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Marriage interview in Seattle - experience
This forum has been tremendously helpful, so I am taking a few minutes to give back - hopefully it helps. Below is my timeline, for reference. Our interview was scheduled for 1:30PM; we got there at 1PM, parked, went through security and checked in. The waiting area was absolutely packed with people. After 15 minutes or so we were called in my a gentleman.
The Interview
My husband and I are both talkers, so we just started talking about the recent snow, traffic, how crowded it was here, and the IO was really entertained by my husband's jokes lol. He checked our IDs, swore us in, and begun with going over the I-130 with my husband ensuring all info was correct and updated. When they got to his employment, the IO told us that he had just gotten a ticket from the same agency (my husband is a cop), to which we all laughed. The IO did the same with me for the I-485. Afterwards, he started typing stuff on his computer and asked us how we met. That was the only question we were asked about us. My husband kept joking about how we met and how cold and windy it was. The IO then asked if I wanted to give him anything else, so I gave him the mortgage statement, some utility bill, car registration and insurance. He said he doesn't need anything else and explained to me that it will be a conditional green card. That was it. We wished him a good week and he walked us out. (total about 20 minutes)
Takeaways
The night before, I asked my husband questions like our wedding date, date we met, trips, etc. Just to be sure we are on the same page. Other than that, we did not prepare in any way. We walked in super relaxed and I am 100% sure the IO noticed we were comfortable and not nervous at all. I only brought a folder with the original documents asked for in the interview notice and a few other things like mortgage statement, utility bill, car insurance, and registration. I did not overdo it because, no offense to anyone here, I have seen some wildly ridiculous Table of Contents and I was not about to print text messages and grocery receipts. That's just unnecessary. Biggest pieces of advice:
- Relax, relax, relax.
- Don't compare others' experiences to yours. Just because there's people that were questioned for hours or separated, it does not mean it will happen to you. Every case is different.
- Be truthful in ALL answers, no matter what.
Good luck to everyone awaiting their interview! Go crush it!
The Interview
My husband and I are both talkers, so we just started talking about the recent snow, traffic, how crowded it was here, and the IO was really entertained by my husband's jokes lol. He checked our IDs, swore us in, and begun with going over the I-130 with my husband ensuring all info was correct and updated. When they got to his employment, the IO told us that he had just gotten a ticket from the same agency (my husband is a cop), to which we all laughed. The IO did the same with me for the I-485. Afterwards, he started typing stuff on his computer and asked us how we met. That was the only question we were asked about us. My husband kept joking about how we met and how cold and windy it was. The IO then asked if I wanted to give him anything else, so I gave him the mortgage statement, some utility bill, car registration and insurance. He said he doesn't need anything else and explained to me that it will be a conditional green card. That was it. We wished him a good week and he walked us out. (total about 20 minutes)
Takeaways
The night before, I asked my husband questions like our wedding date, date we met, trips, etc. Just to be sure we are on the same page. Other than that, we did not prepare in any way. We walked in super relaxed and I am 100% sure the IO noticed we were comfortable and not nervous at all. I only brought a folder with the original documents asked for in the interview notice and a few other things like mortgage statement, utility bill, car insurance, and registration. I did not overdo it because, no offense to anyone here, I have seen some wildly ridiculous Table of Contents and I was not about to print text messages and grocery receipts. That's just unnecessary. Biggest pieces of advice:
- Relax, relax, relax.
- Don't compare others' experiences to yours. Just because there's people that were questioned for hours or separated, it does not mean it will happen to you. Every case is different.
- Be truthful in ALL answers, no matter what.
Good luck to everyone awaiting their interview! Go crush it!
