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Immigration
Adjustment of Status - I-485
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NYC Federal Plaza Interview
Hi, I’ve been a silent reader this past year as my spouse was processing papers. Now, I’d like to share our experience.
Location: New York City
Priority Date (I-130, I-485, I-765): 4/1/2019
Waited 5 months for EAD
Interview at Federal Plaza: 3/10/2020
Total interview time: ~45 minutes
During the application, we made sure to send our forms together with the I-693 to ensure a more complete application and so that we would not have to bring it to the interview (although we did still bring our personal copy).
For NYC filers other than Queens and Brooklyn, the interview site is on the 7th floor of the Federal Plaza. After check-in, you are given a ticket number with letter proceeded by a number. Once you are ready to be interviewed they call your ticket number and tell you to go to either door 1 or 2 where you will be greeted by your officer. The speaker system in the room is pretty good so it doesn’t really matter where you sit; you should be able to hear the announcement even in the farthest crevice.
It took us some time to be called for our interview (over 2 hours). Maybe they couldn’t find our case folder? Who knows.
In any case, although the wait was long, I do think we were fortunate with our officer. I won’t mention her name, but she’s the spitting image of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (lol). She was very professional but personable so that you didn’t feel uptight.
After being called she brought us to her office and asked each one of us to step in. She swore us in and asked us to take a seat.
The first thing she did was ask for original documents like passports, birth certificates, marriage license. She took each one of them and stamped the copy that she had on file to verify the documents.
Then, she asked us to provide photocopies of our evidences of our bonafide marriage. We gave her our recently filed taxes, shared health insurance, shared property, memberships, etc. The document verification process took about 5-10 minutes.
The officer then did the interview portion where she asked me, the petitioner, for information regarding the following:
Spouse full name and DOB
The story of our relationship
Spouse’s last entry to the US
Our marriage
Spouse’s parents’ and siblings’ names and addresses
Rationale for staying in the US
She then proceeded asking my spouse for the following:
My full name and DOB
My address
My parents’ and siblings’ names and addresses
My last 2 places of employment and the duration of each
The information she asked for had follow-up questions.
After this, she went through the I-485 questions with my spouse to make sure nothing changed since we sent in the application. I must say, I did not expect her to ask ALL the YES/NO questions, but she did. I was amazed at how she had seemed to almost memorize the questions and the clarity and speed at which she spoke. She made my spouse sign the document after she made the changes.
She then asked for pictures. We gave her some more wedding pictures. She said she had more than enough from the application, but she said if we wanted to give her a few more then we could. I asked, “Which ones? We separated them by category.” This made her chuckle a little and decline any more pictures.
The officer then ended by giving us the white paper and asked us if we had any questions. I inquired as to how long it would be before we received a response. She said that our application looked good, and all she had to do was check to make sure the surgeon general was still affiliated since it had been some time (almost a year) since we submitted the medical. Additionally, another background check would be done. She did add that she liked to finish her documents as soon as possible. This made me hopeful.
Before we left she borrowed our state IDs and photocopied them. She then escorted us out of the door. I felt very much relief after the interview. I was very confident that we would get a response within the same week if not the same day.
Surely enough, by 5PM that day (roughly 3 hours post-interview), I received a text to check my USCIS account. Upon logging in, the I-485 case status was updated to ORDERED NEW CARD.
Even more good news came on Wed 3/11/2020. Just to cement the deal, USCIS sent me another correspondence that both the I-485 and I-130 were approved. Then, yesterday (3/13/2020), I was notified that my spouse’s green card was on its way.
It’s been a journey, and I’m glad others have posted about their experiences. Just some info: There’s a bathroom outside the offices.
Location: New York City
Priority Date (I-130, I-485, I-765): 4/1/2019
Waited 5 months for EAD
Interview at Federal Plaza: 3/10/2020
Total interview time: ~45 minutes
During the application, we made sure to send our forms together with the I-693 to ensure a more complete application and so that we would not have to bring it to the interview (although we did still bring our personal copy).
For NYC filers other than Queens and Brooklyn, the interview site is on the 7th floor of the Federal Plaza. After check-in, you are given a ticket number with letter proceeded by a number. Once you are ready to be interviewed they call your ticket number and tell you to go to either door 1 or 2 where you will be greeted by your officer. The speaker system in the room is pretty good so it doesn’t really matter where you sit; you should be able to hear the announcement even in the farthest crevice.
It took us some time to be called for our interview (over 2 hours). Maybe they couldn’t find our case folder? Who knows.
In any case, although the wait was long, I do think we were fortunate with our officer. I won’t mention her name, but she’s the spitting image of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (lol). She was very professional but personable so that you didn’t feel uptight.
After being called she brought us to her office and asked each one of us to step in. She swore us in and asked us to take a seat.
The first thing she did was ask for original documents like passports, birth certificates, marriage license. She took each one of them and stamped the copy that she had on file to verify the documents.
Then, she asked us to provide photocopies of our evidences of our bonafide marriage. We gave her our recently filed taxes, shared health insurance, shared property, memberships, etc. The document verification process took about 5-10 minutes.
The officer then did the interview portion where she asked me, the petitioner, for information regarding the following:
Spouse full name and DOB
The story of our relationship
Spouse’s last entry to the US
Our marriage
Spouse’s parents’ and siblings’ names and addresses
Rationale for staying in the US
She then proceeded asking my spouse for the following:
My full name and DOB
My address
My parents’ and siblings’ names and addresses
My last 2 places of employment and the duration of each
The information she asked for had follow-up questions.
After this, she went through the I-485 questions with my spouse to make sure nothing changed since we sent in the application. I must say, I did not expect her to ask ALL the YES/NO questions, but she did. I was amazed at how she had seemed to almost memorize the questions and the clarity and speed at which she spoke. She made my spouse sign the document after she made the changes.
She then asked for pictures. We gave her some more wedding pictures. She said she had more than enough from the application, but she said if we wanted to give her a few more then we could. I asked, “Which ones? We separated them by category.” This made her chuckle a little and decline any more pictures.
The officer then ended by giving us the white paper and asked us if we had any questions. I inquired as to how long it would be before we received a response. She said that our application looked good, and all she had to do was check to make sure the surgeon general was still affiliated since it had been some time (almost a year) since we submitted the medical. Additionally, another background check would be done. She did add that she liked to finish her documents as soon as possible. This made me hopeful.
Before we left she borrowed our state IDs and photocopied them. She then escorted us out of the door. I felt very much relief after the interview. I was very confident that we would get a response within the same week if not the same day.
Surely enough, by 5PM that day (roughly 3 hours post-interview), I received a text to check my USCIS account. Upon logging in, the I-485 case status was updated to ORDERED NEW CARD.
Even more good news came on Wed 3/11/2020. Just to cement the deal, USCIS sent me another correspondence that both the I-485 and I-130 were approved. Then, yesterday (3/13/2020), I was notified that my spouse’s green card was on its way.
It’s been a journey, and I’m glad others have posted about their experiences. Just some info: There’s a bathroom outside the offices.
All Replies (4)
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