Leander

Can I just run this past you real quick and ask if there is anything I have to worry about?
We have evil neighbors who are famous for calling the authorities whenever they can. They hate us and are convinced we are only married for me to get a Green Card. If they found out where to call in order to inform immigration about their suspicion chances are they have. That's why I am a little nervous whenever I am unsure if everything goes according to schedule...

I got married in September 2005, filed my 485 package in December.
I got my travel permit but no work permit within the 90 days it is supposed to take.
I did get a letter saying I would be sent an appointment to have my fingerprints taken. But until now it has not been sent to me.
I phoned to inquire about the work permit. They told me an investigation would be launched as to why I hadn't received a work permit. I was told to call again in 30 days which I did. I was again told an investigation would be launched and I should call back in 30 days. I was also told I could get an interim work permit from the local office in the meantime.
Today I received a "Request for Applicant to appear for initial interview" in the mail. My wife and me got an appointment in early June.

My questions now are:

- is this interview not coming very early? Could that have to do with with an evil-neighbor-phone call?

- could my work permit be held back because they are investigating my case?

- are there two interviews, one now and one in a year or so from now?
If so, how do they differ? What questions are typically asked?

- my wife's birth certificate shows a different last name than her passport does. Don't ask. We submitted copies of both when we sent all the paper work but were never asked about it. Now we have to bring both birth certificate and passport to the interview. Are we going to run into trouble?

- how beneficial is it to bring a lawyer to the intitial and - if there is one - the second interview?

- could my work permit be held back because they are investigating my case?

- my wife is going to be on her friend's wedding and out of town the day we are supposed to have the interview. There is no way she can be persuaded to cancel that, so unfortunately I am going to have to reschedule the interview. Everybody warns me not to do it but there really is no other way. Does immigration accept that reason? Should I call and ask for a new date now? Or do we have to make up a hospitalization or something of that sort?

- we have a photo album of our wedding but that is pretty much all. We both kept our own last names, did our taxes "Married filing seperately", she is not on the lease, only my name appears on the utilities bills, we have two different phones, two different health and car insurances, two different bank accounts. Should I try to get both our names on as many of these papers as possible? Doesn't it almost look more suspicious if her name was suddenly added to everything in the month leading up to the interview?

Sorry this got so long.

I'd be grateful for any advice...

ian-mstm

Do you honestly think your neighbor could force USCIS to do anything when thousands of good folks who do not have "evil neighbors" can barely get a straight answer? At any rate, you have recevied a "stock" reply good for all situations - there is usually only one interview.


USCIS is not obligated to accept any reason. You must send in the request in writing... but what if it doesn't make it to the person it needs to get to? What if a wedding isn't a good reason? What if... well, you get the idea. If you don't show up, your case could be summarily closed and you will need to either refile and resubmit everything all over again and then wait perhaps for years for this to happen again, or you will need to file a Motion to Reopen which, in itself, is a major undertaking. At any rate - do not lie to USCIS about anything, including why you need to reschedule.

IMHO, a wedding is insignificant compared to securing your immigration status. If your wife can not be pursuaded, then she is a self-centered manipulator who thinks only of herself... well, certainly in this situation. And if the person getting married is any sort of friend, they will also understand this. If they don't... well, you don't need friends like that.

Ian

CarlM

I doubt USCIS could care less about a malicious phone call. The Interviewing officer will make the determination..

if its a genuine case you should have nothing to worry about.

Elenfair

I wouldn't ask for a rescheduling. I'd miss the wedding. This is way too important... not to mention that if stuff doesn't get filed in the right spots, you could end up with a denied case for failure to appear at the interview, then you'd have to have the case re-opened, yadda yadda yadda...

Considering how nervous you are? Go to the scheduled interview.

Ray

Any chance you have two different addresses as well ...
From what you have written there .. I would be very suspicious...

Rete

You are being called to an AOS interview. Think paranoia is ruling your life.

