Successful AOS interview today in Detroit! All the details...
May 9th 2006, 4:43 am
#1
Guest
Posts: n/a
Successful AOS interview today in Detroit! All the details...
Hi everyone,
Heres some info on me and my husbands interview today in Detroit in
case it is of interest or help to anyone. Lots of details so sorry for
the rambling on..lol
We had an appointment at the immigration service on Mt. Elliot street
today in Detroit for my husband to get a greencard. I am a US citizen
and he is from England just FYI. I was well prepared and brought along
a big file full of all the things that the interview appointment letter
asked us to bring. I brought birth cert. for both, marriage license
<which I was up half the night looking for cause I missplaced it>, both
our passports and SS cards, my last 3 years tax returns, W2's, pay
slips for both of us incuding letters from our employers, evidence of
our relationship such as copy of apartment lease, bills with both our
names on them, copies of joint bank account statements, pictures,
cards, etc, a notorized affadavit of support, and copies of any letters
we have recieved from the INS. I brought the originals along as well.
Ok well I was up pretty much all night getting this all prepared. Our
appointment was at 8am, and we live about an hour away from Detroit.
There is alot of construction going on and apparently the traffic is
horrible, and on top of that, we dont know our way around the area. So
we left the house around 5:45. There was really very little traffic and
we found our way there pretty easily so we were early. We had some
breakfast and got to the immigration place at about 7am. As soon as
you pull up, they ask to see your appointment letter, told us they open
the doors at 7:30am and showed us where to park. We went in at 7:40am,
had to show our appointment letter again, and walk through the metal
detector thing. The place is really small, alot smaller than I had
expected. At 7:50 my husbands name was called. We were greeted by a
friendly officer who introduced herself as Officer Sullivan. We
followed her into her little cubicle and had a seat. She had us raise
our right hands and swear to tell the truth, etc. She then asked us for
our ID's, we handed her both of our passports and drivers license/state
IDs. She had both of us state our names and address, and then asked
David a series of questions from a check off sheet she had, just all
'no' questions like "Are you a terrorist?" "Do you plan to engage in
espionage or to overtake the US government?" which i had to laugh at.
Just easy routine questions. She asked David his date of birth,
address, phone number, moms name, dads name, our wedding date, and if
he was working. She already had our file from when we applied on her
desk and was just checking things off to see if his answers match what
she had on file. She then asked me if I had my last years tax return/W2
and any paystubs. I handed them to her. Heres the thing that I was so
nervous about....I was $400 short of the income requirment guidlines,
so I brought along a letter from my employer stating my new wages since
I have had a raise since my taxes were filed, also copies of what I had
in the bank, along with an apprasial of my wedding ring as an asset.
Also brought my husbands recent paystubs and employment letter, as he
just got a job. She never asked for any of this. Not even the Affadavit
of support form that I filled out and had notorized. Just my 2005 taxes
and some paystubs. She did ask how come we waited so long to file for
AOS, a question i was expecting, because we were married in October
2003 and did not apply until October 2005. I just told her that that
was my own stupid mistake, cause I recieved some bad advice and was
told it was easier to wait until you are closer to your 2 year
anniversary beore applying so you can skip the temp. 2 year green card
and get your 10 year one w/o restrictions. Which is true, but I found
that by doing so, you had overstayed are not allowed to leave the
country, even with a travel document, or you will incure a 10 year ban.
So my husband has not visited home to see his family in almost 3 years.
She just laughed and was like 'ooooh ok'. She then stamped Davids
passport, said he will recieve his actual greencard in the mail in
about a month and told us to have a great day. We were like..."is that
it?" and i laughed and commented that I had brought so much stuff with
me. She just laughed and was like "Well if you really want me to I
could file it for ya". We thanked her and left. We got home at 9am. I
was so worried about the interview, it always sounds so scary. It
lasted 15mins max and about half that time was spent in silence as she
was typing stuff in her computer. She was also very smiley and friendly
and made us feel very comfortable. So we are FINALLY done and are
planning on spending xmas this year in England since David is free to
travel. Yay!! I was surprised at how quick the process was from the
time we applied, to the time we had our interview date. About 5 months
in all. Our timeline is below..
01/30/2003- Applied for I-129F, fiance visa through the slooooooow
Nebraska center
07/22/2003- Recieved NOA that application was approved
08/21/2003- Recieved 2nd NOA that application was sent to London
embassy
07/30/2003- Sent request to scotland yard for criminal background check
08/13/2003- Letter recieved from scotland yard, nothing on file
08/21/2003-Packet from London embassy with appointment letter and info
09/17/2003-Interview and medical in London at 8am. Successful, recieve
visa
09/24/2003-David flies from London heathrow to Detroit
10/25/2003- We are married. Awww!
10/15/2005- Apply for AOS and EAD, send to Chicago
10/26/2005-Recieve NOA- they have recieved application for I-765 for
Employment auth.
