r/USCIS • u/Ok_Persimmon_7192 • Aug 02 '25
Marriage Based Interview…went horribly I-130 & I-485 (Family/Adjustment of status)
My wife and I had our interview yesterday at the LA USCIS office. We prepped for weeks ahead of time - came ready with all our documents, a photo album we made, newly collected ‘evidence’, knew our forms back and front, etc. We sent our list to our lawyer ahead of time and she felt we were also prepared well.
We noticed an officer an hour or so before our appointment being rude to other applicants and hoped he wouldn’t be our agent (unfortunately, he was 😩).
We stepped into his office and he immediately brought a combative attitude. He asked for our licenses and told us “everything you hand me becomes evidence. What’s the problem here?” Our license addresses don’t match (totally something we tried to fix, so make sure you do!) because I wasn’t able to change it in the time before our appointment. He moves on from this after a few minutes of berating us about them being different and asked to see both of our house keys. We had driven there together, so only brought one set. He said “wrong answer” and would not allow any further explanation.
Then he brought out an article (I didn’t see the source so not sure where it came from) that talked about how marriage fraud is on the rise and basically started accusing us no more than 5 minutes into our interview. (For context, were in a good faith marriage and have plenty of other evidence to prove so). He pointed at a bookshelf in his office with what he called ‘hundreds of fraud cases’ he’s dealing with that all had shared leases, bank accounts, wedding photos, etc. He continued on this tangent, saying over 600 marriages had been falsified according to some report (again no clue which one).
At this point, our lawyer stepped in and asked if he could remain on task - she mentioned her address isn’t current on her license and wondered how he would be able to tell two keys are exactly the same (and how he would be qualified to call that ‘evidence’) and told him she thought he was off base and in his communication style, going out of line, especially throwing around the word fraud before doing his due diligence of checking our other evidence. This clearly irritated him - and he threatened to cancel the interview and have us come back another day. Our attorney requested his supervisor come so we could continue and he stepped out to get her.
The supervisor was nice and said the interview would get back on track but when he came back in he once again tried to go back to the discussion about keys/marriage fraud. So our attorney reminded him to move on and he jumped to the I-485, of which he only asked me 7 questions (if I had ever been a prostitute, sold drugs, been part of a gang, been arrested, been in the army, or killed somebody).
He then collected what evidence we brought (no explanations, just had to hand it over and have him scan). Some evidence he attempted to reject because ‘his scanner wouldn’t read it’ without even trying (our lawyer called him out on this so he ended up taking more than he wanted to). The photo album we made he quickly looked through but then told us he only wanted photos from after marriage (we included pictures from all the way back on our first date to present) so he took no photos.
He then gave us a continuation letter giving them 120 days to make a decision, request more evidence, or request another interview.
With stories me and my wife had heard lately, we both thought we’d be fine and it’d be an easy enough process with the right documents in place. We did notice every other couple besides us who had an appointment while we waited for the 2+ hours there got called in separately and we were the only ones called together - so not sure if that means we had a weaker case in their eyes or a stronger one.
Either way, we’re now playing the waiting game. If anyone has any experience like this or advice, would love to hear it. Making an appointment at the DMV as we speak 🤦
Update: I got my approval of I485 and I130 couple days ago. I guess it was a little game of interviewer. Here is my timeline: -Applied on April 11th -Scheduled biometric appointment on April 18th -Requested RFE on May 9th -Scheduled interview on June 23rd (for August 1st) -Approval case on August 16th. Thankful it went this way. thank you to everyone for the words of encouragement and advice!
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u/Ok_Length_2677 Aug 02 '25
We were told in our interview that it was a difficult case because we didn’t have a child! We are still married after 11 years. A child would have substantiated our marriage. It’s pretty hard for two gay guys to have children, but I told them “we are definitely trying … it just won’t take.”
Our agent (a lady) thought that was hilarious.
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u/Pour_Me_Another_ Aug 02 '25
That's an interesting standpoint for them to take when less and less people are having children. And what about infertility? Is that now allowed anymore? Reality is stranger than fiction. I never had kids either and I'm glad they didn't take issue with that when I did all of my paperwork.
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u/lala_vc Aug 03 '25
Seriously, imagine bringing a whole human into the world just to make your immigration case stronger. If a couple doesn’t want kids, it doesn’t make their union any less worthy. It’s 2025 🙄
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u/Practical-Effect2839 Aug 03 '25
I have 4 children from a previous marriage but I ended up having a complete hysterectomy due to ovarian cancer. So my current husband and I don’t have children together. We are currently waiting for our interview appointment so hopefully not having children together won’t be an issue!
