wow, I am thrilled about this couples experience that I want my fellow Ghanaians who are married and about to attend their interivews to have a feel of what they might encounter on the day.
Hello to everyone,
My wife and I had a successful interview at US Embassy in Addis Ababa for DV-2010. We would like to share it with you just incase it helps to get your visas if you are a married. Before what happened to the interview date I would like to give you some tips on what you should and shouldn’t do.
1. You have to read and prepare yourself in all the questions that may be asked in the interview if you are married. I pointed out some of the sites I have browsed and which gave us ideas to prepare everything about us.
• immihelp.com/greencard/familybasedimmigration/marriage-based-greencard-fraud-interview.html
• answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080213133116AAqSBv3
• greencardinterviewsecrets.com/green-card-interview-tips/
• svensual.com/wikas/#_Toc112952853
• ezinearticles.com/?Love-is-Not-Enough-to-Pass-the-Green-Card-Interview&id=3152921
• wiki.answers.com/Q/Does_anyone_have_a_list_of_questions_asked_during_the_greencard_interview_for_marriage
Copy each url to your browser . Some of the sites are for Green card but similar to the one you will be asked for DV.
2. If you are applying DV to qualify with education. You must read and update yourself at least on preliminary courses you have taken on your major courses. They will definitely ask you two or three questions and you must answer that successfully. (only the primary applicant will be asked such questions)
3. Try to arrive at the Embassy in time for your interview. They may give you an appointment slip for 1 pm, but they start processing visas at 12:30 pm on you interview date.
4. Do not drop anything the give you (every slip, every receipt, every form) until you finish your process. They might ask you for it. You should also carry an ID with picture.
5. Don’t use your cell phone inside the Embassy. If you could, I prefer if you leave it at home so that you can only focus on your interview.
6. Don’t think the officers in the Embassy won’t mind whatever you wear on your interview date. It is a sign of respect to dress formal and pleas “don’t wear Jeans”
7. When the officer asks you and your spouse separately they might give you some clue that you have different answer from that of your spouse. If you are sure your answer are true explain to the officer, why you know more about the issue than your spouse, please don’t cover a lie with a lie, you will make them suspicious.
8. For the first time you face interviewing officer and when the decisive moment arrives, no matter how confident you are you will be scared, at least a bit. You must calm yourself down as much as possible not to look suspicious for no reason.
9. Before the interview date go to the embassy then ask the information desk or security officers what you have to do in the interview date and when you have to arrive on the interview date. In Ethiopia only the primary applicant is required to show up with all the necessary documents in the morning and the rest of your family could join you in the afternoon. But this might be changed and you must ask for yourself.
10. If your marriage is bona fide, you shouldn’t worry about your visas, always tell the truth, and never guess anything. If the officer asks you something difficult to remember in the past you may ask a moment to concentrate and recall the answer without leaving the officers window. Take only 3-5 seconds if you still couldn’t remember apologize and tell the officer you couldn’t remember. Maybe you can get away with this with only one question. Otherwise you will invite yourself more difficult questions on yourself.
11. Try to focus on what is going on there. Remember the Embassy is not a place for you to be shy or introvert. Even if, you haven’t seen a guy before the interview date try to be friends with them. If they are asked ahead of you ask them what difficult questions they face.
N.B: - Everything what I put in square brackets [ ] are suggestion not necessarily what you must do
- Everything what I put in parenthesis ( ) are translations
- Everything what I put in inverted commas ‘ ‘ are in reported speech
- All capital letters I have used are aliases to the real facts, names and addresses
Before the interview date
For about a week and half my wife and I prepare for the interview. We browsed the entire sites about the interview and we list down all facts about us on paper. On the day before the interview we tried to focus and discuss on all those activities we did, what we ate, what other activities we did and when the time for each activity was. Because our house is far from the Embassy we rented a room from the near by Hotel. So that we can concentrate on the interview than to worry about the traffic jams between our house and the Embassy. At night we revise everything and went to sleep at 10 pm.
