Adjustment of Status - I-485

Hi,

I'd like to share our experience with the interview because it was quite unlike anything we'd read on here. We expected an amicable encounter, and this one wasn't, really. The officer only asked questions for things that were already on our form, verifying, I suppose. No questions about our marriage/relationship really. At the beginning, she asked if I was a citizen by birth, and asked to see my naturalization certificate (so take it, even if your passport proves citizenship!). She asked both of us for ID's and then made a big deal that my husband's learner's permit was not from the state we're in. She said we don't have evidence that he lives in the state with me. She asked questions about his residence in relation to his school, which is in another state, and in which he resided in part during the fall, but where he doesn't need to be anymore for either teaching or research (he's writing up his dissertation). She didn't seem to understand that this was possible, and insisted that we show evidence that he lived in state (she said a lease was not enough, as he could always sign that and leave). She wanted utility bills in his name. I mention this because I know none of the application materials ask for it, nor have any of the experiences I've read. We didn't have that, and we tried to show through credit card statements that he's been making purchases in state. She also was not satisfied with this, and proceeded to lecture us about how none of this is good enough to prove he's in state.

We showed up with all the things in the checklist that came with the interview notice, but instead of asking for specific things (sometimes she did, like for my naturalization certificate), she said (after the exchange above), Ok what do you have to show me, what are all the things you brought to show me. We were a little confused because we had so many things, but showed her all the things we brought specifically to prove our relationship. We had an album of photos and instead of looking at them, she held it (closed) and asked us if this was for the record, if we were submitting these originals and didn't need them back.

She went on to ask questions about what I do, and to verify things like his parents' names. She asked him a bunch of those questions about criminal activities or convictions (things that were on the form).

Finally, she said she'll just do her due diligence and go over everything that night, but it doesn't seem there would be a problem. At this point I suppose she softened a bit, and said that we can check the status online and that the card could take about 2 weeks in the mail.

The next day (although our login was suddenly locked), our case status was updated that the card was being produced. We couldn't help wondering why she couldn't just decide at the interview, and let us have our pictures back. But ultimately we were very grateful.