BigBarry

I just got back from my interview in Newark.....hope the info below helps:

Location - Ok, its in newark and Newark is a bit rough, but where the Federal building is - dont worry, safe, cops, plenty of parking.

Our appointment was 11am. We arrived at 10.45am. Went up to the 13th floor, checked in. They asked us if we had an attorney (we didnt but it didnt make a difference as the couple arriving after us with one didnt get in quicker).

There were about 20 people in the room.....only 25% full.

At 11.50 we were called.

The guy apologized for their lateness. Sat us down and said "Look, you guys have bought a house together. You are getting approved." Quite literally thats how it happened.

He asked for my passport and my wifes driving license and took my white slip.

At this point my wife, in all her wisdom said "Do you get a lot of mail order brides through here?" (despite my say nothing unless asked a question pep talk)...he laughed his ass off and said "yeah all the time, its not illegal".

He then asked me if we wanted to give him supporting documents like tax returns or photographs as it was good to have on file. I gave him our originals to look at and he went away to copy them (even though I had copies, he sort of just got up and did it).

He shook out hand, told me the card would be at my home in 10 days and we left at 12.03

13 Minutes.

EDIT: One interesting thing he did tell us...when he was looking at my passport I asked if he wanted to see my H1B paperwork and he said "to be honest, it makes no difference if its in status or not....it could have expired 5 years ago and as long as you haven't left the USA, the fact that you have married a US citizen means we don't care!"

adjudicator89

Congrats

BigBarry

Thanks!

I was bricking it going in, thats for sure.

I actually forgot that the guy asked me the are you a terrorist questions after making me hold up my hand

adjudicator89

My AOS 3 years ago was a breeze too maybe 5 min the max lol

jmood

Made my heart warm up, reading this. Hope mine goes similarly.

Noorah101

Please be aware that there is a big difference in your case and BigBarry's case. BigBarry adjusted status from an H1B, while you are adjusting from the VWP. That could make a difference in the way the AOS interview pans out.

Of course, I do hope yours goes as smoothly, don't get me wrong!

Rene

notacrime

Awesome. That's hilarious. Thanks for sharing.

And a hearty congratulations.

I was H1B to GC through marriage too, in 2005/2006. Don't forget to put the I-751 application date in your calendar. (Google calendar is good for this if you use it, or outlook, or iCal. If you are paper-based then write it in for Dec 31st so that you remember to transfer it to next year's calendar, and so on.)

BigBarry

Thank you for that reminder. Funny, the interviewer said the same and gave me a flyer with how to get and submit that.

Couldn't have asked for a nicer guy to be honest.

Seems like the buying the house thing made it a shoe-in.

It's funny though because I have always been in status, did everything right, had a multitude of evidence with me, but I was still shaking more than a dog taking its morning crap!

notacrime

Yup, it's a nerve-wracking experience, even when you have everything in order. The officer that interviewed us just took one look at us and knew we were legit. He asked 3 questions in total - where did you get married, how many people were at your wedding and were your parents there (if I recall correctly.)

Looking around the waiting room there were some couples that would have made me raise my eyebrows had I been on the other side of the desk, for example the 90lb Latino guy with the 300lb African American woman who was gingerly licking his ear right across from us.

BigBarry

Fantastic...coffee....down my nose!

Anna_Lind

Hi BigBarry! I saw that you posted in our J1 Timeline Status thread. I am glad that you posted about your interview, so that we have an idea of what to expect. It seems like we have about 2 - 3 months until our AOS interview (we received the EAD this week in the mail).

Thanks for sharing your interview experience. Congratulations!


-Anna

Ozzidoc

Remember that different people's milages vary

Good luck!

BigBarry

Just got the Green card (perm resident card or whatever it is called) in the mail this AM!

Whoooho!

ian-mstm

Congratulations!

Ian

Ozzidoc

Congratulations!