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Today my wife (applicant) and I (petitioner) had our interview. At first, the officer had a serious look on his face like he meant business from the get go, he was polite yet stern. At first we both sat together in the interview room as he asked us both some basic questions. He asked us if we had anything new to add to our evidence collection and I said no other than all the pics on our phones which I offered to show him, he declined. He looked through all the paperwork as well as all the wedding and dating photos we had included. It's worth noting that we don't have a joint bank account because she can't get a US ID without a social security number and she can't open an account or join mine with just her foreign ID, not that we didn't try. Also I didn't add her to my lease because it would have raised the rent, and I'm the sole provider for the family. I didn't feel like spending more money a month just for the purposes of this interview since there was no actual need for her to be on the lease. I told him exactly my reason behind that, he smiled and moved on. Honesty is the best policy. right?
Then he asked me to leave the room and interviewed my wife for a good half an hour alone. Then he called me in and asked her to leave the room. He interviewed me alone for about 15 minutes. He asked us separately all sorts of questions that would certainly trip up a "not-really-married" couple. He would dig deeper and inquire about point after point and I would tell him exactly what was going on in as much detail as he required and then some. By the end of the interview he was much more personable, smiling more, asking more friendly and curiousity driven questions. Then he said that we did very well on our interview and that our answers mached up and were consistant. I asked him if all the paperwork was good and if anything was missing or required on our part. He said everything was good, nothing is missing. I asked him about her work permit which hadn't arrived yet. He looked it up on his computer and said that it was approved 2 days ago and should be arriving in the mail any day now.
I felt good about the interview and so did my wife. "Slam dunk interview", I thought. Then he shook both of our hands and handed us our "Notice of Interview Results". He did not check the box which said "Your application/petition has been recommended for approval" and instead checked the box which said "USCIS is unable to complete your case at this time. Your case is being continued until a final decision can be made." And below "Reason for continueance" he checked the box which said "Your case is being held for review." Essentially they don't need anything else from us, but they can take upto 120 days to make a decision. He made it sound like we have nothing to worry about and that this was all routine, but I still can't help but wonder what else they could possibly want before reaching a decision? Should I be worried? Anyone else have a similar experience?
Then he asked me to leave the room and interviewed my wife for a good half an hour alone. Then he called me in and asked her to leave the room. He interviewed me alone for about 15 minutes. He asked us separately all sorts of questions that would certainly trip up a "not-really-married" couple. He would dig deeper and inquire about point after point and I would tell him exactly what was going on in as much detail as he required and then some. By the end of the interview he was much more personable, smiling more, asking more friendly and curiousity driven questions. Then he said that we did very well on our interview and that our answers mached up and were consistant. I asked him if all the paperwork was good and if anything was missing or required on our part. He said everything was good, nothing is missing. I asked him about her work permit which hadn't arrived yet. He looked it up on his computer and said that it was approved 2 days ago and should be arriving in the mail any day now.
I felt good about the interview and so did my wife. "Slam dunk interview", I thought. Then he shook both of our hands and handed us our "Notice of Interview Results". He did not check the box which said "Your application/petition has been recommended for approval" and instead checked the box which said "USCIS is unable to complete your case at this time. Your case is being continued until a final decision can be made." And below "Reason for continueance" he checked the box which said "Your case is being held for review." Essentially they don't need anything else from us, but they can take upto 120 days to make a decision. He made it sound like we have nothing to worry about and that this was all routine, but I still can't help but wonder what else they could possibly want before reaching a decision? Should I be worried? Anyone else have a similar experience?
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