AOS Interview Transcript

I know this is a post that a lot of Aliens will want to see, as the interview is the one shot you get at showing USCIS in person that your marriage is bona fide, which is the key requirement to getting a Green Card through marriage.  It's long, but our interview took about an hour.

Spaces between dialog lines indicate that the topic of conversation has shifted.  Phrases in square brackets "[  ]" were not spoken, but were either my thoughts at the time or what someone did during the interview.  Phrases in parentheses "(  )" were spoken, but I have withheld information because I am a bashful Alien.

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Q: Do you swear to tell the truth, and only the truth?
Alien: Yes.
Hubby: I do. [Because saying "I do" once apparently wasn't enough for him]

Q: Can I see your [Hubby] Passport, Birth Cert, Marriage Cert?  Can I see your [Alien] Passport, Birth Cert, I-94 and all copies of your I-20's?
[We furnish all requested documents]

Q: When did you graduate?
Alien: (Graduation year and month).
Q: Your school's International Office never updated your case to reflect your graduation?
Alien: Um, they didn't?  Would you like to see my diploma?
IO: Yes please. [IO actually looks interested in diploma]
[Alien also gives Hubby his diploma]
IO: Could I please have your [Hubby] diploma too?
[IO peers at graduation dates on both diplomas and sees that we overlapped for some time at The American School, loses interest in the diplomas]

Q: How many times have you [Alien] entered the United States?
Alien: I used to go home once every winter break and once every summer break when I was in school, so I re-entered the US every time I went home.
Q: No, I mean in total, how many times have you [Alien] entered the United States?
Alien: I don't remember, can I have my passport back so I can count the visa stamps in my passport?
[IO surprisingly lets Alien take back passport]
Alien: (Gives IO a count of the number of visa stamps in Alien passport).
[IO seems to just take it for an answer and completely loses interest in this]

Q: Where do you [both] work?
[Alien and Hubby tell him our employer's company names]
Q: Can I see your paystubs and 2013 tax returns?
[We furnish them, IO notices that Alien and Hubby are each listed as "Single" on paystub]
Q: Why are you [Alien and Hubby] listed as "Single" on your paystubs?
Hubby: We don't want to under-withhold taxes from the IRS.
Alien: I'm also required to file my W-4 as "Single" as a non-resident Alien regardless of marital status.
Q: IRS marital status and HR marital status are separate, why are your company paystubs showing you both as "Single"?
Alien: I guess our HR's use IRS marital status on the paystub?  We both told our HR's about our marriage, we have Company insurance policies with each other listed as the Primary Beneficiary on our AD&D policies.
[Hubby gives IO copies of our company insurance policies, we are listed as "Spouse" on both companies' policies]
[IO glances at it and is satisfied]

Q: What did you do for your wedding?
Hubby: We did a civil ceremony at the County Clerk's office in (City).
Q: Why did you not do a full ceremony for the happiest day of your life?
Alien: My parents spent a bunch of money for their wedding and so they were against the idea of me having a proper wedding ceremony.  They'd rather we save for a honeymoon or the down payment for a house.
Q: Ok, who attended the civil ceremony?
Hubby: The judge and the County Clerk witness.
Q: Why? Where were your families?
Hubby: Parents and (some siblings) were in (state faraway from California), (some sibling) was travelling around the US because (said sibling) just returned to the US from his graduate studies in Europe.
Alien: My parents were also kind of on the other side of the world.
Q: Ok, did both your families approve of the wedding?
Hubby: Yea, we've visited each other's families before. [shows IO pictures and points out family members to him]
[IO asks for details on each of our trips to visit each other's families, fact-based and straightforward]
Alien: Actually my parents are visiting now, so they're definitely aware of this.
Hubby: Here are the pictures from her parents' current trip here.
[IO glances at them, looks satisfied that our family members are all aware of our marriage]

Q: Do you have a shared bank account?
Hubby: No.
Q: Why?
Hubby: We haven't really needed to... It just hasn't felt like there was any need to combine finances yet.  But we have a shared car, here's the registration to show that it's current and the car insurance, with both our names on all the documents.
Q: Can I see your bank statements?
[We furnish them, IO peers at them]
Q: Why are there no transactions on your [Alien] account statement?
Alien: Huh, yes there are?  I paid for utilities via ACH from this account.
[IO seems to accept the extent of our co-mingling of finances]

Q: What are her parents' names?
Hubby: Dad is (name), Mom is (name).
Q: What are his parents' names?
Alien: Dad is (name), Mom is (name).
Q: Have you talked about children?
Alien: Ya, we want to make sure we have enough money for a down payment on a house before we have any.  But we want children.