10/26/2005- Also have recieved application for I-485 for Adjust status
01/27/2006- Get appointment letter to have biometrics/fingerprints
taken in Detroit
02/24/2006- Get biometrics taken, no problems
03/02/2006- Recieve EAD card in the mail
03/14/2006-Recieve NOA for greencard/AOS interview in Detroit
with/appointment time
03/15/2006- Go to social security office in ann arbor. Apply & approved
for SS card
03/22/2006-Recieve SS card in mail
04/28/2006-Have medical exam and shots in Westland, no problems
05/08/2006-Final interview in Detroit. Approved quickly, recieved stamp
in passport. Actual card should arrive shortly.
Heres some info on me and my husbands interview today in Detroit in
case it is of interest or help to anyone. Lots of details so sorry for
the rambling on..lol
We had an appointment at the immigration service on Mt. Elliot street
today in Detroit for my husband to get a greencard. I am a US citizen
and he is from England just FYI. I was well prepared and brought along
a big file full of all the things that the interview appointment letter
asked us to bring. I brought birth cert. for both, marriage license
<which I was up half the night looking for cause I missplaced it>, both
our passports and SS cards, my last 3 years tax returns, W2's, pay
slips for both of us incuding letters from our employers, evidence of
our relationship such as copy of apartment lease, bills with both our
names on them, copies of joint bank account statements, pictures,
cards, etc, a notorized affadavit of support, and copies of any letters
we have recieved from the INS. I brought the originals along as well.
Ok well I was up pretty much all night getting this all prepared. Our
appointment was at 8am, and we live about an hour away from Detroit.
There is alot of construction going on and apparently the traffic is
horrible, and on top of that, we dont know our way around the area. So
we left the house around 5:45. There was really very little traffic and
we found our way there pretty easily so we were early. We had some
breakfast and got to the immigration place at about 7am. As soon as
you pull up, they ask to see your appointment letter, told us they open
the doors at 7:30am and showed us where to park. We went in at 7:40am,
had to show our appointment letter again, and walk through the metal
detector thing. The place is really small, alot smaller than I had
expected. At 7:50 my husbands name was called. We were greeted by a
friendly officer who introduced herself as Officer Sullivan. We
followed her into her little cubicle and had a seat. She had us raise
our right hands and swear to tell the truth, etc. She then asked us for
our ID's, we handed her both of our passports and drivers license/state
IDs. She had both of us state our names and address, and then asked
David a series of questions from a check off sheet she had, just all
'no' questions like "Are you a terrorist?" "Do you plan to engage in
espionage or to overtake the US government?" which i had to laugh at.
Just easy routine questions. She asked David his date of birth,
address, phone number, moms name, dads name, our wedding date, and if
he was working. She already had our file from when we applied on her
desk and was just checking things off to see if his answers match what
she had on file. She then asked me if I had my last years tax return/W2
and any paystubs. I handed them to her. Heres the thing that I was so
nervous about....I was $400 short of the income requirment guidlines,
so I brought along a letter from my employer stating my new wages since
I have had a raise since my taxes were filed, also copies of what I had
in the bank, along with an apprasial of my wedding ring as an asset.
Also brought my husbands recent paystubs and employment letter, as he
just got a job. She never asked for any of this. Not even the Affadavit
of support form that I filled out and had notorized. Just my 2005 taxes
and some paystubs. She did ask how come we waited so long to file for
AOS, a question i was expecting, because we were married in October
2003 and did not apply until October 2005. I just told her that that
was my own stupid mistake, cause I recieved some bad advice and was
told it was easier to wait until you are closer to your 2 year
anniversary beore applying so you can skip the temp. 2 year green card
and get your 10 year one w/o restrictions. Which is true, but I found
that by doing so, you had overstayed are not allowed to leave the
country, even with a travel document, or you will incure a 10 year ban.
So my husband has not visited home to see his family in almost 3 years.
She just laughed and was like 'ooooh ok'. She then stamped Davids
passport, said he will recieve his actual greencard in the mail in
about a month and told us to have a great day. We were like..."is that
it?" and i laughed and commented that I had brought so much stuff with
me. She just laughed and was like "Well if you really want me to I
could file it for ya". We thanked her and left. We got home at 9am. I
was so worried about the interview, it always sounds so scary. It
lasted 15mins max and about half that time was spent in silence as she
was typing stuff in her computer. She was also very smiley and friendly
and made us feel very comfortable. So we are FINALLY done and are
planning on spending xmas this year in England since David is free to
travel. Yay!! I was surprised at how quick the process was from the
time we applied, to the time we had our interview date. About 5 months
in all. Our timeline is below..
