Any May filers around?

Yeah, I am also waiting for my "real" driver's license. They said it would be here in 2-4 weeks, 2 weeks will be on Wednesday, but I doubt it will be here then.

Austriacus, our IO didn't even look at our I-864 during the interview, and I also had a joint sponsor, so I was certain he will do that and ask for my joint sponsor, but nope... My husband is a real estate agent so has no pay stubs, but we included a letter from the employer/broker with his estimated annual income. And brought copies of his checks he got for the home sales. But IO didn't ask for those.

Good luck on your interview!! If you have any questions, I will be willing to answer them :)
 
Praetorian and MagdaJ, thank you for your answers! Happy waiting for the real drivers license - I remember too how exciting that was - some 12 years ago :p

So here is a list of items we're bringing:

- complete copy of the filed applications
- a wedding album/scrap book with about 30 pictures, invitation, program, all the cards we received, and other wedding related items
- an album of 160 pictures of my wife and I, organized from the first picture of us ever taken six year ago, to the most recent picture on the flight back from Austria (of course includes pictures with her family, with my family, with the families together, pictures of our wedding reception and honeymoon, ...)
- marriage certificate, original and certified copies
- all immgration related documents ever issued to me, including the notices we received for this application, as well as two H-1B approval notices and four I-20's (F-1 visa status documents) going back all the way to 1995!
- a statement explaining our situation living in different cities (originally submitted with the I-485)
- my wife's birth certificate, current passport and previous passport showing several trips to Austria, as well as tickets receipts/itineraries for her and I on all those trips
- my birth certificate, translation, international birth certificate, current and previous passport with current and previous visas, I-94
- a copy of our wedding program
- four sets of credit cards that we are each other's authorized users on
- credit card statements with highlighted purchases along the drives to each other's cities (mostly gas purchases), showing we consistently visit each other; as well as Microsoft Virtual Earth maps of the the area depicting where these purchases were made
- a chat transcript when we decided to meet in real life for the first time
- 6 months of my wife's earnings statements
- three years of tax documents
- our current lease and leases from select previous years (when we actually lived together!)
- several months of statements of three joint bank accounts
- several certificates of deposit with joint or beneficiary designations
- savings bonds issued in co-owner registration
- a copy of our car insurance
- copy of my life insurance naming my wife as beneficiary
- copies of our ROTH IRA's naming each other as beneficiaries
- photo copies of all original documents

Hmmm ... I think that's it. Did I forget anything?

We'll be dressed "business casual" perhaps slightly to the casual side, and wearing our engagement watches. :)

If time permits we might go downtown to the San Antonio riverwalk, Alamo, and Tower of the Americas after the interview! (MagdaJ, any tips on what to do post-interview?)
 
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Austriacus!!

You are super prepared so you shouldn't worry about anything. We had maybe half of the things you're bringing (but I have been here only for a year, that explains). And like it was during my interview, our IO based the whole interview on our photos (they are very important), so it's good that you organized photos chronologically ( I did that, too, from the beginning of our relationship plus pictures with each other's parents and family). My IO didn't ask for any documents because he let us know he was already tried (we were the last interview) and probably because of this he wasn't too inquisitive, only after approving me did he ask for some proofs of bona fide marriage for him to keep in his folder :)
SO good luck!!

After the interview we went to Austin right away, but we spent the day before in San Antonio. We went to Sea World. and we did the Alamo and Riverwalk during the visit for the fingerprints. Have fun!
 
simsim31 said:
Thanks Neha.........any updates for your name-check?Can u make infopass to find out?
Click to expand...

Hi Simsim,

no updates, nothing as if they have forgotten everything about me. I think I will soon make an infopass and find out, though I know its of no use. I have seen people waiting longer than me for this.

Neha
 
Hi everyone, I'm happy to let you know that I got approved at the interview this morning.....I'm so excited.
Thank you all for the support, advice and information. I also wish all the remaining candidates good luck and I know all May filers will be victorious, since the crucial word for the month of May is "APPROVED"
We just got home after a long drive so I will give my experience in a couple of hours.
Again, thaks to all........
 
bigtom said:
Hi everyone, I'm happy to let you know that I got approved at the interview this morning.....I'm so excited.
Thank you all for the support, advice and information. I also wish all the remaining candidates good luck and I know all May filers will be victorious, since the crucial word for the month of May is "APPROVED"
We just got home after a long drive so I will give my experience in a couple of hours.
Again, thaks to all........
Click to expand...

