Philip

Hi,

Let me share with you guys my current timeline.
I'm a Canadian citizen married to a US citizen.
July 5, 2001 submitted for K-1 Visa
Aug 14, 2001 1st NOA
Aug 20, 2001 Petition approval
Dec 4, 2001 K-1 interview, received K-1 VISA in Montreal Consulate
June 2, 2002 entered US via Vancouver POE
June 11, 2002 got married
June 27, 2002 submiited for I-485, I-765, I-131 to Seattle INS
July 25, 2002 had go to seattle office to resubmit because they didn't
need a fingerprint fee (they actually sent the whole package back to
me because of one extra check!)
Aug 27, 2002 received EAD and advance parole at Seattle office
Nov 1, 2002 interview for AOS

So does anyone have to tips for preparing for the AOS interview?
I know I need to show proof of our marriage, so I have the marriage
certificate, joint bank account, joint apartment lease, joint vehicule
ownership and car insurance. Anything else?
I know some people redo another I-864 but is this necessary if there
is no change on the financial side?
Anyone have experience on the interview itself?
Assuming everything goes fine, when should I get the SSN card changed
so that the "vaild to work with INS authorization" is removed. would I
need the green card to do this?

Thanks again for info on these matters.

Good luck to everyone!

Philip

pebbles927

Hi Philip,

We had our AOS interview in Seattle on September 13th of this year. Quite frankly it was a breeze. Our Interview was at 7:30 and we sat there for a little over an hour, but that was the only downside.
We were taken to the interview room and he looked through our paperwork, asked the usual "have you commited a crime, etc" questions. Asked where we met, how long ago it was, asked my older son how old he was, and asked what proof we had brought along. We had to accordian type files with us, all labeled with dividers and tabs and a note on the front saying what was in each tab. I gave him a brief summary of what we had brought and said he could keep the one folder as it had copies and ours had originals, and he just stuffed it in our already huge file...lol I apologized for doubling what he had to carry around and he laughed.
He took a fingerprint from me, and stamped our passports and explained the cards would be coming in the mail and explained the removal of conditions procedure and that was basically it. Quite painless and certainly not worth the stress it caused me beforehand...lol
My tip to you would be, look organized, look like you have all your papers in order. I think that truly helped us.

If you have any other questions feel free to ask.
All the Best
Susan

Folinskyinla

Hi:

These interviews go all over the place. You just might get the examiner from Hell who had an argument with her husband that morning. Or it could be a peice of cake.

There is nothing wrong with constructive paranoia. Updated I-864 is not a bad idea -- at least update the paycheck stubs and a letter of employment. Take a big box of pictures and documents with copies. If the examiner wants them, you'll have them. If the examiner doesn't want them, no harm in having them.

Three rules to follow in answering questions: 1) tell the truth, Its easier to remember. "I don't know" and "I don't remember" are acceptable answers if true. Corollary: Don't guess.

2) Make sure you understand the question. Even though your native language may be English, it may the examiner's second langauge. Also, immigration-speak can be daunting at times. If you don't understand the question -- say "I don't undserstand your question. Please repeat that." They will do just that.

3) Answer ONLY the question ASKED. No more. If the examiner asks "Do you know what time it is?" the only acceptable answers are "Yes" or "No." [I know the question in this example is really a way of asking "What time is it?" -- but I'm making a point].

Follow these three rules religously. Do NOT try and quess what the examiner wants. You may be wrong. If anything is wrong in your case, these rules will also minimize the damage.

BTW, when I see clients straying from these rules, I as the resident potted plant [aka lawyer] repeat the rules with a statement "They help the examiner here." Yes, I repeat these rules in front of INS -- it really does help them too!

Finally on your SS card question -- you will need the green card approval to remove the stamp. However, there is no real need to do so. Once you are an LPR, you really don't the card for any purpose.

Andy Platt

"Philip" wrote ...

    > July 25, 2002 had go to seattle office to resubmit because they didn't
    > need a fingerprint fee (they actually sent the whole package back to
    > me because of one extra check!)
    > Aug 27, 2002 received EAD and advance parole at Seattle office
    > Nov 1, 2002 interview for AOS
    > I know some people redo another I-864 but is this necessary if there
    > is no change on the financial side?

Since your AOS interview is so close to the filing date you don't need to
bother about an updated I-864; most of us haven't had that luxury - there's
usually been at least one new tax return in between filing and the
interview.

    > Anyone have experience on the interview itself?

Taking a nine month old daughter worked wonders for us - unfortunately you
don't seem to have that option so just go by the standard fallbacks - have
everything to hand, bring copies for them and when the interviewer directs a
question to a specific spouse, make sure the other one does not try to chime
in with the answer!

    > Assuming everything goes fine, when should I get the SSN card changed
    > so that the "vaild to work with INS authorization" is removed. would I
    > need the green card to do this?

You can do it never if you want; I haven't got round to it yet but it's on
my must-do list. Technically you don't need the actual GC but it takes a
while for the computers to sync-up so the advice is to wait at least a
couple of months after the interview.

Andy.

--
I'm not really here - it's just your warped imagination.