01/30/2003- Applied for I-129F, fiance visa through the slooooooow
Nebraska center
07/22/2003- Recieved NOA that application was approved
08/21/2003- Recieved 2nd NOA that application was sent to London
embassy
07/30/2003- Sent request to scotland yard for criminal background check
08/13/2003- Letter recieved from scotland yard, nothing on file
08/21/2003-Packet from London embassy with appointment letter and info
09/17/2003-Interview and medical in London at 8am. Successful, recieve
visa
09/24/2003-David flies from London heathrow to Detroit
10/25/2003- We are married. Awww!
10/15/2005- Apply for AOS and EAD, send to Chicago
10/26/2005-Recieve NOA- they have recieved application for I-765 for
Employment auth.
10/26/2005- Also have recieved application for I-485 for Adjust status
01/27/2006- Get appointment letter to have biometrics/fingerprints
taken in Detroit
02/24/2006- Get biometrics taken, no problems
03/02/2006- Recieve EAD card in the mail
03/14/2006-Recieve NOA for greencard/AOS interview in Detroit
with/appointment time
03/15/2006- Go to social security office in ann arbor. Apply & approved
for SS card
03/22/2006-Recieve SS card in mail
04/28/2006-Have medical exam and shots in Westland, no problems
05/08/2006-Final interview in Detroit. Approved quickly, recieved stamp
in passport. Actual card should arrive shortly.
May 9th 2006, 5:22 am
#2
Shocked of Redmond
Joined: Feb 2005
Location: Redmond, WA
Posts: 3,446
Re: Successful AOS interview today in Detroit! All the details...
Originally Posted by Rose2854
Hi everyone,
Heres some info on me and my husbands interview today in Detroit in
case it is of interest or help to anyone. Lots of details so sorry for
the rambling on..lol
We had an appointment at the immigration service on Mt. Elliot street
today in Detroit for my husband to get a greencard. I am a US citizen
and he is from England just FYI. I was well prepared and brought along
a big file full of all the things that the interview appointment letter
asked us to bring. I brought birth cert. for both, marriage license
<which I was up half the night looking for cause I missplaced it>, both
our passports and SS cards, my last 3 years tax returns, W2's, pay
slips for both of us incuding letters from our employers, evidence of
our relationship such as copy of apartment lease, bills with both our
names on them, copies of joint bank account statements, pictures,
cards, etc, a notorized affadavit of support, and copies of any letters
we have recieved from the INS. I brought the originals along as well.
Ok well I was up pretty much all night getting this all prepared. Our
appointment was at 8am, and we live about an hour away from Detroit.
There is alot of construction going on and apparently the traffic is
horrible, and on top of that, we dont know our way around the area. So
we left the house around 5:45. There was really very little traffic and
we found our way there pretty easily so we were early. We had some
breakfast and got to the immigration place at about 7am. As soon as
you pull up, they ask to see your appointment letter, told us they open
the doors at 7:30am and showed us where to park. We went in at 7:40am,
had to show our appointment letter again, and walk through the metal
detector thing. The place is really small, alot smaller than I had
expected. At 7:50 my husbands name was called. We were greeted by a
friendly officer who introduced herself as Officer Sullivan. We
followed her into her little cubicle and had a seat. She had us raise
our right hands and swear to tell the truth, etc. She then asked us for
our ID's, we handed her both of our passports and drivers license/state
IDs. She had both of us state our names and address, and then asked
David a series of questions from a check off sheet she had, just all
'no' questions like "Are you a terrorist?" "Do you plan to engage in
espionage or to overtake the US government?" which i had to laugh at.
Just easy routine questions. She asked David his date of birth,
address, phone number, moms name, dads name, our wedding date, and if
he was working. She already had our file from when we applied on her
desk and was just checking things off to see if his answers match what
she had on file. She then asked me if I had my last years tax return/W2
and any paystubs. I handed them to her. Heres the thing that I was so
nervous about....I was $400 short of the income requirment guidlines,
so I brought along a letter from my employer stating my new wages since
I have had a raise since my taxes were filed, also copies of what I had
in the bank, along with an apprasial of my wedding ring as an asset.
Also brought my husbands recent paystubs and employment letter, as he
just got a job. She never asked for any of this. Not even the Affadavit
of support form that I filled out and had notorized. Just my 2005 taxes
and some paystubs. She did ask how come we waited so long to file for
AOS, a question i was expecting, because we were married in October
2003 and did not apply until October 2005. I just told her that that
was my own stupid mistake, cause I recieved some bad advice and was
told it was easier to wait until you are closer to your 2 year
anniversary beore applying so you can skip the temp. 2 year green card
and get your 10 year one w/o restrictions. Which is true, but I found
that by doing so, you had overstayed are not allowed to leave the
country, even with a travel document, or you will incure a 10 year ban.
So my husband has not visited home to see his family in almost 3 years.
