Immigration Forum / USA Marriage Base / March 2005

Our AOS interview was yesterday, March 29th at the Federal Plaza in
Manhattan.  We arrived by subway at the City Hall stop.  Security was
tight, of course, but everyone was friendly and efficient.  We arrived
exactly 45 minutes before 10 am, as the letter indicated.  We had so
much evidence gathered that I had one of those rolling file boxes like
the attorneys use, and my wife was carrying a shoulder bag with another
4 inches of documents.  Everyone else in line had little plastic bags
with almost nothing.
So we went up to the 8th floor, checked into the waiting room.  There
were about 70 other people waiting.  It was comfortable, and the PA
system was very clear.  I was shocked at the number of attorneys walking
around.  We were one of perhaps 5 couples without representation.  They
started calling names, and it seemed they called everyone in the room
before us.  My wife guessed that maybe they call the couples with
attorneys first, because they know the clients are getting charged on
the clock.  It was a bit after 11 am when they called us in.
Our officer was a young lady, and she led us on a long walk to her
office.  It was very casual; she even left the door open!  We remained
standing, and she swore us in.
She had our application, exactly as we had mailed it in.  She started by
asking me to verify my address.  That was strange; I thought she would
have asked my wife that.  She asked my wife if she was working (yes) and
asked me if I knew what she did (yes, memorize your spouse’s job title
and company name!)  She asked if I was still working for the same
company as in the original file (yes).  She asked how we met (Internet),
then when did we first physically meet.  She asked if there were prior
marriages (no) or any children (no).  She then asked for;
Joint bank statements
Insurance
I have a life insurance policy with my wife as beneficiary, she examined
that quite closely.  We also have a policy on our wedding jewelry
(highly recommended by the way) and she took a close look at that.
She then asked for photos; she opened our album to the middle.  She saw
pictures of us in Japan, and asked if I had met my in-laws.  I pointed
out the first two photos; one of me with her entire family in Kagawa,
and one of the wife with MY entire family on Cape Cod.  She asked us to
choose one for the file.
She then asked for our tax returns; I had the most recent that we had
filed jointly.  She looked at the originals, examined the W-2s, and kept
the copy I had made.
She asked my wife if any person or company had ever applied for her
before.  There was some confusion as we thought this might include the
company who sponsors her H1-B visa.  Not the case.  She asked if we had
done the medical exam; yes, she had to dig through the file to find it.
Then she asked all the obligatory questions about terrorism, public
assistance, and polygamy (I could have sworn my wife paused before
answering the polygamy question).
She did something on the computer, printed out a sheet explaining the
process at 2 years for removing conditions, and told us we should
receive the green card within four weeks.  We wished her a good day and
left.  15 minutes tops; that was it!
So we left the building onto Foley Square and there was a long line of
soldiers in body armor and black helmets with assault rifles (held at
the ready!) to see us off.  Down the block they were filming “Law &
Order” and we watched that.

Then we went to Canal Street for dim sum, and the mango pudding was not
NEARLY as good as I remember.  VERY DISAPPOINTING!!!

So, THANKS to everyone for the advice and kind encouragement over the
past few months; especially Rete, Marnee, ian-mstm, sphyrapicus, Jon
Wong, and even Hypertweeky.