October 12, 2006
My husband and I had our interview with immigration this morning at 7 a.m. We were not called on till about 20 past 7. The man called our names and I said good morning and he said nothing. I put my purse on his desk and he said get that off of there quite rudely. I said oh, okay and put it on the seat with all of our papers that were in a brief case. After we were sworn in he immediately asked my husband to leave the room and walked him to another room. It was freezing like New England in February. Icy cold. The man asked the following questions:
Where did you meet?
Were your parents there? No they are dead.
What about his parents? No they are in Morocco .
Who was there? My sister lee, bill and mutual friends.
What did you do after the ceremony? Had a great party and stayed at his house afterwards.
Who was at the party? All our friends and sister.
What’s her number?
Uhmmmm 000-000-0000. He tried calling and said it went straight to voicemail.
How many bedrooms in your house.
What is the other room used for.
Where is the light switch located in your room? .
What light does it turn on?
Where is the alarm clock? .
What color is the numbers?
Is it a clock radio?
Do you have a dishwasher?
Do you have a toaster?
Do you have an ice machine?
Who cooks? .
Who shops?
Who does the laundry?
Who cleans?
What did you have for dinner last night?
What time did you get up this morning?
Did you shower?
What time did he get up? .
Did he shower?
Did you live at such and such an address on gulf blvd?
Who is Robert somebody? Who? I have no idea. Who is it?
Is it someone you lived with? SMIRK NO! I lived with my son!
What did you do at Christmas?
(smirk)
You do not know Robert so and so? NOOOO. My landlord??
No
You have an (car kind)? Not anymore. I sold it.
Well, it says you registered it may of 2006? What, no I just sold the thing. Are you sure you have the right dates?
(Smirk), exasperation.
Ok. Let’s go.
He took me to where My husband was waiting. And said nothing. Took him and I sat for ½ hour or so. Freezing my ass off.
He comes back out with him. Says lets go. I said it is so cold in here. He did not acknowledge me.
He starts by saying, you know that you are still under oath and you are speaking to an immigration officer who is like a judge. I said I understood that. He said stand up and go read the sign on the wall which I did. It described the penalties for fraud, etc.
I said okay. He began by saying I do not believe you or him that this is a real marriage.
I was stunned and tried to defend myself and my husband. He would have none of it. His looks were sarcastic, mean and nasty. I was going to ask for a supervisor because I could feel this man was an ass. As I was thinking to do that he brought in the supervisor who was an older woman.
She took me to her office and started by saying we do not believe this. He is Moroccan. He wants his papers and he does not love you and will get his green card and work permit and he is going to leave. He is using you. You are going to be very hurt. I objected strongly to the statement.
Do you actually believe that this man is going to stay with you until you die or he dies? Well, as I have learned in this life, mam there are no guarantees about anything. She rolls her eyes and says that’s what you think about marriage? That’s what I think about everything.
What does your son really think about this? As I started answering the questions she was interrupted 3x by 3 different employees. All I could get out was my son has been very supportive of my marriage to my husband. She did not hear a word because of the distractions of people walking in.
What is your religion? Uhmmm I am spiritual. No formal religion.
What religion is he? He is Muslim.
Why aren’t you? Because I do not want to, however from what I have read and learned about the Islamic faith there are some similarities in what I believe. She closed her eyes and smirked shook her head and said Oh you think so? There is? I said yes. Smirk.
My job is to protect you as an American citizen. This man is using you to get permanent residence. I said I am an intelligent woman and feel I have a strong grasp of how I feel about the people in my life and there are a VERY SELECT FEW that I allow into my life and my husband is one of them and I can count on 1 hand the amount of people who I share my life with. She shook her head. Listen, you look like an intelligent independent woman and he has you so wrapped into believing him. He was married before you know that right? Yes I do. Well, he tried to get green card with her, he got work permit and within a few months she filed for divorce. Yes, I know that. Heres her picture. I wish you could call her and talk to her about him. I said I appreciated her concern but I love my husband and I want him to be approved. She said no. I am not approving this today.
Did you know that if you went to his mother’s house in morocco the reaction you would get by the way you are dressed? I said what?? I was dressed in black skirt, a great top and heels. For us you are acceptable. There you would not be. Oh okay. He will never be intergrated into this society. What?? What do you mean by that? Moroccans are like that. I cannot recall at the moment what else she said in regards to this. I asked…is there not other groups of people or are you talking specifically about Moroccans? Oh yes, of course, there are these people and these, and the old man comes in with a young Asian blah blah blah. I think at this point I completely was losing it. They find someone and use them. He has you so wrapped. I wish I had a tape recorder so that you could hear yourself. I again tried to explain my feelings but she shut me off and said do you know how many times I have heard this from people? I have worked here for such and such a time.
I finally said, look, I lost my son a year ago almost to the day. 4 months after I married him and again, of the select few people HE has been the kindest, supportive, loving and understanding. I lost my son and I do not want to lose my husband too. Well, I a.m. sorry for that…have you ever lost somebody mam?? No I have not. Well, I have and the man I married was and is with me as a source of comfort and love and respect.