She just laughed and was like 'ooooh ok'. She then stamped Davids
passport, said he will recieve his actual greencard in the mail in
about a month and told us to have a great day. We were like..."is that
it?" and i laughed and commented that I had brought so much stuff with
me. She just laughed and was like "Well if you really want me to I
could file it for ya". We thanked her and left. We got home at 9am. I
was so worried about the interview, it always sounds so scary. It
lasted 15mins max and about half that time was spent in silence as she
was typing stuff in her computer. She was also very smiley and friendly
and made us feel very comfortable. So we are FINALLY done and are
planning on spending xmas this year in England since David is free to
travel. Yay!! I was surprised at how quick the process was from the
time we applied, to the time we had our interview date. About 5 months
in all. Our timeline is below..
01/30/2003- Applied for I-129F, fiance visa through the slooooooow
Nebraska center
07/22/2003- Recieved NOA that application was approved
08/21/2003- Recieved 2nd NOA that application was sent to London
embassy
07/30/2003- Sent request to scotland yard for criminal background check
08/13/2003- Letter recieved from scotland yard, nothing on file
08/21/2003-Packet from London embassy with appointment letter and info
09/17/2003-Interview and medical in London at 8am. Successful, recieve
visa
09/24/2003-David flies from London heathrow to Detroit
10/25/2003- We are married. Awww!
10/15/2005- Apply for AOS and EAD, send to Chicago
10/26/2005-Recieve NOA- they have recieved application for I-765 for
Employment auth.
10/26/2005- Also have recieved application for I-485 for Adjust status
01/27/2006- Get appointment letter to have biometrics/fingerprints
taken in Detroit
02/24/2006- Get biometrics taken, no problems
03/02/2006- Recieve EAD card in the mail
03/14/2006-Recieve NOA for greencard/AOS interview in Detroit
with/appointment time
03/15/2006- Go to social security office in ann arbor. Apply & approved
for SS card
03/22/2006-Recieve SS card in mail
04/28/2006-Have medical exam and shots in Westland, no problems
05/08/2006-Final interview in Detroit. Approved quickly, recieved stamp
in passport. Actual card should arrive shortly.
Heres some info on me and my husbands interview today in Detroit in
case it is of interest or help to anyone. Lots of details so sorry for
the rambling on..lol
We had an appointment at the immigration service on Mt. Elliot street
today in Detroit for my husband to get a greencard. I am a US citizen
and he is from England just FYI. I was well prepared and brought along
a big file full of all the things that the interview appointment letter
asked us to bring. I brought birth cert. for both, marriage license
<which I was up half the night looking for cause I missplaced it>, both
our passports and SS cards, my last 3 years tax returns, W2's, pay
slips for both of us incuding letters from our employers, evidence of
our relationship such as copy of apartment lease, bills with both our
names on them, copies of joint bank account statements, pictures,
cards, etc, a notorized affadavit of support, and copies of any letters
we have recieved from the INS. I brought the originals along as well.
Ok well I was up pretty much all night getting this all prepared. Our
appointment was at 8am, and we live about an hour away from Detroit.
There is alot of construction going on and apparently the traffic is
horrible, and on top of that, we dont know our way around the area. So
we left the house around 5:45. There was really very little traffic and
we found our way there pretty easily so we were early. We had some
breakfast and got to the immigration place at about 7am. As soon as
you pull up, they ask to see your appointment letter, told us they open
the doors at 7:30am and showed us where to park. We went in at 7:40am,
had to show our appointment letter again, and walk through the metal
detector thing. The place is really small, alot smaller than I had
expected. At 7:50 my husbands name was called. We were greeted by a
friendly officer who introduced herself as Officer Sullivan. We
followed her into her little cubicle and had a seat. She had us raise
our right hands and swear to tell the truth, etc. She then asked us for
our ID's, we handed her both of our passports and drivers license/state
IDs. She had both of us state our names and address, and then asked
David a series of questions from a check off sheet she had, just all
'no' questions like "Are you a terrorist?" "Do you plan to engage in
espionage or to overtake the US government?" which i had to laugh at.
Just easy routine questions. She asked David his date of birth,
address, phone number, moms name, dads name, our wedding date, and if
he was working. She already had our file from when we applied on her
desk and was just checking things off to see if his answers match what
she had on file. She then asked me if I had my last years tax return/W2
and any paystubs. I handed them to her. Heres the thing that I was so
nervous about....I was $400 short of the income requirment guidlines,
so I brought along a letter from my employer stating my new wages since
I have had a raise since my taxes were filed, also copies of what I had
in the bank, along with an apprasial of my wedding ring as an asset.
