AOS Success in New Orleans!
Feb 10th 2005, 9:24 am
#1
Forum Regular
Thread Starter
Joined: Jun 2004
Location: New Orleans, LA
Posts: 127
AOS Success in New Orleans!
Here is what I posted for the Kamya interview archive:
Our appointment was for 11:15 in New Orleans, so we showed up at 10:30 (exactly 45 minutes early). We placed our letter in the bucket, and were called in at about 12 noon.
Our interviewer apologized for being late, and that one "problem" can mess up his whole schedule. He had us swear the oath, and then asked how we met. Then, he just chatted about life in general as he was checking things off of a list and looking at his computer. He asked for the medical, which we gave him. He said it looks fine, and that he's glad my wife is in good health. Then, he asked for her pay stubs, which we didn't bring, since I was just going to reuse my old I-864 because I made enough money on my own. He asked to see it, and to my horror I realized I forgot my I-864/tax return/pay stub folder on my kitchen table! He said it was Ok, that it would make our file stronger (I believe he meant for the eventual I-751), but that since his checklist already had the I-864 checked off, he didn't need to see a new one. After my heart started beating again, he asked to see evidence that we were married: bills, bank accounts, photos, etc. He said he didn't want to see wedding photos; he wanted to see photos of us doing other activities. Thankfully, along with the wedding albums at the last minute I threw in a couple of Christmas and honeymoon photos, and he said they would be fine. I also brought checking and savings account statements and a copy of our lease. He made photocopies of all of these. He also asked my wife if she was still attending school (she was in the US on an F1), and she said no. He asked if she had a certificate of course completion. She did, but she left it at home (we didn't think to bring it). He said that's fine, just that it would help fill out the file for the future.
After checking some things off, he told us that he had some good news and some bad news, which would we like to hear first? My wife said good news, and he said that he was granting her resident status. My heart jumped up to my throat and we asked about the bad news, he said that he had to invalidate my wife's student visa since residents are not allowed to carry visas. Of course, this joke drew smiles all around, and he commented that we should have asked the bad news first
He stamped my wife's passport with a 3 month I-551 and said the new green card distribution system is in place and that we should have her new card in 7-10 days. Since the new system went online, he said the longest wait he's seen is 2 weeks!
He then made sure we understood we had to apply for removal of conditions 90 days before it expired, or else she could be deported. He explained this two or three times to make sure we understood, and told us to mark our calendars now. He also told us when we file the I-751 that we should put children's birth certificates in there if we have any by then, more pictures, any kind of certificate, etc, anything to show our life together. He said that since my wife comes from a low-fraud country (Japan), there would be almost zero chance we would have to do an interview for removal of conditions. More than likely we would just get a letter asking us to come down and sign the papers. The only way we would get stuck is if we got a random computer hit requiring us to interview. After that, it was congratulations and we left.
The interview took about 20 minutes.
EDIT: Oops, I forgot to thank everyone who helped answer our questions and give us the confidence to do this. Best of luck to everyone still waiting, and I'll let you know how that green card really turns out
Our appointment was for 11:15 in New Orleans, so we showed up at 10:30 (exactly 45 minutes early). We placed our letter in the bucket, and were called in at about 12 noon.
Our interviewer apologized for being late, and that one "problem" can mess up his whole schedule. He had us swear the oath, and then asked how we met. Then, he just chatted about life in general as he was checking things off of a list and looking at his computer. He asked for the medical, which we gave him. He said it looks fine, and that he's glad my wife is in good health. Then, he asked for her pay stubs, which we didn't bring, since I was just going to reuse my old I-864 because I made enough money on my own. He asked to see it, and to my horror I realized I forgot my I-864/tax return/pay stub folder on my kitchen table! He said it was Ok, that it would make our file stronger (I believe he meant for the eventual I-751), but that since his checklist already had the I-864 checked off, he didn't need to see a new one. After my heart started beating again, he asked to see evidence that we were married: bills, bank accounts, photos, etc. He said he didn't want to see wedding photos; he wanted to see photos of us doing other activities. Thankfully, along with the wedding albums at the last minute I threw in a couple of Christmas and honeymoon photos, and he said they would be fine. I also brought checking and savings account statements and a copy of our lease. He made photocopies of all of these. He also asked my wife if she was still attending school (she was in the US on an F1), and she said no. He asked if she had a certificate of course completion. She did, but she left it at home (we didn't think to bring it). He said that's fine, just that it would help fill out the file for the future.
After checking some things off, he told us that he had some good news and some bad news, which would we like to hear first? My wife said good news, and he said that he was granting her resident status. My heart jumped up to my throat and we asked about the bad news, he said that he had to invalidate my wife's student visa since residents are not allowed to carry visas. Of course, this joke drew smiles all around, and he commented that we should have asked the bad news first
He stamped my wife's passport with a 3 month I-551 and said the new green card distribution system is in place and that we should have her new card in 7-10 days. Since the new system went online, he said the longest wait he's seen is 2 weeks! He then made sure we understood we had to apply for removal of conditions 90 days before it expired, or else she could be deported. He explained this two or three times to make sure we understood, and told us to mark our calendars now. He also told us when we file the I-751 that we should put children's birth certificates in there if we have any by then, more pictures, any kind of certificate, etc, anything to show our life together. He said that since my wife comes from a low-fraud country (Japan), there would be almost zero chance we would have to do an interview for removal of conditions. More than likely we would just get a letter asking us to come down and sign the papers. The only way we would get stuck is if we got a random computer hit requiring us to interview. After that, it was congratulations and we left.
The interview took about 20 minutes.
EDIT: Oops, I forgot to thank everyone who helped answer our questions and give us the confidence to do this. Best of luck to everyone still waiting, and I'll let you know how that green card really turns out
Last edited by NOLA_Dave; Feb 10th 2005 at 9:31 am.
Feb 10th 2005, 10:14 am
#2
CA to TX to Jamaica
Joined: Jun 2003
Location: Location, Location.
Posts: 4,887
Re: AOS Success in New Orleans!
Great news! Congratulations and thank you for sharing!