So what are you doing for the month of May? Going to make that Infopass appointment and try for an Interim EAD?

No it has nothing to do with your neighbor. You are small potatoes in the immigration scheme of things. Interviews have been known to happen quickly on occasion. Count your blessings.

No

No. You are thinking of the removal of conditions if you are approved for adjustment of status before your second wedding anniversary and are made a conditional permanent resident. An interview for removal of conditions is a possibility but the majority of I-751's are approved without an interview.
If so, how do they differ? What questions are typically asked?

Most probably. But the trouble can be minor if she has proof as to why she is using a different surname than her birth surname, i.e. she is using a former married surname?

Very beneficial if you have any issues and you appear to have several.


Redunant question ... asked earlier.

Who is more important to your wife ... You or her friend?

Guess you know the answer to that one.

It is very likely that if you ask for a reschedulement of the interview the request will be "lost" and that your case will be marked closed as abandoned and you will either have to file a motion for it to be reopened and/or file all over again. And if this happens your A/P is no longer valid and if you are smart enough to get an interim EAD then that too is invalid.

Depends on the examiner. Looks funny that you don't share something as simple as the same auto insurance policy. The healthcare, bank accounts and utilities are explainable but why not something as simply as an auto policy?

Get that attorney you were asking about. Seriously, I think you need someone with you to run interference.

Sorry this got so long.

I'd be grateful for any advice...[/QUOTE]

Just Jenney

There "is no other way"?? How about persuading her to go to the interview -- a VERY important step in your lives together -- as opposed to going to a party??

You need to ask her, "Which would suck more: Not attending Susie's wedding, or me having to leave the country because we missed the interview?" Given all your concerns and hesitations about this, I'm really shocked that this is even an issue.

Yes, it does seem suspicious. What you describe is, at best, two random people living together as roommates, not a married couple. It sounds more like two people who don't even live in the same city.

~ Jenney

scrubbedexpat099

The Insurance sounds odd, generally you have to rate family members in the same household, you can not usually rate seperately.

Martijn Vels

    >>- is this interview not coming very early? Could that have to do with with an evil-neighbor-phone call?
Very unlikely. My wife and I expected to wait at least 2 years for our
AOS interview, as such was the waiting time when we filed. We got ours
7 months after we completed our filing for AOS. I guess USCIS has
simply sped up their procedures and worked away their backlog. No small
feat btw, so thumbs up. :)

    >> - could my work permit be held back because they are investigating my case?
No. Even if they ~would~ be ~investigating~ your case (which would be
no more than running background checks on FBI and INS records and
such), it would not influence your EAD. The EAD is temporary to allow
you to work untill your AOS is completed. The EAD is simply granted,
regardless if anybody at USCIS expects a positive or negative outcome
for the AOS. Your interviewing officer will decided on your AOS, your
EAD is totally unrelated to this.
I had to wait for 5 months for my EAD while the AP was issued within
little over a month. They made a mistake and lost my biographic for the
EAD. Their fault, but it slowed the process, and it was only after I
made an appointment with the USCIS that they finally fixed it.


    >>- are there two interviews, one now and one in a year or so from now? If so, how do they differ? What questions are typically asked?
There is one AOS interview. It will either grant you Permanent
residence or not. It can be directly after the interview in which case
they stamp your passport I-551, or they can inform you later if they
first need to do some background checks.
The permanent residency you get granted is conditional, and after 2
years you MUST file to have these conditions removed. They might call
you for an interview then, but this is pretty uncommon. Provided you
are still married and have plenty of evidence of this (financial and
otherwise), it should be a breeze.

For typical AOS interview questions: Search this newsgroup for AOS
EXPERIENCE



    >>- my wife's birth certificate shows a different last name than her passport does. Don't ask.
    >> We submitted copies of both when we sent all the paper work but were never asked about it.
    >> Now we have to bring both birth certificate and passport to the interview. Are we going to run into trouble?
Without knowing the reason for why there is a different name on the BC
and passport, this is impossible to answer. :)
It shouldn't be a problem if it is easily explainable and the result of
some administrative mockup.