On the interview date
We got up 2 am in the morning. I keep reading on the material I had on my field of study and my wife keep praying for our God to be with us. Finally, at 5 am we dressed up and prayed together for one last time before leaving the room. By the time we arrived at the Embassy at about 5:30 am there were around six people were ahead of us we gave the greetings and joined the line. The security officers made us to form a line across the road and at about 7:30 am one of them returned and he count the first ten people and told us to cross the road and pass through the first security check. On the outside waiting chairs they told us to sit on separate rows from that of non-immigrant visa requesters. Our interview date was on Monday and the janitors hadn’t arrived yet the waiting chairs were so dirty. [It may be better if you carry a tissue paper with you]. They gave us a folder to put our entire document in and it has instructions in it the order of document arrangement and to put all the individuals document on the respective passport. [Before the interview date you should make all your documents photocopied and for your marriage license make two copies and arrange them as original and photocopies behind and attach them with paperclips if you could. Also attach your 5x5 two photos with paperclips in front of your respective passports]. I submitted the folder with our documents to the front desk officer and she gave me a green appointment slip to come back at 1 pm in the same date and a consent form to be signed that I won’t ask the Embassy, about my visa payment even if it is not issued to me. She also told me to come back at 1pm with 10,500 birr for each of my family members. I thanked the officer and we went back to our hotel at around 9 pm. We have our breakfast there, we changed our formal wear and watch some TV show then we left our stuff in the reception and back to the Embassy at 11:30 pm. When we got there we met two couples. The first ones are a little bit older couples with three girls and the other couples were young and with no kids, they are more like us. We prefer to spend more time with the young couples to share some ideas we know. During our talk I have realized that their marriage is bona fide but I really doubt that they spent even an hour to discuss about the interview. They told us the interview is going to be easy if our marriage is the real one and not to worry about it. Then a security officer come to us and told us to enter to the Embassy. After the first security check we sat on the morning waiting chairs for few minute and they let us in to the Embassy. We gave the front desk officers our appointment slip and our ids. Then they let us pass to consular office through the second security check at around 12:30 pm. In the Embassy they took mine and my wife’s finger print for the first time at window number 2. It was a male, by birth Ethiopian, officer and he was so funny. He gave me back all those my work experience letters and said, since you are applying dv to qualify with education they don’t need experience letters. He requested for the signed consent form that I took in the morning and gave me a payment slip and to comeback after paying the specified amount the first 10,440 birr. I did what the officer told me and gave him back the receipt and the slip back. He told me to sit and wait for my name to be called.
In the mean time those older couple with their three girls called for interview and everybody in the waiting chair was praying for them to succeed and they did succeed. I got up from my chair and hugged the husband and shook the wife’s hand to congratulate them. They were so happy and filled with tears of joy in their eyes. I told them I am so happy for them and their kids and they were so happy because the got someone to celebrate with.
I can’t tell you what happened to the younger couples we met before, because their interview hadn’t started till ours finished.
Interview
Part I
We both called at window 9 for the interview.
Officer: ‘Selam walachu’ (Good afternoon in our language)
I and my wife: ‘Egziabher yemesgen’ (replied for the greeting)
Officer: ‘She told us to put my hands on the finger screen and took my prints then my wife’s’
Officer: Who is the person you filled that you intend to go in US.
I: He is my wife’s relative
Officer: What is the relationship?
My wife: ‘She told the officer what the relationship is’
Officer: Request my wife to leave the window wait downstairs. [My wife does what she is told]
Part II
Officer: What is the highest level of education you completed?
I: I have a degree in XX subject from ZZ University.
Officer: What is YY in your field of study?
I: ‘I know well about the question then gave the officer an explanation for it.’
Officer: What is RR in your field of study?
I: ‘That was something I never expected to be asked. It is not full but I gave the officer an explanation for it.’ [I think the officer is satisfied about my knowledge about my field of study, she no more asked me about it]
Officer: Where do you met your wife
I: I met my wife in the campus, when we were students.
Officer: Do you live with your wife
I: I don’t
Officer: Can you explain why
I: We used to live together after graduation for X year and due to my work address has been shifted we live separately since then.
Officer: For how long have you lived together and for how long do you depart
I: ‘I told her for how long it was for each of it.’
Officer: Where does your wife work?
I: She work for A agency in M town
Officer: What is your religion?
I: I am a Christian of Y church
Officer: What about your wife
I: She is Christian of Y church too.
Officer: Where do you celebrate the last Easter
I: We celebrate together in the house I live in
Officer: Is anyone celebrated with you at that time
I: No one celebrated with us
Officer: Do you go to church on that Easter
I: We usually go to church but for Easter we don’t
Officer: What did you have for dinner last night?
I: Shiro (Ethiopian local souse)
Officer: When did your wife came here from town M
I: [At first I couldn’t remember what day it was, since it was a near past I couldn’t replied to the officer I don’t remember. I asked her if she can give me a moment to recall. She allowed me. Then I count the date back with some event I remember and I replied to the officer]. It was on Tuesday
Officer: ‘She called my wife’s name on the mick and she made me wait on the window till she arrive’
Part III
Officer: Have you completed your high school
My wife: Yes
Officer: What is the highest level of education you have completed?
My wife: A degree n XX course
Officer: From which institute
My wife: From ZZ University
Officer: Where do you met with your husband
My wife: In campus
Officer: Where does your husband work?
