elbee

I'm not scared of applying for a visa, I was more worried about the immigration interview after marriage. As I said in the original post i had read some horror stories online about it all going wrong. I'm not really sure what they will ask us about and what is classed as 'acceptable' evidence as we don't have certain evidence i had been given as 'examples' eg: travel itineraries where we have taken trips together as we haven't been able to afford trips together as yet

Bluegrass Lass

El, the interview is a piece of cake. You may have 2 interviews: one for the visa (if you go that route) and one for your Adjustment of Status (again, depends on the route). You will go through at least 1. You will spend all this time prepping for it, and it will last all of 5 minutes. I know everyone gets all overworked because they don't know what to expect. There are tonnes of interview experiences on this board. Search for "K1 interview experience" or "Adjustment of Status interview" or "I-485 interview". They do not ask intrusive questions (i.e. does you husband wear boxers or briefs, does your wife pick her nose, what color underwear is your wife wearing right now, etc). They'll ask you to confirm your address, who you live with, maybe where you work, how you met, what your husband's birthday is, when you got married, where you got married, did you take any trips together..and maybe ask for some photos of the 2 of you together. They are just looking to confirm the information that you provided in your application forms to ensure you are telling the truth.

The interview is the least thing to worry about!

elbee

Ok, that makes me feel a bit better. Thanks

crg

Frankly, your lawyer is a jackass and a criminal. Get that advice in writing, and send it to the US immigration authorities. It's a felony to encourage someone to enter the US in violation of the law and that's what she's doing.... allegedly...

Bluegrass Lass

Ha! Took me awhile to dig this up. This is our own Adjustment of Status interview experience from way back in 2004.

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...w+sunflwrgrl13

I haven't read it in ages..brings back memories.

jmh

You know your anxiety may also be an indication of your nerves about your upcoming nuptials. It may make you feel more relaxed if you take your time and marry at a later date. There's no rush to do it now. Same with the immigration procedures. Relax and do it when YOU feel ready.

chartreuse

And an attorney will be along to say that the OP misunderstood her lawyer's advice in 3... 2... 1...

crg

The attorney probably doesn't make as much money with an immigrant visa packet as they do with a dragged out AOS case. Some lawyers are greedy bottom-feeders with no regard for their clients or the law. They ruin the image of the profession for the honest lawyers out there.

welshgirl1

As much as I am a worry wart and have worried endlessly about have I filed this correctly, what if I answer something wrong at interview, what if I forget to include something when I send stuff to the USCIS, my biggest fear was of being caught doing something illegal.

When my husband (Haha it's a joy saying that!) proposed, the itnitial thought was that doing the illegal VWP wedding would be quicker and easier but also far more illegal.

Nothing so far has been anything horrible or really worth any stress. Anytime I had a question I asked on this forum...yes some of my questions were stupid, but that's the brilliance of the knowledgable folk on here! (Thanks to all btw!)

IMO I would go the legal route eveytime.

jeffreyhy

e,

Recognize also that if a case should not be successful it's not the attorney who will suffer the consequences.

And while the attorney's success rate might still be close to 100%, your success rate would be zero.

Regards, JEff

ian-mstm

Wow... what a coincidence! I bought a bag of popcorn yesterday and just this morning, I was wondering what sort of entertainment I'd be watching tonight while chomping those taste kernels. Now I know!

Ian

Just Jenney

Elbee, welcome to BE.

Firstly, heed everyone's warnings here about this lawyer you consulted. The fact that she's recommended that you commit immigration fraud (not just by entering the US with immigration intent, but also to become out-of-status as well) is not to be taken lightly. As JEff says, it's not her butt on the line -- it's yours. Seriously, this is your life and your future together we're talking about. If her "legal advice" backfires, she still gets to keep your money and move on with her life. You have a much, MUCH bigger incentive to do things legally.

Secondly, and along those same lines, if you're scared of the interview NOW, imagine how much MORE scared you would be if you go about things illegally. If you follow the legal path, you'll have a lot less to be worried about. Going down the illegal path this lawyer has recommended means that, on top of everything else, you'll have a lot of anxiety about whether you'll get caught.

Sunflower is right -- the interview is quite anti-climatic. That's not to say that you won't be nervous; that's only natural. But if you know you took the proper, legal steps to immigrate, then you won't be scared to death, just nervous. There's a big difference.

So please, drop this lawyer like a hot potato. She clearly doesn't have your best interests at heart. You may not even need a lawyer to help you with everything anyway. Lots of us on here have successfully navigated US immigration just fine without a lawyer, from visa petition through to naturalization.

Regarding the Statement of Intent for the K-1 visa, here's the general text that Mark and I used for ours: http://britishexpats.com/forum/showp...67&postcount=5

Just my personal opinion, but if you can afford to fly over here, get married, return to the UK and get an immigrant spousal visa, that might be the preferable way to go. By doing that, you will have permanent residency status (and the "perks" that go with it, like work authorization) immediately upon entry to the US. If you do the K-1 fiancee visa, then you have to go through the whole visa process first, and THEN go through the whole AOS process once you get here. The AOS process is quite redundant after going through the K-1 process only months beforehand. The immigrant spouse visa might take a bit longer and cost a bit more (don't know exactly how much more, I'm just guessing it's more), but it's worth it. Again, just my opinion.

~ Jenney

Kate2112

As it doesnt sounds as though you are marrying into the Rockerfeller family it might be a good idea to save some money for your new life, immigration expenses and for the possiblity that you wont be able to get a job immediately once you get to the US.

I did get married while in the US on a VWP. I hadnt intended to get married and frankly I was petrified at each step that we would have a problem. We were very lucky and havent had any problems at all.

As many other people have pointed out your attorney may have told you about their many successes in AOS for people who have done this. A good attorney will never advise you to do something which is illegal - ditch them.

Do it legally and you wont feel nervous and this will help enormeously as you are already under enough pressure, new partner, new country, no friends, 1000's of miles from home. Good Luck!

PepsiChic

The interview is really quite simple if you do things the proper way and without complications...obviously doing things illegally is going to cause some issues.

heres my interview for K-1 visa

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showp...&postcount=126

Its really nothing to worry about so dont panic just make sure you decide which route your gonna take consider how long it'll take and do things the proper way, then when it comes to the interview you'll be prepared.

trillium13

If you have any other way to do this (which you do) do it the right way. It could take a little longer, but trust me, it's worth it to avoid the stress.

My husband and I got married with him being on an overstay of VWP. In our situation, there was no other way to go about adjusting his status. To say that it has been a stressful situation would be putting it mildly. We just about lost it the last week before our interview, we were so worried. Luckily, everything went quite smoothly, and we were told at our interview that we were approved, now awaiting letter of welcome and GC.

Trust me, if we could have done it any other way, we would have. Please don't take that lawyer's advice, it's NOT worth the worry. Think of it this way-would you rather be apart for a matter of months, or for 3 or 10 years?? Good luck!