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Here's my timeline and story of all the minor/major happenings during the period.
Timeline -
Priority Date : 4/3/2017
Receipt of Docs : 4/3/2017
concurrent apply
I-765
I-485
I-130
I-130 Online Status : Case was received 4/3/2017 (Online: it still says Case was received on 2/8/2018)
Biometric notification received in mail: 4/14/2017
Biometric scheduled at : 5/1/2017
RFIE received in mail: 4/19/2017
To Submit Form I-130A
My Attorney said it wasn't mandatory before but if they've asked for this document now it must mean that they've made it mandatory to be filed from now on.
RFIE Submitted : 4/24/2017
Biometric Physically Done : 5/1/2017
Biometric fingerprints were taken for the following documents :
I-485
I-765
Response to the RFIE received by USCIS : 5/5/2017 (Online Case Update for I-130)
I-485 (Status updated) **Ready to be Scheduled for interview** : 6/13/17
Real part started here when I didn't have EAD and the Status online was Ready to be scheduled for interview and the maximum wait time was around 180 days (I'm not sure about the exact days please google it) so Attorney said we cannot do anything or can't even ask for Service Request since the wait time isn't completed.
7/3/2017
I-765 online Status Updated: **To Card in Production**
7/7/2017
EAD Card was mailed to me (online status updated)
7/13/2017
Card received in mail
7/15/2017
SSN applied
7/17/2017
SSN Card received
---Long Wait Time---
---Hang (on) in there---
We kept calling them in Mid-December and kept asking them about the case status as it was above 180 days...
12/22/2017
Finally Interview appointment letter received in mail - interview was scheduled at 02/01/2018
02/01/2018
After 1:30 - 2 2hrs of interview at Prosperity Ave, Fairfax, VA
Online status says "Card is being produced" ...
These are my suggestions to anyone who's reading it for anyone who's case is based on i-485 marriage based:
(The key to do a successful interview is, do genuine work and don't hesitate to tell your concern even if you have anything that you see as a problem but only tell them if they ask about it..Otherwise no need to tell your problems and don't try to explain things unless you're being asked to. Be too specific and precise. You've done something good! You deserve it and You need to convince them that you deserve it). Yes, they'll make it look like it's planned and you're not eligible or try to confuse you by asking random question again and again. That's how the interrogation goes...
1.Blame something and hear back a positive response from positive person.
2.Blame something and see the other person panicking if he/she's guilty.
All you need to do is calm down and answer the questions confidently. You must be able to convince them so take your time to reply... The worst they can do is ask you to come after they schedule another interview or come after having stronger proof of bonafide marriage). They're not looking for Exact Dates/Exact colors/signed documents or any documents I'd say. They're only observing you if your marriage is real by observing your reaction to pinching questions and will even try to jog you by questioning your answers like I don't believe it can happen like this. It doesn't happen like this, we know. This and that... (don't panic or don't react to it suddenly). Let them say what they want to say and then clarify with words that'll make sense to them. They don't want to hear "AN EXCUSE" in reply. They want to be convinced. They're looking for the chemistry between you/your wife and your relationship which must make sense to a normal person without much explanation. The key here is (You don't always have to answer everything. If your wife/husband is with you and she suspects anything that you cannot handle, she must intervene and reply to that question by any words (this part is important so that they see Wife is covering Husband and it goes Vice-Versa).
If they don't suspect anything in first basic questions, they'll not go into details (I'm writing below all the questions we were asked). But you also need to come up with relevant and satisfying/convincing answers. One convincing answer saves you from 10 another hard/pinching questions, so you must work on that.
Questions we were asked : (Our interviewer was a lady) (Remember, during the interview You're being recorded and you're under oath)
My own thoughts: I have reasons to believe there was somebody on the other side of camera (Silent listener/silent observer) who was continuously chatting with the interviewer and they were exchanging messages via her laptop). I can only assume as I saw her hitting 2-3 keys every once in a while and pretending like she's doing something on her screen. She could also be using FB, I'm not sure and like I said these are just my thoughts. You can ignore them). Anyways.