Congratulations TOM! :D
 
Hey guys, I just wanted to tell you that today I got my third update saying that the approval notice has been sent to me, so I guess within the next 3-4 days I should get the green card! I can't wait (but I wont be home, I am flying tomorrow to Vegas, but my husband will be here to check the mailbox).
And some other good news, today I got my "real" driver license!!! It took them exactly 2 weeks. And how about you Praetorian? Did you get yours?

Austriacus, how did your interview go today? Let us know!! I can't wait to read about your experience!
 
I recvd my "approval notices" and "welcome notices" by mail 2 days ago.......just waiting for my GC in hand,hope it comes soon.........gotta make travel plans!!!
 
Hi guys!

Congratulations to all the new approved ones!!

I've been around 'cause I'm really busy trying to put up my website for custom invitations and event planning :D. But wanted to let you know I'm still waiting for my SSN since 09/14. They gave me a letter stating I applied and I wonder if I could use that to get DL. My hubby got me a really nice car and I can't even drive it :mad:

To the ones that got their SSN, how long it took?
 
Alright, after a day of rest and reflection, here is our complete interview story!

Let's start at 3 am the day of the interview, my wife and I just got done buying last minute items such as index tabs for the heavy duty binder we managed to fit all our documents into. By 6 am, the index tabs were all labeled and I was about to lose it, freaking we won't get enough sleep, throwing around funky colored bags that were inappropriate to bring to the interview, and incoherently saying that I'll be deported because we don't have a solid colored bag that our binder can fit into. :eek::D

Fast forward to 10:30 the next morning, it turns out I fell asleep pretty fast and we were actually pretty rested. A quick shower and we were on our way, my wife was so nice to drive so I could slowly enjoy my morning coffee in the passenger seat. (I'm kinda spoiled ;)) We stopped for lunch at a Jack in the Box (JITB) just 10 minutes from the DO, which has sentimental value for us because it's the first restaurant chain we've ever been to together, almost 7 years ago.

We arrived at the DO on time ten minutes before the interview, but I'd warn anyone that the parking situation at the San Antonio DO is quite confusing. It caused us to circle the whole area once and I had to run in to ask where we could park without being towed. Consequently, we came in 5 minutes late, but had to wait over an hour anyway until my name was called so it didn't matter, in fact the IO later apologized to us several times for the wait. Turns out we carried our binder and photo albums without a bag, and everyone else there seemed to do the same thing; at least it shows the IO right away what you have.

After calling me, the IO escorted us to the elevator and up to another floor where his office was located. He introduced himself in the elevator and we had some small talk. He proceeded to swear us in and told us which chair to sit in. He was very courteous, professional, and analytical.

He started out by firing a couple of background questions at my wife. After about a minute, he raised his voice and asked why she lives in another city than the address she had provided. (I think at this point he may have only had my address in front of him - because we had been very careful distinguishing our separate addresses in the application - but she explained and I think he then saw it in the file.)

I had thought that our separate addresses would be an issue, but I didn't think that this would consume the entire interview. He explained that living together is an important requirement to prove a bona fide marriage. He asked us about our past, our present, and our future plans in great detail. I was glad to have spent until 6 am to assemble our binder, because I offered him multiple bank accounts, certificates, bonds, credit cards, different insurances as proof. In fact during the entire interview I kept offering him more stuff from my binder (such as a chat transcript from the first time my wife and I met in real life) but must of it he didn't want to look at. He didn't look at our photo albums at all. We had submitted printouts of two wedding photos with the original application, one of them showing pretty much all our combined close families - and he asked me to tell him who they all are, that was enough pictoral proof for him.

I had thought we're explaining our case to him well, when suddenly about halfway into the interview he said, "do you know there will be a second interview" and for a moment we both thought he's requiring us to go to a Stokes interview. Turns out, he was leading into the removal of condition. He explained to us the 90 day before 2 year requirement and said "there will be another interview." Now, my understanding from reading this forum is that usually the removal of condition interview is waived; but perhaps in our case he thought from experience (or maybe noted in the file?) that there shall be an interview to remove the condition, maybe because we had indicated there may be a chance that we'll only be able to start living together right around the same time that we have to remove the condition.

At some point he stepped out briefly to get the next (last for the day?) interviewing couple who had to wait until our interview was completed, because the lobby area was closing for the day. He seated them outside his office and I felt sorry they had to wait so long.

