Beverly

Yesterday we got our letter asking us to go to the office in Los
Angeles for our AOS interview on January 26th! That will be five days
AFTER our two year wedding anniversary!

I'm elated and also quite petrified!!!! The letter says (in big bold
capital letters) This Interview Will Be Video Taped. Is that common?

We have, as far as I can tell, only one (okay, somewhat glaring,
possibly) problem. We are currently living apart due to work
situations. He only lives 20 minutes north of me, and we are together
as often as we can be (definitely every weekend) but we do not share a
"common residence" at this time. I'm hoping they'll understand that I
work over an hour and a half away from where he works and etc. It's
not unusual, I think, but it's the only thing that makes me a little
nervous. Lots of other "evidence" so it shouldn't be a worry in the
end I suppose!

Background: Met husband (citizen of UK, here on tourist visa) November
2001. (His son's mother is the sister of our then-landlady.) Dated,
fell in love, married January 2002. Filed AOS Feb. 2002. Fingerprinted
March (April?) 2002. Then nothing. Weird FBI visit 2003 (see previous
postings on that). New fingerprinting 2003. Then more waiting/nothing.
Two EADs in between (with some bumps in that road)...and now,
finally!!!!

17 days now until he gets stamped (hope hope hope)!!! Okay, so here we
go! Maybe if we're lucky, a great belated xmas gift!

This board has been helpful in the past so just wanted to
inform/update. Will post again after interview. Keep fingers crossed,
please! Thanks!

--Beverly (USC) and Phil (UK)

katesuiter1

Hi!!!! Don't worry about the videotape. It seems that's standard procedure now. When I went to get my EAD in Miami, every booth had a little web-cam perched on it, so Corey and I won't even be bothered by that after the amount of time we spent on our cams!!!

I can't help with the other question, I'm afraid, but all the best for your interview!!!!

Kate. xxxxxx

Ray

I never saw the video cam at my AOS.. may have been out on loan for a staff wedding...
Or you could say...I am away from home during the working week....You have loads of clothes there and your mail goes there hopefully

Reargunner666

ray6 <member9793@british_expats.com> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
    > > I'm elated and also quite petrified!!!! The letter says (in
    > > big bold capital letters) This Interview Will Be Video Taped. Is
    > > that common?
    >
    > > We are currently living apart due to work
    >
    > > situations. He only lives 20 minutes north of me, and we are
    > > togetheras often as we can be (definitely every weekend) but we do not
    > > share a"common residence" at this time.
    >
    >
    >
    > I never saw the video cam at my AOS.. may have been out on loan for a
    > staff wedding...
    >
    > Or you could say...I am away from home during the working week....You
    > have loads of clothes there and your mail goes there hopefully

so what is your point?

sphyrapicus

Not that it is relevant but you live separately because you don't want to travel an extra 20 mins?

dutchman2001nl

Good luck with the interview

rzack

I agree with that....20 minutes? So do you have evidence that both names in utilities, savings, phone or cable since you guys living separately? They gonna grill you if you doesn't have that. They don't care if you have 1000 pictures if you doesn't have anything in both names.

Mine doesn't have video tape too.

Ray

Sorry rear gunner.. I will try to make it easier for you to understand! its not what you say its how you say it:
i.e
I am away from home during the working week....
or
We are currently living apart due to work
situations. He only lives 20 minutes north of me, and we are together as often as we can be (definitely every weekend) but we do not share a "common residence" at this time.

Which one sounds more sellable as a couple to you.

the most inportant thing as an AOS interview is not to go farther than you have to ...If they say do you have the time... The answer is YES or NO

Beverly

sphyrapicus <member18745@british_expats.com> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
    > Originally posted by Beverly
    >
    > > We are currently living apart due to work
    >
    > > situations. He only lives 20 minutes north of me, and we are together
    >
    > > as often as we can be (definitely every weekend) but we do not share a
    >
    > > "common residence" at this time. I'm hoping they'll understand that I
    >
    > > work over an hour and a half away from where he works and etc.
    > >
    >
    > Not that it is relevant but you live separately because you don't want
    > to travel an extra 20 mins?

Twenty minutes one way on weekends. In rush hour, twice a day, closer
to 30-45 minutes. My commute, then, one way, means I would leave the
house at 5am drive 30-45 mins. to catch a vanpool at around 6am, then
vanpool for an hour to work. I'd walk in the door in the evenings
around 7pm if I was lucky. Not a big deal for some people, probably,
but it was NOT working for me.

I did this already for a year and a half and maybe others have been
able to manage it, but it was taking a toll on me AND my marriage. He
didn't want to move farther away from the beach (he's a
surfer/windsurfer) so I moved closer to work. The extra 30-45 mins.
each way is helpful to my mental health, even though it's not perfect.

Sigh. Anyway, I was offered a job up north when we were first married
that fell through. In the meantime we had already moved to that area.
We were living in a trailer on some farm land and we both thought it
would be fine at first, but we grew to hate it. When we were both
finally completely fed up and KNEW we had to move, we couldn't agree
on which direction to move. He stayed north I moved south (closer to
my current job.). Not ideal, at all, but temporary in any case.

So.
--Beverly