    >> - how beneficial is it to bring a lawyer to the intitial and - if there is one - the second interview?
The most beneficial is it to have a lawyer PREPARE you for the
interview. This can not be stressed enough. One single frivolous answer
in the interview could mean life or death. Attendance of the lawyer is
nice (and can be part of a fixed fee contract), but not necesarily. The
benefit of a lawyer being present is the impression you give to the
USCIS officer: That you have every intent to handle this in a proper
and correct legal manner, and that you take the interview and AOS as
serious as the USCIS does. :)
But preparation is the key, and a lawyer is a great help in preparing
for the interview. Both in practice (as in preparing YOU), as document
wise as he can help you how to best collect and prepare evidence of
your marriage.


- my wife is going to be on her friend's wedding and out of town the
day we are supposed to have the interview.
    >> There is no way she can be persuaded to cancel that, so unfortunately I am going to have to reschedule the interview.
    >> Everybody warns me not to do it but there really is no other way.
    >> Does immigration accept that reason? Should I call and ask for a new date now?
    >>Or do we have to make up a hospitalization or something of that sort?
Ask your wife if her friend's wedding is more important than your
future, as that is what we are talking about. USCIS might accept your
request, but the risk is that you might not get an answer in time and
will be in limbo of they accepted or not, it may mess up the schedule
or delay your case even fiurther, and worst case it may lead to some
administrattive mishap at USCIS and they declare you a 'no show'. None
of that may be your fault, but in the end, once you and up on dire
streets, it doesn't make a frigging difference.
THERE IS NOTHING MORE IMPORTANT THAN YOUR AOS INTERVIEW instead of
perhaps the sudden death or very serious illness of a close family
member. Be a man and simply tell your wife that it is unacceptable. She
shows up, period. If she does take your marriage and future serious,
she will. If not, make her read this NG and experiences of people who
ended up in trouble filing a perfectly reasonable request for a new
interview date.
GO TO YOUR AOS INTERVIEW. SOMETHING AS FRIVOLOUS AS A FRIEND GETTING
MARRIED IS TOTALLY UNIMPORTANT COMPARED TO AN AOS INTERVIEW! (repeat
100 times)



    >>- we have a photo album of our wedding but that is pretty much all. We both kept our own last names, did our taxes "Married filing
    >> seperately", she is not on the lease, only my name appears on the utilities bills, we have two different phones, two different health
    >> and car insurances, two different bank accounts. Should I try to get both our names on as many of these papers as possible?
    >>Doesn't it almost look more suspicious if her name was suddenly added to everything in the month leading up to the interview?
Get her name on as much as possible. Considering the time frame and the
short period between filing and the interview, you might very well
explain why it is just this recent. Else simply tell them that you are
procastinators, but you NEED to have evidence of a shared life.
Any holiday trips with pictures? Visits to family? A neighbor who can
write a letter confirming you do the dirty thing at night together?
Anything will do.
If you can explain the lease, the utility bills because of the time
frame ("we didn't come to changing that yet") or have any other valid
reasons it shouldn't count against you. The different health and car
insurance is a point of concern tho, as there is a lot of reasons to
have the same insurance in both names (more attractive financially) as
with phones (family phone contract), so be prepared the officer will
want to know why this is so.
Evidence, evidence, evidence. Get it. Doesn't matter what it is, but
get it.

No officer likes the couple with nothing to show for their marriage
other than their wedding album.

andrea874

I dont mean to sound like a jerk here, but why would the two of you have things set up like that? Different insurance, different phones, etc? You guys KNEW an interview would be coming up at some point, so why set everything up that way and then have to change it ever? Seems a little silly...
I know other people right in this thread have told you this,but since you already seemed to know, I will repeat it again to hopefully get through to you: NO a wedding is not a good enough reason to try to reschedule an AOS appointment. If you're smart, and your wife is smart, you guys will go to this, and be happy that you got it so soon rather than just deciding to take a huge gamble that, from what I've seen here, more often than not turns out badly.
Good luck.