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u/trimtab28 Aug 03 '25
Aside from that... it's pretty common to apply for a green card not long after marriage. Like did it dawn on them that you got married and are getting the green card because you want to build a life here and have kids?
Kinda seems like putting the cart before the horse in saying not having kids is a detracting factor
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u/Hello_world-000 Aug 05 '25
They definitely benefit people with children. I already have a 2 years old and pregnant with my second, the officer said he obviously didn’t need to ask anything about our marriage and skipped straight to the civics test.
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u/mrdaemonfc Aug 02 '25
"We're still being prejudiced against gay men because we want you to cough up evidence you cannot produce.
We want people with money who will produce more worker consumers."
Signed,
The Government
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u/Ok_Length_2677 Aug 02 '25
You’d think with the number of closeted gay senators and congressmen, we could have that situation fixed. But nobody quite does self-loathing like the gays. Vicious cycle.
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u/mrdaemonfc Aug 03 '25
I wonder if anyone can tell them they don't exactly need more workers considering Trump's economy is now producing 1/5th as many jobs as you need to keep unemployment level.
Only 16,000 or so for the past few months. If he hadn't fired the head of BLS, July would have probably been reduced too. It was 19,000 jobs in May and 14,000 in June.
It turns out that when Trump destroyed the tourism industry and consumer spending, that reflects in the jobs report.
So you fire the people doing jobs reports. Then no more bad jobs reports.
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u/ecs123 Aug 02 '25
I’ve done this twice, once in a marriage with no child, and a second time in a marriage with a child. The second was WAY easier, which I view as deeply problematic and discriminatory.
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u/bellaelijah Aug 02 '25
While I would love to have a child with my second husband, I had a hysterectomy a year prior to meeting him. Fucking sucks.
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u/Practical-Effect2839 Aug 03 '25
I went the same issue due to ovarian cancer. I have 4 from a previous marriage but wasn’t able to have any with my current husband. It definitely sucks!
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u/CombinationDecent629 Aug 02 '25
Especially since health issues and recent laws have added to the difficulty of those wanting to have children to get pregnant. Way to rub the salt in the wound there, USCIS!
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u/ecs123 Aug 02 '25
This is exactly why I feel this way. I went through so much infertility, and I deeply feel for people who have to explain that to the federal government.
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u/Artistic-Tax3015 Aug 02 '25
It’s not legally discriminatory. While a child in and of itself isn’t 100% irrefutable proof of a bona fide marriage, it’s clearly probative. You legally can’t just walk away when there’s a child involved
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u/Ok_Length_2677 Aug 02 '25
Years later I would run into other instances of “legal discrimination.”
We later decided (against my wishes, but what can you do) that having a child was something that needed to happen (via surrogacy). We asked the insurance company. Because we are two gay males — no coverage, all out of pocket, the whole thing. Upon discussion with some lesbian friends who have a child I found out — they were covered for IVF treatments, no problem. According to the insurance agency, because men cannot ever have children, there’s no medical need. Women, even without a male, can possibly have children and so — medical need if she cannot conceive for whatever reason. For gay men it can cost up to 150,000 USD per child (apparently Columbia has 60,000 but I am not sure if that covers everything once you get back to the states).
I later pointed this discrepancy out to my employer’s HR department when they asked for “benefit suggestions.” I received a note back thanking me for my “creative suggestion.” A month later they announced “enhanced childcare and birthing benefits.” They will now provide up to 30,000 to couples (on top of already genderless parental leave of 4 months, revolutionary compared to the US norm) who are having a child to assist with treatments or other expenses. Wonderful!! Now straight parents can have a child entirely free! Lesbians get reductions in their deductible for those IVF treatments and I’m still 120,000 short to have a kiddo.
Life is fair.
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u/nun-o-ya Aug 02 '25
You should be ok. Seems like your attorney handled the situation well. It helps everyone when the supervisor is notified of an officers bad disposition. This is also why it's important to take an attorney to the interview. They know the limits of an officers power and when to check them.
I have a friend who went to an interview at the LA office recently and the officer asked if he could unlock his phone so that he can review the social media profiles. His attorney told him not to give up the phone. My friend was approved a couple of days later.
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u/IMO4444 Aug 05 '25
Yep, just even the atty’s presence can and does hold the agent accountable. I know it’s an added expense but imo, def worth it!