He asked us whether we knew that we might be living apart for a while at the time we got married, we answered yes. He asked us whether we knew it would be a problem when we applied for AOS based on marriage, we also said yes. I don't know what answer he was looking for but I just answered truthfully. Overall, I felt he asked my wife a lot more questions than me, and looked more at her. She thinks it's because she answered to the point whereas I elaborated on every question. It must have been a tiring interview for him too because at some point he said something about my wife adjusting to permanent resident status. :D He earlier told us that he opened a soda in the morning and hadn't even had the chance to finish it yet.

There were a number of funny moments during the interview, like when we told him we got married on the same date that we had originally started dating, which also happens to be my wife's birthday. He commented that I'll be spending a lot on that day. Also, when he asked about whether we got the honeymoon suite, we explained we got the Jacuzzi suite and he thought that was cool and explained his own vacation experiences with his wife. I told him we usually don't spend that much but decided to spend a lot on our wedding night, and he said that he and his wife also don't like to spend a lot. Another funny moment was when we told him when we chatted we found out that we were only three blocks from one another at the same university.

He asked me three of the terrorism related questions, I don't remember which ones exactly. One of them was about drug and alcohol abuse. It was a small portion of the interview.

After he was convinced we're a bona fide married couple, he said "I am approving your application" and pointed out he's making an exception to the living-together requirement. He gave me an I-551 stamp and noted it is so I don't walk out without some form of proof and explained the card will arrive in the mail. Curiously, he didn't want to remove the I-94 and never asked for my EAD. (I guess I'll hand the I-94 to the ticket counter next time I travel internationally?)

Some time around this point he picked up his soda and I couldn't help but say "you're still not finished with that soda?" But he thought it was funny.

Then, he asked us if we have any questions. It turns out this was perhaps the most pleasant and informative part of the interview. I asked how important it will be for us to be living together when the time comes to remove the condition, and if we don't live together, what form of proof would be best to show. He proceeded to essentially explain to us his complete and well thought out reasoning for why he approved us, and the reasoning he'd go through if we were still living apart two years from now. It was related to mobilty and training requirement for our jobs. He did note that you have to make compromises in a marriage. An interesting thing he remarked was that, since I was in H-1B status, I could have gotten a GC through employment also, therefore there wouldn't have been a reason for me to try to get a GC via a fraudulent marriage anyway.

We had decided to write a letter explaining our living situation, which we submitted with the original application, and he said this was very important. He said without it, he couldn't have approved the case and would have asked us to provide an explanatory letter. He told us that if we're still in this situation in 2 years, to again explain our situation in a letter and include all the facts and reasons why we are in fact a good faith married couple.

Thus our interview concluded one hour later. He escorted us downstairs and said good bye. We were of course happy but also tired, and mostly still a little surprised that it turned out to be quite complicated. We had earlier planned to do some sightseeing in San Antonio but decided to drive back to my city, and my wife dropped me off at my class so I could at least get half of the lecture. Later, my wife and I walked around campus, visited the location where we had first met some 7 years ago, and went to "our" JITB that we had first visited together. Turns out it was completely remodeled! Then we came home and rested for the rest of the day ...

The first thing my wife said when we came out was, "so now we can go through the same line at the airport, right?" :D And she's right, this is really the only thing that has changed in my situation. So attaining LPR status has been somewhat aclimactic for me at this point. Many of you can now get jobs, social security cards, drivers licenses and what not... but I simply went back to work and continued my life. (Of course I showed HR my I-551 stamp to update my employabilty status, and all my H-1B buddies thought it was pretty cool that I'm an LPR now!) Maybe it's just initally a little weird to not be on a nonimmigrant visa anymore after 12 years. I'm sure after my visa would have expired I'll start appreciating this more, since I am now a husband without an "expiration date" :)D), at least for the next two years! And of course when we get to go through customs together, I'll appreciate it too! Now we just have to work on my wife being able to go through customs with me together when we enter the EU ... ;)

To summarize, here's the advice I can give:
Anyone going to San Antonio DO, be prepared for an interesting parking situation. Don't think too hard about the signs/barriers and park in the back.
Anyone who lives at different addresses than your spouse:
- be sure to state it appropriately in your application; it will definitely come up in your interview and become a central part of your interview.
- write an explanatory letter
- explain your future plans carefully
- ask the IO for advice at the end if you're not sure what this will mean for your removal of condition
For anyone, be sure to think of questions to ask the IO after the interview. This is your time to get some valuable information.

