Jake01
10-24-2007, 07:18 PM
Our Appointment was at 1pm, we got there about 20 minutes early, had to go thru Security, and show my Appointment Letter, whereby the guard, wrote on the time we arrived, and told us to put the letter thru the opening in a glass window, that will drop into a box. It was very cold in the waiting room, so take a cardigan if you get chilly easily. There was a fair number of people there, but we got called about 1.20 pm.
The Immigration Officer escorted us to her office, whereby she swore us in, we all sat down, and she asked my name and address, date of birth, and then went down the list of NO questions on the I-485 (ie, Terrorist, prostitution etc.,) she then asked if we had bought the evidence that was asked for in our interview letter, my Passport, I-94, a letter from employer, stating pay and hours worked a week, and evidence of a Bona fide marriage, we passed her my passport, I-94, letter from employer, and told her that we dont have much in joint names, only rental leases on 2 homes, Gas Bill, car registered in both our names, we couldn't get a joint bank account without having a valid visa, she was fine about this, all this was in a ring binder, she went thru every thing, I also had photo's in there, of when we were living in England, the two of us together and photo's with my family, photo's of us in the US, at the house, our dogs, and christmas ones that we spent with his parents. She asked if I had applyed for a Social security number, which I passed her my card, she wrote down the number, asked if I was working yet, I said no, that I need to get my drivers licence before I can start work as we live out in the country.
The Immigration Officer then asked why I had overstayed my visa, I told her that I didn't intent to, and showed her my return flight ticket, and explained that our intentions was, that I came over for a vacation, trucking around America with partner for two months, see how we feel at the end of my vacation, and that we had every intention of going back to the UK at this time, about 2 weeks before I was due to fly home the Truck broke down, Hubby proposed and we got married. (we explained in more detail than this but don't want to bore you)The IO was satisfied with this.
Then she turned to my husband, (this is where it gets complicated and personal), he has had ties with the UK for a number of years, and was married twice before, to UK Citizens, they both started the AOS process, but never got to the stage of completing it, never went for Interview, abandoned the process, and left the US to go home. Of course he had to explain his past marriages, why the divorces, and if they left the country or if they were still here, The IO was satified with the divorce itself, but said she would have to check into the whereabouts of the previous 2 wives, as you can only apply for AOS a certain number of times. and she thought that 3 was ok but had to look into it.
By this time we had been in there for 45 minutes, the Immigration Officer was really nice, and finally she said, that was all she need to know, that she was happy with me, but,... she said that if we had only just got married she would have denied us, as we have just had our 3rd anniversery she was happy with our marriage, but will have to further her investigations into the 2 previous wives, and that she will be intouch with us by letter with her decision in 2 - 4 weeks, she told my husband that she didn't want to see him in her office again, in which I replied, not to worry about that as I have a ball and chain around his ankle, which made her laugh.
We came out of there, feeling drained, and more stressed knowing we had to wait another 2 - 4 weeks for an answer, only to find out that we received an email after the weekend saying "notice mailed welcoming new permanent resident"
All in all, the Immigration officer was really nice, she was very professional, polite, she was serious thru the interview, but joked and had a little laugh once the interview was over.
The Only advise I can give is, if you are a USC who has been married a few times with spouses from different countries, try and get evidence that they have left the country, and check out the amount of times you can marry and go thru the AOS process.
The Immigration Officer escorted us to her office, whereby she swore us in, we all sat down, and she asked my name and address, date of birth, and then went down the list of NO questions on the I-485 (ie, Terrorist, prostitution etc.,) she then asked if we had bought the evidence that was asked for in our interview letter, my Passport, I-94, a letter from employer, stating pay and hours worked a week, and evidence of a Bona fide marriage, we passed her my passport, I-94, letter from employer, and told her that we dont have much in joint names, only rental leases on 2 homes, Gas Bill, car registered in both our names, we couldn't get a joint bank account without having a valid visa, she was fine about this, all this was in a ring binder, she went thru every thing, I also had photo's in there, of when we were living in England, the two of us together and photo's with my family, photo's of us in the US, at the house, our dogs, and christmas ones that we spent with his parents. She asked if I had applyed for a Social security number, which I passed her my card, she wrote down the number, asked if I was working yet, I said no, that I need to get my drivers licence before I can start work as we live out in the country.
The Immigration Officer then asked why I had overstayed my visa, I told her that I didn't intent to, and showed her my return flight ticket, and explained that our intentions was, that I came over for a vacation, trucking around America with partner for two months, see how we feel at the end of my vacation, and that we had every intention of going back to the UK at this time, about 2 weeks before I was due to fly home the Truck broke down, Hubby proposed and we got married. (we explained in more detail than this but don't want to bore you)The IO was satisfied with this.
Then she turned to my husband, (this is where it gets complicated and personal), he has had ties with the UK for a number of years, and was married twice before, to UK Citizens, they both started the AOS process, but never got to the stage of completing it, never went for Interview, abandoned the process, and left the US to go home. Of course he had to explain his past marriages, why the divorces, and if they left the country or if they were still here, The IO was satified with the divorce itself, but said she would have to check into the whereabouts of the previous 2 wives, as you can only apply for AOS a certain number of times. and she thought that 3 was ok but had to look into it.
By this time we had been in there for 45 minutes, the Immigration Officer was really nice, and finally she said, that was all she need to know, that she was happy with me, but,... she said that if we had only just got married she would have denied us, as we have just had our 3rd anniversery she was happy with our marriage, but will have to further her investigations into the 2 previous wives, and that she will be intouch with us by letter with her decision in 2 - 4 weeks, she told my husband that she didn't want to see him in her office again, in which I replied, not to worry about that as I have a ball and chain around his ankle, which made her laugh.
We came out of there, feeling drained, and more stressed knowing we had to wait another 2 - 4 weeks for an answer, only to find out that we received an email after the weekend saying "notice mailed welcoming new permanent resident"
All in all, the Immigration officer was really nice, she was very professional, polite, she was serious thru the interview, but joked and had a little laugh once the interview was over.
The Only advise I can give is, if you are a USC who has been married a few times with spouses from different countries, try and get evidence that they have left the country, and check out the amount of times you can marry and go thru the AOS process.