We had our interview this morning and we were approved. It was a quick and painless interview which lasted about 15 min.
First some background: I am a US Naturalized Citizen, I had petitioned for my wife, who was on H1B. We have been married for just under 6 years and have a 5 yr old child. We also jointly own the house we live in for the past 5 years. I was expecting a fairly simple interview, but was well prepared for it. I had taken the following documents with me:
We had a stack of paperwork about 15 inches high.
The interview was at the Mount Laurel, NJ USCIS office, which is about 35 min drive from our place. We were very familiar with the place as the place is just a couple of blocks from my wife’s work place and also I had been there in Feb 2009 for my naturalization. The Mount Laurel USCIS office is a nice, small office. The staff there is very pleasant and friendly (I could recognize a lot of faces from my oath ceremony from Feb 2009). The waiting room has big screen LCD TV playing CNN. The interview was scheduled for 10.45am, we were there by 10.20am. There were about 50 people in the waiting room when we reached there. We were called in at about 11.00am, by that time most people in the waiting room had already been called in.
The USCIS officer was a young male, seemed very pleasant. The officer ushered us into his office. After initial greeting, we were sworn in. Then the officer started reviewing our file. He asked the following questions:
All this must have taken about 5. He did not even ask to see the pictures. Then he said I am convinced that your marriage is real and I am ready to approve you now. He took my wife’s EAD, Adv Parole. He cancelled her H1B visa (Put a cross mark with marker pen, with a notation “C w/o P” which I think means cancelled without prejudice and signed it). He then stamped the passport and signed it. He then went out of the room for 5 min to put a seal impression on top of the stamp. When he returned, I asked him to confirm if the GC will be unconditional, he said yes. He said we would get the Physical GC in 7 to 10 days.
That’s it. After usual pleasantries, we were out of the USCIS office at 11.22am. So, overall we were in the USCIS office for about an hour. Thanks You USCIS.
Lastly, I would like to thank everyone of this forum for sharing their experiences. I am not sure I would have been able to complete the GC process/paperwork myself without the help of all the information available on this forum. Good luck to you all.
My Timeline
=============================================
Location: New Jersey
District Office: Mount Laurel, NJ
(I-130, I-485, I-325, I-693, I-864, I-765, I-131)
Day 00, 04/27/2009 Mailed applications via USPS Priority Mail
Day 02, 04/29/2009 Application received by USCIS
Day 09, 05/05/2009 Checks Cashed.
Day 12, 05/08/2009 NOAs received for I130, I485, I131, I765
Day 19, 05/15/2009 Received FP notice for 06/02/2009
Day 37, 06/02/2009 FP Appointment @ USCIS Elizabeth, NJ
Day 38, 06/03/2009 EAD Card Approved. Received email from CRIS (USCIS) + USCIS Website updated.
Day 38, 06/03/2009 LUD on I485. Application touched.
Day 39, 06/04/2009 LUD on I765. EAD Production Ordered.
Day 39, 06/04/2009 LUD on I131. Travel Document Approved.
Day 43, 06/08/2009 Received Advance Parole Visa (2 sets)
Day 43, 06/08/2009 Second LUD on I765. EAD Production Ordered (2nd Time)
Day 47, 06/12/2009 Received EAD Card in mail.
Day 62, 06/27/2009 Received Interview Appointment Letter
Day 101, 08/05/2009 Interview - Approved !!!!
First some background: I am a US Naturalized Citizen, I had petitioned for my wife, who was on H1B. We have been married for just under 6 years and have a 5 yr old child. We also jointly own the house we live in for the past 5 years. I was expecting a fairly simple interview, but was well prepared for it. I had taken the following documents with me:
- Copy of GC application, EAD, Adv Parole, Passports etc.