Q: How did you two first meet? [directed at Alien]
Alien: Well there was a Facebook group for incoming freshmen, so some upperclassmen will join to help answer questions that the incoming freshmen had.  And we both joined the group, and randomly started talking then.  Then the first friendly meeting in person was during Halloween when there was a Pumpkin Drop event, so...
[IO interjects to ask me to stop being nervous, says he thinks we have a good marriage and to please slow down when I talk]
Alien: Yea um, so the Pumpkin Drop event, it's where we freeze pumpkins in liquid nitrogen and throw it off the tallest building on campus and watch it smash into little bits.  So ya we talked online before the event and said we'd meet up, so we did.
[IO starts cracking a smile when he hears details about Pumpkin Drop]
Q: Ok, then after the Pumpkin Drop, how long did it take for you to become boyfriend/girlfriend?
Alien: Um, Halloween is end-October, we got together in the 2nd week of December, so I guess a month and a bit.
Q: Ok, then when did you get engaged?
Alien: April 28, 2013.
Q: Ok, so 3 to 3.5years to get engaged.  And what's the marriage date?
Alien: 3rd September, 2013.
[IO peers at marriage cert, checks that date matches.  IO stifles a smiles again, points out that Alien is still saying date-month-year, hasn't Alien been in the US long enough?]
Q: Where did the 2 of you travel together prior to the marriage?
Hubby: [Lists all 4 trips that we did together, 3 within the US and 1 international flight, shows IO the official flight itineraries from airline]
Q: When did you move in together?
Alien: Well the official lease says June 2011, but uh, our landlord kind of let us move in earlier than when the lease said.  So really it was May 2011.
Hubby: Here are our leases, up until the current lease.  And here are also all the utility bills for the current apartment.
Q: Can I see both of your keys?  Tell me which key you use to get into the apartment, like the one that unlocks the door to the apartment.
[We give IO our keys, he compares them, is satisfied that the keys are identical, returns us our keys]

[IO starts flipping through our photo album and we chat for a bit about the photos]

Q: Why did you [Alien] choose to come to The American School?
Alien: To be honest, I didn't really choose because I got rejected by all the other schools I applied to.
[IO nearly laughs.  Alien observes that IO seems to have the habit of nearly cracking a smile and then holding back because he's supposed to be stern]
Q: The American School is a good school, isn't it?  You make it sound so bad...What other schools did you apply to?
Alien: (List of schools in the US that I applied to and got rejected from), I mean, my top choice school was The American School anyway so it was all good...I was figuring that if I was going away this far for college, I might as well go for a good school.

[IO continues putting documents in order so I can walk out of the Interview Room as a Permanent Resident. I-94 removed from Alien Passport, IO retains all I-20's.  EAD was returned to Alien as the 12-month leg of Alien's OPT was due to expire anyway.]
[IO asks list of questions about "Are you a communist", "Have you ever done drugs", "Have you ever been a prostitute", etc]

Q: Did you [Alien] marry him for love and not for Immigration?
Alien: Yes.
Q: Why do you [Alien] love him?
Alien: Because I can always talk to him about anything.
Q: What about you [Hubby], do you love her?
Hubby: Very much.
Q: Why?
Hubby: For the same reason I guess... Every Saturday we have a tradition of eating dinner together, and we never run out of things to talk about.

[IO puts down his final signature on PR Welcome Letter, congratulates me on my new PR status, interview over, IO walks us to the exit door.]

That's all for today, my fellow Aliens!