Interview August 11

L

lakelady

Registered Users (C)
First I have to say thanks to you guys for sharing experiences about filing forms, getting ready for the interview, etc....
And second I wanted to say that my interview will be a week from today. I compiled a pretty good list of documents to take to the interview. I think there were people who were approved with less paperwork than I have, but I wanted to make sure I had more than they needed :)
I think at this point I am done with compiling documents, I posted a partial list about a month ago, but here's the complete list:
-Some junk mail in the binder's pocket (to prove that we live on the same address)
All these documents below are copies, I have one of those expandable filing folders with all of the originals:

-interview notice and all other previous USCIS mail
-marriage cert.
-id page of our passports
-his birth certif.
-my birth certif. + translation
-I-94 (very recent as I traveled abroad for my honeymoon), the old one was surrended
-EAD
- Our SS cards (his, and my 2 cards, I have 2 bacause I got a new one with my married name)
-AP
-His employer's letter
-Mine and his paychecks from May through July
-boarding passes of trips we made together (including honeymoon) and my flights back and fourth from NJ to come see him in OH. He drove to Nj everytime he went, so I have no proof
-Car rental agreement when we went to Cali together last year
-entry stamps from other countries on both our passport while we were traveling on our honeymoon
-statements for joing bank account
-auto loan on both our names
-utility bills
-auto insurance
-car title (both out names)
-Catering bill (wedding)
-Wedding venue invoice
-joint 05 tax
-my taxes from 04 and 03
-his taxes from 04 and 03 (transcrips fro the IRS)
-80 pictures (I bought these photo album pockets that fit in a 3 hole binder)
-letter from his aunt and from his mom saying that the marriage is legit
-my college transcript (since I was F-1)
-my SEVIS print out with work authorization when I was a co-op off campus
-wedding and Xmas cards addressed to both of us

I think that is all. I went to the point that I printed the page called "happy tails" from the rescue farm's website with our picture from when we adopted our dog! :)
I was just wondering if I need a letter from my employer as well...
I didn't find anyone talking about their experience interviewing at my DO, so I have absolutely no idea what to expect, any input is appreciated :)
Did I say you guys rock? This forum is EXTREMELY helpful and I hope I can help other people with what I've learned from my experience.
 
Lakelady, you have more than enough, it all sounds very good.
I would get an employment letter too, just in case.

Good luck, looking forward to read about your approval! :)
 
Thanks Patty, I'll post my interview experience as soon as I can!

patty579 said:
Lakelady, you have more than enough, it all sounds very good.
I would get an employment letter too, just in case.

Good luck, looking forward to read about your approval! :)
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Your documents look good . You should not have any problems proving your relationship ... Good Luck
 
Guys... only a few hours till my interview. I'll post my experience as soon as I can tomorrow.
Thanks for all the help and kind words!
 