***She took the IDs/Passports/EAD/All the documents to prove our bonafide marriage at once at the very first step and attached them to our file)***
INFO :
Me : Husband : Beneficiary
Partner : My Wife : Petitioner
-She said she'll ask most of the questions from me and only I needed to answer the questions if I was asked. (We both (me & my wife) looked at each other and like we planned if one of us appear to be having tough time answering a question, the other partner must intervene. So, Me & My wife were in a commitment even if she had said that before everything)
-During the interview she's also gathering information and memorizing some dates and things that we're telling her and she kept on asking some things again because she had memorized the answers from our first few responses and it seemed like she wanted to ask those questions JUST TO CHECK IF WE LIE at any moment. Don't be a fool to lie to them!!!
Wife-How did you get your green card? -She got confused and I answered it for her and then she explained. Kind of she didn't expect this question from her at first. Neither did I.
Me/Wife-What's your wife/husband name?
Me/Wife-What's her/his date of birth?
Me-When did you get married?
Me/Wife-What's the name of your wife's/husband's Father? Mother?
Me/Wife-Where did you get married or where did the ceremony took place? we told her the venue. Interviewer replied,"I've not heard of this place? Where is it? I've not heard of it in this area?...Her reaction was notable. She then said, let me google it. We were both fine as it was a legit place where we got married and she googled the venue in front of us.
Me-When did you enter USA last time? (I'd recent entries to USA in 2013 and 2014 and both time I stayed for like 5 months and 20 days) She carefully counted the duration of each visit by looking at my each exit and entry stamp in my passport and carefully counted every stay and made sure I'd not overstayed then again she asked me about these visits/duration/purpose). Now she had remembered my last arrival date 12/28/2016 and she asked me this around 3-4 times during the interview at random moments.
Me-Where do you live?
Wife-What's the address?
Wife-Where did you live before moving in to this house? (Her Parent's house) and after that she lived with me in a joint family environment.
Me-What was the address of that address where you lived before moving in to this current house? (We'd changed house so I told the old address where we were living in joint family environment)
Me-How long have you been living together?
Me-When did you move in to this new house? Date?
Me-What's your wife's occupation?
Wife-What's your husband's occupation?
Me-Do you remember DOB of your wife?
Wife-Do you remember DOB of your husband?
Wife-When did you get married? (Yes, interviewer asked this question around 3-4 times from both of us. This same question at random moments)
Me-How did you meet each other?
Wife-Where did you two meet?
Me/Wife-Who proposed to who? (LOVE OR ARRANGED)
Me-When did you propose her? Tell Exact date? I didn't tell exact date coz it wasn't planned and we were not looking at dates it was around Feb so I told her that. Actually, I remembered but I didn't want to tell because it'd have made her ask more questions regarding it.
Me-So you came in Dec and you got married in March wasn't that so quick? Answer that wisely... I felt like my answer to this question was nail in the coffin as she didn't go in to much details after this...
Me-What the DOB of your parents? She was checking G325A (I didn't know exact date of my father but my wife knew so she replied to that and interviewer noted that)
Wife-what's the DOB of your parents? when Her G325A was being verified
Wife-How many people attended wedding?
Wife-Who attended the wedding from your side?
Me-Did you have reception? When?
Wife-How many people attended the reception?
Me-Do you have pictures of the ceremony?
Wife/Me-She took the album of our timeline and randomly opened some pics and asked both of if we had known there people and their names?
Me-Did you guys go to Honeymoon?
Me-Then she asked if I had any intention of getting married here before coming to USA?
Me-Then she asked all the questioned mentioned in the last 2-3 pages of i-485 regarding any traffic/violation/business/illegal/drug etc one by one
After this she said that'd be end of your interview. As of now we've received everything and she gave us a template that they give to everyone stating that our case is in the review and they'll contact if they need to schedule another interview and if not they'll send over the decision via mail. I wasn't convinced but my wife was. My wife stood up and started going out, I asked her to sit and let me read what the document says. I pretended to read the document just to have a little conversation with the interviewer. After a minute of silence she started talking to my wife and she said you guys look good to me. I see there's nothing wrong with your case and it seems approve-able to me. That was such a sigh of relief for me. We both then thanked her and started walking outside along with her.
