Hi guys – sorry for not being on much in the last few days, we’ve had a dear friend from Ireland staying with us since Saturday, so I didn’t have much time to come online.
It was so lucky the way his visit worked out, actually, because we didn’t have any babysitter worked out for the interview – but he was there with us in the DHS building (as he was flying out of the Albany airport later that day and it is right next door).
So, we were approved! :-D
Our appointment was at 10.00am and we arrived at about 9.40am. One thing I wasn’t expecting as that just after we went through the security checkpoint, the guards asked if I had any evidence I wished to submit for the interview. I had a large messenger bag containing a ring binder with all our copies, another ring binder with all our original documents, and a manila folder with an exact replica of the AOS packet we submitted. They took the whole bag off with them – I wasn’t that comfortable with all those passports, birth certificates, social security cards, marriage certificates, etc. being out of my sight and out of my possession.
We were called at 9.50am and DH was in the toilet, LOL. He came back a few minutes later and DH was still gone – so the friend that was staying with us, Stephen, went to get him. DH was all worried that the IO would be irritated, but he wasn’t, and we were all in his office by 9.55am. He was a tall man, probably around 50, professional and friendly, who told us to call him Larry.
We took our youngest into the interview room with us (she is about to turn 2) and left the older one (who just turned 3 last week) in the waiting room with Stephen.
He swore us in and then gave our daughter some paper and a pencil to play with. He read out our full names, my maiden name, our places of birth, our address and phone number, and my parents’ names, and we just said yes.
He asked if I had any ID and I confidently went to the zippered pocket that contained some of the smaller original documents. I gave him the expired passport that I flew into the US with, and went to give him my current passport. My heart stood still – I hadn’t actually brought my current passport, the second one I had brought was my daughter’s! He said it was OK, it was the I-94 out of my old passport that he needed. But he did ask why my daughters have British passports and I mumbled something about wanting to take advantage of dual citizenship. I had NOT intended to bring their passports, had not included them in any of the supporting documentation, and had not wished to even address it because I know that they can be a little prickly about it. He did say that the US doesn’t recognize the dual citizenship, as far as it is concerned they are American citizens.
He confirmed that date that we got married and we said yes, and then he asked why we had waited so long to file for AOS (we have been married over 8 years), and if I realized I was in danger of being deported all that time that I was out of status. (I knew I wasn’t in *that* much danger – I have never worked illegally, driven illegally, tried to leave the country, committed a crime, etc., and we married while my visa was still valid. If Immigration started to put the squeeze on we would have just filed for AOS right away). But I didn’t say any of that, I just explained that up until the middle of 2009 we were living on Long Island and the cost of living is so high that we just couldn’t afford the cost of the filing and the medical. I knew as soon as he heard that, that he would check out the affidavit of support, and sure enough he did – but there is no problem with that – DH makes enough, it’s just that the cost of living around NYC is so high. At that point DH interjected that he works for the state as a social worker in the NY State Office of Mental Health, and Larry said he used to work for the State Office of Child Services and so they bonded a bit about what a tough job it is.
He asked how we met, we said that it was an online chat room, and he didn’t bat an eye or ask about it.
He asked when I came to the US and if I had intended to overstay my visa. I explained that I came on September 7th 2001 for a visit as DH and I were a couple but were still feeling each other out. I had a return ticket and was due to fly home on September 14th, but then September 11th happened and my flight home was cancelled, and in the light of what had happened and how you never know what the future is going to hold, DH asked me to stay and marry him. He asked if we had been engaged prior to that, and I said no, DH asked me to marry him on that day. I had seen him stamp “approved” on the I-30 as he was asking, so I wasn’t too worried.
He said he had a copy of our lease, and did we have any other proof that we live together. I gave him the whole folder of copies and when he said that he needed to go and make copies of some things, I told him that he could just take whatever he wanted, as I didn't need it back. He liked the folder, it was clearly laid out and he could look at the coversheet and see exactly what was there and take out what he wanted. He took a copy of our car insurance, a copy of a letter showing me as DH’s beneficiary, a copy of our cheques bearing both names, and copies of statements from 3 different banks showing joint accounts. He said “You have 3 bank accounts?” and I pointed out that they were from three different addresses that we have had over the last few years, and he liked that. I watched as he stamped “approved” on the I-485 as I was talking. He never even looked at the the binder containing all the originals.
He asked me the “no” questions, and then DH remembered the pictures and asked did he want to see them – he hadn’t seen that we were already approved, LOL. Larry said that he had pictures of DH and I at the babies’ births and did we have any pics of our wedding. I showed him – there were only 3 as it was just us and the Justice of the Peace at his house, with his wife as a witness. He was fine with it and asked if he could photocopy them. Then he told us our case was very straightforward as we had been married so long and it was obviously a real marriage, and that we were approved.
He never mentioned the age gap (DH is 25 years older than me), nor did he mention the presence of children in the marriage, even though one was right there in the interview room.
He was very friendly and nice, approachable, and congratulated us and shook our hands a couple of times, and wished us luck. It all took less than 10 minutes!
He took my old expired I-94, and also took my EAD, so unfortunately I couldn’t go and apply for my SSN after the interview – but that’s OK.
