Yay and No Yay - Newark DO Interview Experience !!!

S

shahpr787

Registered Users (C)
Hey all

I finally had my interview today at Newark today (June 27th 2006). Here is a brief history and the rundown for the interview:

History About me
I got married to a USC wife in Dec 2005. Have been here in this country since 2001 (first as a student - F1 visa and then on Employment Visa - H1B Visa). Filed all the GC documents in Jan this year (2006) for me.

Interview Experience
Here it is:

We had our interview time at 9:00 am in the morning today. Were there at 8:00 am and there were like 50 people ahead of us standing in line. anyways the line was moving pretty quick and so were able to enter the building by 8:30 am.
Once done with all the security check - proceeded to the mentioned floor and submitted our interview document at the counter.

Exactly at 9 am our name was called by the immigration officer and we walked over to the door where he recieved us. He was a middle aged guy and very polite and courteous. Once we reached his cube - it seemed he already had seen our application briefly and started my asking the following:

[Officer]: Can I see your ID (looking at my wife)
[Wife]: Gave her Driving License to him

[Officer]: (Looking at the liscence asked) What is the address Sir?
[Me]: Replied by stating the current address

[Officer]: So When did u meet her for the first time?
[Me]: Gave the date when we met for the first time

[Officer]: Can you explain where did you meet her?
[Me]: Gave him the scenario how me met (studying in same college etc)

[Officer]: What's the name of the college?
[Me]: Answered by giving the name

[Officer]: So what kind of documents do you have for me to show Joint proof?
[Me]: Had the bundle of all docs ready which I handed over

Before I continue with the interview experience there is something important I want to mention here for everybody. The way I had prepared my Joint documents was very organized. Had a cover page on top of each set of statements saying what it contained.
For eg: First Cover Page - Lease Documents and then had all my lease documents after that.
Second Cover Page - Joint Bank Documents and then had my mulitple bank statments which we had joint.
Similarly for credit card docs, car insurance etc.

The reason I mentioned this will be explained below. So continuing with the interview

[Officer]: Whats your rent (looking at my lease papers)
[Me]: Gave the amount

[Officer]: Flipping over to the Bank Statement pages - asked what was the balance in your ING Statement
[Me]: Replied by mentioning the amount

[Officer]: Then asked me how much balance I had in my Citibank Statement
[Me]: Replied by mentioning the amount

[Officer]: Who takes care of most of the bills (looking at both of us)
[Me]: Both of us. some of them she pays and some I do

[Officer]: So who paid the last PSEG bill?
[Wife]: I did and overpaid by a few dollars more and hence we have credit in there

[Officer]: (At this point - he looked satisfied with our responses) and asked all the I-485 questions
[Me]: I replied to all of them saying "NO"

He said he will be approving part of the application - which is the I-130. He also said that seeing you people I can definitely say that your marriage is your "legit" and am satisfied with the interview BUT

Now here is the NON-YAY part !!!!!!!!!!!!

Your name check is not complete yet and hence once that comes into the system - you would get the welcome letter in mail and then the Green Card.

So it was a happy moment because he was very explicit in saying that he was satisfied with the interview and also there was tinge of sadness because of the name check.

I then followed up by asking is there a time frame we should be looking at for the name check to be done and he said that it could be done tomm or can also take 3-6 months. He has no time frame for it but basically a waiting game.

So though the write-up above sounds a lot the whole interview was actually 10-15 max. And we were out of the building by 9:15 am.

Now the last part - which I had mentioned above regarding the docs.

Towards the end after he mentioned the name check stuff - my wife asked him if he was satisfied with the docs and he mentioned that since we were so organized with the Joint docs - he was more than happy and knew right away that everything was clear. That could one of the reasons he started asking us the rent, balances on the statement because there was no explaination needed on the docs - they were all labelled very properly and self explainatory.

So guys thats all from my side from now. I have tried to be as descriptive as possible and hope that will be halpful to others. I know a couple of ppl have their interview tomm and day after tomm in Newark itself. My only piece of advice - be as organzied as possible - because that make life easier for them and jsut be urself. If the marriage is legit - there should be no problems.

Now the last part - thanking people.
Firstly it has to go to Ari4u. then a_usc. and then all the ppl who have helped me in this forum. I thank you all for ur time and hope can be helpful to others with my experience.
 
The blasted name check.. well con... you'll get the grats when it's all over :)
Shouldn't take long, there can't be that many people named shahpr787 :p
 
Shah,

I completely understand your Yay and Not-Yay part, cuz I wanna congratulate you and at the same time I wish that your namecheck too had completed. Union had his interview yesterday and his case too is pending approval due to the namecheck. I hope they get the namecheck results soon.

Btw - did you file the FOIA? If not, I'd say do it. There's no proof that it really works, but I guess it wouldn't harm. Its like a horse shoe you nail on your front door and if something good happens - you can attribute to it. If you need any info on filing FOIA, you can check out here - I have attached the FOIA form and instructions. If you have further questions, you can post it here in the thread or PM me :)

Once again - Congrats and good luck with the namecheck
 
Congrats, Seems we're in the same boat, i had my interview yesterday and was told I have to wait for the name check. I know how you feel, kinda happy, kinda sad.
 
