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I thought I would just post a few impressions from the interview... oh by the way we got the okay and the stamp for one year on the passport and the green card is as they say "in the mail".  I will be more relaxed when it is in our hands.

 Okay here is one impression... everything I read from other people about their interview usually stated that the interviewer barely looked at the photos of the couple... this almost caused me to just bring 4 or 5 but thank god I brought about 20 because the interviewer seemed to change their attitude after looking for several minutes at the photos. I also had everything organized into seperate folders which made it easier for the interviewer... and helped to soften the mood after a rocky start...

  Another impression... our interview lasted at least 20 minutes and judging from several couples that went in before we did-- it was par for the course... once again 20 to 25 minutes not 5 to 10 minutes like I read from several posts....

  Moral of the story... each interview experience can be different depending on the interviewer... I brought everything that the INS letter said to bring BUT the first question the interviewer asked was for some documents I did not bring... so be aware and when in doubt even if they do not state to bring the document ---BRING it... fortunately things worked out for us...

all the best,

Keith

... in response to interview...aos, posted by keithandkatya on May 8, 2003

Thought I'd offer the experience that my ex-wife and I had for our AOS interview in the Newark, NJ office of the INS.  (Things may be a bit more difficult now because of post-9/11 security.)  

E and I met and married here in the US at the conclusion of her 6-month tourist visa in a small civil ceremony, and about 9 months later we had a large wedding back in her country.  (She traveled with an advance parole.)  Our interviewer initially seemed very interested in the timing of our US civil wedding relative to her tourist visa dates - apparently they become very suspicious if a man or woman travels to the US under a tourist visa and immediately gets married.  However, once he saw the many pictures of the large family wedding (which wasn't necessary if we were trying to defraud), he approved the AOS without much additional review.

As an aside, we did not have many problems or issues with E's paperwork in receiving her conditional green card.  If I recall, it took about 18 months from our initial submission of docs to issuance of AOS, which was about par at that time.  E's young son, however, was still in the FSU with her parents and his paperwork was a nightmare, with the Vermont sevice center losing his first package of docs, and several unexplained delays of transfer of docs from the INS to the State Dept. offices in New Hampshire, and then to the Moscow embassy.  We enlisted the help of our U.S. Congressman, and his office was extremely effective in expediting the process once they saw the dates on all of our receipts.  (Near the end of this period of time, Congress passed the Life Act legislation in 2001, which would have enabled us to bring him over under a K-3 or K-4 visa while his paperwork was being processed.  However, we were told that because we had already commenced the immigration visa process, we shouldn't muddy the waters by applying under this program which was so new.)

E is from one of the smaller FSU republics and her family was required to take her son to Moscow to the US embassy to receive her son's travel visa to the US.  This was a pretty significant hardship for them bacause Moscow is a 3 or 4 hour plane trip, plus he had to have his med exams in Moscow so it required a 3-day stay.  E and I flew to Moscow to meet her family there.  When we went in at the scheduled time, some little jerk at the window tells me to go to the waiting room and starts grilling E with questions about our the legitimacy of our marriage (E already had her conditional green card at this time!) and was generally very rude to her.  At the end, however, her son was issued his visa and was given a packet of sealed docs which was required to be presented to the immigration officer at JFK.  His non-conditional 10-year green card arrived at our house a couple of weeks later.

... in response to interview...aos, posted by keithandkatya on May 8, 2003

Marina and I had no unusual requests at our AOS interview.  I suspect it is how you present yourself that makes a difference.

Marina and I were a little anxious by the time we met with our interviewer.  Marina because of the importance of getting that green card.  Me, because I just wanted to get the thing over with.  Once we entered the office, we immediately started pulling paperwork out of our briefcase and asked him what he wanted first.

He told us to slow down and gave us some space on his desk to sort out everything he needed.  As he asked for a document, we gave it to him.  When it came to photos, we gave him many from several different times in our time together.  It was obvious from the volume and variety that we had spent our time together.

One big clincher for us, was the fact that we were in the middle of buying a house together.  We brought the offer sheet and supporting bank paperwork to show that we weren't just making it up.  We also had a printout of a digital photo of us standing in front of our soon to be acquired house.  Scammers usually don't buy houses together.

Another smaller clincher was the "how did you meet?" question.  For us, our meeting was a fortuitous mistake.  My initial email to a Marina Skarzhinkskaya was accidently delivered to Marina Zhelavskaya instead.  It is kind of a joke between us and it makes for an interesting topic for conversation.  Anyhow, we found ourselves each telling parts of the story, filling in each other's gaps.  It was obvious to the interviewer that we had a common history.

One thing I was not prepared for was to provide a copy of my birth certificate.  I had brought a translated and notarized copy of Marina's, but hadn't realized they'd ask for mine too.  Luckily, I had my old military ID card still with me, that had my date of birth on it.  That was sufficient to get us by.

