Good interview, bad consequences!

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captainkit

Registered Users (C)
My husband and I had our interview today in Los Angeles. We arrived 20 minutes early for a 10:30am spot and waited until 11:30 to be seen.. there were around 30 other couples in the waiting room.

Our IO was a young woman, very softly spoken and she seemed very nice. She knew her stuff though... we had a huge file, and she could find the page she wanted within a fraction of a second. She asked questions very quickly and was very clear and ordered with the questions she asked.

When we walked in she had our folder open, and I could see "FP cleared" in large red writing on the cover. Good start! She asked to see my passport, driver's license, social security card, and my husband's driver's license. She also asked for our marriage certificate and my I-94 and I-20 (I was an F-1 student before I got married.)

She asked if I was still a student, and I said yes but I'm taking a break. She asked why, and I said I had taken a semester off after the wedding and needed to wait until next year when my remaining classes were being offered again. She said "oh, but you went to UCLA, I thought they had quarters not semesters." I said "sorry, you're right it's quarters" and she looked at me very funny. I got a little worried, but she checked my I-20 and seemed satisfied.

Then she asked my husband about his job, the hours he worked, and if anything had changed since he signed the affidavit of support. She didn't ask him much else. She then asked if we had gone through with our plan to have a big wedding celebration (we were legally married in Vegas in March, and then had a huge 'real' wedding in LA in June.) We said yes, and she asked to see a wedding invitation and photos. Luckily I had the wedding invitation, I didn't think we'd need it! My husband works in tv and we had several tv stars at our wedding, the IO visibly raised an eyebrow when she looked at our photos :rolleyes: She then asked how we knew one of them (the best man, my husband's brother - he's an actor) and then smiled and said "ok, I'm going to approve you." I don't know if it was because our case was good or because she's a fan of his... I'm not complaining either way!

She went and photocopied a bunch of stuff (including all the photos with actors in them - she left the others on the desk!) and came back and gave us an acceptance letter. I asked her if she'd stamp my passport, and she said no... we had to wait 2-4 weeks (probably 2) for the green card. She took my EAD and also my advanced parole documents. I asked if I could travel (I had been planning to go home Nov 4) and she said no, I had to wait for my green card to arrive in the mail. She also explained that my green card is conditional and I would have to remove conditions in 2 years.

So I'm fairly happy... she was nice enough, and apart from the quarter/semester thing there weren't any scary moments. But I'm absolutely crushed I have to cancel my trip home next week... I've had it planned since before I got the interview notice. My husband wondered if I can't just go and have him mail me the GC when it arrives in 2 weeks, so I can get back in to the US... does this seem too risky to you? The IO told me not to travel until I get the actual GC. If it wasn't for this trip I'd be over the moon about being accepted today, but it's my mum's 50th birthday next week and my nanna is in hospital and I'd been so excited about going home for the first time in a year :(

Mr Captainkit and I had a champagne lunch, and now I'm off to champagne dinner with my best friend! I'm trying to be cheerful, it's wonderful my GC has been approved but losing the trip home has really crushed me...
 
Yes, you can leave

If you really have to leave US to go to visit home in the first week of Nov, the answer is "YES", there is no stopping .....yes you can leave and like you said your husband could mail your your actual GC. I would use either Fed Ex/ UPS or DHL to be more safe.

One of my firend's wife got her GC approved last year. The officer refused to stamp the passport but she still went ahead and left the country with that approval notice. My friend received her GC in the mail in 2 weeks and took it with him when he joined his wife few months later. It all worked out.
 
You can take an infopass appointment and ask the IO to stamp your passport. My wife had her green card interview yesterday and the DAO stamped her passport with the evidence of her PR status. He said they don't do it anymore as the cards are mailed 2 weeks after the approval. Interestingly I don't see any updates on the I130 & I485 on their case system online. (not that it matters)

Congrats on your green card approval :)
 
VivaLasVegas said:
You can take an infopass appointment and ask the IO to stamp your passport. My wife had her green card interview yesterday and the DAO stamped her passport with the evidence of her PR status. He said they don't do it anymore as the cards are mailed 2 weeks after the approval. Interestingly I don't see any updates on the I130 & I485 on their case system online. (not that it matters)

Congrats on your green card approval :)
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I second this. Make an infopass appointment and get your passport stamped! (that is what I, and many others, have done).
 