Also brought my husbands recent paystubs and employment letter, as he
just got a job. She never asked for any of this. Not even the Affadavit
of support form that I filled out and had notorized. Just my 2005 taxes
and some paystubs. She did ask how come we waited so long to file for
AOS, a question i was expecting, because we were married in October
2003 and did not apply until October 2005. I just told her that that
was my own stupid mistake, cause I recieved some bad advice and was
told it was easier to wait until you are closer to your 2 year
anniversary beore applying so you can skip the temp. 2 year green card
and get your 10 year one w/o restrictions. Which is true, but I found
that by doing so, you had overstayed are not allowed to leave the
country, even with a travel document, or you will incure a 10 year ban.
So my husband has not visited home to see his family in almost 3 years.
She just laughed and was like 'ooooh ok'. She then stamped Davids
passport, said he will recieve his actual greencard in the mail in
about a month and told us to have a great day. We were like..."is that
it?" and i laughed and commented that I had brought so much stuff with
me. She just laughed and was like "Well if you really want me to I
could file it for ya". We thanked her and left. We got home at 9am. I
was so worried about the interview, it always sounds so scary. It
lasted 15mins max and about half that time was spent in silence as she
was typing stuff in her computer. She was also very smiley and friendly
and made us feel very comfortable. So we are FINALLY done and are
planning on spending xmas this year in England since David is free to
travel. Yay!! I was surprised at how quick the process was from the
time we applied, to the time we had our interview date. About 5 months
in all. Our timeline is below..
01/30/2003- Applied for I-129F, fiance visa through the slooooooow
Nebraska center
07/22/2003- Recieved NOA that application was approved
08/21/2003- Recieved 2nd NOA that application was sent to London
embassy
07/30/2003- Sent request to scotland yard for criminal background check
08/13/2003- Letter recieved from scotland yard, nothing on file
08/21/2003-Packet from London embassy with appointment letter and info
09/17/2003-Interview and medical in London at 8am. Successful, recieve
visa
09/24/2003-David flies from London heathrow to Detroit
10/25/2003- We are married. Awww!
10/15/2005- Apply for AOS and EAD, send to Chicago
10/26/2005-Recieve NOA- they have recieved application for I-765 for
Employment auth.
10/26/2005- Also have recieved application for I-485 for Adjust status
01/27/2006- Get appointment letter to have biometrics/fingerprints
taken in Detroit
02/24/2006- Get biometrics taken, no problems
03/02/2006- Recieve EAD card in the mail
03/14/2006-Recieve NOA for greencard/AOS interview in Detroit
with/appointment time
03/15/2006- Go to social security office in ann arbor. Apply & approved
for SS card
03/22/2006-Recieve SS card in mail
04/28/2006-Have medical exam and shots in Westland, no problems
05/08/2006-Final interview in Detroit. Approved quickly, recieved stamp
in passport. Actual card should arrive shortly.
May 9th 2006, 7:46 am
#3
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 327
Re: Successful AOS interview today in Detroit! All the details...
Congratulations!
From your timeline it looks like you guys are having quite a journey with USCIS
From your timeline it looks like you guys are having quite a journey with USCIS
May 9th 2006, 3:39 pm
#4
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Successful AOS interview today in Detroit! All the details...
My situation was similar: interview in Detroit, traveling there for
about an hour (from Lansing) and eating out in the reserve time before
the interview, and not being able to leave the US for some time before
the green card was granted (six months). When I got the card, I went
over to Windsor in Canada to celebrate my new freedom.
Congratulation to your Green Card,
Peter
about an hour (from Lansing) and eating out in the reserve time before
the interview, and not being able to leave the US for some time before
the green card was granted (six months). When I got the card, I went
over to Windsor in Canada to celebrate my new freedom.
Congratulation to your Green Card,
Peter
May 9th 2006, 5:19 pm
#5
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Successful AOS interview today in Detroit! All the details...
Congrats!
My wife and I had our interview last week, and isn't it funny how the
whole interview itself is such an anti-climatic experience? :D
My wife was bloody nervous (she is the USC), I wasn't, but she was
spared any questions at the interview other than identifying her
signature.
To celibrate, we went on a weekend trip to the Hamptons on Long Island,
and we had a wonderful time. Having 'all that' behind you is great.
Then in our case, 'all that' was just 8 months from initial filing
untill the AOS interview.
My wife and I had our interview last week, and isn't it funny how the
whole interview itself is such an anti-climatic experience? :D
My wife was bloody nervous (she is the USC), I wasn't, but she was
spared any questions at the interview other than identifying her
signature.
To celibrate, we went on a weekend trip to the Hamptons on Long Island,
and we had a wonderful time. Having 'all that' behind you is great.
Then in our case, 'all that' was just 8 months from initial filing
untill the AOS interview.
May 9th 2006, 6:02 pm
#6
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Aug 2003
Location:
Posts: 525
Re: Successful AOS interview today in Detroit! All the details...
Cheers!
Many congrats - great feeling eh? (-:
Many congrats - great feeling eh? (-:
Last edited by Rete; May 9th 2006 at 7:06 pm. Reason: removed the quoted text
May 9th 2006, 7:00 pm
#7
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Oct 2003
Location: Phoenix AZ
Posts: 2,345
Re: Successful AOS interview today in Detroit! All the details...