Also, I had neglected to get a 3/4 shot immigration photo of myself.  Again, I had brought Marina's, but didn't realize that I would need one too.  The interviewer told us to run across the street, make copies of my military ID and tax forms, get my photo taken and bring it all back.  He would approve our paperwork once we brought everything back.  So, we dutifully left and found the shop he told us about and got pictures and photocopies.

After coming back and dropping off the pictures and photocopies, the interviewer came out a little while later and told us to go get lunch, as he would need time to finish up our file.  So, we took some time to run to the cafeteria and have a quiet lunch.  Some time later, after we returned, our interviewer met with us once again to give us back Marina's passport with the "Green Card" stamp in it, and to let us know it would be a few weeks before we would get the actual green card in the mail.  That was it, and we were on our way home.

... in response to I think it's presentation, posted by John K on May 9, 2003

Hey John,

I beg to differ... actually you sort of contradict yourself a little when you say you did not have any unusual questions... it sounds like your interviewer asked you for something that you were not prepared for.... your birth certificate... sounds like an unusual question to me if it was not on the list of things the INS asked you to bring... and that was my point to my post... when they send you a list of things to bring... dont feel like you have all your bases covered cause it aint necessarily so!  LOL... anyway we got our approval and Im glad you did too... now Im waiting for the postman to send the real deal...
Keith

... in response to Re: I think it's presentation---actually..., posted by keithandkatya on May 9, 2003

The birth certificate and 3/4 photo was in list the list of the items to bring.  When I read it, I just assumed that I just needed to bring them for Marina, and that I was free and clear.  I imagine if I were to find and read the letter again, it probably says so, but it may not be that clear.

I guess the main point is that you both effectively are applying for her green card, which means you need to have documentation and photos for you both.  Thinking it's just about your partner is going to lead to some difficulties....

... in response to It may have been a difference of interpr..., posted by John K on May 10, 2003

Actually it is for her green card not mine... though since we are a couple whatever involves her also involves me... but our instructions were clear and having my birth certificate wasnt part of it... We had a letter with a list of things to bring and the instructions stated to bring those things that were checked off... it is only logical to think that if something is not checked off it is not required... I suspect that in your case and mine... or at least mine, it was a matter of not reviewing our file before the interview or perhaps there might have been another reason that another poster suggested... I say that it might be the case that the file was not reviewed by the interviewer is because I gave them the information previously concerning the birth certificate... I also gave them 3 years of back tax returns in an earlier filing and they did not ask for the tax returns this week only the lastest filing for 2002... though I did bring the others just in case...

anyway thanks for posting... i think the more info out there for those about to go through the process is helpful..
Keith

... in response to interview...aos, posted by keithandkatya on May 8, 2003

Your post confirms the unpredictability of the AOS interview process and the importance of being overprepared.  Congratulations!

... in response to Re: interview...aos, posted by Charles on May 9, 2003

Thanks Charles..

... in response to interview...aos, posted by keithandkatya on May 8, 2003

several weeks ago.  The first thing my interviewer requested from us were letters from Russia to each other.  We did not concider these items to be proof of living together as husband and wife.  I think that they deliberatly introduce this "problem" to see how we will react.  Remember, they are looking for dishonesty of a relationship.

... in response to The same thing happend to me, posted by slimjimco on May 9, 2003

Yes, it goes to show you never know exactly what they will spend time looking at... we brought a bunch of letters and the guy just glanced at them and said "oh looks like a lot of letters" by this time I think he figured we were legit from the extensive file I brought with me containing proof of residency and the paperwork requested by the ins letter..

glad things worked out for you too
Keith

... in response to The same thing happend to me, posted by slimjimco on May 9, 2003

Yes, it goes to show you never know exactly what they will spend time looking at... we brought a bunch of letters and the guy just glanced at them and said "oh looks like a lot of letters" by this time I think he figured we were legit from the extensive file I brought with me containing proof of residency and the paperwork requested by the ins letter..

glad things worked out for you too
Keith

... in response to interview...aos, posted by keithandkatya on May 8, 2003

Finally!

You started your AOS not long after I did, my wife has had her green card about 6 months now.

What form was missing by the way?

... in response to Re: interview...aos, posted by Apk1 on May 8, 2003

If you check others experiences you will find a great difference in timelines not only depending on the state you live in but also the service center... city you are applying at... our center is one of the longest in a state that is also one of the states that has the longest waits.. Im not complaining to much though because it is less than the max time they quoted originally and almost half the time they quoted when I tried to expedite the process after waiting over a year... congrats on your short time line...it is great to know your love one can travel without to much hassle etc.

Keith