The_English_Bride

I have my AOS interview next month and I was wondering if anyone has any tips that might be helpful. Anything from what to take, to what to expect, to things to be awasre of. I'm also a little concerned because my husband and I have not been married long, so we do not yet have much to prove our marriage other than wedding photos and our rental agreement. My bank account is still in my maiden name and my husband has his own account. We also haven't had a chance to file taxes together or anything like that. Will this be a potential problem? Is there anything else I can take to prove our relationship?

ian-mstm

Take originals of all the documents you sent as evidence, dress nicely, and expect to be questioned about things you wrote down on your application form. You may or may not be questioned separately, that is SOP for some offices.


The only thing needed to "prove [y]our marriage" is a marriage certificate. Don't worry... this situation is quite common for newlyweds! You have what you have, and if the officer wants something else, he'll tell you and give you time to get it.


Your premise is faulty. The onus is on the government to disprove your relationship! Remember the mantra... immigration is an adventure, not a burden... immigration is an adventure, not a burden... immi...

Ian

notacrime

When we went for the interview the officer sized us up in about half a second. He had already looked through all the evidence we'd sent, (rental agreement, marriage certificate, some mail to each of us at the same address, wedding photos etc.) The only additional questions he asked were, 'how many people were at your wedding', to my wife: 'were your parents there', to me: 'were your parents there'. That was it.

I think they can just tell in most cases.

Good luck.

Rete

A large percentage of approval is due to the adjudicator's reaction to the both of you as a couple while you are at the interview. So be natural with one another. In our case, when we were asked for the original of a document and I was looking in the redweld for it, DH reached over to help me and I snapped at him "I know where it is". She laughed and said "Now I know you are married."

Bring originals of everything you sent in and if you are going to be offering photographs as evidence bring color copies of the photos. In our case she asked if she could keep one of the photo copies.

If you are bringing new documentation, then bring an original and a copy and give them the copy for your file.

Folinskyinla

Hi:

You have no idea what it is going to be like in advance of any particular individual interview. It may be the easiest thing ever or you may get the DAO from Hell. In some circumstances there might be a friendly member of the Dark Forces who works for ICE -- in my experience that has only happened when the applicant has had past immigration problems. For your run-of-the-mill poster here, I would only have a glimmer of worry if you had entered the US on a VWP and you are in a jurisdiction who thinks of the Momemi as a requirement that DHS be a nasty as they can be. Normally, Momemi is considered by CIS as license and not a requirement to be nasty as they can be.

In any case, you will be nervous going in -- everybody is and the DAO's are used to that.

That said, I give my clients three rules to follow -- these focus the applicant, help you get through the interview, help insure a smooth interview, and if you are unlucky to get the DAO from Hell or have the friendly person from ICE, prevent further damage. By the way, I can repeat these rules in front of the officer -- they actually make the DAO's job easier.

Rule #1 -- tell the truth, it is easier to remember. Corollaries: Don't guess. If you don't know or don't remember, just say so -- it is the truth. If you don't know where he keeps his clean socks, just say "I don't know."

Rule #2 -- understand the question being asked. There is always a risk of questions being misunderstood due to cultural & linguistic differences [do note that the DAO may be a naturalized citizen with the thickest possible accent]. If you don't understand the question -- it is OK to say so, or say "What?" or "Huh!" The question will be rephrased and repeated. If you don't understand the question and answer it anyways -- you run the risk of violating rule #1.

Rule #3 -- this is the most important one and everybody breaks it -- answer ONLY the question asked and nothing more. If the DAO asks you "Do you know what time it is?", the only possible correct answers are "yes" or "no." This is not as rude as you might think. This way, you don't have to get into the DAO's head. [Lawyers like to share examples of the "one question too many" scenario. Same principle applies here].

If the DAO wants something you don't have -- you will get an "RFE" to give you an opportunity to provide that information.

I'm not going to tell you to relax -- that is impossible. However, the three rules will help you immensely if you should be unfortunate to get that DAO from Hell.

[BTW, on the scary things I started with -- I've only had an arrest out of any interview five times in over 30 years].

Good luck.

Folinskyinla

Hi:

LOL. I agree that a bickering couple often does better than one who looks totally cool and rehearsed!

When I prepare a client, I don't tell them what specific questions to expect other than that the DAO will go over the I-130 and I-485 with a red pen in hand to make tick marks and make corrections.

Noorah101

LOL. At our AOS interview, the officer asked for Sadegh's EADs back. He took out his wallet and then looked in the wrong compartment first. Without asking him, I took the wallet from him and went to the right compartment, found the EADs and handed them over. In Farsi, he asked me...doesn't she just want the old one? I said back to him in Farsi, no...she wants both of them. Then I remembered where we were. I looked over at the officer and said "oops, sorry..." She had a smile on her face and said "oh no, not a problem." She looked pleased that we had done something "normal".

Rene

The_English_Bride

Thank you all for your responses! My husband is quite relaxed about going to the interview and his thoughts mirror much of what you all have said. We *are* married and for the right reasons, we have what we have to show them as evidence, and there's no reason for anyone to think we are not a genuine couple.

Folinskyinla

Hi:

It is most likely that you will be just fine. However, there are DAO's and investigators from Hell. 99% of the DAO's are just fine -- but there are bad ones.

The_English_Bride

Rene, why did the officer ask for Sadegh's EADs back? Is this usual? Don't we still need the EAD until we receive the GC?

Noorah101

Sadegh was approved the day of the interview. It's normal for them to take the EAD back, yes. Once you are approved for the green card, you become work authorized and no longer need the EAD. We also asked for and received the I-551 stamp in his passport the day of the interview, so he had proof of his PR status right away. Nowadays, I've heard not all offices give the stamp, but you can certainly ask for it.

Rene

The_English_Bride

Okay, so they only ask for your EADs if you are approved the day of the interview. And, you can ask for the stamp in your passport so you have proof of your status while you wait for the GC.

Noorah101

Yes. If, for some reason you are not approved on the day of your interview, they let you keep the EAD.

notacrime

Yes. I was not approved on the day of our AOS interview. Everything was fine, except that my name check had not come back from the FBI. So I did not have to hand in my EAD.

The_English_Bride

Oh that's good to know. It was reading something else you wrote in another thread, I think, that made me wonder about handing over your EAD and not getting your GC for months.