Our Experience

[mjg3500]

I want to share our experience, maybe someone will find it useful. This is a marriage based AOS. USCIS received the i485, i130, i131, i765, and i864 27 September 2018. We received a courtesy letter in February stating we will need to bring the i693 to the interview. Then nothing. We inquired about the i765 in April with no response. Made a second inquiry and opened an Outside Normal Processing Time case with Ombudsman in May. Received EAD and Advanced Parole card 23 May. We don't know if the Ombudsman helped or not. We moved within state at the beginning of June. We notified USCIS of our address change and the field office change from Las Vegas to Reno. USCIS mailed a response to our address change on 20 June and scheduled our interview on 21 June. Our interview date was 8:30am 30 July. We showed up about 20 minutes early and waited. And waited. And waited. We had a portfolio of all the original documents sent with the applications and anything extra that was printed on the schedule letter. The USCIS officer was polite and professional. Our interview was recorded. We were interviewed together for a few minutes and then interviewed separately. The officer never asked to see anything in our folder. Our only evidence of a bonafide marriage is our child. We were asked if we had proof of our residence. We did not. I also have an out of state license. She forgot to ask for the i693. I offered that and she said good or she would've had to issue an RFE later. The green card was approved on the spot based on our separate interviews. I received the text and email later in the day that the new card was being produced. And, the next day that the i485 was approved. Also, our babysitter for the day left town so we did take our two year old child with us to the interview.

[American Dreamer]

Congratulations on clearing your interview. and thanks for sharing your experience. Would you be able to list any other questions she asked you or your spouse in the separate interview. Thanks..

[mjg3500]

Congratulations on clearing your interview. and thanks for sharing your experience. Would you be able to list any other questions she asked you or your spouse in the separate interview. Thanks..

She asked how and when we met. Where we went and what we did when we met. Things we did after that. Why are we staying in the US. And, questions about specific things in the house. She also asked if we were intimate before marriage. It's hard to tell if all interviews would get the same questions or different ones.

[American Dreamer]

Thanks a lot for the reply. I wish you all the best for your future citizenship journey.

[SouthBay2019]

I want to share our experience, maybe someone will find it useful. This is a marriage based AOS. USCIS received the i485, i130, i131, i765, and i864 27 September 2018. We received a courtesy letter in February stating we will need to bring the i693 to the interview. Then nothing. We inquired about the i765 in April with no response. Made a second inquiry and opened an Outside Normal Processing Time case with Ombudsman in May. Received EAD and Advanced Parole card 23 May. We don't know if the Ombudsman helped or not. We moved within state at the beginning of June. We notified USCIS of our address change and the field office change from Las Vegas to Reno. USCIS mailed a response to our address change on 20 June and scheduled our interview on 21 June. Our interview date was 8:30am 30 July. We showed up about 20 minutes early and waited. And waited. And waited. We had a portfolio of all the original documents sent with the applications and anything extra that was printed on the schedule letter. The USCIS officer was polite and professional. Our interview was recorded. We were interviewed together for a few minutes and then interviewed separately. The officer never asked to see anything in our folder. Our only evidence of a bonafide marriage is our child. We were asked if we had proof of our residence. We did not. I also have an out of state license. She forgot to ask for the i693. I offered that and she said good or she would've had to issue an RFE later. The green card was approved on the spot based on our separate interviews. I received the text and email later in the day that the new card was being produced. And, the next day that the i485 was approved. Also, our babysitter for the day left town so we did take our two year old child with us to the interview.

Thank you for sharing your story. Congratulations. I had to Google the word Ombudsman and still do not know what it is. Were you referring to an attorney?

[polkaparty]

Thank you for writing about your experience and congratulations! I have two questions:
1. Why do you think they separated you? Just normal procedure for that office?
2. Did you send a lot of support documentation with your application and that’s why she didn’t want/need to see anything additional?

All the best to you and your family. Again, congratulations!

[mjg3500]

Thank you for sharing your story. Congratulations. I had to Google the word Ombudsman and still do not know what it is. Were you referring to an attorney?

[SouthBay2019]

Thank you, mjg3500. Have a good weekend.

[mjg3500]

Thank you for writing about your experience and congratulations! I have two questions:
1. Why do you think they separated you? Just normal procedure for that office?
2. Did you send a lot of support documentation with your application and that’s why she didn’t want/need to see anything additional?

All the best to you and your family. Again, congratulations!

I'm not sure why we got separated. I don't know if it's standard for marriage interviews or not. We didn't have a lot of evidence that our marriage was bonafide, so possibly that's the reason. We also have lived in a lot of places in the past few years because we travel, so maybe we seemed suspicious. We only submitted the bare minimum evidence. Copies of marriage certificate, the required passport pages and birth certificate. We sent copies of passport front page and birth certificates for both of us and our child. But, I did submit previous three years of tax returns and two months of pay stubs. We don't even have any shared financial documents. Also, my wife gets nervous in those situations and takes it seriously and I don't. The officer has to go through a long list of standard questions to start, like are you a terrorist, do you plan on being a terrorist, are you a kidnapper, the same ones that are somewhere on the application. I laughed while the officer was working through the list, so maybe she thought I was going to be a problem.

[polkaparty]

I'm not sure why we got separated. I don't know if it's standard for marriage interviews or not. We didn't have a lot of evidence that our marriage was bonafide, so possibly that's the reason. We also have lived in a lot of places in the past few years because we travel, so maybe we seemed suspicious. We only submitted the bare minimum evidence. Copies of marriage certificate, the required passport pages and birth certificate. We sent copies of passport front page and birth certificates for both of us and our child. But, I did submit previous three years of tax returns and two months of pay stubs. We don't even have any shared financial documents. Also, my wife gets nervous in those situations and takes it seriously and I don't. The officer has to go through a long list of standard questions to start, like are you a terrorist, do you plan on being a terrorist, are you a kidnapper, the same ones that are somewhere on the application. I laughed while the officer was working through the list, so maybe she thought I was going to be a problem.

Thanks for the explanation. USCIS can only judge on the evidence presented, so if there are questions, I imagine separating spouses is an effective option. In any case, you were approved. That’s what’s most important. Congrats again.