I just checked for an infopass, and the earliest available is Nov 13... so not much help as I should have my GC around then anyway :(

Is it a really, really bad idea to leave without the GC and hope it arrives soon so my husband can send it to me in Australia? I'm clutching at straws!
 
You can do a walk in to your D.O on mon with your approval letter and telling them u have an emergency and need to travel d next day.They will stamp your passport for u and if possible go with your tkt
 
It is true, you should not travel yet, unless you have something official on paper to show you have been approved. Or at least have Advance Parole.

Getting approved at the interview doesn't mean it's final yet. The file will go back to the Service Center for your region, and a supervisor may overturn the approval, or if you are subject to the visa bulletin your case may not have a visa number assigned yet, or it may just sit there for weeks or months collecting dust.

If they agree to give you the I-551 stamp in your passport, or the approval notice arrives in the mail, then you know for sure that you've been approved for real, so you can travel and have the card sent to you later. Or if you have Advance Parole, you can use that to travel and come back. Otherwise, wait to get something official on paper from the Service Center or card production unit.
 
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They took my advanced parole documents at the interview, and said I can't use them anymore.

Regarding a "walk-in" to try to get my passport stamped, what do I say to the person at the front desk? Should I go very early? Also what documents do I need to show them before they'll stamp my passport?

My DO is LA and I can't get an infopass for two weeks, and the website says they only see infopass appointments... does this mean they don't do any walk-ins?
 
Apologies but I need to 'bump' this! Can anyone help me with the questions above regarding walk-ins? I'm planning to try it tomorrow.

For supporting documents, I have a printed itinerary/receipt for my trip, but not a "ticket" per se. I also have emails from family members about my nanna's condition, nothing official like a doctor's note - I don't think I can get that in time. Will this be sufficient?
 
That should be enough. you can go to your local USCIS office in the morning and explain what's going on to either the security guard or the Immigration Officer and they should be able to stamp your passport with the I-551 stamp.

Good Luck.
 
OK, I walked in to the LA office at 9am this morning, and here's how it went:

I didn't have an appointment, so I argued my case to the girl who takes appointment notices. She told me to go home because I wasn't going to get the stamp. I said I'd like to try anyway, so she gave me a ticket but told me I would be behind everyone else.

Hundreds of people passed through the office! I had a good book with me so I was ok. After five-and-a-half-hours, with hardly anyone left in the room, my number was called. I explained my situation to the officer, who looked through my things and then told me he couldn't do anything for me because I didn't have an official doctor's note. He said it has to be a true emergency for them to give someone a stamp, and the government has a "show me" policy - they won't believe your reasons without evidence. I had my plane ticket and emails from my family about my nanna's condition, but they were "easy to get" and not enough to prove my need.

He was really nice about it - he said "hey, you got approved for your GC! That's wonderful! Why are you looking so sad!" I explained that I hadn't known my AP docs would be taken away, and I had really been looking forward to the trip, especially with my nanna's situation. I said if I'd known they were going to take my papers, I would have rescheduled my GC interview and travelled home while I still had AP. (I may have been getting a little teary at this point.)

The officer then pulled up my file, and said "you know what, they haven't sent your actual file to the service centre (memory?) yet. I can go upstairs, if your AP papers are in there, I'll find them for you. Wait out here."

45 minutes later he came back with the bad news... there was a closed meeting going on in the room with my file, and he couldn't get it, plus his boss had told him he couldn't stamp my passport. I asked if it would be a bad idea to leave the US without my green card and stay in Australia until my husband mailed it to me, and he told me not to do it because they wouldn't actually let me leave with a return ticket and no legal way to re-enter. He stopped another man walking behind his desk and said "I've got that right, don't I?" Turns out this guy was the boss. He was very serious - he said "yes, it's right" and then said "are you the one that needs to leave so soon?" I said "yes" and he said "what's the emergency?"

I said "Honestly, it's not really an emergency anymore. My nanna has been seriously ill, it was really touch-and-go last week but she's been doing better these last few days. I'm just really disappointed, because I'd been counting down the days until I could go home and see her, and it's been stressful. I'll be alright, I know you've done all you can, and I really appreciate that you've tried to help me." Grumpy boss looked at me, looked at the officer, and said "stamp her. Only Christmas present I give anybody this year." I said "really? thank you!" and he said "yeah, yeah, have a nice trip."