Congratulations....
May 9th 2006, 7:07 pm
#8
Concierge
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 46,392
Re: Successful AOS interview today in Detroit! All the details...
I'm the USC or at least the only USC in this couple at the time of the AOS interview in NYC. My foreign husband was not asked any questions. There were all directed to me, the USC.
Originally Posted by Martijn
Congrats!
My wife and I had our interview last week, and isn't it funny how the
whole interview itself is such an anti-climatic experience?
My wife was bloody nervous (she is the USC), I wasn't, but she was
spared any questions at the interview other than identifying her
signature.
To celibrate, we went on a weekend trip to the Hamptons on Long Island,
and we had a wonderful time. Having 'all that' behind you is great.
Then in our case, 'all that' was just 8 months from initial filing
untill the AOS interview.
My wife and I had our interview last week, and isn't it funny how the
whole interview itself is such an anti-climatic experience?
My wife was bloody nervous (she is the USC), I wasn't, but she was
spared any questions at the interview other than identifying her
signature.
To celibrate, we went on a weekend trip to the Hamptons on Long Island,
and we had a wonderful time. Having 'all that' behind you is great.
Then in our case, 'all that' was just 8 months from initial filing
untill the AOS interview.
May 9th 2006, 7:11 pm
#9
Concierge
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 46,392
Re: Successful AOS interview today in Detroit! All the details...
Congratulations on the I-551. Now you can breath that sigh of relief over having delayed the filing of the paperwork for so long. Nice to know everyone is back in status again and the overstay issue was not a problem at the interview.
Rete
Rete
May 10th 2006, 1:48 am
#10
SUPER CRUNCHY BALCONY COW
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 9,476
Re: Successful AOS interview today in Detroit! All the details...
Originally Posted by Rose2854
Hi everyone,
Heres some info on me and my husbands interview today in Detroit in
case it is of interest or help to anyone. Lots of details so sorry for
the rambling on..lol
We had an appointment at the immigration service on Mt. Elliot street
today in Detroit for my husband to get a greencard. I am a US citizen
and he is from England just FYI. I was well prepared and brought along
a big file full04/28/2006-Have medical exam and shots in Westland, no problems
05/08/2006-Final interview in Detroit. Approved quickly, recieved stamp
in passport. Actual card should arrive shortly.
Heres some info on me and my husbands interview today in Detroit in
case it is of interest or help to anyone. Lots of details so sorry for
the rambling on..lol
We had an appointment at the immigration service on Mt. Elliot street
today in Detroit for my husband to get a greencard. I am a US citizen
and he is from England just FYI. I was well prepared and brought along
a big file full04/28/2006-Have medical exam and shots in Westland, no problems
05/08/2006-Final interview in Detroit. Approved quickly, recieved stamp
in passport. Actual card should arrive shortly.
well done!
May 10th 2006, 2:39 am
#11
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Successful AOS interview today in Detroit! All the details...
Yep! It feels great, such a weight off our shoulders. Now at least we
can go over to Canada with no problems. I was worried since he had
overstayed for so long but it was not a problem. :-) Thanks for the
congrats everyone!
can go over to Canada with no problems. I was worried since he had
overstayed for so long but it was not a problem. :-) Thanks for the
congrats everyone!
May 11th 2006, 3:04 am
#12
Mrs Shep USCIS Graduate
Joined: Oct 2002
Location: ExPat Kiwi in Indiana USA
Posts: 1,865
Re: Successful AOS interview today in Detroit! All the details...
Originally Posted by Rose2854
Hi everyone,
Heres some info on me and my husbands interview today in Detroit in
case it is of interest or help to anyone. Lots of details so sorry for
the rambling on..lol
We had an appointment at the immigration service on Mt. Elliot street
today in Detroit for my husband to get a greencard. I am a US citizen
and he is from England just FYI. I was well prepared and brought along
a big file full of all the things that the interview appointment letter
asked us to bring. I brought birth cert. for both, marriage license
<which I was up half the night looking for cause I missplaced it>, both
our passports and SS cards, my last 3 years tax returns, W2's, pay
slips for both of us incuding letters from our employers, evidence of
our relationship such as copy of apartment lease, bills with both our
names on them, copies of joint bank account statements, pictures,
cards, etc, a notorized affadavit of support, and copies of any letters
we have recieved from the INS. I brought the originals along as well.
Ok well I was up pretty much all night getting this all prepared. Our
appointment was at 8am, and we live about an hour away from Detroit.
