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Re: Successful AOS interview today in Detroit! All the details...
> Hi everyone,
> Heres some info on me and my husbands interview today in Detroit in
> case it is of interest or help to anyone. Lots of details so sorry for
> the rambling on..lol
> We had an appointment at the immigration service on Mt. Elliot street
> today in Detroit for my husband to get a greencard. I am a US citizen
> and he is from England just FYI. I was well prepared and brought
> along
> a big file full of all the things that the interview appointment
> letter
> asked us to bring. I brought birth cert. for both, marriage license
> <which I was up half the night looking for cause I missplaced it>,
> both
> our passports and SS cards, my last 3 years tax returns, W2's, pay
> slips for both of us incuding letters from our employers, evidence of
> our relationship such as copy of apartment lease, bills with both our
> names on them, copies of joint bank account statements, pictures,
> cards, etc, a notorized affadavit of support, and copies of any
> letters
> we have recieved from the INS. I brought the originals along as well.
> Ok well I was up pretty much all night getting this all prepared. Our
> appointment was at 8am, and we live about an hour away from Detroit.
> There is alot of construction going on and apparently the traffic is
> horrible, and on top of that, we dont know our way around the area. So
> we left the house around 5:45. There was really very little traffic
> and
> we found our way there pretty easily so we were early. We had some
> breakfast and got to the immigration place at about 7am. As soon as
> you pull up, they ask to see your appointment letter, told us they
> open
> the doors at 7:30am and showed us where to park. We went in at 7:40am,
> had to show our appointment letter again, and walk through the metal
> detector thing. The place is really small, alot smaller than I had
> expected. At 7:50 my husbands name was called. We were greeted by a
> friendly officer who introduced herself as Officer Sullivan. We
> followed her into her little cubicle and had a seat. She had us raise
> our right hands and swear to tell the truth, etc. She then asked us
> for
> our ID's, we handed her both of our passports and drivers
> license/state
> IDs. She had both of us state our names and address, and then asked
> David a series of questions from a check off sheet she had, just all
> 'no' questions like "Are you a terrorist?" "Do you plan to engage in
> espionage or to overtake the US government?" which i had to laugh at.
> Just easy routine questions. She asked David his date of birth,
> address, phone number, moms name, dads name, our wedding date, and if
> he was working. She already had our file from when we applied on her
> desk and was just checking things off to see if his answers match what
> she had on file. She then asked me if I had my last years tax
> return/W2
> and any paystubs. I handed them to her. Heres the thing that I was so
> nervous about....I was $400 short of the income requirment guidlines,
> so I brought along a letter from my employer stating my new wages
> since
> I have had a raise since my taxes were filed, also copies of what I
> had
> in the bank, along with an apprasial of my wedding ring as an asset.
> Also brought my husbands recent paystubs and employment letter, as he
> just got a job. She never asked for any of this. Not even the
> Affadavit
> of support form that I filled out and had notorized. Just my 2005
> taxes
> and some paystubs. She did ask how come we waited so long to file for
> AOS, a question i was expecting, because we were married in October
> 2003 and did not apply until October 2005. I just told her that that
> was my own stupid mistake, cause I recieved some bad advice and was
> told it was easier to wait until you are closer to your 2 year
> anniversary beore applying so you can skip the temp. 2 year green card
> and get your 10 year one w/o restrictions. Which is true, but I found
> that by doing so, you had overstayed are not allowed to leave the
> country, even with a travel document, or you will incure a 10 year
> ban.
> So my husband has not visited home to see his family in almost 3
> years.
> She just laughed and was like 'ooooh ok'. She then stamped Davids
> passport, said he will recieve his actual greencard in the mail in
> about a month and told us to have a great day. We were like..."is that
> it?" and i laughed and commented that I had brought so much stuff with
> me. She just laughed and was like "Well if you really want me to I
> could file it for ya". We thanked her and left. We got home at
> 9am. I
> was so worried about the interview, it always sounds so scary. It
> lasted 15mins max and about half that time was spent in silence as
> she
> was typing stuff in her computer. She was also very smiley and
> friendly
> and made us feel very comfortable. So we are FINALLY done and are
> planning on spending xmas this year in England since David is free
> to
> travel. Yay!! I was surprised at how quick the process was from
> the
> time we applied, to the time we had our interview date. About 5
> months
> in all. Our timeline is below..
> 01/30/2003- Applied for I-129F, fiance visa through the slooooooow
> Nebraska center
> 07/22/2003- Recieved NOA that application was approved
> 08/21/2003- Recieved 2nd NOA that application was sent to London
> embassy
> 07/30/2003- Sent request to scotland yard for criminal background
> check
> 08/13/2003- Letter recieved from scotland yard, nothing on file
> 08/21/2003-Packet from London embassy with appointment letter and info
> 09/17/2003-Interview and medical in London at 8am. Successful, recieve
> visa
> 09/24/2003-David flies from London heathrow to Detroit
> 10/25/2003- We are married. Awww!
> 10/15/2005- Apply for AOS and EAD, send to Chicago
> 10/26/2005-Recieve NOA- they have recieved application for I-765 for
> Employment auth.
> 10/26/2005- Also have recieved application for I-485 for Adjust status
> 01/27/2006- Get appointment letter to have biometrics/fingerprints
> taken in Detroit
> 02/24/2006- Get biometrics taken, no problems
> 03/02/2006- Recieve EAD card in the mail
> 03/14/2006-Recieve NOA for greencard/AOS interview in Detroit
> with/appointment time
> 03/15/2006- Go to social security office in ann arbor. Apply &
> approved
> for SS card
> 03/22/2006-Recieve SS card in mail
> 04/28/2006-Have medical exam and shots in Westland, no problems
> 05/08/2006-Final interview in Detroit. Approved quickly, recieved
> stamp
> in passport. Actual card should arrive shortly.
CONGRATULATIONS!!!  well done!
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