Approved In Cincinnati, Oh

YES!!!! I was approved... let me share my experience...
My interview was scheduled for 10:30am, we got there a little before 10 and waited and waited... we got called at 11:30ish. But it's not too bad, some people wait hours. I had a giant tote bag with a binder and a filing folder for all the documents.
It was a young guy in his late 20's probably, he showed us the office, we sat he ran out then came back. He came back with our file and said he was going to interview us, he asked for our id's and passports and my F-1 visa, since it was in my expired passport. Then he swore us. I was such a dumbass... he was like swear to tell the truth, bla bla... and I wasn't sure if I had to repeat what he said or say "i do", my husband said I so so I just repeated :)
The he opened my G325 and asked what my full name was and how I wanted my name changed to, bc I told him the SS office wouldn't give me a card with my middle name and he said he'd fix it. He asked my DOB, place of birth, address, when we got married, if I was married before, where I lived before and where I work now and he wrote ift down as I showed him my badge. He asked what I did then he turned to those crime question from the I-485 and he asked me a few of them. He asked if I had had a J-1 before I said yes and he asked to see them to make sure there wasn't the 2 year requirement. He took the I-94 from my passport and asked to see the AP, but he didn't take it, just looked at it. He also asked if the organizations that I am part of that I listed were all school organizations and I said yes.
He turned to my husband and asked the same questions he asked me from the G-325 and if he was a US citizen, even after asking him his place of birth!
He asked my husband if he ever filed for anyone for immigration benefits before, he said no. Then he asked if we bought a house together, my husband said no, that he bought it before we met and we are in the process of adding my name to the deed.
Then he asked both of us what kind of evidence we had to prove that we were really married, I showed him the index page I made for my binder and he asked to see the joint bank account and the air tickets from our honeymoon. I also had a huge stack of wedding cards we got from friends and family, but he just acknowledged them. He browsed my binder and really just took a quick look at the copy of boarding passes we had, the stamps in our passports from the honeymoon trip and the letter his mom and his aunt wrote saying that it's a legitimate marriage, he laughed at the printout I had of the website from where we adopted our puppy and it said "happy tails", it was a good evidence I think because it not only had our picture, but it said that she was a dopted to a soon to be married couple, we got her a month before we got married :)
He ran out again, with my binder this time, said he'd go make a few copies. He came back and I saw the copies of pictures he made of an exotic car we own, then we started talking about cars! All the pictures he copied had our car in it! And I took 80 pictures total, he only picked the car ones! I was so glad it was a guy, not a woman interviewing us :) otherwise we probably wouldn't talk about cars. He started the interview being so serious, and in the end he was more relaxed.
The he said: I am approving your case, so wait for the green card in teh mail in 2 to 3 weeks. And he gave us a sheet that explained about filing for the 10 year card, he asked if we had any questions then I asked if he was going to stamp my passport, they said they don't do taht unless I needed to travel. My husband asked when I can file for citizenship, LOL and the guy answered in about 3 years. Then we said goodbye and left. We went to have lunch at a cool restaurant to celebrate.
I still have my EAD, he didn't take it...
Thanks for all the help and support guys! I'll continue to post here everynow and then to contribute to the forum and help other people.
And as everyone says after a successful interview is: relax, if you have nothing to hide don't worry.
I did see though, 2 couples that went before me that they looked very far apart in age. One couple was this young black girl with an older white guy. This area of the country is very conservative and there are many prejudicial people here from what I noticed. So this couple was having a hard time, they went in together, then the woman came out, then she went back in, the guy came out, then he went in again and they didn't leven look at each other when they left. I was wondering if they were approved or not, it sucks if they really love each other and just because they are different they have a hard time, but if it was a sham marriage, it's good that the truth was uncovered.
I wish all the best to everyone else who is waiting in line :)
 
lakelady said:
I did see though, 2 couples that went before me that they looked very far apart in age. One couple was this young black girl with an older white guy. This area of the country is very conservative and there are many prejudicial people here from what I noticed.
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You mean prejudicial as in judging someone based solely on outward appearances or any trait based on some pre-conceived notion?

How is that different from assuming conservative people are somehow incapable of being fair?
 
eddie_d said:
You mean prejudicial as in judging someone based solely on outward appearances or any trait based on some pre-conceived notion?

How is that different from assuming conservative people are somehow incapable of being fair?
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Yes, prejudice based on appearance. I asked 2 people that I know that had the interview and they said: you guys won't have a problem, you are about the same age, you look cute together.
I thought that was just a nice comment, then I realized.... people of different religion or color or different age group tend to be more scrutinized. I think there is no age, color or religion for love... but people get paranoid with the whole terrorism thing and this whole talk about immigration, so unfortunately things look like that they are easier for some because of certain characterists.
I was in London a couple of months ago and we were talking to friends about our upcoming interview, one of them said that they knew a couple that was obviously in love. The wife, UK citizen, was in her 40's with kids and the husband was in his 20's from Jordan, and they he got denied. It's sad, but apparently this was a nice guy in love with his wife, but just because he was younger and from a middle eastern country, he got denied. I don't know details about the case, but that is what they said.
About being conservative, I have no problem with that as long as they are not prejudicial, but I encountered people here make jokes and racist comments for no good reason, but it's not a rule, stereotype is a problem that human nature will probably never overcome.
 
lakelady said:
people get paranoid with the whole terrorism thing and this whole talk about immigration
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The whole terrorism thing? Yeah you're right that whole terrorism thing is just so darn silly, why would anyone bother with it? So what if a few more thousand people get killed, big deal. As long we don't offend any middle eastern 20 year olds applying for citizenship, the cost is worth it.

You think maybe, just maybe the suspicion on the 40 year old woman and 20 year old middle easterner raised some flags for a reason? You heard this story second hand from someone who knew someone. In other words you don't know anything about the case and for all you know they got denied because he had a criminal record (even with being a "nice guy"). Nobody will come out and say you know what I tried to scam my way into the country by marrying a woman 20 years older than me but they caught me. No, they'll give you some sob story about racism.

So congrats on getting done, but spare me the everyone's a racist crap.
 
Thanks a lot for all the kind words! It's a great feeling.
And to answer Addie's question, my passport didn't get stamped bc the DO said they don't do it unless the person really needs it, plus I had a valid AP.
I don't plan on going abraod any soon, so I was fine with it. The best thing was that 15 minutes and the interview was over!
 
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