Nirish83

Its been really helpful reading other peoples experiences on here, so
here's mine....
I arrived here from Canada where i'd been living (but I'm British) on a
VWP on 20th April 2006, then decided to get married to my already
fiance. We said our "I do's" on 27th July 2006, and filled for AOS mid
August (it was received 18th Aug). I got my fingerprints taken very
quickly in September and have been waiting for my EAD ever since with no
success (tried getting an interim EAD after 90 days but didn't work).
And we got notice of our AOS interview a month ago so had plenty of time
to prepare.
After arriving at the local office, we waited and were called in by a
woman (i was relieved at that) only about 5 minutes after our scheduled
time. The first thing that amazed me when we got into the office was how
personal it was. I was expecting a dark room with a table and 3 chairs
but the lady's office was covered in her kids photos and art work.
Although apparently there was a camcorder in the back of the room that I
didn't spot, although that doesn't surprise me.
We were sworn in and the lady took out a folder of everything I'd sent
in including the front of the UPS envelope i'd sent it in, neatly cut
into an A4 size an attached with everything else!
She asked us for our ID and I thought there was going to be a problem
for a minute cause my husband has an out of state drivers licence and my
passport and drivers licence are still British. She wanted something to
prove our recidency in this state but our joint utility bill and lease
were fine.
Starting the questions she asked my other half to answer first. All she
did was ask all the questions from the I-130 form and ticked them off as
he went.Then I answered all the questions from the I-485 form including
all those ones about being in a terrorist organization or having filed
for previous PR etc.
Then she asked either one of us to tell her about how we met, when I
came to the States and about our wedding. My other half is better at
telling this story cause he's a hopeless romantic and the atmosphere
quickly became a little more relaxed and she smiled about how he
proposed etc.
I filled in bits about how we stayed in contact, when i came to the
States, and who was at our wedding. She didn't ask many questions, we
did most of the talking.
We showed her photos (i had an album of about 25) and we talked her
through a lot of them and she watched and smiled as I flicked through
lots of cards, love letters, emails, phone bills, plane tickets etc. I
had them all very well displayed in plastic folders and she was very
impressed with my organisation.
The only documents she asked to keep were the joint ones, so lease,
utility bill, bank account stuff. She didn't take any personal items
such as the million emails I'd printed, or copies of our marriage or
birth certificate. I had way more stuff than we needed.
Then she told us everything was fine with the application and she would
be able to approve me today (yah me!). My green card, for conditional
residency will arrive within 30 days (maybe as few as 5). I asked for a
stamp in my passport in the meantime but she said they can only issue
those if we could prove I was leaving the country in 10-15 days!
My main concern was my EAD but she said there was nothing she could do
about that. Obviously my green card will be my work authorization now.
She suspected the EAD had been delayed since our interview date came so
quickly (Just over 4 months after filing).
I had a question about my passport, which she answered really well. We
were driving out of the car park less than 30 minutes after our
appointment time. Overall it was a lot less stressful than I had
imagined. She didn't ask anything about our intent to get married or how
we crossed the border etc which I was expecting.
We had watched the movie Green Card even and had been testing each other
on what colour our toothbrushes were, and our distant relatives names
etc! The only thing that came in handy was my husband hadn't remembered
what town I was born in cause it wasn't the same one as I grew up in.
I guess when a couple have a legitimate marriage and are clearly in
love, its pretty easy to spot. We had nothing to hide and I think she
quickly realised that.
Later we went out for lunch and did a bit of shopping. In Pottery Barn
of all places, I spotted another couple who had been taken in for
interview just before us! Obviously the place to go to wind down after
your interview...the sofa's are very comfy!
Its a huge relief and a great sense of achievement cause we did this
without a lawyer. All the reading, and form filing, and photocopying has
all paid off. Now I have a nice break from even thinking about
immigration for at least a year and a half.
I know this is long but I know I found detail helpful. Good luck if your
interview is soon.
N.Irish