There was another comment I think about age and my response was I am a very lucky woman. She shook her head in disgust again.
I a.m. sorry but I will not approve this today. We need to investigate further, FBI, civil, state, etc. We will send letter in couple of weeks. I said mam I want my husband to be approved today. NO he is not going to be approved. I then asked her what the process would be. Another interview? NO. Do you want to see pictures, anything we brought? NO! Do you know how many people bring in boxes of pictures? Well, I again pushed the outcome of investigation…she explained they have to PROVE that he is not for real. Anything to prove our marriage is not real. She said for me to take the 2 weeks and watch and listen and again to call her if I change my mind, as I a.m. the petitioner and technically and legally have the right to have my husband, unless something or someone proves otherwise.
my husband was asked the same questions and gave the same answers. When the guy called him back into the office he did the same thing to him that he did to me. Remember you are under oath. Read the sign on the wall. He proceeds to say to him, so you love this chick uh? my husband said yes I do. Do you consummate this marriage? Uhm… what does that mean? Do you have intercourse? Yes we do. I do not believe you. I a.m. going to leave the room and give you a minute to think about this. He left him in the room for a few minutes and came back and said all right are you ready to tell the truth? my husband stated that he was telling the truth. he tried to explain more, but the guy would not and did not listen. He made him leave the room and wait in waiting room for me.
I walked out with the lady and again tried to have her look at our papers, pictures etc. NO! NO! I said well, ok. I tried to tell her I appreciated her time and concern, but I love my husband. She did not want to hear anything.
I walked to my husband and he knew that I had been crying and he kept saying what happened what happened. Are you all right? I said lets just get out of here. He put his arms around me and kissed me and said I a.m. so sorry so sorry to we have to go through this. We were both mortified at the entire experience.
I think it is not so much the outcome of petition, but the behavior, the attitude, the smirks, the rolling eyeballs, the disrespect of calling me, his wife, “chick”, the judgments of my husband personally as well as Moroccans in general, the stereotyping, the profiling, racism and total disdain for him that was exhibited that completely blows me away.
has anyone experieneced this kind of treatment in an interview??? There is definitely an age difference as i am older by 20 years, (so is Demi Moore and Ashton Kutchner! and thats ok).....does anyone know what they mean by investigate and how do i proceed to face this challenge? Is it because he is Morocan or because of the age difference? any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. we are both shocked and dismayed by this treatment and lack of respect.
My husband and I had our interview with immigration this morning at 7 a.m. We were not called on till about 20 past 7. The man called our names and I said good morning and he said nothing. I put my purse on his desk and he said get that off of there quite rudely. I said oh, okay and put it on the seat with all of our papers that were in a brief case. After we were sworn in he immediately asked my husband to leave the room and walked him to another room. It was freezing like New England in February. Icy cold. The man asked the following questions:
Where did you meet?
Were your parents there? No they are dead.
What about his parents? No they are in Morocco .
Who was there? My sister lee, bill and mutual friends.
What did you do after the ceremony? Had a great party and stayed at his house afterwards.
Who was at the party? All our friends and sister.
What’s her number?
Uhmmmm 000-000-0000. He tried calling and said it went straight to voicemail.
How many bedrooms in your house.
What is the other room used for.
Where is the light switch located in your room? .
What light does it turn on?
Where is the alarm clock? .
What color is the numbers?
Is it a clock radio?
Do you have a dishwasher?
Do you have a toaster?
Do you have an ice machine?
Who cooks? .
Who shops?
Who does the laundry?
Who cleans?
What did you have for dinner last night?
What time did you get up this morning?
Did you shower?
What time did he get up? .
Did he shower?
Did you live at such and such an address on gulf blvd?
Who is Robert somebody? Who? I have no idea. Who is it?
Is it someone you lived with? SMIRK NO! I lived with my son!
What did you do at Christmas?
(smirk)
You do not know Robert so and so? NOOOO. My landlord??
No
You have an (car kind)? Not anymore. I sold it.
Well, it says you registered it may of 2006? What, no I just sold the thing. Are you sure you have the right dates?
(Smirk), exasperation.
Ok. Let’s go.
He took me to where My husband was waiting. And said nothing. Took him and I sat for ½ hour or so. Freezing my ass off.
He comes back out with him. Says lets go. I said it is so cold in here. He did not acknowledge me.
He starts by saying, you know that you are still under oath and you are speaking to an immigration officer who is like a judge. I said I understood that. He said stand up and go read the sign on the wall which I did. It described the penalties for fraud, etc.
I said okay. He began by saying I do not believe you or him that this is a real marriage.
I was stunned and tried to defend myself and my husband. He would have none of it. His looks were sarcastic, mean and nasty. I was going to ask for a supervisor because I could feel this man was an ass. As I was thinking to do that he brought in the supervisor who was an older woman.
