Possible interview problem?

Old Dec 9th 2001, 2:23 pm
  #1  
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my wife is a US citizen who was living in Maryland with her parents before she got married. I was living in New York at that time. We got married in MD, and we applied for the 485, 130 etc while we were in NY, but we used her parent's MD address. We then moved to New Jersey (appox on year after marriage).

We got our interview call in July in Baltimore, and during the interview the INS officer obviously found discrepencies in the address that we had applied from and the address we were living in (MD versus NJ). She then said she could not take action on this application and transfered the paperwork to Newark, NJ which has jurisdiction on where we live. So now we have our next intervew in about a month. I went through another set of fingerprints and medical exam.

Can anyone anticipate problems with this interview? Can we be accused of fraud? I'm guessing they could have accused us of fraud right then and there, but they only transferred us to NJ. What kind of things can they try to "ding" us on?

I'm a bit concerned. Should I be?

A couple of different lawyers have said not to worry, but paranoia is running rampant!
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Old Dec 9th 2001, 2:47 pm
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No, you have nothing to worry about. This sort of address mess is a sign of not being
too anal about the process, that is, being a regular couple. You may even be able to
use this mess as evidence of bona fide marriage. If you were truely anal about the
whole thing, you'd both have had active MD identifications ( Drivers' permits) with
the same address and this issue of jurisdiction would never have popped up.

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Old Dec 9th 2001, 3:34 pm
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Alvena Ferreira
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Onigiri wrote:
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However, I think there is a law on the books that specifies that immigrants must keep
the INS apprised of their current address at all times: http://frwebgate.access.gpo.-
gov/cgi-bin/get-cfr.cgi?TITLE=8&PART=265&SECTION=1&YEAR=2001&TYPE= TEXT

However, I suspect the main problem was that the interviewing adjucator had no
jurisdiction over the applicant's address, and had to transfer the file to the office
that did have jurisdiction.

Alvena
-----------------------
Doc Steen Site: http://www.mindspring.com/~docsteen/...o/visainfo.htm
=========================================
I am not a lawyer and this is not immigration advice. This is my personal opinion,
posted for the purpose of discussion only. Locate an immigration attorney in your
area at: http://www.aila.org
=========================================
 
Old Dec 10th 2001, 1:03 am
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Alvena:

I understand the issue regarding the address change issue, but do you think it may casue a problem in the interview? I am most concerned about the petition being denied. I hope the problem is not as bad as I am making it out to be!
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Old Dec 10th 2001, 2:04 am
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You're asking for opinions. My opinion is that it will be fine. What you did isn't exactly kosher and I would suggest that you have a good solid story to tell as to why you filed in the manner you filed. I would also have enough documentation on hand, whether asked for or not, to prove that you and your wife were living together during the times it appears that you were living together separately (her in Maryland and you in New York).

Ahhh what a tangled web we weave

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Old Dec 10th 2001, 2:06 am
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FWIW, you are not the first couple to have a problem in similarity. One couple had their notice for the interview and moved to California a month or two before the appointment. They flew back east to keep the appointment and the interview terminated the interview then and there where it was discovered they no longer lived in that jurisdiction. The paperwork was forwarded to the office in California.

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Old Dec 10th 2001, 1:05 pm
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Rete:

Any update on what happened to that couple?
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Old Dec 10th 2001, 4:47 pm
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I tell you, I am getting so nervous about this issue!

I can just imagine the interviewer asking us why we applied from MD when we were together in jersey and throwing us out!

I suppose it depends on how strict and not nice the immigration officer is...hopefully they will give us a break. We should not have any problems proving the validity of the marriage, so that part should be ok.

i'm glad to have this forum where i can vent my nervousness so freely!
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Old Dec 10th 2001, 5:46 pm
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Can't give you an update because the couple has not had their CA interview yet. For them it was more simplistic than your case. He had a job offer he couldn't refuse and NYC has sent them the interview date months in advance but the job offer was a take now or lose it type of thing and they moved a month before the interview. They flew back for it but the interview was concluded with them being told to have their paperwork transferred to their new local INS office.

Your case, however, presents different problems that you will need to address. A DAO will only be sympathetic enough to overlook the address discrepancies if you are able to convince him/her that you were doing anything fraudulent in filing in one office while you lived in another area of the country altogether.

I'm curious myself why you did things that way. Were you trying to circumvent the NYC INS? Did you both live together as a married couple in NYC and later in NJ? Why didn't you have your file transferred when you both moved to NJ? Did you not think that INS would see that you were providing home addresses and employment verification from a state other than Maryland.

All in all, it looks bad from your point of view, but if your marriage is legitimate and if you have a plausible story to tell if asked why, then you shouldn't have any problem at all getting approved.

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Old Dec 10th 2001, 6:04 pm
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Rita,

When i married my wife one of her biggest issues was that i move to maryland so she could be closer to her family. so when we got married, we applied from her parents house, and i started looking for a job in that area so we could move there. i found one in maryland (in july of last year) but they put me on a project in new york city. then we moved to new jersey to cut down my commute. the intention was to move to MD as soon as we could...we lived together all this time.
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Old Dec 10th 2001, 6:09 pm
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Now there is a neat and very plausible story. Tell it, if asked, just the way you told it here and you won't have any problem.

When I read your post originally, I thought that the job situation might be the reason. Knowing the many opportunities in the IT field there are in the MD/No. VA area and what a great place it is to live, can't blame your wife for wanting to remain there and you for wanting to transfer there. But gee gads, New Jersey? Living on the eastern shores of upper NJ is like living in a hamper of dirty clothes.

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Old Dec 10th 2001, 6:40 pm
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thanks for the reply! i feel better now. wish us a nice DOA, now.

Jersey is not so bad - we live right on the water across from manhattan...most people who live around us pretend they live in manhattan
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Old Dec 10th 2001, 6:59 pm
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It isn't a too bad area. Visit a friend in Hoboken and have been to Jersey City. Use to date a man who owned a penthouse apartment overlooking the city in Fort Lee. Like us you only have to worry if the wind is blowing west to east ;-)

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Old Dec 11th 2001, 2:53 pm
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BTW, should I take an updated biographical form? They have my new address because the notice for the interview came to our address in NJ.

Interestingly, the notice was in a plain manila envelope with the address handwritten. I was expecting an "official" looking envelop...
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Old Dec 11th 2001, 6:18 pm
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Rita,

I beg your pardon! The dirtiest thing about living on the eastern edge of northern New Jersey is that concrete jungle on the rocky island across the river.

'Course, I moved a bit further south of there many years ago, only to find it's impossible to outrun the hoards from across the river who apparently prefer the western shore.

:-)

Regards, JEff

Originally posted by Rete
<<snip>>
But gee gads, New Jersey? Living on the eastern shores of upper NJ is like living in a hamper of dirty clothes.

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