Dan725

> Its been really helpful reading other peoples experiences on here, so
> here's mine....
> I arrived here from Canada where i'd been living (but I'm British) on
> a VWP on 20th April 2006, then decided to get married to my already
> fiance. We said our "I do's" on 27th July 2006, and filled for AOS mid
> August (it was received 18th Aug). I got my fingerprints taken very
> quickly in September and have been waiting for my EAD ever since with
> no success (tried getting an interim EAD after 90 days but didn't
> work). And we got notice of our AOS interview a month ago so had
> plenty of time to prepare.
> After arriving at the local office, we waited and were called in by a
> woman (i was relieved at that) only about 5 minutes after our
> scheduled time. The first thing that amazed me when we got into the
> office was how personal it was. I was expecting a dark room with a
> table and 3 chairs but the lady's office was covered in her kids
> photos and art work. Although apparently there was a camcorder in the
> back of the room that I didn't spot, although that doesn't surprise
> me.
> We were sworn in and the lady took out a folder of everything I'd sent
> in including the front of the UPS envelope i'd sent it in, neatly cut
> into an A4 size an attached with everything else!
> She asked us for our ID and I thought there was going to be a problem
> for a minute cause my husband has an out of state drivers licence and
> my passport and drivers licence are still British. She wanted
> something to prove our recidency in this state but our joint utility
> bill and lease were fine.
> Starting the questions she asked my other half to answer first. All
> she did was ask all the questions from the I-130 form and ticked them
> off as he went.Then I answered all the questions from the I-485 form
> including all those ones about being in a terrorist organization or
> having filed for previous PR etc.
> Then she asked either one of us to tell her about how we met, when I
> came to the States and about our wedding. My other half is better at
> telling this story cause he's a hopeless romantic and the atmosphere
> quickly became a little more relaxed and she smiled about how he
> proposed etc.
> I filled in bits about how we stayed in contact, when i came to the
> States, and who was at our wedding. She didn't ask many questions, we
> did most of the talking.
> We showed her photos (i had an album of about 25) and we talked her
> through a lot of them and she watched and smiled as I flicked through
> lots of cards, love letters, emails, phone bills, plane tickets etc. I
> had them all very well displayed in plastic folders and she was very
> impressed with my organisation.
> The only documents she asked to keep were the joint ones, so lease,
> utility bill, bank account stuff. She didn't take any personal items
> such as the million emails I'd printed, or copies of our marriage or
> birth certificate. I had way more stuff than we needed.
> Then she told us everything was fine with the application and she
> would be able to approve me today (yah me!). My green card, for
> conditional residency will arrive within 30 days (maybe as few as 5).
> I asked for a stamp in my passport in the meantime but she said they
> can only issue those if we could prove I was leaving the country in
> 10-15 days!
> My main concern was my EAD but she said there was nothing she could do
> about that. Obviously my green card will be my work authorization now.
> She suspected the EAD had been delayed since our interview date came
> so quickly (Just over 4 months after filing).
> I had a question about my passport, which she answered really well. We
> were driving out of the car park less than 30 minutes after our
> appointment time. Overall it was a lot less stressful than I had
> imagined. She didn't ask anything about our intent to get married or
> how we crossed the border etc which I was expecting.
> We had watched the movie Green Card even and had been testing each
> other on what colour our toothbrushes were, and our distant relatives
> names etc! The only thing that came in handy was my husband hadn't
> remembered what town I was born in cause it wasn't the same one as I
> grew up in.
> I guess when a couple have a legitimate marriage and are clearly in
> love, its pretty easy to spot. We had nothing to hide and I think she
> quickly realised that.
> Later we went out for lunch and did a bit of shopping. In Pottery Barn
> of all places, I spotted another couple who had been taken in for
> interview just before us! Obviously the place to go to wind down after
> your interview...the sofa's are very comfy!
> Its a huge relief and a great sense of achievement cause we did this
> without a lawyer. All the reading, and form filing, and photocopying
> has all paid off. Now I have a nice break from even thinking about
> immigration for at least a year and a half.
> I know this is long but I know I found detail helpful. Good luck if
> your interview is soon.
> N.Irish