The original officer was completely gobsmacked... he told me the boss is normally evil! It seems he liked me because I told the truth, and didn't try to pretend the "emergency" was worse than it was... he said they get people in every week who are originally from Sweden and claim to have a dying grandmother in Cancun with no evidence - "all these grannies dying in Maui and Cabo and the Greek Islands, you wouldn't believe it." :lol:

So I got my stamp with 60 days on it, and I'm flying home tomorrow! It took seven hours total and I was the last person there... but it's so worth it. I know I got lucky, but I also know it always pays to be polite and thankful and not demand anything... and to tell the truth to USCIS!
 
captainkit said:
OK, I walked in to the LA office at 9am this morning, and here's how it went:

I didn't have an appointment, so I argued my case to the girl who takes appointment notices. She told me to go home because I wasn't going to get the stamp. I said I'd like to try anyway, so she gave me a ticket but told me I would be behind everyone else.

Hundreds of people passed through the office! I had a good book with me so I was ok. After five-and-a-half-hours, with hardly anyone left in the room, my number was called. I explained my situation to the officer, who looked through my things and then told me he couldn't do anything for me because I didn't have an official doctor's note. He said it has to be a true emergency for them to give someone a stamp, and the government has a "show me" policy - they won't believe your reasons without evidence. I had my plane ticket and emails from my family about my nanna's condition, but they were "easy to get" and not enough to prove my need.

He was really nice about it - he said "hey, you got approved for your GC! That's wonderful! Why are you looking so sad!" I explained that I hadn't known my AP docs would be taken away, and I had really been looking forward to the trip, especially with my nanna's situation. I said if I'd known they were going to take my papers, I would have rescheduled my GC interview and travelled home while I still had AP. (I may have been getting a little teary at this point.)

The officer then pulled up my file, and said "you know what, they haven't sent your actual file to the service centre (memory?) yet. I can go upstairs, if your AP papers are in there, I'll find them for you. Wait out here."

45 minutes later he came back with the bad news... there was a closed meeting going on in the room with my file, and he couldn't get it, plus his boss had told him he couldn't stamp my passport. I asked if it would be a bad idea to leave the US without my green card and stay in Australia until my husband mailed it to me, and he told me not to do it because they wouldn't actually let me leave with a return ticket and no legal way to re-enter. He stopped another man walking behind his desk and said "I've got that right, don't I?" Turns out this guy was the boss. He was very serious - he said "yes, it's right" and then said "are you the one that needs to leave so soon?" I said "yes" and he said "what's the emergency?"

I said "Honestly, it's not really an emergency anymore. My nanna has been seriously ill, it was really touch-and-go last week but she's been doing better these last few days. I'm just really disappointed, because I'd been counting down the days until I could go home and see her, and it's been stressful. I'll be alright, I know you've done all you can, and I really appreciate that you've tried to help me." Grumpy boss looked at me, looked at the officer, and said "stamp her. Only Christmas present I give anybody this year." I said "really? thank you!" and he said "yeah, yeah, have a nice trip."

The original officer was completely gobsmacked... he told me the boss is normally evil! It seems he liked me because I told the truth, and didn't try to pretend the "emergency" was worse than it was... he said they get people in every week who are originally from Sweden and claim to have a dying grandmother in Cancun with no evidence - "all these grannies dying in Maui and Cabo and the Greek Islands, you wouldn't believe it." :lol:

So I got my stamp with 60 days on it, and I'm flying home tomorrow! It took seven hours total and I was the last person there... but it's so worth it. I know I got lucky, but I also know it always pays to be polite and thankful and not demand anything... and to tell the truth to USCIS!
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Truth shall set you free! :D

I got my stamp without a sweat! ;) but I am glad you got yours at last. Enjoy the trip!
 
Thanks everyone. I'm so excited... up until tonight I hadn't let myself think about going home and seeing my family because I didn't want to get my hopes up. It's going to be a big surprise for my parents and nanna!
 
captainkit said:
Thanks everyone. I'm so excited... up until tonight I hadn't let myself think about going home and seeing my family because I didn't want to get my hopes up. It's going to be a big surprise for my parents and nanna!
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I am soo happy for you CK!! Thats awesome news!
Cant believe your going back to Aus, how about I
jump in ur suitcase LOL We have plans to go there
next year, i cant wait to see my family also!
Thats great they stamped your passport!! Have
a safe trip!!
 
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