Thank you all for the advice you have given me here. Most of all, I'd like to thank my wife for spending countless hours, days, weekends helping me prepare all the documentation. You know you are truly loved if your continued presence in a country is so important to someone and I'm only now beginning to really appreciate the meaning of this. :)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
austriacus said:
Alright, after a day of rest and reflection, here is our complete interview story!

Let's start at 3 am the day of the interview, my wife and I just got done buying last minute items such as index tabs for the heavy duty binder we managed to fit all our documents into. By 6 am, the index tabs were all labeled and I was about to lose it, freaking we won't get enough sleep, throwing around funky colored bags that were inappropriate to bring to the interview, and incoherently saying that I'll be deported because we don't have a solid colored bag that our binder can fit into. :eek::D

Fast forward to 10:30 the next morning, it turns out I fell asleep pretty fast and we were actually pretty rested. A quick shower and we were on our way, my wife was so nice to drive so I could slowly enjoy my morning coffee in the passenger seat. (I'm kinda spoiled ;)) We stopped for lunch at a Jack in the Box (JITB) just 10 minutes from the DO, which has sentimental value for us because it's the first restaurant chain we've ever been to together, almost 7 years ago.

We arrived at the DO on time ten minutes before the interview, but I'd warn anyone that the parking situation at the San Antonio DO is quite confusing. It caused us to circle the whole area once and I had to run in to ask where we could park without being towed. Consequently, we came in 5 minutes late, but had to wait over an hour anyway until my name was called so it didn't matter, in fact the IO later apologized to us several times for the wait. Turns out we carried our binder and photo albums without a bag, and everyone else there seemed to do the same thing; at least it shows the IO right away what you have.

After calling me, the IO escorted us to the elevator and up to another floor where his office was located. He introduced himself in the elevator and we had some small talk. He proceeded to swear us in and told us which chair to sit in. He was very courteous, professional, and analytical.

He started out by firing a couple of background questions at my wife. After about a minute, he raised his voice and asked why she lives in another city than the address she had provided. (I think at this point he may have only had my address in front of him - because we had been very careful distinguishing our separate addresses in the application - but she explained and I think he then saw it in the file.)

I had thought that our separate addresses would be an issue, but I didn't think that this would consume the entire interview. He explained that living together is an important requirement to prove a bona fide marriage. He asked us about our past, our present, and our future plans in great detail. I was glad to have spent until 6 am to assemble our binder, because I offered him multiple bank accounts, certificates, bonds, credit cards, different insurances as proof. In fact during the entire interview I kept offering him more stuff from my binder (such as a chat transcript from the first time my wife and I met in real life) but must of it he didn't want to look at. He didn't look at our photo albums at all. We had submitted printouts of two wedding photos with the original application, one of them showing pretty much all our combined close families - and he asked me to tell him who they all are, that was enough pictoral proof for him.

I had thought we're explaining our case to him well, when suddenly about halfway into the interview he said, "do you know there will be a second interview" and for a moment we both thought he's requiring us to go to a Stokes interview. Turns out, he was leading into the removal of condition. He explained to us the 90 day before 2 year requirement and said "there will be another interview." Now, my understanding from reading this forum is that usually the removal of condition interview is waived; but perhaps in our case he thought from experience (or maybe noted in the file?) that there shall be an interview to remove the condition, maybe because we had indicated there may be a chance that we'll only be able to start living together right around the same time that we have to remove the condition.

At some point he stepped out briefly to get the next (last for the day?) interviewing couple who had to wait until our interview was completed, because the lobby area was closing for the day. He seated them outside his office and I felt sorry they had to wait so long.

He asked us whether we knew that we might be living apart for a while at the time we got married, we answered yes. He asked us whether we knew it would be a problem when we applied for AOS based on marriage, we also said yes. I don't know what answer he was looking for but I just answered truthfully. Overall, I felt he asked my wife a lot more questions than me, and looked more at her. She thinks it's because she answered to the point whereas I elaborated on every question. It must have been a tiring interview for him too because at some point he said something about my wife adjusting to permanent resident status. :D He earlier told us that he opened a soda in the morning and hadn't even had the chance to finish it yet.