Congratulations Shahpr!

Can I just ask you what is your country of citizenship (where do they have to obtain the name check basically)?

It must be frustrating...
 
Congratulations! I understand your frustration about the pending name check, I'm kinda dreading it myself. But don't be too sad, it won't be long and you will get that Welcome Letter.
Hope it will be really soon. :)
 
Thanks a lot everybody for the good wishes !!!!!!!!!!!!!

a_usc thanks for the FOIPA info -will definitely be filing it in the next day or two. I am actually rushing to work now (taken half a day off) and will be reading through the information tonight. I will definitely PM you once I get to know more about it and if I have any questions.
 
shahpr787 said:
Hey all

I finally had my interview today at Newark today (June 27th 2006). Here is a brief history and the rundown for the interview:

History About me
I got married to a USC wife in Dec 2005. Have been here in this country since 2001 (first as a student - F1 visa and then on Employment Visa - H1B Visa). Filed all the GC documents in Jan this year (2006) for me.

Interview Experience
Here it is:

We had our interview time at 9:00 am in the morning today. Were there at 8:00 am and there were like 50 people ahead of us standing in line. anyways the line was moving pretty quick and so were able to enter the building by 8:30 am.
Once done with all the security check - proceeded to the mentioned floor and submitted our interview document at the counter.

Exactly at 9 am our name was called by the immigration officer and we walked over to the door where he recieved us. He was a middle aged guy and very polite and courteous. Once we reached his cube - it seemed he already had seen our application briefly and started my asking the following:

[Officer]: Can I see your ID (looking at my wife)
[Wife]: Gave her Driving License to him

[Officer]: (Looking at the liscence asked) What is the address Sir?
[Me]: Replied by stating the current address

[Officer]: So When did u meet her for the first time?
[Me]: Gave the date when we met for the first time

[Officer]: Can you explain where did you meet her?
[Me]: Gave him the scenario how me met (studying in same college etc)

[Officer]: What's the name of the college?
[Me]: Answered by giving the name

[Officer]: So what kind of documents do you have for me to show Joint proof?
[Me]: Had the bundle of all docs ready which I handed over

Before I continue with the interview experience there is something important I want to mention here for everybody. The way I had prepared my Joint documents was very organized. Had a cover page on top of each set of statements saying what it contained.
For eg: First Cover Page - Lease Documents and then had all my lease documents after that.
Second Cover Page - Joint Bank Documents and then had my mulitple bank statments which we had joint.
Similarly for credit card docs, car insurance etc.

The reason I mentioned this will be explained below. So continuing with the interview

[Officer]: Whats your rent (looking at my lease papers)
[Me]: Gave the amount

[Officer]: Flipping over to the Bank Statement pages - asked what was the balance in your ING Statement
[Me]: Replied by mentioning the amount

[Officer]: Then asked me how much balance I had in my Citibank Statement
[Me]: Replied by mentioning the amount

[Officer]: Who takes care of most of the bills (looking at both of us)
[Me]: Both of us. some of them she pays and some I do

[Officer]: So who paid the last PSEG bill?
[Wife]: I did and overpaid by a few dollars more and hence we have credit in there

[Officer]: (At this point - he looked satisfied with our responses) and asked all the I-485 questions
[Me]: I replied to all of them saying "NO"

He said he will be approving part of the application - which is the I-130. He also said that seeing you people I can definitely say that your marriage is your "legit" and am satisfied with the interview BUT

Now here is the NON-YAY part !!!!!!!!!!!!

Your name check is not complete yet and hence once that comes into the system - you would get the welcome letter in mail and then the Green Card.

So it was a happy moment because he was very explicit in saying that he was satisfied with the interview and also there was tinge of sadness because of the name check.

I then followed up by asking is there a time frame we should be looking at for the name check to be done and he said that it could be done tomm or can also take 3-6 months. He has no time frame for it but basically a waiting game.

So though the write-up above sounds a lot the whole interview was actually 10-15 max. And we were out of the building by 9:15 am.

Now the last part - which I had mentioned above regarding the docs.

Towards the end after he mentioned the name check stuff - my wife asked him if he was satisfied with the docs and he mentioned that since we were so organized with the Joint docs - he was more than happy and knew right away that everything was clear. That could one of the reasons he started asking us the rent, balances on the statement because there was no explaination needed on the docs - they were all labelled very properly and self explainatory.

So guys thats all from my side from now. I have tried to be as descriptive as possible and hope that will be halpful to others. I know a couple of ppl have their interview tomm and day after tomm in Newark itself. My only piece of advice - be as organzied as possible - because that make life easier for them and jsut be urself. If the marriage is legit - there should be no problems.

Now the last part - thanking people.
Firstly it has to go to Ari4u. then a_usc. and then all the ppl who have helped me in this forum. I thank you all for ur time and hope can be helpful to others with my experience.
Click to expand...

Congrats and Good luck with your name check.
 
