1) I had my original tax returns, and also had transcripts ready. I asked the officer which ones he wanted, he said the originals are fine.
2) I don't know. My lawyer prepared it. My employer signed it, and my lawyer personnaly handed it to the officer. I never saw the final copy, but I knew how my job description was written up so I could explain it if asked by the officer.
3) Officer swore us in, and then asked for the new employment letter. He carefully read the entire letter, and then asked to see the company financials. The lawyer handed him a yearly report that is published for anyone who wants it, since my company is a publicly traded company. He scanned the financial booklet, and then asked me how long I've worked at my company. He put the financials aside, and looked at my case file. He asked us when we had our last fingerprints, and we told him the exact date in November 2004, then he found it in the computer, and confirmed with us. He asked my date of birth, my mother’s name, me father’s name, and my current address. My address was my old address so he corrected it. He asked the exact same questions of my wife and corrected the address also in his computer. He also asked if we ha ever been convicted of any crimes. He asked to see the copeis of our tax returns, Now he said that he needs a passport, or a birth certificate. We gave him our passports, and that was sufficient. He entered something into the computer, probably the passport numbers. Then he asked for all our EADs. At this point, in my mind, I knew I was going to get approved today, since he can't take my EAD if he's not going to approve me today. Then he asked each of us individually to sign a paper on both sides, and he took each of us to put a fingerprint of our right index finger on to the same paper. He asked if there was anything else we brought for him to review, and my lawyer offered my last 3 pay stubs. He reviewed the copies quite quickly, and didn't ask for the originals. He took out a stamp and gently stamped the passports, and then wrote in the A# and the expiry date, which is next year, 2005. I noted the exact time that the stamp hit the page in my passport. It was like the birth of a newborn! He told us that the cards are coming very quickly these days, about 2 months, so we should get them in the mail very soon, but he still has to tell us that it could take up to 6 months. Until then we can use the stamp to travel, and when crossing the border, we would be taken to secondary inspection for the officers to verify the stamp is valid. The whole thing took about 10 minutes!
He never asked for my I-94.
He never asked for my paystubs, until my lawyer offered it.
He never asked for my Advance Paroles, and I still have the old ones.
He never looked at our birth certificates, or our marriage certificates.
Read my whole story here:
http://www.immigrationportal.com/showthread.php?t=152852
4) I suggest that anyone who has an interview should bring a lawyer. They seem to have a rapport with the officers, and this eases the tension a little bit. Also since the officer sees you have a lawyer, he will be less inclined to ask any "sticky" questions, since the lawyer will be able to dance around them with ease. Without the lawyer present, these sticky questions, may cause your approval to be delayed until the officer can do some further investigation to get the answers himself, or until you produce any additional evidence.
