Sharing my own i-485 Interview experience - Sajha Mobile
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Sharing my own i-485 Interview experience
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SuperDad
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To whom it may concern:

Since I see numerous post related to this, I am sharing my very recent, personal interview experience, if this helps some one in their case or even for their "Peace of Mind" (I posted mainly for the latter reason).

Case Deskription:
Graduated from a University in US.
Case category: EB2 NIW
I140 filed: April 2017
I140 approved: Feb 2018.
I-485 filed: April, 2018; Derivative's application filed on May 2018 (almost a month after).
Interview notice: Mid August; Wife's interview was scheduled on 29th August and mine for September. But as a primary applicant, I went along with my wife for her interview with all my copied and original documents along with me

FYI- Documents submitted for "Proof of Birth"- (1) Late registered Birth Certificate, (2) Sworn affidavit from parents, (3) School Certificate with DOB and (4) English Translation of Nagarikata


During the interview:
The field officer welcomed and made us comfortable for interview by asking usual "Hello/How are you doing today?" question. After being seated, officer started the interview, stating that he had not received the complete file for my wife. He only had a thin looking temporary file pertaining to my wife, in front of him. But since I was there along with my wife, he pulled my file from the repository and started our interview. He admitted that he had not got any chance to look at our file. And may be it was a good thing for us as he had not prepared any specific questions specific to our case.

The officer then tabled multiple informal questions like- what do I do, where do I work/live, where was I born, where and when did we get married, how much do i earn etc. And he made sure that copy of all the required documents had been submitted. He made sure of the correct "Date of Birth" after looking at our original "Birth Certificate" (LATE REGISTERED IN MUNICIPALITY; ENGLISH). He also made sure, if our wedding was legal/genuine by verifying our original marriage certificate (ENGLISH; REGISTERED IN MUNICIPALITY IMMEDIATELY AFTER MARRIAGE). Until now, the only things that is to be noted are: he went over the i-485 form for both of us, cross checked the filled informations quickly, checked original birth certificates, marriage certificate and looked family pictures along with wedding pictures. He also made copy of some of our wedding pictures for the record.

In our case, the officer did not ask or looked for anything specific from us that would contradict with our document or that would jeopardize our case. So after ~30-35 minutes of file retrieval time, questioning, photocopying, scanning wedding pictures, the officer approved our case and congratulated us for the green card.

With that said, interview was over without any major hiccups. Although the overall length of interview went longer than I thought. I guess the length and the outcome of any interview depends upon various factors like: case, supporting documents and the personality of the interviewing officer. I will rate the field officer interviewing our case as: very calm and friendly.

Hope everyone gets field officer like the one I got. Good Luck to anyone preparing to file their case or preparing for an interview. Cheers !!!
ajoshinp
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Congrats
shelvey
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congrats! Where was your interview?
SuperDad
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Thanks.
@Shelvey at San Diego Field Office
DevilAngel
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@SuperDad.

Thank you for sharing your experience. As I see, you were approved from EB2 NIW, I have a question if you can give me some suggestion. Me & my spouse are about to file 485 from EB2 (US Masters degree). I am assuming as a student you might have work on-campus like fellowship/TA or any on campus job. So my question is "how do I list those jobs in employment history?" I am just anxious cause I don't want USCIS to misunderstand my on-campus jobs as unauthorized since they are not listed in I-20s and as we all know On -campus employment is legally allowed without any further authorization. Is it Okay just to list as "Student" or "Student Employee" for them?
regards,
Abhilasha_pokhara
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Did you receive your GC in mail?
SuperDad
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@DevilAngel I am not absolutely sure if I am providing you the right answer to your question-
"how do I list those jobs in employment history?"
Although it is not mentioned in I-20, as a research Ph.D student, we are given a full-time employment status and employment letter from University. So, I did list all my employments within the University. And I did not have any problem. And I guess USCIS officers have enough knowledge about on-campus employment. I do not know if I clearly and completely answered your question, that could be of your help.

@Abhilasha_Pokhara: No, not yet. My case status says:
"Your interview for your Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, was completed, and your case must be reviewed. We will mail you a notice if we make a decision or take further action.."
Case status was updated on 12th September.

How about yours? Are you in same boat? Waiting game?
Abhilasha_pokhara
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@SuperDad Yes, I too am waiting for the case status to update.
Abhilasha_pokhara
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@SuperDad, did you receive your GC in the mail?
SuperDad
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Not Yet. However, I recently went to Field office with INFOPASS after 60 days of interview.
The officer said, my case has been sent to other USCIS office for issue of GC. They can't say how long does it take but it should soon be mailed to me.

I guess she however got confused and gave me a wrong answer in one part. As she looked into "November VISA bulletin" and said they are currently processing for cases filed before April 1, 2017 (Category 1). While mine was filed April 3, 2017. So it might have been the reason behind the delay.
But the truth is, I filed for Category-2, for which priority date is CURRENT since last month.
So my guess is, its just a normal delayed process currently.
[As per conspiracy theorist- GC and Citizenship processing is delayed substantially for "Voter Suppression" (new citizens)] :D
DXdx67
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@SuperDad,

Thank you for sharing your experience. My interview is coming up and I wanted to be clear on few things.

You mentioned that you took your family/wedding pics with you to the interview. Why did you have to do that ? Were you recently married or married after 140 approval ? Also, did you volunteer to show/submit the pics or did the officer ask for them?

Also, I am curious/confused about how/when you knew that your case was approved. You mentioned that the officer congratulated on the green card after the interview but you also said your online case status was '......case must be reviewed'.

Hope you get your green card soon !Thanks !
ajoshinp
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They asked my friend to send all documents from. 2004 of payment to college to address proof so don’t b trick by worlds.
nepali786
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@SuperDad bro,

mero ni NIW file bhayo kei din agadi, kei question haru thyo, private message garda hola bro? Dhanyabad cha hai
SuperDad
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@Dxdx67
Q. Why did I have to take the wedding/family pictures with me ?
A: May be I did not have to take it. But I did, based on recommendations from prior interviews. As Marriage Fraud is a federal crime, this could serve as a supporting evidence rather than the primary evidence. Honestly, I am not sure what will happen if you do not take it along with you during interview.

Q. Were you recently married or married after 140 approval ?
A. Before I-140 approval.

Q. Also, did you volunteer to show/submit the pics or did the officer ask for them?
A. officer asked me to provide me the pictures. I had already made my mind before the interview that I wont give even a hair more than asked, as it can always invite trouble.

Q. .........you also said your online case status was '......case must be reviewed'.
A. Honestly, I do not have any answer to this, as this is USCIS's language, and many times I do not have any clue what to conclude from their case status info.

@ajoshinp
I do understand your concern, but I have no other alternatives than to trust their words and wait and watch. I am hopeful for the BEST and always prepared for the WORST.

@nepali786
No problem bro (or sis). Shoot me a message. Happy to help.
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