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Hi all,
Wanted to share my interview experience.
PD: July 2018
Interview Scheduled notice: Sept 2019
Field Office: NYC (Manhattan); however, interview was conducted in Queens field office (offices for all boroughs are based the same building in Federal Plaza by the City Hall; Queens office is located on the 9th and 4th Floor; Manhattan and Brooklyn are 7th and 8th, I think). The interviewing officer confirmed that they're moving cases across the boroughs to help with caseloads, that's why we were in the Queens field office, instead of the floor for Manhattan.
We were scheduled around 9:00, but had to wait for 2 hours before we were called in. Most people were called in quickly, however. When we were called in, the officer apologized and said someone assigned the case to him late and that is why there was the long delay.
The interview itself went quite smoothly and the officer was very pleasant. It was really like a conversation than an interview. Once we settled in, he swore us in, and asked for original birth certificates (both me and USC spouse), marriage license and our passports. Asked my husband (USC) how we met, what I did for work, and asked me what my husband did for work.
Then asked if we had any pictures. I had prepared a small booklet on Mixbook--around 20 pictures of us, with friends and family and of our trips together. The photos were printed on 7-8 pages, two pictures per page, with little caption on the bottom explaining the picture. We told him that we prepared it for the interview so he could keep it, and he said he'll do that. We are a gay couple so he asked us if both our families knew about our marriage and were okay with it (there were some pictures of us with our families). I mentioned that mine are not okay, while my USC spouse's were okay. He said he understands how culturally these things are different.
Then he asked for any joint documents. We didn't have a big binder or a large stack of documents. We had a) copies of our license with the same address (i'm not on the lease), b) renters insurance listing us both on it, c) New York Botanical Garden membership letter, and lease from the first apartment we lived together. We also provided a) joint bank statements from the past four month, b) insurance document showing we were on the same plan, and c) documents from pension plans/brokerage account showing each others as beneficiaries. We also had airline tickets of our trips together and some greeting cards, but he did not look at them.
After reviewing the documents he asked me 5-10 yes/no questions from I-485. He then said that everything looks good and that he will approve the case. He then handed me a letter which indicated that the case was approved and that I would have to remove the conditions in 1 year 9 months.
My online status hasn't changed to card produced or anything like that; it's still in "Interview Scheduled". Hopefully, it'll change by end of today/tomorrow.
All the best for folks waiting for their interview!
Wanted to share my interview experience.
PD: July 2018
Interview Scheduled notice: Sept 2019
Field Office: NYC (Manhattan); however, interview was conducted in Queens field office (offices for all boroughs are based the same building in Federal Plaza by the City Hall; Queens office is located on the 9th and 4th Floor; Manhattan and Brooklyn are 7th and 8th, I think). The interviewing officer confirmed that they're moving cases across the boroughs to help with caseloads, that's why we were in the Queens field office, instead of the floor for Manhattan.
We were scheduled around 9:00, but had to wait for 2 hours before we were called in. Most people were called in quickly, however. When we were called in, the officer apologized and said someone assigned the case to him late and that is why there was the long delay.
The interview itself went quite smoothly and the officer was very pleasant. It was really like a conversation than an interview. Once we settled in, he swore us in, and asked for original birth certificates (both me and USC spouse), marriage license and our passports. Asked my husband (USC) how we met, what I did for work, and asked me what my husband did for work.
Then asked if we had any pictures. I had prepared a small booklet on Mixbook--around 20 pictures of us, with friends and family and of our trips together. The photos were printed on 7-8 pages, two pictures per page, with little caption on the bottom explaining the picture. We told him that we prepared it for the interview so he could keep it, and he said he'll do that. We are a gay couple so he asked us if both our families knew about our marriage and were okay with it (there were some pictures of us with our families). I mentioned that mine are not okay, while my USC spouse's were okay. He said he understands how culturally these things are different.
Then he asked for any joint documents. We didn't have a big binder or a large stack of documents. We had a) copies of our license with the same address (i'm not on the lease), b) renters insurance listing us both on it, c) New York Botanical Garden membership letter, and lease from the first apartment we lived together. We also provided a) joint bank statements from the past four month, b) insurance document showing we were on the same plan, and c) documents from pension plans/brokerage account showing each others as beneficiaries. We also had airline tickets of our trips together and some greeting cards, but he did not look at them.
After reviewing the documents he asked me 5-10 yes/no questions from I-485. He then said that everything looks good and that he will approve the case. He then handed me a letter which indicated that the case was approved and that I would have to remove the conditions in 1 year 9 months.
My online status hasn't changed to card produced or anything like that; it's still in "Interview Scheduled". Hopefully, it'll change by end of today/tomorrow.
All the best for folks waiting for their interview!
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