I just came back from my interview at the Santa Ana field office. Our interview, for my spouse (principal applicant) and myself (derivative), was scheduled for 8AM but started already at 7:45 as we arrived around 7:30. We were greeted by a very kind senior immigration services officer who brought us to his office. I was happy that he interviewed us together as we also only received one invitation letter (addressed to both), and I was slightly anxious whether or not we would be in separate interviews (not that the outcome would change but it made me feel more comfortable being together). He started by informing us how the interview would be conducted, as in what we will cover throughout. He asked us to present him with our ID’s, passports, EAD cards (if applicable), birth certificate and marriage certificate. He got our files, opened them up and said before we start we have to take the oath to not lie during the interview.
Upon taking the oath, he began by opening both of our I-693s, as we did not send them with our package. He went page by page, and after reviewing both he said these are good. He then wanted us to start telling him how my spouse and I met as well as about our history (we got married after applying for the DV lottery but before the results came out). Questions included but were not limited to:
- Have you visited each other’s families?
- Who was present at the wedding ceremony?
- What did you do after the ceremony?
- Do you families know you are married?
- Do you have any plans of going somewhere or doing something anytime soon (as in events, vacation, etc.)?
- What was one of the last events or vacations that you went to?
After hearing about our relationship, we proceeded with going over the I-485 starting with the principal applicant. He went page by page, occasionally asking questions, such as (again just a few examples):
- What is you DoB?
- You currently live at XYZ and previously at ABC, is that correct?
- I see you are a member of XYZ organization, are you still?
- Are you a member of any other organization not listed?
- Do you have any children?
He then proceeded and went over my I-485 and asked very similar questions (he had stopped at the 80+ Yes and No questions so he can ask us together and does not have to ask us individually).
As mentioned, he then asked us most of the Yes and No questions in the back of the I-485.
After reviewing all, and having us sign at the end of the I-485 application that he made a few changes/additions to our I-485 (I will speak about this towards the end), he asked if there was anything else we wanted to submit, such as pictures or joint documents or anything else we feel we would like to submit. We then gave him:
- Lease document showing both of our names
- Pictures of us at different locations (her and my home country with each other’s families, etc.)
- My latest pay-stub + offer letter showing annual salary
- Health insurance document showing we are covered together
Upon receiving them, he gave us a paper saying that the next step is to see if there is visa availability and that from their side we are all good. He said he knows that our decision has to happen by 9/31 and that he doesn’t exactly know how much time is needed in allocating a visa for us.
He walked us out, asked us to wait in the waiting room while he wanted to make some copies of our passports, pictures, etc.
Overall it took just slightly over one hour and we had a great experience. While walking to the car, we already received an update but it was that our interview has been completed. I initially thought, “Wow, this is fast!”
Now we are hopeful and just waiting for another update.
Some notes:
- In our I-485 we used our EAD card A-number as the A-number and our IO said that it is not the correct one and he corrected it for us. I am actually not sure with what he replaced them with.
- Also he made an addition to the derivative I-485 on page 4 part 2 questions 5-8. I had these as N/A but he made the changes without saying anything until the very end. He then said, since I am the derivative applicant I need to have this filled out. I am not sure if this is correct or not, but wanted to share this here (Also, the principal applicant had the first two questions on that page as N/A but he did not make a change to hers).
Lastly, as so many of us have done at the end of this journey, no matter if we get approved or not, this forum as well as Simon’s website have been the greatest resource for DV lottery selectness (CP and AoS).
We were initially thinking of hiring a lawyer but decided not to after we found the forum and received multiple replies from Mom, which made us feel confident that we can do this with her and Simon’s help.
For now, I can only thank this forum with all its helpful members (such as
@Xarthisius and
@SusieQQQ) and especially
@Sm1smom and
@Britsimon for your continuous help for any kinds of questions, no matter how stupid they may be.
Once we hear if we have been approved or not I will make another update.
Thank you and good luck to all remaining applicants!