Timeline -
Priority Date : 4/3/2017
Receipt of Docs : 4/3/2017
concurrent apply
I-765
I-485
I-130
I-130 Online Status : Case was received 4/3/2017 (Online: it still says Case was received on 2/8/2018)
Biometric notification received in mail: 4/14/2017
Biometric scheduled at : 5/1/2017
RFIE received in mail: 4/19/2017
To Submit Form I-130A
My Attorney said it wasn't mandatory before but if they've asked for this document now it must mean that they've made it mandatory to be filed from now on.
RFIE Submitted : 4/24/2017
Biometric Physically Done : 5/1/2017
Biometric fingerprints were taken for the following documents :
I-485
I-765
Response to the RFIE received by USCIS : 5/5/2017 (Online Case Update for I-130)
I-485 (Status updated) **Ready to be Scheduled for interview** : 6/13/17
Real part started here when I didn't have EAD and the Status online was Ready to be scheduled for interview and the maximum wait time was around 180 days (I'm not sure about the exact days please google it) so Attorney said we cannot do anything or can't even ask for Service Request since the wait time isn't completed.
7/3/2017
I-765 online Status Updated: **To Card in Production**
7/7/2017
EAD Card was mailed to me (online status updated)
7/13/2017
Card received in mail
7/15/2017
SSN applied
7/17/2017
SSN Card received
---Long Wait Time---
---Hang (on) in there---
We kept calling them in Mid-December and kept asking them about the case status as it was above 180 days...
12/22/2017
Finally Interview appointment letter received in mail - interview was scheduled at 02/01/2018
02/01/2018
After 1:30 - 2 2hrs of interview at Prosperity Ave, Fairfax, VA
Online status says "Card is being produced" ...
These are my suggestions to anyone who's reading it for anyone who's case is based on i-485 marriage based:
(The key to do a successful interview is, do genuine work and don't hesitate to tell your concern even if you have anything that you see as a problem but only tell them if they ask about it..Otherwise no need to tell your problems and don't try to explain things unless you're being asked to. Be too specific and precise. You've done something good! You deserve it and You need to convince them that you deserve it). Yes, they'll make it look like it's planned and you're not eligible or try to confuse you by asking random question again and again. That's how the interrogation goes...
1.Blame something and hear back a positive response from positive person.
2.Blame something and see the other person panicking if he/she's guilty.
All you need to do is calm down and answer the questions confidently. You must be able to convince them so take your time to reply... The worst they can do is ask you to come after they schedule another interview or come after having stronger proof of bonafide marriage). They're not looking for Exact Dates/Exact colors/signed documents or any documents I'd say. They're only observing you if your marriage is real by observing your reaction to pinching questions and will even try to jog you by questioning your answers like I don't believe it can happen like this. It doesn't happen like this, we know. This and that... (don't panic or don't react to it suddenly). Let them say what they want to say and then clarify with words that'll make sense to them. They don't want to hear "AN EXCUSE" in reply. They want to be convinced. They're looking for the chemistry between you/your wife and your relationship which must make sense to a normal person without much explanation. The key here is (You don't always have to answer everything. If your wife/husband is with you and she suspects anything that you cannot handle, she must intervene and reply to that question by any words (this part is important so that they see Wife is covering Husband and it goes Vice-Versa).
If they don't suspect anything in first basic questions, they'll not go into details (I'm writing below all the questions we were asked). But you also need to come up with relevant and satisfying/convincing answers. One convincing answer saves you from 10 another hard/pinching questions, so you must work on that.
Questions we were asked : (Our interviewer was a lady) (Remember, during the interview You're being recorded and you're under oath)
My own thoughts: I have reasons to believe there was somebody on the other side of camera (Silent listener/silent observer) who was continuously chatting with the interviewer and they were exchanging messages via her laptop). I can only assume as I saw her hitting 2-3 keys every once in a while and pretending like she's doing something on her screen. She could also be using FB, I'm not sure and like I said these are just my thoughts. You can ignore them). Anyways.