She took me to her office and started by saying we do not believe this. He is Moroccan. He wants his papers and he does not love you and will get his green card and work permit and he is going to leave. He is using you. You are going to be very hurt. I objected strongly to the statement.
Do you actually believe that this man is going to stay with you until you die or he dies? Well, as I have learned in this life, mam there are no guarantees about anything. She rolls her eyes and says that’s what you think about marriage? That’s what I think about everything.
What does your son really think about this? As I started answering the questions she was interrupted 3x by 3 different employees. All I could get out was my son has been very supportive of my marriage to my husband. She did not hear a word because of the distractions of people walking in.
What is your religion? Uhmmm I am spiritual. No formal religion.
What religion is he? He is Muslim.
Why aren’t you? Because I do not want to, however from what I have read and learned about the Islamic faith there are some similarities in what I believe. She closed her eyes and smirked shook her head and said Oh you think so? There is? I said yes. Smirk.
My job is to protect you as an American citizen. This man is using you to get permanent residence. I said I am an intelligent woman and feel I have a strong grasp of how I feel about the people in my life and there are a VERY SELECT FEW that I allow into my life and my husband is one of them and I can count on 1 hand the amount of people who I share my life with. She shook her head. Listen, you look like an intelligent independent woman and he has you so wrapped into believing him. He was married before you know that right? Yes I do. Well, he tried to get green card with her, he got work permit and within a few months she filed for divorce. Yes, I know that. Heres her picture. I wish you could call her and talk to her about him. I said I appreciated her concern but I love my husband and I want him to be approved. She said no. I am not approving this today.
Did you know that if you went to his mother’s house in morocco the reaction you would get by the way you are dressed? I said what?? I was dressed in black skirt, a great top and heels. For us you are acceptable. There you would not be. Oh okay. He will never be intergrated into this society. What?? What do you mean by that? Moroccans are like that. I cannot recall at the moment what else she said in regards to this. I asked…is there not other groups of people or are you talking specifically about Moroccans? Oh yes, of course, there are these people and these, and the old man comes in with a young Asian blah blah blah. I think at this point I completely was losing it. They find someone and use them. He has you so wrapped. I wish I had a tape recorder so that you could hear yourself. I again tried to explain my feelings but she shut me off and said do you know how many times I have heard this from people? I have worked here for such and such a time.
I finally said, look, I lost my son a year ago almost to the day. 4 months after I married him and again, of the select few people HE has been the kindest, supportive, loving and understanding. I lost my son and I do not want to lose my husband too. Well, I a.m. sorry for that…have you ever lost somebody mam?? No I have not. Well, I have and the man I married was and is with me as a source of comfort and love and respect.
There was another comment I think about age and my response was I am a very lucky woman. She shook her head in disgust again.
I a.m. sorry but I will not approve this today. We need to investigate further, FBI, civil, state, etc. We will send letter in couple of weeks. I said mam I want my husband to be approved today. NO he is not going to be approved. I then asked her what the process would be. Another interview? NO. Do you want to see pictures, anything we brought? NO! Do you know how many people bring in boxes of pictures? Well, I again pushed the outcome of investigation…she explained they have to PROVE that he is not for real. Anything to prove our marriage is not real. She said for me to take the 2 weeks and watch and listen and again to call her if I change my mind, as I a.m. the petitioner and technically and legally have the right to have my husband, unless something or someone proves otherwise.
my husband was asked the same questions and gave the same answers. When the guy called him back into the office he did the same thing to him that he did to me. Remember you are under oath. Read the sign on the wall. He proceeds to say to him, so you love this chick uh? my husband said yes I do. Do you consummate this marriage? Uhm… what does that mean? Do you have intercourse? Yes we do. I do not believe you. I a.m. going to leave the room and give you a minute to think about this. He left him in the room for a few minutes and came back and said all right are you ready to tell the truth? my husband stated that he was telling the truth. he tried to explain more, but the guy would not and did not listen. He made him leave the room and wait in waiting room for me.
I walked out with the lady and again tried to have her look at our papers, pictures etc. NO! NO! I said well, ok. I tried to tell her I appreciated her time and concern, but I love my husband. She did not want to hear anything.
I walked to my husband and he knew that I had been crying and he kept saying what happened what happened. Are you all right? I said lets just get out of here. He put his arms around me and kissed me and said I a.m. so sorry so sorry to we have to go through this. We were both mortified at the entire experience.
I think it is not so much the outcome of petition, but the behavior, the attitude, the smirks, the rolling eyeballs, the disrespect of calling me, his wife, “chick”, the judgments of my husband personally as well as Moroccans in general, the stereotyping, the profiling, racism and total disdain for him that was exhibited that completely blows me away.
has anyone experieneced this kind of treatment in an interview??? There is definitely an age difference as i am older by 20 years, (so is Demi Moore and Ashton Kutchner! and thats ok).....does anyone know what they mean by investigate and how do i proceed to face this challenge? Is it because he is Morocan or because of the age difference? any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. we are both shocked and dismayed by this treatment and lack of respect.