- Original Marriage certificate and a certified copy
- Child’s birth certificate, Our birth certificates, Translation of My birth certificate
- Wife’s Paystubs (since 2003!) and employment letter (the interview letter asked for it- I know it did not apply to my case, but I carried it anyway)
- Wife’s old USCIS paperwork (for H1Bs etc)
- Tons of utility statements (3 utilities in my name, 1 in my wife’s name for over 3 yrs)
- My Naturalization Certificate
- Our house Deed
- Letter from my employer stating my wife is the primary beneficiary for my life insurance
- E-Tickets/Boarding passes from our last trip to India
- Picture album with about 70 pictures
- Health and Auto Insurance Cards
- Joint IT returns from 2005 onwards
- Joint IT Tax Transcripts from 2004 to 2007
- My paystubs for last 3 yrs
- Tons of Banks and Credit Card Statements
- Copies of everything above (for Utility and bank statements, I just took YTD copies)
We had a stack of paperwork about 15 inches high.
The interview was at the Mount Laurel, NJ USCIS office, which is about 35 min drive from our place. We were very familiar with the place as the place is just a couple of blocks from my wife’s work place and also I had been there in Feb 2009 for my naturalization. The Mount Laurel USCIS office is a nice, small office. The staff there is very pleasant and friendly (I could recognize a lot of faces from my oath ceremony from Feb 2009). The waiting room has big screen LCD TV playing CNN. The interview was scheduled for 10.45am, we were there by 10.20am. There were about 50 people in the waiting room when we reached there. We were called in at about 11.00am, by that time most people in the waiting room had already been called in.
The USCIS officer was a young male, seemed very pleasant. The officer ushered us into his office. After initial greeting, we were sworn in. Then the officer started reviewing our file. He asked the following questions:
- My wife’s current status.
- How many children do we have
- He asked to see the original marriage certificate
- How I got my GC (before naturalization) – Employment based EB3
- Do we own our home
- He asked to see some kind of proof for that, we passed a stack of mortgage statements (last 3 yrs), he just glanced at them and returned them to us.
- Yes/No questions- he just asked 4 or 5 of those, not all of them
All this must have taken about 5. He did not even ask to see the pictures. Then he said I am convinced that your marriage is real and I am ready to approve you now. He took my wife’s EAD, Adv Parole. He cancelled her H1B visa (Put a cross mark with marker pen, with a notation “C w/o P” which I think means cancelled without prejudice and signed it). He then stamped the passport and signed it. He then went out of the room for 5 min to put a seal impression on top of the stamp. When he returned, I asked him to confirm if the GC will be unconditional, he said yes. He said we would get the Physical GC in 7 to 10 days.
That’s it. After usual pleasantries, we were out of the USCIS office at 11.22am. So, overall we were in the USCIS office for about an hour. Thanks You USCIS.
Lastly, I would like to thank everyone of this forum for sharing their experiences. I am not sure I would have been able to complete the GC process/paperwork myself without the help of all the information available on this forum. Good luck to you all.
My Timeline
=============================================
Location: New Jersey
District Office: Mount Laurel, NJ
(I-130, I-485, I-325, I-693, I-864, I-765, I-131)
Day 00, 04/27/2009 Mailed applications via USPS Priority Mail
Day 02, 04/29/2009 Application received by USCIS
Day 09, 05/05/2009 Checks Cashed.
Day 12, 05/08/2009 NOAs received for I130, I485, I131, I765
Day 19, 05/15/2009 Received FP notice for 06/02/2009
Day 37, 06/02/2009 FP Appointment @ USCIS Elizabeth, NJ
Day 38, 06/03/2009 EAD Card Approved. Received email from CRIS (USCIS) + USCIS Website updated.
Day 38, 06/03/2009 LUD on I485. Application touched.
Day 39, 06/04/2009 LUD on I765. EAD Production Ordered.
Day 39, 06/04/2009 LUD on I131. Travel Document Approved.
Day 43, 06/08/2009 Received Advance Parole Visa (2 sets)
Day 43, 06/08/2009 Second LUD on I765. EAD Production Ordered (2nd Time)
Day 47, 06/12/2009 Received EAD Card in mail.
Day 62, 06/27/2009 Received Interview Appointment Letter
Day 101, 08/05/2009 Interview - Approved !!!!
Last edited by a moderator: