Originally Posted by Noorah101

Hi All! Looks like all your good karma wishes from yesterday made it happen! Not to mention our tons of preparation.

Yes, Sadegh is APPROVED! He is now a CPR with a nice stamp in his passport!

Here's how our morning went (for those who like detail...lol): Appointment was at 7:15 am. Woke up at 5:00 and got to the immigration building by 6:35. Got checked in through security, dropped our letter in the slot, and got seated in our waiting area around 7:00 a.m. Our interpreter (Turkish) showed up at about 7:10. Sadegh's English isn't good enough yet to answer complicated questions, and I wasn't sure if I would be allowed to interpret, being the spouse and all...so we hired an independent interpreter at $120 for 2 hours. We got called in about 7:35, and the Officer (female) was a little confused as to why there were three of us. We explained about the interpreting thing, and she still looked surprised or confused, but ushered us into her office.

The Officer said this would be a recorded interview, and asked if that was OK with us (as if we'd say no?). She collected ID from all of us and swore us in. She made Sadegh verify his full name, address, phone number, and birthdate (which he said in English as - "one-nine-seven-three-five-ten" - meaning May 10, 1973....we all smiled at that). Next came the long list of standard questions about drugs, terrorism, etc. The only scary part was where the Officer asked if Sadegh had ever claimed to be a US Citizen. I think the translator said it wrong, or he just didn't get the question, because at first he said "yes". The Officer says "you have??" and then the translator rephrased the question and he said "no, I haven't said I'm citizen yet, but I like to be". Whew! Oh, and she also asked to see Sadegh's social security card.

As she was shuffling papers around, she asked me about my previous marriages, how I learned Farsi, and said that I could have actually done the translating for the interview myself (oh well). She kept a copy of our 2004 taxes, and although she didn't ask for it, I offered a new I-864 since I had a salary increase. She kept the new I-864 in the file and gave me back the old one. She asked for evidence of joint life, and like an idiot I said "you mean like bank statement and bills?" (geez Rene...duh!) She smiled and said, yes...whatever you have that shows both your names on it. So I gave her 14 months worth of copies of our bank statements, phone and cable bill, cell phone bill, and car insurance bills. To my surprise, she 2-hole punched ALL that and put it in the file! I told her I had pictures also, and put the file on her desk, which she ignored. By the end of the interview, she had never looked at it so I filed it away again.

So after collecting all that, she told us about him getting conditional status and what that means, and explained how to remove conditions at the appropriate time. She said his green card should be coming in the mail within 3 to 14 days (wow!) because they have a direct link to the Missouri center, and as soon as she pushed the approved button, it went right out for printing. We'll see if he gets it that fast.

Sadegh working in LA was never an issue...the only thing she asked about his work was whether he is working and what he does for work. She kept his EAD cards, but never asked for his AP. Also, I had translated his birth certificate and that was evidently OK, she never commented on it.

We were done in about half an hour...which I think took that long because of having to translate. It was quick, painless, and now Sadegh is a CPR, and we are immigration-free for almost 2 years!! Woo hooooooooo!!

Thanks to all of you for your help and support, we couldn't have done it without you! Sadegh says a warm hello and big thank you to all of you, too!

HAPPY HUGS!!
Rene & Sadegh

Originally Posted by Noorah101

Hi All! Looks like all your good karma wishes from yesterday made it happen! Not to mention our tons of preparation.

Yes, Sadegh is APPROVED! He is now a CPR with a nice stamp in his passport!

Here's how our morning went (for those who like detail...lol): Appointment was at 7:15 am. Woke up at 5:00 and got to the immigration building by 6:35. Got checked in through security, dropped our letter in the slot, and got seated in our waiting area around 7:00 a.m. Our interpreter (Turkish) showed up at about 7:10. Sadegh's English isn't good enough yet to answer complicated questions, and I wasn't sure if I would be allowed to interpret, being the spouse and all...so we hired an independent interpreter at $120 for 2 hours. We got called in about 7:35, and the Officer (female) was a little confused as to why there were three of us. We explained about the interpreting thing, and she still looked surprised or confused, but ushered us into her office.

The Officer said this would be a recorded interview, and asked if that was OK with us (as if we'd say no?). She collected ID from all of us and swore us in. She made Sadegh verify his full name, address, phone number, and birthdate (which he said in English as - "one-nine-seven-three-five-ten" - meaning May 10, 1973....we all smiled at that). Next came the long list of standard questions about drugs, terrorism, etc. The only scary part was where the Officer asked if Sadegh had ever claimed to be a US Citizen. I think the translator said it wrong, or he just didn't get the question, because at first he said "yes". The Officer says "you have??" and then the translator rephrased the question and he said "no, I haven't said I'm citizen yet, but I like to be". Whew! Oh, and she also asked to see Sadegh's social security card.

As she was shuffling papers around, she asked me about my previous marriages, how I learned Farsi, and said that I could have actually done the translating for the interview myself (oh well). She kept a copy of our 2004 taxes, and although she didn't ask for it, I offered a new I-864 since I had a salary increase. She kept the new I-864 in the file and gave me back the old one. She asked for evidence of joint life, and like an idiot I said "you mean like bank statement and bills?" (geez Rene...duh!) She smiled and said, yes...whatever you have that shows both your names on it. So I gave her 14 months worth of copies of our bank statements, phone and cable bill, cell phone bill, and car insurance bills. To my surprise, she 2-hole punched ALL that and put it in the file! I told her I had pictures also, and put the file on her desk, which she ignored. By the end of the interview, she had never looked at it so I filed it away again.

So after collecting all that, she told us about him getting conditional status and what that means, and explained how to remove conditions at the appropriate time. She said his green card should be coming in the mail within 3 to 14 days (wow!) because they have a direct link to the Missouri center, and as soon as she pushed the approved button, it went right out for printing. We'll see if he gets it that fast.

Sadegh working in LA was never an issue...the only thing she asked about his work was whether he is working and what he does for work. She kept his EAD cards, but never asked for his AP. Also, I had translated his birth certificate and that was evidently OK, she never commented on it.

We were done in about half an hour...which I think took that long because of having to translate. It was quick, painless, and now Sadegh is a CPR, and we are immigration-free for almost 2 years!! Woo hooooooooo!!

Thanks to all of you for your help and support, we couldn't have done it without you! Sadegh says a warm hello and big thank you to all of you, too!

HAPPY HUGS!!
Rene & Sadegh

Originally Posted by Noorah101

Hi All! Looks like all your good karma wishes from yesterday made it happen! Not to mention our tons of preparation.

Yes, Sadegh is APPROVED! He is now a CPR with a nice stamp in his passport!

Here's how our morning went (for those who like detail...lol): Appointment was at 7:15 am. Woke up at 5:00 and got to the immigration building by 6:35. Got checked in through security, dropped our letter in the slot, and got seated in our waiting area around 7:00 a.m. Our interpreter (Turkish) showed up at about 7:10. Sadegh's English isn't good enough yet to answer complicated questions, and I wasn't sure if I would be allowed to interpret, being the spouse and all...so we hired an independent interpreter at $120 for 2 hours. We got called in about 7:35, and the Officer (female) was a little confused as to why there were three of us. We explained about the interpreting thing, and she still looked surprised or confused, but ushered us into her office.

The Officer said this would be a recorded interview, and asked if that was OK with us (as if we'd say no?). She collected ID from all of us and swore us in. She made Sadegh verify his full name, address, phone number, and birthdate (which he said in English as - "one-nine-seven-three-five-ten" - meaning May 10, 1973....we all smiled at that). Next came the long list of standard questions about drugs, terrorism, etc. The only scary part was where the Officer asked if Sadegh had ever claimed to be a US Citizen. I think the translator said it wrong, or he just didn't get the question, because at first he said "yes". The Officer says "you have??" and then the translator rephrased the question and he said "no, I haven't said I'm citizen yet, but I like to be". Whew! Oh, and she also asked to see Sadegh's social security card.

As she was shuffling papers around, she asked me about my previous marriages, how I learned Farsi, and said that I could have actually done the translating for the interview myself (oh well). She kept a copy of our 2004 taxes, and although she didn't ask for it, I offered a new I-864 since I had a salary increase. She kept the new I-864 in the file and gave me back the old one. She asked for evidence of joint life, and like an idiot I said "you mean like bank statement and bills?" (geez Rene...duh!) She smiled and said, yes...whatever you have that shows both your names on it. So I gave her 14 months worth of copies of our bank statements, phone and cable bill, cell phone bill, and car insurance bills. To my surprise, she 2-hole punched ALL that and put it in the file! I told her I had pictures also, and put the file on her desk, which she ignored. By the end of the interview, she had never looked at it so I filed it away again.

So after collecting all that, she told us about him getting conditional status and what that means, and explained how to remove conditions at the appropriate time. She said his green card should be coming in the mail within 3 to 14 days (wow!) because they have a direct link to the Missouri center, and as soon as she pushed the approved button, it went right out for printing. We'll see if he gets it that fast.

Sadegh working in LA was never an issue...the only thing she asked about his work was whether he is working and what he does for work. She kept his EAD cards, but never asked for his AP. Also, I had translated his birth certificate and that was evidently OK, she never commented on it.

We were done in about half an hour...which I think took that long because of having to translate. It was quick, painless, and now Sadegh is a CPR, and we are immigration-free for almost 2 years!! Woo hooooooooo!!

Thanks to all of you for your help and support, we couldn't have done it without you! Sadegh says a warm hello and big thank you to all of you, too!

HAPPY HUGS!!
Rene & Sadegh

Originally Posted by USA & Pakistan

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!! Going anywhere to celebrate?


Marnee

Originally Posted by Noorah101

Just thought I'd let you all know, the Green Card came in the mail today!

Originally Posted by Noorah101

Just thought I'd let you all know, the Green Card came in the mail today!! Interview was Wednesday, July 13....card came in the mail on Tuesday, July 19th. Wow!

And for those interested....the card is pinkish-beige with a faded color photo.

Oh, and I finally saw the presidents and flags I kept hearing about. Way Cool!!!

Rene