Rete

Andrea

In today's society, many couples do not share financial accounts, i.e. bank accounts, credit cards, or any debt whatsoever. It is perfectly legal and a case can be made to the USCIS in regards to this. Just as many women no longer change their surname to their husband's, there are different ways of living together other than the prescribed 1950's way.

In fact, as example, my Canadian-in-laws who are married for over 40 years, do not have the same checking, saving accounts. Nor has Janet ever used her husband's surname but has retained her maiden name through all these years. From what I gather it is the norm in Quebec province.

I work with many women who continue to use their maiden names in business and maintain accounts in that surname.

Just my thoughts.

Rete

andrea874

Well, what I meant was more along the lines of... if he's so stressed about it NOW, why didn't he do something about it earlier since he knew this would come up... and different insurance seems really weird. I dunno...

Rete

Agree with you re the insurance issue. Even with separate companies they have to list the other person in the household with a license and as a result their insurance will reflect a charge even if that person is not under the insurance policy because they have access to the vehicle.

snowbunny

Yep, absolutely.

which is why I'm bloody fretting over getting my husband a DL so my OWN insurance doesn't get cancelled!

Mh

In article <[email protected]> ,
Rete <[email protected]> wrote:
    >> I dont mean to sound like a jerk here, but why would the two of you
    >> have things set up like that? Different insurance, different phones,
    >> etc? You guys KNEW an interview would be coming up at some point, so
    >> why set everything up that way and then have to change it ever? Seems
    >> a little silly...
    >> I know other people right in this thread have told you this,but since
    >> you already seemed to know, I will repeat it again to hopefully get
    >> through to you: NO a wedding is not a good enough reason to try to
    >> reschedule an AOS appointment. If you're smart, and your wife is
    >> smart, you guys will go to this, and be happy that you got it so soon
    >> rather than just deciding to take a huge gamble that, from what I've
    >> seen here, more often than not turns out badly.
    >> Good luck.
    >Andrea
    >In today's society, many couples do not share financial accounts, i.e.
    >bank accounts, credit cards, or any debt whatsoever. It is perfectly
    >legal and a case can be made to the USCIS in regards to this. Just as
    >many women no longer change their surname to their husband's, there are
    >different ways of living together other than the prescribed 1950's way.
    >In fact, as example, my Canadian-in-laws who are married for over 40
    >years, do not have the same checking, saving accounts. Nor has Janet
    >ever used her husband's surname but has retained her maiden name through
    >all these years. From what I gather it is the norm in Quebec province.

AFAIK, it's the norm in Quebec, because the [catholic] church is in charge
of much bureaucracy there (for historical reasons, I guess), and that branch
of the church has apparently evolved into a pure bureaucracy.

It costs something like $2000-3000 to change your surname in Quebec after
marriage. I'm not kidding - I've had various people tell me so who lived IN
Quebec - which is why it is the norm, I would guess. And I THINK it involves
a lot of paperwork too.

Even then, I know at least one couple who felt it was important enough to
change her surname to her husband's surname to pay the $2-3K. My guess is
that if it was more reasonable ($100-200), it would be MUCH more common. Not
sure what the custom in France is, but my guess is that it would fall into
the western european norm(?) of changing the surname of the wife to that of
the husband.

Why does Quebec do this? I have a feeling it's the same reason that they
have a rule that French signs must be bigger than English signs, and that a
business MUST have a French sign, but an English sign is optional, etc.
They want to play up their importance, and by having more people registered
in Canada with French surnames, they feel more important.

I guess I wanted to say: just because it's the norm in Quebec, it does NOT
mean it's the DESIRED norm, nor does it reflect on the rest of Canada.

MH