Well done, good news

Shepslady

> Its been really helpful reading other peoples experiences on here, so
> here's mine....
> I arrived here from Canada where i'd been living (but I'm British) on
> a VWP on 20th April 2006, then decided to get married to my already
> fiance. We said our "I do's" on 27th July 2006, and filled for AOS mid
> August (it was received 18th Aug). I got my fingerprints taken very
> quickly in September and have been waiting for my EAD ever since with
> no success (tried getting an interim EAD after 90 days but didn't
> work). And we got notice of our AOS interview a month ago so had
> plenty of time to prepare.
> After arriving at the local office, we waited and were called in by a
> woman (i was relieved at that) only about 5 minutes after our
> scheduled time. The first thing that amazed me when we got into the
> office was how personal it was. I was expecting a dark room with a
> table and 3 chairs but the lady's office was covered in her kids
> photos and art work. Although apparently there was a camcorder in the
> back of the room that I didn't spot, although that doesn't surprise
> me.
> We were sworn in and the lady took out a folder of everything I'd sent
> in including the front of the UPS envelope i'd sent it in, neatly cut
> into an A4 size an attached with everything else!
> She asked us for our ID and I thought there was going to be a problem
> for a minute cause my husband has an out of state drivers licence and
> my passport and drivers licence are still British. She wanted
> something to prove our recidency in this state but our joint utility
> bill and lease were fine.
> Starting the questions she asked my other half to answer first. All
> she did was ask all the questions from the I-130 form and ticked them
> off as he went.Then I answered all the questions from the I-485 form
> including all those ones about being in a terrorist organization or
> having filed for previous PR etc.
> Then she asked either one of us to tell her about how we met, when I
> came to the States and about our wedding. My other half is better at
> telling this story cause he's a hopeless romantic and the atmosphere
> quickly became a little more relaxed and she smiled about how he
> proposed etc.
> I filled in bits about how we stayed in contact, when i came to the
> States, and who was at our wedding. She didn't ask many questions, we
> did most of the talking.
> We showed her photos (i had an album of about 25) and we talked her
> through a lot of them and she watched and smiled as I flicked through
> lots of cards, love letters, emails, phone bills, plane tickets etc. I
> had them all very well displayed in plastic folders and she was very
> impressed with my organisation.
> The only documents she asked to keep were the joint ones, so lease,
> utility bill, bank account stuff. She didn't take any personal items
> such as the million emails I'd printed, or copies of our marriage or
> birth certificate. I had way more stuff than we needed.
> Then she told us everything was fine with the application and she
> would be able to approve me today (yah me!). My green card, for
> conditional residency will arrive within 30 days (maybe as few as 5).
> I asked for a stamp in my passport in the meantime but she said they
> can only issue those if we could prove I was leaving the country in
> 10-15 days!
> My main concern was my EAD but she said there was nothing she could do
> about that. Obviously my green card will be my work authorization now.
> She suspected the EAD had been delayed since our interview date came
> so quickly (Just over 4 months after filing).
> I had a question about my passport, which she answered really well. We
> were driving out of the car park less than 30 minutes after our
> appointment time. Overall it was a lot less stressful than I had
> imagined. She didn't ask anything about our intent to get married or
> how we crossed the border etc which I was expecting.
> We had watched the movie Green Card even and had been testing each
> other on what colour our toothbrushes were, and our distant relatives
> names etc! The only thing that came in handy was my husband hadn't
> remembered what town I was born in cause it wasn't the same one as I
> grew up in.
> I guess when a couple have a legitimate marriage and are clearly in
> love, its pretty easy to spot. We had nothing to hide and I think she
> quickly realised that.
> Later we went out for lunch and did a bit of shopping. In Pottery Barn
> of all places, I spotted another couple who had been taken in for
> interview just before us! Obviously the place to go to wind down after
> your interview...the sofa's are very comfy!
> Its a huge relief and a great sense of achievement cause we did this
> without a lawyer. All the reading, and form filing, and photocopying
> has all paid off. Now I have a nice break from even thinking about
> immigration for at least a year and a half.
> I know this is long but I know I found detail helpful. Good luck if
> your interview is soon.
> N.Irish

Congrats its a great feeling isnt. Hope the road ahead is now smooth
sailing for you.