My wife: ‘She told her the agency I work for’
Officer: Does your husband work in M town
My wife: No, he works here
Officer: For how long do you and your husband lived together and depart
My wife: We lived together for F years together and before we got married we departed for G years and H years after we got married. [My wife gave the officer unnecessary information, instead of telling the total year she separated it into two, and confused the officer]
Officer: Have you celebrated the last Easter with your husband
My wife: Yes
Officer: Where
My wife: Here in your house
Officer: Is anyone celebrated with you
My wife: No one
Officer: Did you go to church in the last Easter
My wife: I don’t remember
Officer: Do you go to church on the other Sunday
My wife: Yes
Officer: Where do you go usually?
My wife: At Y church in some address U
Officer: When do you come here?
My wife: On Tuesday
Officer: What did you have for diner last night?
My wife: Enjera with shiro wot (local bread and local souse)
Officer: She called my name and window number to come
Part IV
Officer: From your response. You said you departed this but your wife replied that.
I: ‘I explained to the officer what my wife meant by that and how it is similar to the one I answered before’
Officer: When was the last time your wife visited your parents
I: She visited them around January or at the end of December
Officer: When was the last time you visited your wife’s parents
I: Three weeks ago
Officer: When do you got married
I: In 200X with some traditional wedding. [Which was the truth and we tried to grab all pictures and DVD of the wedding ceremony, but the officer didn’t ask for it and I didn’t mention I had it with me]
Officer: Why do you wait so long to license your marriage?
I: Because, this DV process came us and we know we need some legal document to show for you. [This was the truth again. I never hesitated to tell the officer the truth, though I don’t like testifying we got our certificate for DV. When I was talking this the officer was observing me and she is pretty much convinced I was telling the truth.]
Officer: Do you have brother and sister
I: Yes, one brother and one sister
Officer: Does your wife has brother and sister
I: Yes, one brother and one sister too
Officer: Is she the oldest, the youngest or middle child
I: She is the youngest and I am the middle child
Officer: Where do your parents live?
I: In town called N
Officer: Where do your brother and sister live?
I: In town N
Officer: Where do your wife’s parents live?
I: In town called M
Officer: Where do your wife’s brother and sister live?
I: In town M
Part V
Officer: When was the last time your husband visited your parents
My wife: Three weeks ago and he stayed there for a week
Officer: When was the last time you visited your husband’s parents
My wife: On December
Officer: When do you got married
My wife: In DD/MM/200X. [The officer picked up our marriage license and looked for the wedding date]
Officer: Why do you wait so long to license your marriage?
My wife: Because in our country people usually got married with traditional wedding
Officer: Do you license your marriage for DV
My wife: Yes
Officer: What do you know about your husband’s family?
My wife: He has one brother and one sister
Officer: Is he the oldest, the youngest or middle child
My wife: He is the middle child
Officer: Where do your parents live?
My wife: In town called M
Officer: Where do your brother and sister live?
My wife: In town M
Officer: Where do your husband’s parents live?
My wife: In town called N
Officer: Where do your husband’s brother and sister live?
My wife: In town N
Officer: You have paid only for your husband processing and you can now pay for your processing too. ‘Then she gave my wife a payment slip.’
Part VI
I and my wife: We pay the specified amount another 10,440 birr. [ In the meantime it was the first time we met after the interview and we were discussing about my wife’s response on the number of years we separately lived and how the officer was confused really bad; being on the cashier’s desk. We never thought she could hear us, but the cashier heard and she was laughing on our discussion
Cashier: ‘She took our payment and gave us back the payment slip with receipt’
I and my wife: ‘We thanked the cashier and gave the officer what the cashier gave us’
Officer: ‘She gave us a green appointment letter and all the original documents. She told us we can come and collect our visas on the next Thursday 1:00 pm’
I and my wife: Enameseginalen (It means thank you in our language)
Officer: Minem Iydel (Never mind)
I and my wife: We went to our hotel’s reception and took our stuff and went back to our home.
About the Embassy
From the security guards to the final interviewing officer they were so polite and helpful. Even though our interviewing officer was a Caucasian female American she speaks very well Amharic and there was no language barrier. At first I had a though time explaining the first questions she asked about my field of study in my language, then I asked the officer to speak in English and I made most of my interview in that. If you face the same problem I did, use English.
Purpose of this diary
I spent hours to write this notes to you with all good intensions. I never meant to help in anyways those fake marriages to win the interview, but to help those really married couples from failing due to information gap. My wife and I didn’t have a marriage license till we won DV, we live in separate towns, we fill the second DV form as we live separately, and we don’t have kids to convince the consular officers.
We paid for those DV consultants for advice about our status, but they told us with our information, the odds of getting visa is nearly 0%, that at least we shouldn’t have filled the second form as we are currently living in different address.
You should get our experience for granted, don’t lie on you interview and don’t cheat on your documents. With good preparation and help of the Almighty God you will get your visa. If you are planning to get involve in a fraudulent marriage please ask yourself over and over ‘Why taking chance to be bound from getting to America for the rest of your life?’ If you think you can get away with it, read my interview again see how smart the officers are in their cross examination.
I wish you good luck with all my heart.