My I-485 was filed in Nebraska in 2001. It got transferred to the local office in Dallas. We (my wife and me) got an interview notice from the Local office that we have to attend an interview. I was a little concerned when we got the interview.
My attorney kept me cool, saying that this is happening to lot of people lately. He also mentioned that this interview would me mainly to check out that we are NOT married for GC reasons and that we are still staying together. So, he asked me to take ALL and ANY kind of paper work that can prove that we are living together. I collected a lot of documents ranging from the lease agreement, joint account statements, car finance papers etc.,
Finally the DAY of interview came and we went to the Local field office with all the papers. The moment of truth for the interview has come
. The officer called out my name and I went along with my wife inside.
The officer was quite friendly; she started by letting us take an “oath”. She reviewed her papers for a minute and then started asking questions like when we get married etc. We showed our wedding pictures and I started explaining her each picture. She paid a lot of attention to the pictures and was asking lot of questions to make sure that we those pictures were taken in our wedding.
After a long and exhaustive interview of 45 to 50 minutes, she collected lot of papers which we collected like the certificates etc., and started talking. She told that she has no doubts that we are married and living together. But, she said she couldn't stamp our passports because she hasn't received the FBI clearance before our interview. She said we would have to wait till the FBI clears us and then they will send us a notice to come and appear for a stamp in the passport.
When I asked her of the timelines, she told me that it usually takes anywhere between 30-60 days. Since our papers went to FBI long time back, she said that INS might receive the papers anytime now.
We were happy and a little disappointed at the same time. I am thankful to all the people who helped me through the interview (especially my attorney). We are now in the waiting mode again. I am not sure if we are in a better position than anybody else waiting for their I-485 approvals.
Let me know if anyone has gone in this path or traveling in the same path now. I would like to hear any suggestions or comments.
My attorney kept me cool, saying that this is happening to lot of people lately. He also mentioned that this interview would me mainly to check out that we are NOT married for GC reasons and that we are still staying together. So, he asked me to take ALL and ANY kind of paper work that can prove that we are living together. I collected a lot of documents ranging from the lease agreement, joint account statements, car finance papers etc.,
Finally the DAY of interview came and we went to the Local field office with all the papers. The moment of truth for the interview has come
. The officer called out my name and I went along with my wife inside. The officer was quite friendly; she started by letting us take an “oath”. She reviewed her papers for a minute and then started asking questions like when we get married etc. We showed our wedding pictures and I started explaining her each picture. She paid a lot of attention to the pictures and was asking lot of questions to make sure that we those pictures were taken in our wedding.
After a long and exhaustive interview of 45 to 50 minutes, she collected lot of papers which we collected like the certificates etc., and started talking. She told that she has no doubts that we are married and living together. But, she said she couldn't stamp our passports because she hasn't received the FBI clearance before our interview. She said we would have to wait till the FBI clears us and then they will send us a notice to come and appear for a stamp in the passport.
When I asked her of the timelines, she told me that it usually takes anywhere between 30-60 days. Since our papers went to FBI long time back, she said that INS might receive the papers anytime now.
We were happy and a little disappointed at the same time. I am thankful to all the people who helped me through the interview (especially my attorney). We are now in the waiting mode again. I am not sure if we are in a better position than anybody else waiting for their I-485 approvals.
Let me know if anyone has gone in this path or traveling in the same path now. I would like to hear any suggestions or comments.