There is alot of construction going on and apparently the traffic is
horrible, and on top of that, we dont know our way around the area. So
we left the house around 5:45. There was really very little traffic and
we found our way there pretty easily so we were early. We had some
breakfast and got to the immigration place at about 7am. As soon as
you pull up, they ask to see your appointment letter, told us they open
the doors at 7:30am and showed us where to park. We went in at 7:40am,
had to show our appointment letter again, and walk through the metal
detector thing. The place is really small, alot smaller than I had
expected. At 7:50 my husbands name was called. We were greeted by a
friendly officer who introduced herself as Officer Sullivan. We
followed her into her little cubicle and had a seat. She had us raise
our right hands and swear to tell the truth, etc. She then asked us for
our ID's, we handed her both of our passports and drivers license/state
IDs. She had both of us state our names and address, and then asked
David a series of questions from a check off sheet she had, just all
'no' questions like "Are you a terrorist?" "Do you plan to engage in
espionage or to overtake the US government?" which i had to laugh at.
Just easy routine questions. She asked David his date of birth,
address, phone number, moms name, dads name, our wedding date, and if
he was working. She already had our file from when we applied on her
desk and was just checking things off to see if his answers match what
she had on file. She then asked me if I had my last years tax return/W2
and any paystubs. I handed them to her. Heres the thing that I was so
nervous about....I was $400 short of the income requirment guidlines,
so I brought along a letter from my employer stating my new wages since
I have had a raise since my taxes were filed, also copies of what I had
in the bank, along with an apprasial of my wedding ring as an asset.
Also brought my husbands recent paystubs and employment letter, as he
just got a job. She never asked for any of this. Not even the Affadavit
of support form that I filled out and had notorized. Just my 2005 taxes
and some paystubs. She did ask how come we waited so long to file for
AOS, a question i was expecting, because we were married in October
2003 and did not apply until October 2005. I just told her that that
was my own stupid mistake, cause I recieved some bad advice and was
told it was easier to wait until you are closer to your 2 year
anniversary beore applying so you can skip the temp. 2 year green card
and get your 10 year one w/o restrictions. Which is true, but I found
that by doing so, you had overstayed are not allowed to leave the
country, even with a travel document, or you will incure a 10 year ban.
So my husband has not visited home to see his family in almost 3 years.
She just laughed and was like 'ooooh ok'. She then stamped Davids
passport, said he will recieve his actual greencard in the mail in
about a month and told us to have a great day. We were like..."is that
it?" and i laughed and commented that I had brought so much stuff with
me. She just laughed and was like "Well if you really want me to I
could file it for ya". We thanked her and left. We got home at 9am. I
was so worried about the interview, it always sounds so scary. It
lasted 15mins max and about half that time was spent in silence as she
was typing stuff in her computer. She was also very smiley and friendly
and made us feel very comfortable. So we are FINALLY done and are
planning on spending xmas this year in England since David is free to
travel. Yay!! I was surprised at how quick the process was from the
time we applied, to the time we had our interview date. About 5 months
in all. Our timeline is below..
01/30/2003- Applied for I-129F, fiance visa through the slooooooow
Nebraska center
07/22/2003- Recieved NOA that application was approved
08/21/2003- Recieved 2nd NOA that application was sent to London
embassy
07/30/2003- Sent request to scotland yard for criminal background check
08/13/2003- Letter recieved from scotland yard, nothing on file
08/21/2003-Packet from London embassy with appointment letter and info
09/17/2003-Interview and medical in London at 8am. Successful, recieve
visa
09/24/2003-David flies from London heathrow to Detroit
10/25/2003- We are married. Awww!
10/15/2005- Apply for AOS and EAD, send to Chicago
10/26/2005-Recieve NOA- they have recieved application for I-765 for
Employment auth.
10/26/2005- Also have recieved application for I-485 for Adjust status
01/27/2006- Get appointment letter to have biometrics/fingerprints
taken in Detroit
02/24/2006- Get biometrics taken, no problems
03/02/2006- Recieve EAD card in the mail
03/14/2006-Recieve NOA for greencard/AOS interview in Detroit
with/appointment time
03/15/2006- Go to social security office in ann arbor. Apply & approved
for SS card
03/22/2006-Recieve SS card in mail
04/28/2006-Have medical exam and shots in Westland, no problems
05/08/2006-Final interview in Detroit. Approved quickly, recieved stamp
in passport. Actual card should arrive shortly.
Heres some info on me and my husbands interview today in Detroit in
case it is of interest or help to anyone. Lots of details so sorry for
the rambling on..lol
We had an appointment at the immigration service on Mt. Elliot street
today in Detroit for my husband to get a greencard. I am a US citizen
and he is from England just FYI. I was well prepared and brought along
a big file full of all the things that the interview appointment letter
asked us to bring. I brought birth cert. for both, marriage license
<which I was up half the night looking for cause I missplaced it>, both
our passports and SS cards, my last 3 years tax returns, W2's, pay
slips for both of us incuding letters from our employers, evidence of
our relationship such as copy of apartment lease, bills with both our
names on them, copies of joint bank account statements, pictures,
cards, etc, a notorized affadavit of support, and copies of any letters
we have recieved from the INS. I brought the originals along as well.