Had my interview today. It was a breeze, However the officer said that he can't stamp the passport due to the name check still pending :(

For Unionjax and shahpr787,
It seems that more ppl are getting stuck in the security checks,as they are scheduling interviews earlier than before.How about if we would maintian a list so that we'll knwo wat is the average time people are getting their GCs after pending name chcek.(like Ari4u has for interview and EAD timlines.)

I'm suggesting format should be

Name.................Country...........FP..............Interview.......GC_Approval

IP_everywhere......Pakistan........04/15/06.......6/29/06.........Pending
 
ip_everywhere said:
Had my interview today. It was a breeze, However the officer said that he can't stamp the passport due to the name check still pending :(

For Unionjax and shahpr787,
It seems that more ppl are getting stuck in the security checks,as they are scheduling interviews earlier than before.How about if we would maintian a list so that we'll knwo wat is the average time people are getting their GCs after pending name chcek.(like Ari4u has for interview and EAD timlines.)

I'm suggesting format should be

Name.................Country...........FP..............Interview.......GC_Approval

IP_everywhere......Pakistan........04/15/06.......6/29/06.........Pending
Click to expand...

IP, thats a good idea, I wonder if anyone could put it as a sticky on the front page as easy reference (or design some format where the information can be obtained easily). I was also thinking about this as the USCIS officer said they have more problems with people from third world countries. I'd like to see if he was correct on that.

Anyway following your format:

Name..............Country................FP.................Interview.......GC_Approval


UnionJax..........England.............4.18.06..............6.26.06..........Pending
 
Anyway following your format:

Name..............Country................FP.................Interview.......GC_Approval


tapskap..........India.............3.08.06..............6.29.06..........Pending
 
Here is my timeline for pending name cjeck

Name...................country........FP....................Interview..
siri80....................India...........12/14/2005..........1/27/2006

I think it helps if we also have ND in it.
 
ip_everywhere said:
Had my interview today. It was a breeze, However the officer said that he can't stamp the passport due to the name check still pending :(

For Unionjax and shahpr787,
It seems that more ppl are getting stuck in the security checks,as they are scheduling interviews earlier than before.How about if we would maintian a list so that we'll knwo wat is the average time people are getting their GCs after pending name chcek.(like Ari4u has for interview and EAD timlines.)

I'm suggesting format should be

Name.................Country...........FP..............Interview.......GC_Approval

IP_everywhere......Pakistan........04/15/06.......6/29/06.........Pending
Click to expand...

ummmm... i dont know how far these statistics would help you. The EAD and interview timelines are somewhat predictable based on the statistics collected and one can baseline against it. The time taken for approval after an unsuccesful interview is very unpredictable and random. You can try, but i dont think the results would be of any help to you. Good luck :)
 
ari4u said:
ummmm... i dont know how far these statistics would help you. The EAD and interview timelines are somewhat predictable based on the statistics collected and one can baseline against it. The time taken for approval after an unsuccesful interview is very unpredictable and random. You can try, but i dont think the results would be of any help to you. Good luck :)
Click to expand...

Ari4u, how can I find out howlong it takes to get the FP notice and EAD, Interview ...Is there a latest list somewhere that I can view ?
 
Hi All,

Sorry for the late respone.

I personally think it is a good idea to have a thread which has timelines (in the format suggested) for people stuck in namecheck.

And I am creating a thread which I dont mind maintaining - adding ppl as they let me know.

Ari4u - In one sense I also agree with you that getting stuck in name check is very random and it might not give idea to people in terms of quantitative time.

But I still feel that it would atleast give some sort of indication to people who are stuck in this.

I also dont mind making this thread having other pointers / links for namecheck info (sort of the mega thread which Ari can add to his sticky thread or the moderator can make this thread sticky itself).

I am being frank in saying that I dont have much info on the name check process in terms of what should be done etc but am definitely ready to start reading more and adding links to this thread so people can get more idea.

I know for a fact that a_usc and ari have much more information than I do as of now (to name a few)

And i dont mean to offend anybody but believe me though everybody understands that getting stuck this name check process is bad it only hits you the most when u are in that situation - just giving my example - my Imigration Officer says I am very happy with all the proof you have provided and am very sure that your marraige is "LEGIT" but cannot approve your case today. Half your happiness gets killed there because it is like a feeling that you are there but not fully.

Not to make my story long - Imagine walking out of the offfice having your passport stamped (or atleast verbally told ur welcome letter will come soon) as opposed to saying evrything is great but you gotta wait for hapiness to come - it hurts. And I am sure people in the boat as i am am will agree.

So with that said - Below is the thread which i am creating for people stuck in namecheck process. Once suggestion I have though is that we also put the last name as one of the columns - because my Officer did ask me - is your last name common in your community - to which I replied yes and he said that would be the primary reason why the process would take longer time for some people rather than others.


Link
Name Check - All Information Thread
 
Last edited by a moderator:
My wonder is what they acctully check with that name check. Is it just a criminal history or where you worked in your homeland and where you lived went to school ... etc.? If they check all those things it may take for ever to clear this matter. Does anyone have idea???
 
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