My Dearest All:
I just got back from my I-485 interview yesterday. It’s in Garden City NY on 10/26/06 at 8:00am. Me and my hubby are so excited about the approval at the spot, but what means more important to me is to appreciate any helps from any of you.
This forum has really magically brought us together. I may not know how you look like or what is your real name, we come here for one thing: Helping each other to get a GC LEGALLY. So now, besides saying “thank you so much for helping me out!” I would like to share my interview experience with those people whose on theirs way heading to a better future with a GC in theirs hands, to those who wants to know more and get a better idea of the GC issue. I want to thank you to my buddies: alicat, brunette1130, candyattitude, karissa2000, poohsmum and those who’s ever answered my questions. I want to say: Thank you for being so supportive to me. I wish we could be the same, I wish we could all get our GC soon. To those who’s already depressed, I want you guys relax yourself a little bit. I know GC is so important for us, but health is much important. You don’t need to worry too much, coz if it was yours it will be always yours. For those I never known or talked here, I hope my experience can help you anything, contact me if you have any questions.
Information About My Case:
Compare with others, my case is simpler. Me and my hubby (USC) knew each other since 1997. We decided to get married one day so he applied a K1 Visa for me to enter with. My K1 Visa got approved after 10 months. I entered with my K1 Visa on 10/8/2003 at JFK NY Int’l Airport. We married on 10/16/2003 right after I got here. We are not rich people but “yes” it’s a happy marriage, it’s our first marriage and we are very happy with it. End of Oct.03 we submitted our I-485 package to USCIS. We’ve only received only 1 paper on 11/3/06 says that they need 120-180 to process this kind of case. So I check back often on USCIS website about my case status, there always be the same message there…we’ve waited for 30 months until end of May.06 I found out from the USCIS case processing time frame indicate that my case time is out of the time frame, so I made a info pass appointment with 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan. An immigration officer told me that my case was actually denied on Sep.20.2005. We were so shocked to hear that bad news since there’s no sign for it like maybe a letter or notice from USCIS…never! We did not move as well at that time. And the funniest part is I went abroad on Nov.3.2005 and got back on Nov.23.2005 at JFK, they let me in without asking any question. Our 1st application was made by my hubby. I did not check what he filled in for me on those forms and I let him mailed it to USCIS without a copy of that. I know it’s not his fault since he’s a USC he never ever needed to do those paper works in his life. So I decided to prepare the 2nd application all by myself this time. I was so happy to find this website, this forum really taught me a lot. So I prepared everything for myself and checked my by hubby, we mailed it in Jun.06, please check my time lines.
Interview Experience:
Due to I submitted twice of I-485 application, 1st application denied, 2nd application was okay. So I’ve received 2 interview appointment letters. But in the ends, they’ve mailed me another letter says that my 1st interview was canceled due to some reasons. So here ya go the interview experience on 10/26/08 8am at Garden City NY. It’s a big building about only 3-4 stories. Unlike those brand new decoration buildings in long island, this is the oldest building that I’ve been to there. There’s no big digital sign inside to indicate your numbers. Actually they don’t give you numbers, they only call your name near the front enter area. They do not have any PA (Public Announcement System), so you’d better don’t go rest room at that time, because once you missed it, I don’t know how they are going to re-arrange you again! It seems that everything’s not in a good order but it’s all under their controls. Stick there, don’t move!
7:00am Arrived there.
You can park anywhere there in the big parking lot, it’s free though. The waiting line is long about 40 peoples ahead of me, but it moves pretty fast. It’s windy and colder in long island while you’re standing there outside. Early that morning, with no sun came out yet.
7:15am Moved in.
Once we moved to indoor, we approached a x-ray machine. You have to take off your jacket, belt. After you went through the x-ray, you’ll enter into a seating area, it’s a big waiting area. Before you took a seat, you have to bring your original I-485 interview notice to Window 1. The officer there will stamp a time on it and keep it. He/she will ask you to take a seat in front until someone calls your name.
7:25am Someone called my name to go up to 2nd FL.
After a short period of time, one well-dressed gentleman holding a whole big stack of interview letters called out names one by one. We lined up again after our name to be called in front of him. He then brought us all together up to the 2nd floor.
7:35am Being seated on the 2nd floor waiting for my immigration officer to pick me up just like a kid waiting after school.
We’ve follow the “suit guy” up to the 2nd floor. A smaller sitting area is in the middle center of the whole floor. There’re doors on two sides are wide opened, that’s immigration officer too. The ceiling is not high, the offices are so small and looks very old.
8:15am An immigration officer called my name.
She called my name, she’s nice and asked us to followed her. She came out from a door on my left side near the staircase, I thought that’s 1 office. But no! After we entered that small door, there’s at least 50 offices inside, it’s not cubic, but it’s the same size as cubic, very small, and everyone seems like to decorate their office a little bit, so you can see the small office with many things inside. It looks not tidy.
