Adjustment of Status - I-485

Hi all,

I wanted to post here a bit about my interview experience today Oct 24th. I am a green card holder since 2013 and was sponsoring my wife. Her PD was Sep 2015 and received her EAD in Jan 2017. The interview went very well. The interviewing officer (IO) was very nice and warm and courteous. We were sitting in a large hall and after a while an IO came to us and called out my wife's name and accompanied us to a room. We started by taking a oath and then the IO proceeded to ask us the originals of all documents (passports, my green card, her EAD/AP card, marriage certificate and birth certificates). The IO also asked us for our joint documents and we presented our latest tax returns, lease agreement, car insurance and joint checking account statement. This was enough and the IO didn't want any more documents. The IO took copies of a few of our documents and then proceeded to ask us questions. We were asked 1) where, when and how did we meet, 2) how did I propose to her, 3) what does he do for work, 4) what does she do for work, 5) when did you meet each other's parents, 6) where and when did you get married, 7) how big was the wedding, 8) we got married soon after engagement and the IO wanted to know why. After this the IO went through the entire I-485 and asked my wife all the questions there (full name, DoB, present address etc., and also all the YES/NO questions the answers to which are typically NO :-)).
The last I-485 questions were all answered by my wife. I answered most of the questions above but my wife chimed in many times, so it felt like a conversation. Although we were prepared, I veered off the party-line and told the IO a small story about our proposal and the IO laughed. So preparation is good, but just be natural.

After that the IO told us that "everything looks good and your green card will be approved by tomorrow and you will received it in 3 weeks". We were quite happy and relieved. The IO gave us one-sheet which mentioned that "your case is under review but no further documents are required at the moment and we will contact you in case any more documentation is needed". Even before us saying anything the IO said that "we should ignore this and this is just a formality and you have been approved and would received green card in 3 weeks". So again we were quite happy.

Few tips: 1) we carried a lot of documentation. It is better to be prepared than be sorry. I also had documentation which showed my financial assets. My wife is also working on a VISA so she also had documents showing her financial assets. 2) We took copies of all the originals. However in the interview I inadvertently gave the original lease and the original car insurance. I had the copies but in the anxious moments stupid things happen :-). Although we had clearly put the originals and copies separately, I was quite anxious (sweating actually) and made this small blunder. We have copies of all so we are OK. But I would suggest just keep the copies in separate bag altogether and let your spouse confirm during the interview that you are giving the copies and not the originals. 3) I don't like wearing formals but my wife insisted on business casual (navy blue shirt, black jeans, grey blazer) and that was a good decision because everyone is dressed smartly including the IO.

We now await our actual green card and hopefully it does come in 3 weeks. I will post here once that happens. Again, I can't thank the forum enough for answering all the questions and people taking their time out to write their experiences. Good luck to all!