28/2005 Received NOAs for I-130, I-765, I-485 (DAY 32)
06/01/2005 FP and BIO Completed (DAY 36)
06/15/2005 Request for more information (DAY 50)
06/17/2005 Request delivered TO uscis (DAY 52)
07/28/2005 EAD Approved! (DAY 93)
08/09/2005 Approval Notice mailed
08/12/2005 EAD card received (At last!)
09/02/2005 Interview notice received
10/20/2005 Interview at SF office. Passport stamped!!!

[Lunastar]

Thanks everyone.
I didn't go through a name check, I guess my name is very european, so I didn't have a problem with it. Thank my daddy! :P

Another thing I forgot to say is that after spending a bunch of money in an official translator to translate the documents (cause that's what they told me to do), the officer told me I could have done the translation myself. All those wasted dollars!

Anyway, no complaints. I wouldn't recommend anyone to do it themselves, maybe this guy was having a good day, but the officer you get might not.

Gonna go celebrate tonight

[Jane Green]

Thanks everyone.
I didn't go through a name check, I guess my name is very european, so I didn't have a problem with it. Thank my daddy! :P

Another thing I forgot to say is that after spending a bunch of money in an official translator to translate the documents (cause that's what they told me to do), the officer told me I could have done the translation myself. All those wasted dollars!

Anyway, no complaints. I wouldn't recommend anyone to do it themselves, maybe this guy was having a good day, but the officer you get might not.

Gonna go celebrate tonight

Lunastar!
Congratulations!
You were such a worrier, I am so happy for you!
Go celebrate. You and your honey well deserve it!

[Lunastar]

Yeap, we're doing that tonight
Thank you for all your hep Jane, I've definitely learned a lot.

What happened to your interview appointment?
Are you rescheduling?

[reggiey]

Congratulations!!! I hope we get the same DAO for our interview next week.

If you don't mind, can you tell me what the Desk# that's on your interview notice?

Congratulations again.

-Reggie

[Lunastar]

Reggie,

I just realised that they kept my interview notice. I don't know if it's standard or I just forgot to ask for it back, but there you have it.
Sorry I can't help you on that one.

[passion0075]

WOW i sure wish me and my husband got a INS officer lik eyou . We went to our interview and the woman who interviewed us was very mean and bitter. I do not speak fluently in Albanian nor my husband in english. SO we brought a translator like the letter had told us. So when she called us back she was like who is this guy. I told her as nice as i possibly could that because my husband did not speak fluent english we brought a translator incase we needed one. She said your his wife arent you. I told her eys but i dont speak the language fluently.

From that point on we were in big trouble i guess. SHe took us back into this little cubicle and slapped a piece of paper down and told me to read it. She asked me did I have someone to take care of my kids (i have kids from a previous marriage) because I can go to prison if this marriage is a fraud. Then before i even answered she told my husband to go back outside and wait until she called him. I told her i will not need noone to take care of my kids becasue I love myhusband and we are happily married. SHe was very rude and intimidating. SHe asked me questions and with every one of my answers came a smart remark. I dont think she believed anything i was saying. I was sooo nervous. I thought this is our only shot and I am ruining it. She then asked if this was all the matierial proof i had and i asked her what more would she like. I had pictures, which she did not even look at, I did not have every bank statment but about 4, of our joint account, our taxes from last year, and just sum letters from friends and family. I never thougth to add him to my utility bills since they were already in my name before we were married. She then asked me when the last time me and my husband was intamaite and with-out thinking i answered yesterday. SHe then sent me out and called my husband in.

HE was not back there very long she before she called me in. she then told us that my husband had a outstanding deportation order and he would not be coming home with me. ICE came in for him and i started to cry I asked can i talk to my husband before they take him. They told me after he was processed. SHe then told me to have a seat. SHe told me our stories match but i did not have enough paperwork as proof. She then explained to me this Bonafied letter exemption i needed to get back to her and she would then make a decsion. I was crying and just told ehr i would egt things back asasp and asked to see myhusband. I got to see him for about 15 minutes and he told me to get him a ticket because he did not want to sit in jail. I did the next day and the ICE officer let me see him for about a hour before he left.

When I asked him what kinda questions she asked him they were the same questions but when he told me the intamate question he told her it was the day before i said because it was that time of the month for me, which it was but we still had been intimate the day i said but he didnt think about that. so our answers were different. MIne was the day before and his was the two days ago. SO why did she tell me we had the same stories? WHy was she so mean to me he said she was nice to him and really talked to the man who came to translate for him more than she talked to him.

[ledel]

Congratulations at Lunstar

[Lunastar]

Passion,

I'm really sorry to hear that, I hope that you can get in touch with an attorney to see what you can do about it. Sometimes some people are having a bad day, or they are simply mean, and that's what you get. I guess this officer checked the fact that your husband had the deportation order before you went there, and from then on, you never had a chance.

[jac2005]

Passion,

I am really sorry to hear about how your case was adjudicated . I hope that you can get a good attorney who can reunite you both.

[Koobe]

Congratulations!!! I hope we get the same DAO for our interview next week.

If you don't mind, can you tell me what the Desk# that's on your interview notice?

Congratulations again.

-Reggie

Reggie,
I am in SF office too. Is that small number at the left upper corner of the address the desk number? If yes, I am #7. I am going in for an interview on 15th Dec

[reggiey]

Reggie,
I am in SF office too. Is that small number at the left upper corner of the address the desk number? If yes, I am #7. I am going in for an interview on 15th Dec

Hi Koobe,

Does it have a letter before it? Like A# or B#?

Though I think that's it.

Thanks,
Reggie

[Koobe]

Hi Koobe,

Does it have a letter before it? Like A# or B#?

Though I think that's it.

Thanks,
Reggie

no A or B in front, just a number 7, actually it is about 2 lines below the DO address. What is your desk #?

[reggiey]

no A or B in front, just a number 7, actually it is about 2 lines below the DO address. What is your desk #?

Thanks Koobe. Mine is#5

Reggie