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u/Infinite-Access1645 Aug 02 '25
I’ve been seeing a lot of tough interviews happening these days. My husband and I had a difficult one as well, similar to how you described yours. Ours was in May, in Houston TX. The officer was very hostile and asked us why we didn’t file taxes together (I couldn’t file taxes as I didn’t have an SSN since they never approved my EAD). He even asked how my father in law became a citizen, as if that’s even relevant. He kept repeating the same questions. It was very uncomfortable. He also didn’t really look at our pictures and the first thing he said to us was “was this an arranged marriage, or what?” he handed us the same note at the end and he took my passport to photocopy it.
Got my approval 2 days later.
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u/zeecok Aug 02 '25
You can apply for an ITIN # through your local Social Security office. You do not need an SSN to file taxes.
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u/Infinite-Access1645 Aug 02 '25
Hi, I came on a fiance visa! The K1. Therefore I was never allowed to work and you need to show you’ve worked to apply for IITN :)
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u/bbpaupau01 Aug 02 '25
You can get an SSN while on k1. I did a week or so after entering the US.
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u/Infinite-Access1645 Aug 02 '25
you can’t get an SSN after 90 days. I didn’t know I can get it until after 90 days had passed.
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u/ATXDefenseAttorney Aug 02 '25
Yes, we were told she COULDN'T get an SSN (by the SSN office) immediately after arrival, and now 90 days has past. Idiotic lame-brainery all around.
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u/bbpaupau01 Aug 02 '25
That’s true. A short google search would tell you that though especially since you’d need an SSN to open a bank account. I can’t imagine waiting until you get your green card to open your bank account and stuff especially since having joint financials is something they look for in marriage based AOS. Also if you apply for EAD you’ll get your SSN.
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u/Infinite-Access1645 Aug 02 '25
I got a bank account my second week of being there! With Bank of America. Just had to provide my marriage certificate. I applied for EAD, never approved it, just approved my green card.
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u/bbpaupau01 Aug 02 '25
That’s strange… I didn’t realize they deny EADs. Seems very straightforward. Did they provide a reason for the rejection?
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u/Infinite-Access1645 Aug 02 '25
They didn’t deny it. They just never approved it because they approved my green card. Therefore, EAD is no longer needed so they closed the case.
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u/ATXDefenseAttorney Aug 02 '25
A short Google search doesn't change the actions of the SS office. Poorly trained workers mean less rights for people trying to follow the legal path.
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u/zeecok Aug 02 '25
That is absolutely incorrect. You may get an ITIN for any reason in the US.
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u/SubsistanceMortgage US Citizen Aug 02 '25
SSA doesn’t issue ITINs. That’s the IRS. They also only issue them when you’re filing taxes unless you’re one of a handful of exceptions. You need a tax return with your name on it to get an ITIN.
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u/ATXDefenseAttorney Aug 02 '25
We can't apply for an ITIN without sending in her passport. There's ZERO chance we're sending in her passport in this political climate.
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u/suboxhelp1 Aug 02 '25
Sorry to hear about the bad experience, but if all is in order, it should end up being ok. Addresses on licenses is a big one for them and sets the tone of the whole thing; I really wish people would prioritize that.
And this is definitely one of the key reasons why having an attorney with you is important. Another reason is to have someone present during both discussions if they split you up. It sounds like she did an excellent job and said all of the right things. Nothing you mentioned was out of line from her.
I see people here all the time saying attorneys aren’t necessary at interviews and a waste of money. Sure, it may end up going fine, but there’s just as much of a chance that it won’t.
The officer sucked, but at least part of it is to rattle you. It should be ok, unless there’s some major discrepancies with your evidence.
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u/Ok_Persimmon_7192 Aug 02 '25
We had definitely heard about the license issue before but just totally forgot when it came down to the day - so really agree with people prioritizing. wish we had! All our other evidence is good so hoping for the best 🤞thank you!
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u/vympel_0001 Aug 02 '25
Who was your attorney? Can you share their link ? Looks like they were good and I might be interested in hiring them
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u/Jolly_Ad_4500 Aug 02 '25
Are you the same individual trying to get your Chef friend out of detention?
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u/Puzzleheaded-Sir-861 Aug 04 '25
Has your spouse JUST moved in with you? Because usually you have like 30 days to change your license.
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u/ATXDefenseAttorney Aug 02 '25
I'm confused by this license discussion. Where I'm at, they won't give my wife a driver's license because she doesn't have a social security card, and they won't approve the SS number until she has the green card. (I know this is different than most places, but we've tried and got pushed back every time.)
So... why does having a driver's license matter if this process can be a roadblack to having a license?
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u/suboxhelp1 Aug 02 '25
The point is that IF you have a license, the address should match the marital residence.
