Interview experience
Well, it’s done. However, I wish I could say it is over. We finally had our interview yesterday and it was similar to the interviews of other forum members.
Our interview was scheduled at 11:00 AM. My wife and I got there at about 10:30 AM. After going through security the officer at the registration window took our appointment forms and asked us to wait for our names to be called. At about 10:55 AM, an officer came out to the waiting area an informed everybody there that the system was down and that was going to delay the interviews and that everybody should be patient.
Our names were called at 11:05 (note that my wife and I had different appointment times: 11:30 and 11:00, respectively). We thought the system was up and running again (more on than below). We followed the officer to his office. He asked us not to sit down yet because we had to take the oath. He then told us to sit down and asked us to see our passports and driver’s licenses. He then proceeded to remove the I-94s from both passports and asked us to remind him to return our passports to us after the interview was over in case he forgets to do that. Since I was the primary applicant, he said that he was going to start with my case and opened my file. He asked me every single question on the I-485 form: name, DOB, address, current immigration status, date of last entry, occupation, parents’ names, whether I was married or not, my wife’s name, her DOB, whether we had kids or not, and some of the questions on page 3 of the form (he only asked 6 or 7 of those). He made a check mark with a red pen on every single field of the form. He finally asked me about the telephone number that I had entered at the end of the form. I told him that it was my cell phone and I was still using that number. Overall I would say he was very friendly.
He then reviewed form I-693. He made a check mark again next to some of the questions. After that, he continued going through my file. When he reached the DV notification letter, he asked me why we had waited so long to submit the AOS documents if our DV number was low. I explained him that we had submitted the documents when our number became current (April 1st) and that this year the numbers for our region (SA) had been given out at a lower rate than years before. He explained us that we could have submitted the AOS documents as soon as our number was published on the Visa Bulletin, about 60 days before April 1st. I told him that I had heard that but that I had decided against that just to be on the safe side.
Finally, he told me that every thing looked fine and that my case looked “approvable.” He then tried to get into the system but it was still down! He told us that because of that he was not going to be able to give us any information! He told us that he wanted to verify that a number was available but that he could not do that without having access to the system
. I looked at my wife and we just could not believe that was happening. He finally took a post it note and placed it on my file. He wrote “approvable” on the post it and put the file on top of a box that was next to his desk.
He then said that the only thing that could be done was to continue the interview and that he was going to enter the information into the system at a later time. He opened my wife’s file and proceeded to ask her the exact set of questions that I was asked. He noticed that my wife was still using her maiden name and asked her if she wanted to change it. He told her that that was the moment to do it. My wife told him that she would prefer to keep her last name (We had decided to keep it this way, otherwise she would have to change all of her other documents).
He then said that he was going to make copies of our passports and driver’s licenses and he stepped out of his office. When he came back he told us that the interview was over and that we should hear from them in 60 days. If not, we should schedule an Infopass to inquire on the status of our case. He also reminded us about the Sept. 30 deadline.
Even though it appears to have been a successful interview, we walked out neither happy nor sad. I guess the frustrating part was that we could not find out anything about our case.
We had brought a LOT of papers with us. I had a thick accordion folder with all our documents. I had even asked a relative to fill out form I-134 just in case we were asked for that form. But the only thing the officer asked for were our passports and driver’s licenses. That was it.
I want to thank all of you that have shared your experiences in this forum. We could have not done it with out your help and support. To those that are still in the process, hang in there. Stay on top of your cases, schedule Infopass appointments and, if necessary, write to your congressman. That has worked for a lot of people in this forum.
For DV-2010 winners, the only piece of advice I would give you is to take your time and go through this thread and the DV-2008 AOS thread. You will find almost all the information you will need to submit a complete AOS package. Most importantly, you will learn about all the road blocks that the system will put on your path and what previous applicants did in those cases. It takes time but it’s time well worth it. I did not know anything about this process when I received the first NL, almost 14 months ago.
I will keep you guys posted on the progress of our case.
Good luck everyone.
Jarev
