We are back from San Antonio and I was APPROVED!!!!
The interview was at 2.30pm, we got there at 2pm and went through the security and went to the waiting room, nobody even checked or told us what to do with the “invitation” letter, but luckily I asked the lady at the information desk and she instructed me to give the letter to the guards, they put me on the list and I signed it. And 5 minutes later an IO is calling my name. Together with him me and my husband took the elevator to the third floor. Inside the elevator the IO asked us how we were and where we were coming from (small talk…). When we got into his room he told us to sit down (and didn’t even swear us in…. psssst!). He saw we brought 2 big folders of documents and 2 photo albums, so he right away asked for one of the albums (he didn’t check our ids). While looking at the photos, he told us we were his last interviewees (and he kind of let us know he was already tired…. maybe he just wanted to take us off guard… they have their tricks), but going through the photos he started asking questions: how old we were, where we had met, how long this whole dating had been going on for, he asked about some particular places in the photos, and made some nice comments, he even told me I was very photogenic. There was a photo of my parents and my husband, he thought it was his parents, and I clarified these were my parents, and then we talked about my husband’s trip to Poland. He asked him how long he stayed there. He asked about my brother (he was in the photo), and commented on my dog (he thought it was my husband’s dog because he was holding him like a baby he, he, he... cute). He also asked my husband about his job (he is a realtor), so he asked about the real estate market. He asked him where he was born, when he moved to Austin, why, where he lived after moving here. He also said that we travel a lot and that maybe he should start traveling, too. Then he glanced at the other album (our wedding photo album), asked where we got married and if we had any guests. He also asked me about my job. Oh one more thing, at the beginning of the interview his first comment was that my husband was nervous, so he explained that it was just the anticipation of the interview, so the IO said that usually people think that the IO is going to be a jerk (???), we didn’t say anything, just smiled.
Then he asked if we have anything that would prove that we live together so that he could include it in his file, so I asked if car insurance and joint bank account statements would do, he said these would be fine, we said we had also mail, he didn’t want it, didn’t even look at it. (We had many more docs and proofs but I guess it is better to be over-prepared than under-prepared.) So he stapled those 2 things in the file, and he also was flipping through the file continuously, like without any reason. He asked for my passport, looked carefully at it, took my I-94 out, and he said that he would stamp my passport, the visa should come in 2-3 weeks, but just in case if it got stuck somewhere, he is putting that stamp, it serves as a green card and is valid for a year. And he also asked me if I had any travel documents or work permit, I said I only had a work permit. First he said he didn’t need it, but then he said that he would take it because I wouldn’t need it anymore since this stamp also serves as EAD. He gave me my passport back and asked me 2 “NO-questions”, he used his words and asked if I had ever been arrested and if I had any problems with the immigration here or in my country. And all of a sudden he has a phone call and leaves the room “for 2 minutes”. We tried not to talk during this time he was gone (who knows maybe it was some trick, maybe we were being recorded), he came back after 10 minutes!!!. He apologized. The last thing he asked was how long we had been married, and explained the removal of the conditions (wrote it on a piece of paper for us), and he was stressing that they had to do it to make sure the marriage is for real (“lots of people come here and are not in real marriage”). Then he thanked us, and took us back to the elevator, went down with us, wished us a good day The interview lasted 15 minutes not counting the time when he left the office
PS. I just wanted to add that the IO told me apply for SSN after the visa comes, but since I already have it, to wait for the removal of the restriction on it.
I also got 2 LUDs (the same message 2 times) 1,5 hours after the interview. The message was "Notice welcoming the new permanent resident sent".
Add new comment