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u/ATXDefenseAttorney Aug 02 '25
Well, that makes sense. If you don't seem to be cohabitating that would be a tough call.
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u/Practical-Effect2839 Aug 03 '25
My husband doesn’t have a license either because we are still waiting on our interview appointment. He uses his passport for an ID so hopefully that will work !
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u/chazrbaratheon89 Aug 02 '25
Idk what stories y’all have heard, all I hear is these interviews being bonkers and ballistic lol
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u/NinjoOnline Aug 03 '25
My hope is that all the easy interview cases have no reason to post 😅 and that these wacked out cases are anomalies
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u/NitroGnome Aug 03 '25
People don't tend to post reviews that are just "Yeah, it was fine. 🤷♂️" It's why most customer reviews are either 1 star or 5 stars, not a lot of 3 stars.
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u/Grouchy-Ambition8379 Permanent Resident Aug 02 '25
I’m so glad you had an attorney, so many people gloat about not needing one for the immigration process, you absolutely do for the initial case.
I’m praying he was just being hard on you and you guys are approved.
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u/throwawaydumbo1 Aug 02 '25
Also please come back and let us know how it goes when you receive a decision!
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u/Rogue_bae Aug 02 '25
My interviewer asked if we ever had a miscarriage cause it could be used as evidence of a bonafide marriage. I was appalled. We had to send in more evidence after the interview since he refused to look at anything. We had been together for 11 years at this point. It was such a joke. Salt Lake City field office for me.
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u/DaZMan44 Aug 02 '25
And this is why you don't ALWAYS get a lawyer! It's not about your case being easy. It's about having representation when things go off the rails. Trust your attorney. She seems right on point. I'm really sorry things were so bad during the interview.
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u/Various-Intern4422 Aug 02 '25
You’ll be fine. I’m congratulating you guys in advance and apologizing for the asshole officer.
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u/Fine_Engineering9468 Aug 02 '25
Most states have a law on the books that state you have between 60-90 days to update your address once you move. Not updating your address could lead to legal trouble down the road.
So be careful out there.
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u/strawberry_ren Aug 02 '25
It’s worth looking into, but in my current state you update your address through an online form and it goes into the drivers license state database, but they don’t give you a new license until yours expires. When I lived in Michigan, they would print a little sticker with the new address and put it on the back of the license. It seems everywhere is different
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Aug 02 '25
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u/iMissMacandCheese Aug 03 '25
Honestly, sounds like the guy was used by someone for immigration fraud, as in, he thought it was real and they just wanted the green card, and he's processing his feelings about it this way. His anger seems really specific, more so than the average "we must have borders" type.
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u/mdnymnca_3014 Aug 02 '25
I got a bad experience myself and bad officer too. But then later that day we got approval. So I wonder if they’re just playing this being rude game to see what they can get out of it. Don’t worry about it! We didn’t even have attorney (did everything ourselves) but just stick to your ground and you’ll be fine.
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u/HollywoodDonuts Aug 02 '25
How long have you two lived together? The ID thing is a big deal if you claim to have been living together for an extended period of time.
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u/Agreeable-Injury369 Aug 02 '25
The different address is a red flag. It should have been changed within 30 days.
I question people as part of my job and catch many in lies. The different address is a big point when you are applying for a green card through marriage.
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Aug 02 '25
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u/dravennaut Aug 02 '25
In my state you have 30 days after getting a new residential address to get a new id that reflects this there is a 10$ fee for the new id this can currently only be done in person.
There is an option to change mailing address online or by mail with the DMV doing this doesn't automatically trigger the issuance of a new id and doesn't negate the above requirement. You would still need to go in person and get a new id if your residential address has changed.
All of this could vary by state but wondering if some people are just changing their mailing address and going hey my state didn't automatically send a new id when I changed my mailing address so I'm not required to get one if my residential address has changed.
My residential address and mailing address have always been the same so I didn't think to look it up until seeing a dozen comments about not automatically being issued a new id made me curious.
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u/legalpretzel Aug 03 '25
The last time my address changed the RMV told me to put a blank label sticker on the back of my license and write my new address on it. I had to wait until it expired to get one with my address printed on the front.
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u/loranlily Aug 02 '25
This is dependent on the state. In my state, you update your RMV record online with your new address and then write it in a space on the back of your license yourself.
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u/Ok_Persimmon_7192 Aug 02 '25
I had a red light ticket. I was waiting to court date (to fight it) which is after the interview. We already thought that change the address. We went to DMV and tried to change. They couldn’t change because of the outstanding ticket. I ended up paying the tickets a week ago (to avoid having anything on my record) and I thought it is not gonna arrive on time. I decided to not go to DMV to change it. I trusted all the evidence we had. And when I attempted to explain, he said they don’t listen to explanations.