On the way to her office, she asked us if we both speak English, we said yes. We entered her small office, she told us what’s her name, we sworn and then we seated. She asked us to take out our passport and IDs. Verified everything like birthday and name spelling and address. Then was very concern about my 1st application. I noticed that all my papers which I mailed to USCIS were lying on her desk. She asked me directly how many times I filed an application. I told her we filed twice. 1st application was denied. She asked me why, we told her we didn’t know but we never received any notice or letter saying that we’ve been denied or something. So she took like 7-8 minutes to check in her system. Finally, she gave us the reason why. She said USCIS mailed me a fingerprint letter, and we were not showing there, so they denied my case. That was how I guessed, nothing we could do by then. After that, she was correcting me that I actually do not need to file a I-130 since I married my husband right away within 90 days after I entered U.S. So we were just nodded along her, we both know it’s not really matter already, coz we won’t file again and we don’t need to know that too. We paid for that I-130 already and we won’t get refund for that. The next step was she’s asking me about my criminal background and public assistant, I gave her all my answers as “no”, so she’s marking her papers with my answers. And then she’s asking for our joint proofs and our work status, employer letters and bank statement, 2005 tax and 2005 W-2. (We didn’t copy our W-2 but they need it, so we gave out the original one. Please remember to copy your W-2 besides your tax statement, however if you forgot, you’ll be asked the original one and you could print it out or request from IRS website later.) She did not check, she just asked whatever she needs and punch holes and put all those stuffs running by her order in her folders. I guess we took too much time to find out how we denied the first time, that’s why she made everything simpler. She’s curiously asked how we met, so we told her we met in 1997 long time ago…she’s smiling. She’s nice and polite but not talkative. Just asked what she needed. She didn’t see the album we bought there too, she just asked me to give her 1 picture to leave it in my file. I was like very surprised because I read from different experience that everyone’s been asked for 2 pictures but for me only 1 picture needed. Maybe because me and my husband met long time ago, that’s why she didn’t ask too much. Finally she said, excuse her for a minute. After 3-5 minutes she came back and said: Now I’m going to approve your case and I’ll keep your passport for stamping and you can go downstairs now to wait for your passport. We were so happy and thanked her and went back to 1st floor.
8:40am Went back to the 1st floor.
9:00am Someone called my name asked me to go to window 8. They only have 8 windows but there’s normally only 1 person inside or maximum 2 person to occupied window 1 (collect interview letter) and window 8 (give out stamped passport). The one who distribute my passport was that well-dress guy whom called my name 1st time to bring us to the 2nd floor. He explained: with this stamp you can travel and your GC will be arrived in mail in about 2 months or less.
That’s all my happy endings. Please contact me if you have any questions.
Thank you for your time to read, hope you will get a happy ending too.
GOOD LUCK.
I just got back from my I-485 interview yesterday. It’s in Garden City NY on 10/26/06 at 8:00am. Me and my hubby are so excited about the approval at the spot, but what means more important to me is to appreciate any helps from any of you.
This forum has really magically brought us together. I may not know how you look like or what is your real name, we come here for one thing: Helping each other to get a GC LEGALLY. So now, besides saying “thank you so much for helping me out!” I would like to share my interview experience with those people whose on theirs way heading to a better future with a GC in theirs hands, to those who wants to know more and get a better idea of the GC issue. I want to thank you to my buddies: alicat, brunette1130, candyattitude, karissa2000, poohsmum and those who’s ever answered my questions. I want to say: Thank you for being so supportive to me. I wish we could be the same, I wish we could all get our GC soon. To those who’s already depressed, I want you guys relax yourself a little bit. I know GC is so important for us, but health is much important. You don’t need to worry too much, coz if it was yours it will be always yours. For those I never known or talked here, I hope my experience can help you anything, contact me if you have any questions.
Information About My Case:
Compare with others, my case is simpler. Me and my hubby (USC) knew each other since 1997. We decided to get married one day so he applied a K1 Visa for me to enter with. My K1 Visa got approved after 10 months. I entered with my K1 Visa on 10/8/2003 at JFK NY Int’l Airport. We married on 10/16/2003 right after I got here. We are not rich people but “yes” it’s a happy marriage, it’s our first marriage and we are very happy with it. End of Oct.03 we submitted our I-485 package to USCIS. We’ve only received only 1 paper on 11/3/06 says that they need 120-180 to process this kind of case. So I check back often on USCIS website about my case status, there always be the same message there…we’ve waited for 30 months until end of May.06 I found out from the USCIS case processing time frame indicate that my case time is out of the time frame, so I made a info pass appointment with 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan. An immigration officer told me that my case was actually denied on Sep.20.2005. We were so shocked to hear that bad news since there’s no sign for it like maybe a letter or notice from USCIS…never! We did not move as well at that time. And the funniest part is I went abroad on Nov.3.2005 and got back on Nov.23.2005 at JFK, they let me in without asking any question. Our 1st application was made by my hubby. I did not check what he filled in for me on those forms and I let him mailed it to USCIS without a copy of that. I know it’s not his fault since he’s a USC he never ever needed to do those paper works in his life. So I decided to prepare the 2nd application all by myself this time. I was so happy to find this website, this forum really taught me a lot. So I prepared everything for myself and checked my by hubby, we mailed it in Jun.06, please check my time lines.
