Capt. Tuttle

Yesterday morning (4/10/06) we had our AOS interview in Orlando. It went
very well. In fact it appears it went too well. My wife got approved and
her passport stamped. We were extremely happy, of course. About 6 hours
later I got a phone call from the officer asking about my mortgage
payment. I told him I had no mortgage. I paid off my mortgage years ago.
He then asked about utility bills in our name, which I had given him,
and phone bills. I told him I paid almost all of my bills on line and
didn't have any phone bills. I asked what exactly he wanted. I didn't
get much of an answer. He asked if I could fax or mail him a few more
things (medical bills, my deed). He gave me the mailing address and fax
number in Orlando. I gathered up several more items, ran to a friend's
office and tried to fax what I had to guess he wanted. The fax machine
at the number he gave me never did answer. The friend is going to try
again first thing this morning. If the fax is not sent I will pick up
the paperwork and mail it.
Here are my questions:
Has anything like this happened to anyone else here?
What, if anything, can I do about the fact that my wife's passport is
stamped, but it appears her file is held up in Orlando and who knows
when or if she will get her "green card".
Should I write to my senator, the ombudsman, or someone else?
Needless to say this roller coaster ride is getting very old very fast.
Thanks for any help, advise, recommendations, or words of encouragement.

neil

Did you ask why he wanted it? You were approved and got the stamp so would assume you're all done - I'm wondering if he just needs to pad your file out a bit more. After we got the approval we were asked if we had anything else that we could add to the file (we were still there though) - our interviewer explained that by putting as much evidence as possible in the file it would reduce our chances of having to have an interview when conditions are removed - perhaps he's doing the same, perhaps his boss just said to him "OK, you approved this person but I want to see more evidence in order to know you are doing your job properly". Are you in a position to contact the guy - I think I'd want to be asking him the questions you are trying to get answers to on here.

Capt. Tuttle

neil wrote:
    >>Yesterday morning (4/10/06) we had our AOS interview in Orlando. It
    >>went
    >>very well. In fact it appears it went too well. My wife got approved
    >>and
    >>her passport stamped. We were extremely happy, of course. About 6
    >>hours
    >>later I got a phone call from the officer asking about my mortgage
    >>payment. I told him I had no mortgage. I paid off my mortgage years
    >>ago.
    >>He then asked about utility bills in our name, which I had given him,
    >>and phone bills. I told him I paid almost all of my bills on line and
    >>didn't have any phone bills. I asked what exactly he wanted. I didn't
    >>get much of an answer. He asked if I could fax or mail him a few more
    >>things (medical bills, my deed). He gave me the mailing address and
    >>fax
    >>number in Orlando. I gathered up several more items, ran to a friend's
    >>office and tried to fax what I had to guess he wanted. The fax machine
    >>at the number he gave me never did answer. The friend is going to try
    >>again first thing this morning. If the fax is not sent I will pick up
    >>the paperwork and mail it.
    >>Here are my questions:
    >>Has anything like this happened to anyone else here?
    >>What, if anything, can I do about the fact that my wife's passport is
    >>stamped, but it appears her file is held up in Orlando and who knows
    >>when or if she will get her "green card".
    >>Should I write to my senator, the ombudsman, or someone else?
    >>Needless to say this roller coaster ride is getting very old very
    >>fast.
    >>Thanks for any help, advise, recommendations, or words of
    >>encouragement.
    >
    >
    > Did you ask why he wanted it? You were approved and got the stamp so
    > would assume you're all done - I'm wondering if he just needs to pad
    > your file out a bit more. After we got the approval we were asked if we
    > had anything else that we could add to the file (we were still there
    > though) - our interviewer explained that by putting as much evidence as
    > possible in the file it would reduce our chances of having to have an
    > interview when conditions are removed - perhaps he's doing the same,
    > perhaps his boss just said to him "OK, you approved this person but I
    > want to see more evidence in order to know you are doing your job
    > properly". Are you in a position to contact the guy - I think I'd want
    > to be asking him the questions you are trying to get answers to on here.
    >

I did ask exactly what he wanted. He didn't give much of an answer. Also
this interview was for a 10 year card. We have been married for over 2
years!
As far as trying to contact him, if the fax number he gave me doesn't
answer then I have no way to even try to contact him. I have thought
about getting an info pass appointment, but that will only get me to a
uniformed officer at one of the walk up windows. That may or may not
lead to this guy.
It is just a mystery to me how he can approve us, stamp the passport,
and then ask for more information 6 hours later.
Thanks for your reply though.

