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Everything on this forum had me so worried lol, our lawyer assured me everything was fine, we had enough paperwork and everything and we?d definitely get approved, but still. Nerve wrecking.
Phoenix field office.
Our appointment was 12:15, we arrived and checked in around 11:45, Lawyer arrived 12:05, I think it was about 12:30/12:45 when we got called back.
IO lady and her supervising IO were really nice which made it easy to stop being so nervous, at least for me, my husband said they spoke too fast with ?immigration language? 😂 when he?s nervous his English freezes.
First she just talked to us and went over the initial yes or no questions like ?we?re not making you do the interview, you?re here voluntarily and if you want to leave we?ll just use what we have to decide (deny) you? stuff like that, then the truth oath.
She asked me to confirm the stuff on my 131 petition to make sure I?m the one that filled it out, name, address, birthdate.
Supervising IO guy said he usually asks the husband everything because men forget everything, I said ?yeah he definitely forgets EVERYTHING? we all laughed
Then asked my husband:
his birthdate
my parents names
How did we meet - hubby?s answer was a one liner so I joked with him and was like ?jeeze tell them the story or something? and we all had a laugh and he went into our story and I filled in bits and pieces as it popped up or the IO asked me.
When he came to USA last
(we haven?t risked traveling on the EAD/travel parole so it was when we got here in 2017)- I piped up about how CBP ?kidnapped? him for 3 hours while I was crying at baggage claim. So they asked what happened when they took him and what questions they asked him and everything which was ?why are you staying so long, how much money do you have, what?s your job in Japan,? etc, I explained we didn?t travel on the advance parole because I was afraid of the same thing happening again.
Then she asked about how we got engaged and I explained we just kind of mutually decided to get married and live together in Japan and the whole CBP thing changed our mind about going through that again when we come to visit my dad, that he?s almost 80. We were planning on staying in Japan and taking care of hubby?s grandparents and they both died this past year so we feel guilty about that.....
Just a long conversation basically telling our life story lol.
I have kids from a previous relationship so they asked him how he liked getting not just a wife but a whole family and he was just like ?well I love kids and now she?s pregnant!? And our lawyer handed over all of our paperwork and ultrasound pictures and everything. I mentioned the YouTube channel hubby makes with the kids for fun. Asked when the baby is due
We gave them the stuff in both of our names:
(This is the part I was worried about because you all are older than me and have wills and 401k and stuff like that, this is all we have)
Lease
Bank statement
Renters insurance
Car insurance
My tax return for last year showing him on it (then I had to explain why I filed head of household instead of married, that I didn?t know I had to file married since he didn?t work that year and I just figured out this year that when you get married you file married regardless)
Pregnancy Ultrasound photos
And his new doctor?s packet since the old one expired
We brought a crapload of family pictures and a photo book and they just went through them and looked and gave them back, didn?t keep any. The girl IO asked more questions about the pictures and who is in them like my daughter and Japanese parents and the bracelet I had told her about when she asked about an engagement ring (because we never got one, I got the bracelet instead) I took a picture when I got it lol (currently broken - explained hubby threw away the receipt and warranty like husbands tend to do - had a laugh about that)
Then all the standard immigration yes or no questions about guerilla warfare, terrorism, military and stuff.
Then she printed something out and handed us our RECOMMENDED FOR APPROVAL notice.
and basically shooed us out 😂
I don?t know how long it lasted, about 40 minutes I think. Mainly because I was talking a lot and oversharing. 🤷
Our lawyer said the best thing is to be personable with them and basically talk to them like you would regular people or friends and tell them your story, so that?s what I did.
She said it goes through someone else for additional background checks and stuff but his green card should be coming within a month.
Since we live in a border state, the supervising IO said to keep the old EAD and just destroy it when the green card comes.
Now we wait, and I don?t have to freak out for another 2 years for our next interview.
Phoenix field office.
Our appointment was 12:15, we arrived and checked in around 11:45, Lawyer arrived 12:05, I think it was about 12:30/12:45 when we got called back.
IO lady and her supervising IO were really nice which made it easy to stop being so nervous, at least for me, my husband said they spoke too fast with ?immigration language? 😂 when he?s nervous his English freezes.
First she just talked to us and went over the initial yes or no questions like ?we?re not making you do the interview, you?re here voluntarily and if you want to leave we?ll just use what we have to decide (deny) you? stuff like that, then the truth oath.
She asked me to confirm the stuff on my 131 petition to make sure I?m the one that filled it out, name, address, birthdate.
Supervising IO guy said he usually asks the husband everything because men forget everything, I said ?yeah he definitely forgets EVERYTHING? we all laughed
Then asked my husband:
his birthdate
my parents names
How did we meet - hubby?s answer was a one liner so I joked with him and was like ?jeeze tell them the story or something? and we all had a laugh and he went into our story and I filled in bits and pieces as it popped up or the IO asked me.
When he came to USA last
(we haven?t risked traveling on the EAD/travel parole so it was when we got here in 2017)- I piped up about how CBP ?kidnapped? him for 3 hours while I was crying at baggage claim. So they asked what happened when they took him and what questions they asked him and everything which was ?why are you staying so long, how much money do you have, what?s your job in Japan,? etc, I explained we didn?t travel on the advance parole because I was afraid of the same thing happening again.
Then she asked about how we got engaged and I explained we just kind of mutually decided to get married and live together in Japan and the whole CBP thing changed our mind about going through that again when we come to visit my dad, that he?s almost 80. We were planning on staying in Japan and taking care of hubby?s grandparents and they both died this past year so we feel guilty about that.....
Just a long conversation basically telling our life story lol.
I have kids from a previous relationship so they asked him how he liked getting not just a wife but a whole family and he was just like ?well I love kids and now she?s pregnant!? And our lawyer handed over all of our paperwork and ultrasound pictures and everything. I mentioned the YouTube channel hubby makes with the kids for fun. Asked when the baby is due
We gave them the stuff in both of our names:
(This is the part I was worried about because you all are older than me and have wills and 401k and stuff like that, this is all we have)
Lease
Bank statement
Renters insurance
Car insurance
My tax return for last year showing him on it (then I had to explain why I filed head of household instead of married, that I didn?t know I had to file married since he didn?t work that year and I just figured out this year that when you get married you file married regardless)
Pregnancy Ultrasound photos
And his new doctor?s packet since the old one expired
We brought a crapload of family pictures and a photo book and they just went through them and looked and gave them back, didn?t keep any. The girl IO asked more questions about the pictures and who is in them like my daughter and Japanese parents and the bracelet I had told her about when she asked about an engagement ring (because we never got one, I got the bracelet instead) I took a picture when I got it lol (currently broken - explained hubby threw away the receipt and warranty like husbands tend to do - had a laugh about that)
Then all the standard immigration yes or no questions about guerilla warfare, terrorism, military and stuff.
Then she printed something out and handed us our RECOMMENDED FOR APPROVAL notice.
and basically shooed us out 😂
I don?t know how long it lasted, about 40 minutes I think. Mainly because I was talking a lot and oversharing. 🤷
Our lawyer said the best thing is to be personable with them and basically talk to them like you would regular people or friends and tell them your story, so that?s what I did.
She said it goes through someone else for additional background checks and stuff but his green card should be coming within a month.
Since we live in a border state, the supervising IO said to keep the old EAD and just destroy it when the green card comes.
Now we wait, and I don?t have to freak out for another 2 years for our next interview.
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