There were a number of funny moments during the interview, like when we told him we got married on the same date that we had originally started dating, which also happens to be my wife's birthday. He commented that I'll be spending a lot on that day. Also, when he asked about whether we got the honeymoon suite, we explained we got the Jacuzzi suite and he thought that was cool and explained his own vacation experiences with his wife. I told him we usually don't spend that much but decided to spend a lot on our wedding night, and he said that he and his wife also don't like to spend a lot. Another funny moment was when we told him when we chatted we found out that we were only three blocks from one another at the same university.

He asked me three of the terrorism related questions, I don't remember which ones exactly. One of them was about drug and alcohol abuse. It was a small portion of the interview.

After he was convinced we're a bona fide married couple, he said "I am approving your application" and pointed out he's making an exception to the living-together requirement. He gave me an I-551 stamp and noted it is so I don't walk out without some form of proof and explained the card will arrive in the mail. Curiously, he didn't want to remove the I-94 and never asked for my EAD. (I guess I'll hand the I-94 to the ticket counter next time I travel internationally?)

Some time around this point he picked up his soda and I couldn't help but say "you're still not finished with that soda?" But he thought it was funny.

Then, he asked us if we have any questions. It turns out this was perhaps the most pleasant and informative part of the interview. I asked how important it will be for us to be living together when the time comes to remove the condition, and if we don't live together, what form of proof would be best to show. He proceeded to essentially explain to us his complete and well thought out reasoning for why he approved us, and the reasoning he'd go through if we were still living apart two years from now. It was related to mobilty and training requirement for our jobs. He did note that you have to make compromises in a marriage. An interesting thing he remarked was that, since I was in H-1B status, I could have gotten a GC through employment also, therefore there wouldn't have been a reason for me to try to get a GC via a fraudulent marriage anyway.

We had decided to write a letter explaining our living situation, which we submitted with the original application, and he said this was very important. He said without it, he couldn't have approved the case and would have asked us to provide an explanatory letter. He told us that if we're still in this situation in 2 years, to again explain our situation in a letter and include all the facts and reasons why we are in fact a good faith married couple.

Thus our interview concluded one hour later. He escorted us downstairs and said good bye. We were of course happy but also tired, and mostly still a little surprised that it turned out to be quite complicated. We had earlier planned to do some sightseeing in San Antonio but decided to drive back to my city, and my wife dropped me off at my class so I could at least get half of the lecture. Later, my wife and I walked around campus, visited the location where we had first met some 7 years ago, and went to "our" JITB that we had first visited together. Turns out it was completely remodeled! Then we came home and rested for the rest of the day ...

The first thing my wife said when we came out was, "so now we can go through the same line at the airport, right?" :D And she's right, this is really the only thing that has changed in my situation. So attaining LPR status has been somewhat aclimactic for me at this point. Many of you can now get jobs, social security cards, drivers licenses and what not... but I simply went back to work and continued my life. (Of course I showed HR my I-551 stamp to update my employabilty status, and all my H-1B buddies thought it was pretty cool that I'm an LPR now!) Maybe it's just initally a little weird to not be on a nonimmigrant visa anymore after 12 years. I'm sure after my visa would have expired I'll start appreciating this more, since I am now a husband without an "expiration date" :)D), at least for the next two years! And of course when we get to go through customs together, I'll appreciate it too! Now we just have to work on my wife being able to go through customs with me together when we enter the EU ... ;)

To summarize, here's the advice I can give:
Anyone going to San Antonio DO, be prepared for an interesting parking situation. Don't think too hard about the signs/barriers and park in the back.
Anyone who lives at different addresses than your spouse:
- be sure to state it appropriately in your application; it will definitely come up in your interview and become a central part of your interview.
- write an explanatory letter
- explain your future plans carefully
- ask the IO for advice at the end if you're not sure what this will mean for your removal of condition
For anyone, be sure to think of questions to ask the IO after the interview. This is your time to get some valuable information.

Thank you all for the advice you have given me here. Most of all, I'd like to thank my wife for spending countless hours, days, weekends helping me prepare all the documentation. You know you are truly loved if your continued presence in a country is so important to someone and I'm only now beginning to really appreciate the meaning of this. :)
Click to expand...

Well good for you austriacus! and welcome to LPR-Land :D

I wonder the same thing, what should I do with my I-94 paroled... ? oh well, I will keep it for souvenir? it doesn't really matter I guess...

Have a great week now though, waiting for the GC.
 
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