candyfloss
04-29-2008, 04:15 AM
Sooo our interview experience :)
Arrived 45mins before appointment time. Office is a fairly new building with a lovely view of the river (dont ask me what one cos I don't know) Anyways due to the low amount of traffic there wasn't that many people there when we arrived - just another couple. The staff were very friendly and welcoming which was a pleasant surprise. After handing in our appointment letter we had a wait of about an hour. The AO who called us into the interview room was real friendly, she greeted us with a smile and immediately put us at ease. She apologized for the delay and just her doing that made us feel right away that we were being interviewed by a REAL person. Funny how summat as simple as that can make such a big impression.
Once inside her office we did the oath, there was a camera on a tripod in the corner of the room but as to whether it was on or not I have no idea, truth was after the first few mins we forgot about. It was obvious she had read our applications ( I-130, 485, etc) in detail as she referred to some of the piccies and a letter we had submitted with them - so just in case you were wondering 'do USCIS read extra material submitted?' then based on our experience the answer is YES. :)
She started the interview by asking when I had first come into the US - and requested my I-194 (VWP tag) She asked had I had any other entries to which I replied yes and gave her the dates. The only reference that was made to my current overstay was "ok so you been here almost a year now'. She then requested our passports - and checked them out. We then proceeded on with the rest of the interview which at that time seemed like for the most part an informal chat HOWEVER looking back on it I realize that she was VERY GOOD at her job i.e. eliciting information. I never realized until later just how many questions she had asked and we had answered because she handled it so well. We were TOTALLY relaxed with her, and not for a single second did we feel like we were 'on trial'. As interviews go it was great, totally relaxed and laid back. We both answered a lot of the questions, often cutting across each which she was cool with. She seemed genuinely interested in how our relationship had developed and was familiar with Skype and online relationships so we didn't feel the need to 'justify' our relationship from that aspect.
The questions were VERY straightforward:
Husbands / spouses date of birth
how we met - how our relationship developed
who attended the wedding - did any of my family come
what my / his family thought of us getting married
what his mother thought of me / what mine thought of him
could we tell her who some of the people in the piccies were
had i worked since i had been here
had i used any public funds
the details of my convictions and the circumstances that lead up to them
what financial support I had - sponsor etc
how did I know the sponsor
the full list of 485 questions 'have you ever....."
i am a 12 year breast cancer survivor - so the question of medical cover was raised
had hubby met my children - and if so what did they think of him and me being married
where my children planning on joining us
and the final one was if i was planning to travel anywhere in the next 4/6 weeks - i assume this was asked as she had already decided to recommend approval and was thinking about the delay between me getting my GC and needing to travel back to the UK
When it got to the issue of my convictions (30 years ago) she again showed us respect in that she got up and closed her door to give us privacy - another small detail but SO important, made me feel easier about discussing them. It was the part of the interview that I had been dreading and yes I did get upset going through it all again BUT she made the whole thing as comfortable as it possibly could be. I was very grateful for that. Having reviewed my convictions and the circumstances that gave rise to them she told us that they did NOT make me inadmissible, so they were not an issue. She kept the court certified documents for the files and assured me that they were not a problem.
She concluded the interview by telling us that she was recommending approval :) The whole interview probably lasted about 45 mins, which might seem like a long time but because it was so relaxed seemed to fly by.
Overall the whole interview was wonderful. We initially were very nervous but she put us at ease almost immediately. We were very honest with her, which she told us she appreciated. It was everything I had HOPED it would be but didn't really expect. She was friendly, warm, welcoming and HUMAN. As AO's go then hand on heart I don't think we could have gotten a better one. The Pittsburgh office gets a BIG 5 stars from us :D
Arrived 45mins before appointment time. Office is a fairly new building with a lovely view of the river (dont ask me what one cos I don't know) Anyways due to the low amount of traffic there wasn't that many people there when we arrived - just another couple. The staff were very friendly and welcoming which was a pleasant surprise. After handing in our appointment letter we had a wait of about an hour. The AO who called us into the interview room was real friendly, she greeted us with a smile and immediately put us at ease. She apologized for the delay and just her doing that made us feel right away that we were being interviewed by a REAL person. Funny how summat as simple as that can make such a big impression.
Once inside her office we did the oath, there was a camera on a tripod in the corner of the room but as to whether it was on or not I have no idea, truth was after the first few mins we forgot about. It was obvious she had read our applications ( I-130, 485, etc) in detail as she referred to some of the piccies and a letter we had submitted with them - so just in case you were wondering 'do USCIS read extra material submitted?' then based on our experience the answer is YES. :)
She started the interview by asking when I had first come into the US - and requested my I-194 (VWP tag) She asked had I had any other entries to which I replied yes and gave her the dates. The only reference that was made to my current overstay was "ok so you been here almost a year now'. She then requested our passports - and checked them out. We then proceeded on with the rest of the interview which at that time seemed like for the most part an informal chat HOWEVER looking back on it I realize that she was VERY GOOD at her job i.e. eliciting information. I never realized until later just how many questions she had asked and we had answered because she handled it so well. We were TOTALLY relaxed with her, and not for a single second did we feel like we were 'on trial'. As interviews go it was great, totally relaxed and laid back. We both answered a lot of the questions, often cutting across each which she was cool with. She seemed genuinely interested in how our relationship had developed and was familiar with Skype and online relationships so we didn't feel the need to 'justify' our relationship from that aspect.
The questions were VERY straightforward:
Husbands / spouses date of birth
how we met - how our relationship developed
who attended the wedding - did any of my family come
what my / his family thought of us getting married
what his mother thought of me / what mine thought of him
could we tell her who some of the people in the piccies were
had i worked since i had been here
had i used any public funds
the details of my convictions and the circumstances that lead up to them
what financial support I had - sponsor etc
how did I know the sponsor
the full list of 485 questions 'have you ever....."
i am a 12 year breast cancer survivor - so the question of medical cover was raised
had hubby met my children - and if so what did they think of him and me being married
where my children planning on joining us
and the final one was if i was planning to travel anywhere in the next 4/6 weeks - i assume this was asked as she had already decided to recommend approval and was thinking about the delay between me getting my GC and needing to travel back to the UK
When it got to the issue of my convictions (30 years ago) she again showed us respect in that she got up and closed her door to give us privacy - another small detail but SO important, made me feel easier about discussing them. It was the part of the interview that I had been dreading and yes I did get upset going through it all again BUT she made the whole thing as comfortable as it possibly could be. I was very grateful for that. Having reviewed my convictions and the circumstances that gave rise to them she told us that they did NOT make me inadmissible, so they were not an issue. She kept the court certified documents for the files and assured me that they were not a problem.
She concluded the interview by telling us that she was recommending approval :) The whole interview probably lasted about 45 mins, which might seem like a long time but because it was so relaxed seemed to fly by.
Overall the whole interview was wonderful. We initially were very nervous but she put us at ease almost immediately. We were very honest with her, which she told us she appreciated. It was everything I had HOPED it would be but didn't really expect. She was friendly, warm, welcoming and HUMAN. As AO's go then hand on heart I don't think we could have gotten a better one. The Pittsburgh office gets a BIG 5 stars from us :D