Capt. Tuttle

Capt. Tuttle wrote:
    > neil wrote:
    >
    >>> Yesterday morning (4/10/06) we had our AOS interview in Orlando. It
    >>> went
    >>> very well. In fact it appears it went too well. My wife got approved
    >>> and
    >>> her passport stamped. We were extremely happy, of course. About 6
    >>> hours
    >>> later I got a phone call from the officer asking about my mortgage
    >>> payment. I told him I had no mortgage. I paid off my mortgage years
    >>> ago.
    >>> He then asked about utility bills in our name, which I had given him,
    >>> and phone bills. I told him I paid almost all of my bills on line and
    >>> didn't have any phone bills. I asked what exactly he wanted. I didn't
    >>> get much of an answer. He asked if I could fax or mail him a few more
    >>> things (medical bills, my deed). He gave me the mailing address and
    >>> fax
    >>> number in Orlando. I gathered up several more items, ran to a friend's
    >>> office and tried to fax what I had to guess he wanted. The fax machine
    >>> at the number he gave me never did answer. The friend is going to try
    >>> again first thing this morning. If the fax is not sent I will pick up
    >>> the paperwork and mail it.
    >>> Here are my questions:
    >>> Has anything like this happened to anyone else here?
    >>> What, if anything, can I do about the fact that my wife's passport is
    >>> stamped, but it appears her file is held up in Orlando and who knows
    >>> when or if she will get her "green card".
    >>> Should I write to my senator, the ombudsman, or someone else?
    >>> Needless to say this roller coaster ride is getting very old very
    >>> fast.
    >>> Thanks for any help, advise, recommendations, or words of
    >>> encouragement.
    >> Did you ask why he wanted it? You were approved and got the stamp so
    >> would assume you're all done - I'm wondering if he just needs to pad
    >> your file out a bit more. After we got the approval we were asked if we
    >> had anything else that we could add to the file (we were still there
    >> though) - our interviewer explained that by putting as much evidence as
    >> possible in the file it would reduce our chances of having to have an
    >> interview when conditions are removed - perhaps he's doing the same,
    >> perhaps his boss just said to him "OK, you approved this person but I
    >> want to see more evidence in order to know you are doing your job
    >> properly". Are you in a position to contact the guy - I think I'd want
    >> to be asking him the questions you are trying to get answers to on here.
    >
    > I did ask exactly what he wanted. He didn't give much of an answer. Also
    > this interview was for a 10 year card. We have been married for over 2
    > years!
    > As far as trying to contact him, if the fax number he gave me doesn't
    > answer then I have no way to even try to contact him. I have thought
    > about getting an info pass appointment, but that will only get me to a
    > uniformed officer at one of the walk up windows. That may or may not
    > lead to this guy.
    > It is just a mystery to me how he can approve us, stamp the passport,
    > and then ask for more information 6 hours later.
    > Thanks for your reply though.

I called my senator's office. His liaison person said that this was very
unusual, but that every case is reviewed by someone else. She advised to
wait and see if I hear from this officer and/or get the green card in
the mail. I told her I had sent more "evidence".
My wife was worried about travel if some emergency came up. The
senator's rep said that even if something was in the computer about the
mix-up they would let her back into the U.S. on the stamp and give her
the chance to fix the problem. That was a load off our minds.
She also said that after all is said and done I could easily file a
complaint against this officer. We will wait and see on that one.
We feel a little better about the situation now. The senator's rep was
very interested, and asked me to let her know what happens next. She did
take the officer's name, and could not understand why the fax number did
not work.
The bottom line was that they could do nothing yet. So, we are in a wait
and see mode now.