So if you thought that my interview didn't throw a curve ball of its own, you will have to wait a bit more.
We arrived there to find that the place was almost deserted. We went to the floor indicated on the invitation letter. A guy told us that the person on the letter is not on their floor and there must have been a mistake. He kindly took us to the right floor. The waiting room was deserted too. I could see staff members looking at us weirdly, some chatting to each other that "we are off-calendar".
Turns out they had scheduled the interview for the wrong date as well. And the officer was not there. Stories kept varying from her being in training, having had a sick child, and having called in sick. I leave it to your imagination how we felt at the moment.
Thankfully, they found a different officer that was willing to interview us. She said she expected us to be turned away!
She took us to her office and sworn us in off the bat. She had our folders. They had a cover sheet on top that in big font said "Special Handling - DV Case". I'm glad at least this FO understands this.
I would say she was rather thorough. It was the first time she was seeing our file, so she had to go through everything in our presence. She asked for passports, original I-797s, and original I20s. The moment she detached the I-94s from our passports I knew it was over. She also detached all I-94s from the I-797s and kept them.
Yes/No questions came last, rather as a formality. But she paid attention that we had never had J visas and that we had never received any public assistance.
As I said she was thorough, but not in a gotcha mindset at all. I was happy to see that she knew what she was doing. 45 minutes in, She handed us a letter "to show that we were there". The most desirable option on the sheet, which was checked, is that the case is under review and that they have everything they need.
I asked her whether this meant approval. She said basically yes because she didn't see any issues and that we should expect to receive our cards in 2 to 3 weeks. A few hours later we got the CPOs, and the status later changed to decision (the decision or the disposition that we are registered as permanent residents).
And that's how this long journey ended. I can say the journey ended because I am not as much worried about the physical card.
It's the status that mattered the most; the peace of mind that if something happens to my job, it will not change my destiny.