Interview Experience:
Due to I submitted twice of I-485 application, 1st application denied, 2nd application was okay. So I’ve received 2 interview appointment letters. But in the ends, they’ve mailed me another letter says that my 1st interview was canceled due to some reasons. So here ya go the interview experience on 10/26/08 8am at Garden City NY. It’s a big building about only 3-4 stories. Unlike those brand new decoration buildings in long island, this is the oldest building that I’ve been to there. There’s no big digital sign inside to indicate your numbers. Actually they don’t give you numbers, they only call your name near the front enter area. They do not have any PA (Public Announcement System), so you’d better don’t go rest room at that time, because once you missed it, I don’t know how they are going to re-arrange you again! It seems that everything’s not in a good order but it’s all under their controls. Stick there, don’t move!
7:00am Arrived there.
You can park anywhere there in the big parking lot, it’s free though. The waiting line is long about 40 peoples ahead of me, but it moves pretty fast. It’s windy and colder in long island while you’re standing there outside. Early that morning, with no sun came out yet.
7:15am Moved in.
Once we moved to indoor, we approached a x-ray machine. You have to take off your jacket, belt. After you went through the x-ray, you’ll enter into a seating area, it’s a big waiting area. Before you took a seat, you have to bring your original I-485 interview notice to Window 1. The officer there will stamp a time on it and keep it. He/she will ask you to take a seat in front until someone calls your name.
7:25am Someone called my name to go up to 2nd FL.
After a short period of time, one well-dressed gentleman holding a whole big stack of interview letters called out names one by one. We lined up again after our name to be called in front of him. He then brought us all together up to the 2nd floor.
7:35am Being seated on the 2nd floor waiting for my immigration officer to pick me up just like a kid waiting after school.
We’ve follow the “suit guy” up to the 2nd floor. A smaller sitting area is in the middle center of the whole floor. There’re doors on two sides are wide opened, that’s immigration officer too. The ceiling is not high, the offices are so small and looks very old.
8:15am An immigration officer called my name.
She called my name, she’s nice and asked us to followed her. She came out from a door on my left side near the staircase, I thought that’s 1 office. But no! After we entered that small door, there’s at least 50 offices inside, it’s not cubic, but it’s the same size as cubic, very small, and everyone seems like to decorate their office a little bit, so you can see the small office with many things inside. It looks not tidy.
On the way to her office, she asked us if we both speak English, we said yes. We entered her small office, she told us what’s her name, we sworn and then we seated. She asked us to take out our passport and IDs. Verified everything like birthday and name spelling and address. Then was very concern about my 1st application. I noticed that all my papers which I mailed to USCIS were lying on her desk. She asked me directly how many times I filed an application. I told her we filed twice. 1st application was denied. She asked me why, we told her we didn’t know but we never received any notice or letter saying that we’ve been denied or something. So she took like 7-8 minutes to check in her system. Finally, she gave us the reason why. She said USCIS mailed me a fingerprint letter, and we were not showing there, so they denied my case. That was how I guessed, nothing we could do by then. After that, she was correcting me that I actually do not need to file a I-130 since I married my husband right away within 90 days after I entered U.S. So we were just nodded along her, we both know it’s not really matter already, coz we won’t file again and we don’t need to know that too. We paid for that I-130 already and we won’t get refund for that. The next step was she’s asking me about my criminal background and public assistant, I gave her all my answers as “no”, so she’s marking her papers with my answers. And then she’s asking for our joint proofs and our work status, employer letters and bank statement, 2005 tax and 2005 W-2. (We didn’t copy our W-2 but they need it, so we gave out the original one. Please remember to copy your W-2 besides your tax statement, however if you forgot, you’ll be asked the original one and you could print it out or request from IRS website later.) She did not check, she just asked whatever she needs and punch holes and put all those stuffs running by her order in her folders. I guess we took too much time to find out how we denied the first time, that’s why she made everything simpler. She’s curiously asked how we met, so we told her we met in 1997 long time ago…she’s smiling. She’s nice and polite but not talkative. Just asked what she needed. She didn’t see the album we bought there too, she just asked me to give her 1 picture to leave it in my file. I was like very surprised because I read from different experience that everyone’s been asked for 2 pictures but for me only 1 picture needed. Maybe because me and my husband met long time ago, that’s why she didn’t ask too much. Finally she said, excuse her for a minute. After 3-5 minutes she came back and said: Now I’m going to approve your case and I’ll keep your passport for stamping and you can go downstairs now to wait for your passport. We were so happy and thanked her and went back to 1st floor.
8:40am Went back to the 1st floor.
9:00am Someone called my name asked me to go to window 8. They only have 8 windows but there’s normally only 1 person inside or maximum 2 person to occupied window 1 (collect interview letter) and window 8 (give out stamped passport). The one who distribute my passport was that well-dress guy whom called my name 1st time to bring us to the 2nd floor. He explained: with this stamp you can travel and your GC will be arrived in mail in about 2 months or less.
That’s all my happy endings. Please contact me if you have any questions.
Thank you for your time to read, hope you will get a happy ending too.
GOOD LUCK.
one too ) but I am happy that I finally received my interview letter. I will keep you posted. Dont forget about us!