Ok well I was up pretty much all night getting this all prepared. Our
appointment was at 8am, and we live about an hour away from Detroit.
There is alot of construction going on and apparently the traffic is
horrible, and on top of that, we dont know our way around the area. So
we left the house around 5:45. There was really very little traffic and
we found our way there pretty easily so we were early. We had some
breakfast and got to the immigration place at about 7am. As soon as
you pull up, they ask to see your appointment letter, told us they open
the doors at 7:30am and showed us where to park. We went in at 7:40am,
had to show our appointment letter again, and walk through the metal
detector thing. The place is really small, alot smaller than I had
expected. At 7:50 my husbands name was called. We were greeted by a
friendly officer who introduced herself as Officer Sullivan. We
followed her into her little cubicle and had a seat. She had us raise
our right hands and swear to tell the truth, etc. She then asked us for
our ID's, we handed her both of our passports and drivers license/state
IDs. She had both of us state our names and address, and then asked
David a series of questions from a check off sheet she had, just all
'no' questions like "Are you a terrorist?" "Do you plan to engage in
espionage or to overtake the US government?" which i had to laugh at.
Just easy routine questions. She asked David his date of birth,
address, phone number, moms name, dads name, our wedding date, and if
he was working. She already had our file from when we applied on her
desk and was just checking things off to see if his answers match what
she had on file. She then asked me if I had my last years tax return/W2
and any paystubs. I handed them to her. Heres the thing that I was so
nervous about....I was $400 short of the income requirment guidlines,
so I brought along a letter from my employer stating my new wages since
I have had a raise since my taxes were filed, also copies of what I had
in the bank, along with an apprasial of my wedding ring as an asset.
Also brought my husbands recent paystubs and employment letter, as he
just got a job. She never asked for any of this. Not even the Affadavit
of support form that I filled out and had notorized. Just my 2005 taxes
and some paystubs. She did ask how come we waited so long to file for
AOS, a question i was expecting, because we were married in October
2003 and did not apply until October 2005. I just told her that that
was my own stupid mistake, cause I recieved some bad advice and was
told it was easier to wait until you are closer to your 2 year
anniversary beore applying so you can skip the temp. 2 year green card
and get your 10 year one w/o restrictions. Which is true, but I found
that by doing so, you had overstayed are not allowed to leave the
country, even with a travel document, or you will incure a 10 year ban.
So my husband has not visited home to see his family in almost 3 years.
She just laughed and was like 'ooooh ok'. She then stamped Davids
passport, said he will recieve his actual greencard in the mail in
about a month and told us to have a great day. We were like..."is that
it?" and i laughed and commented that I had brought so much stuff with
me. She just laughed and was like "Well if you really want me to I
could file it for ya". We thanked her and left. We got home at 9am. I
was so worried about the interview, it always sounds so scary. It
lasted 15mins max and about half that time was spent in silence as she
was typing stuff in her computer. She was also very smiley and friendly
and made us feel very comfortable. So we are FINALLY done and are
planning on spending xmas this year in England since David is free to
travel. Yay!! I was surprised at how quick the process was from the
time we applied, to the time we had our interview date. About 5 months
in all. Our timeline is below..
01/30/2003- Applied for I-129F, fiance visa through the slooooooow
Nebraska center
07/22/2003- Recieved NOA that application was approved
08/21/2003- Recieved 2nd NOA that application was sent to London
embassy
07/30/2003- Sent request to scotland yard for criminal background check
08/13/2003- Letter recieved from scotland yard, nothing on file
08/21/2003-Packet from London embassy with appointment letter and info
09/17/2003-Interview and medical in London at 8am. Successful, recieve
visa
09/24/2003-David flies from London heathrow to Detroit
10/25/2003- We are married. Awww!
10/15/2005- Apply for AOS and EAD, send to Chicago
10/26/2005-Recieve NOA- they have recieved application for I-765 for
Employment auth.
10/26/2005- Also have recieved application for I-485 for Adjust status
01/27/2006- Get appointment letter to have biometrics/fingerprints
taken in Detroit
02/24/2006- Get biometrics taken, no problems
03/02/2006- Recieve EAD card in the mail
03/14/2006-Recieve NOA for greencard/AOS interview in Detroit
with/appointment time
03/15/2006- Go to social security office in ann arbor. Apply & approved
for SS card
03/22/2006-Recieve SS card in mail
04/28/2006-Have medical exam and shots in Westland, no problems
05/08/2006-Final interview in Detroit. Approved quickly, recieved stamp
in passport. Actual card should arrive shortly.
Huge congrats...happy celebrating. Such a wonderful feeling isnt it.