***She took the IDs/Passports/EAD/All the documents to prove our bonafide marriage at once at the very first step and attached them to our file)***
INFO :
Me : Husband : Beneficiary
Partner : My Wife : Petitioner
-She said she'll ask most of the questions from me and only I needed to answer the questions if I was asked. (We both (me & my wife) looked at each other and like we planned if one of us appear to be having tough time answering a question, the other partner must intervene. So, Me & My wife were in a commitment even if she had said that before everything)
-During the interview she's also gathering information and memorizing some dates and things that we're telling her and she kept on asking some things again because she had memorized the answers from our first few responses and it seemed like she wanted to ask those questions JUST TO CHECK IF WE LIE at any moment. Don't be a fool to lie to them!!!
Wife-How did you get your green card? -She got confused and I answered it for her and then she explained. Kind of she didn't expect this question from her at first. Neither did I.
Me/Wife-What's your wife/husband name?
Me/Wife-What's her/his date of birth?
Me-When did you get married?
Me/Wife-What's the name of your wife's/husband's Father? Mother?
Me/Wife-Where did you get married or where did the ceremony took place? we told her the venue. Interviewer replied,"I've not heard of this place? Where is it? I've not heard of it in this area?...Her reaction was notable. She then said, let me google it. We were both fine as it was a legit place where we got married and she googled the venue in front of us.
Me-When did you enter USA last time? (I'd recent entries to USA in 2013 and 2014 and both time I stayed for like 5 months and 20 days) She carefully counted the duration of each visit by looking at my each exit and entry stamp in my passport and carefully counted every stay and made sure I'd not overstayed then again she asked me about these visits/duration/purpose). Now she had remembered my last arrival date 12/28/2016 and she asked me this around 3-4 times during the interview at random moments.
Me-Where do you live?
Wife-What's the address?
Wife-Where did you live before moving in to this house? (Her Parent's house) and after that she lived with me in a joint family environment.
Me-What was the address of that address where you lived before moving in to this current house? (We'd changed house so I told the old address where we were living in joint family environment)
Me-How long have you been living together?
Me-When did you move in to this new house? Date?
Me-What's your wife's occupation?
Wife-What's your husband's occupation?
Me-Do you remember DOB of your wife?
Wife-Do you remember DOB of your husband?
Wife-When did you get married? (Yes, interviewer asked this question around 3-4 times from both of us. This same question at random moments)
Me-How did you meet each other?
Wife-Where did you two meet?
Me/Wife-Who proposed to who? (LOVE OR ARRANGED)
Me-When did you propose her? Tell Exact date? I didn't tell exact date coz it wasn't planned and we were not looking at dates it was around Feb so I told her that. Actually, I remembered but I didn't want to tell because it'd have made her ask more questions regarding it.
Me-So you came in Dec and you got married in March wasn't that so quick? Answer that wisely... I felt like my answer to this question was nail in the coffin as she didn't go in to much details after this...
Me-What the DOB of your parents? She was checking G325A (I didn't know exact date of my father but my wife knew so she replied to that and interviewer noted that)
Wife-what's the DOB of your parents? when Her G325A was being verified
Wife-How many people attended wedding?
Wife-Who attended the wedding from your side?
Me-Did you have reception? When?
Wife-How many people attended the reception?
Me-Do you have pictures of the ceremony?
Wife/Me-She took the album of our timeline and randomly opened some pics and asked both of if we had known there people and their names?
Me-Did you guys go to Honeymoon?
Me-Then she asked if I had any intention of getting married here before coming to USA?
Me-Then she asked all the questioned mentioned in the last 2-3 pages of i-485 regarding any traffic/violation/business/illegal/drug etc one by one
After this she said that'd be end of your interview. As of now we've received everything and she gave us a template that they give to everyone stating that our case is in the review and they'll contact if they need to schedule another interview and if not they'll send over the decision via mail. I wasn't convinced but my wife was. My wife stood up and started going out, I asked her to sit and let me read what the document says. I pretended to read the document just to have a little conversation with the interviewer. After a minute of silence she started talking to my wife and she said you guys look good to me. I see there's nothing wrong with your case and it seems approve-able to me. That was such a sigh of relief for me. We both then thanked her and started walking outside along with her.
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