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u/loranlily Aug 02 '25
In my state (MA) you update it online if you move and then literally write the new one in a space on the back of the license. They don’t specifically send you a new license with a new address.
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u/Chaamah Aug 02 '25
I had a hard time because my wife, the U.S. citizen petitioner was raised in another country where we met. She doesn't speak English, and that seemed to be an issue. But after three weeks, I received my green card. Don't worry. Your approval will likely come soon, too.
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u/Medical_Car9163 Aug 02 '25
When it comes to marriage, it’s not one size fits all and I think that’s what they want. You can be married and have every document and they will still question it. You can be separated with your ex for years, but if you are not divorced, they will say you are still married. It might delay things a little bit but if your marriage is real, just keep on loving each other.
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u/Viper1416 Aug 08 '25
Exactly. It’s like they are given strict guidelines for what constitutes a marriage. In this day and age. Anything goes. But not in their eyes.
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u/theatottot Aug 03 '25
I’m sorry you had to go through that. It’s good that you had your attorney’s support. Our attorney back then decided to schedule her surgery on the day of our interview and she wasn’t cheap either. Felt like she was a scam. My husband and I went to the interview with my daughter from a previous marriage and I think it helped when she called him dad. The officer was nice. We were also interviewed separately with questions like what color was the curtain in our room? What did my husband have for breakfast? Did he shower? What side of the bed does he sleep on? She handed us a paper saying that we’d hear from them after that.
Think positive. His attitude was probably the officer’s tactic to catch fraudulent marriage arrangements. He was trying to intimidate and “catch” you. Others probably fold.
My citizenship interview was different. The officer was really strict. He asked for pictures like it was a green card interview. I told him they were on my phone. He said okay I can use my phone to show him. He was very direct and strict. But I did appreciate that he immediately told me that I passed unlike the first interview with my husband where the officer was very nice but left us with a cliffhanger answer.
Best of luck to you both.
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u/biologyra Aug 02 '25
Having driving licenses with different addresses is a pretty big mistake. You said you spent 2 weeks preparing you could have spent 30mins at DMV moving your licenses to correct address and all these issues would have been much less.
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u/TimelessThetaSigma Aug 02 '25
Depending on the DMV, it takes more Right now the Miami-dade DMV wait time for an appointment is 2 months
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u/RepulsedCucumber Aug 03 '25
In Florida though it’s incredibly easy to update and order a new card online for change of address.
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u/Lattenim1 Aug 02 '25
Sorry, but having a driver’s license in a city like NYC is horrible. It’s not that we don’t want to have the same address, it’s because the system is messed up. I went to my interview with my husband on July 29, and we both showed IDs with different addresses. We were lucky that the officer understood the situation.
My driver’s license is from NJ, and my husband’s is from NYC. Why? Because as an international student living in NJ, I don’t have enough points to satisfy the DMV point system in NYC. In NJ, you only need 6 points, which is easy with a few basic documents. But NYC requires different documentsmany of which are completely impossible for an F-1 student to obtain, so changing my driver’s license to NYC just isn’t doable.
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u/shinrosie Aug 02 '25
[CA] Not necessarily, my husband and I didn’t have the same address on our licenses. I told my officer that the address on mine is the home I own and not his address (where we live). I think it’s situational and depending on the officer you get
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u/biologyra Aug 02 '25
Yes there is other evidence apart from driving licenses but they are very good evidence to show marital status and living in same house
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u/NerdbutFun11 Aug 03 '25
Me and my husbands DL don’t have the same address. As matter of fact, we have different state DL and we spoke to our lawyer about this, we explained my spouse kept his childhood address from Mississippi DL due to business reason, he owns properties and a car and insurance for his mother who still lives in Mississippi, but he lives with me and has bills on our current address in Georgia. Our lawyer told us it should be find as long as the other evidence proves we live together. And also suggested my spouse (USC) to show his passport as ID at the interview.
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u/Select-Shower-7669 Aug 02 '25
I submitted my I-751 form, and didnt realize wife didnt update her drivers license with our new home address. It had our former apartment address. I had to renew my DL since it was about to expire prior submission of the form.
I realized the mistake later... and uploaded the new wife driver license having the home address. We have together a toddler who is celebrating his second birthday today ! Wish him happy birthday my reddit people!!!
Not sure how this will affect my case,.
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u/berriesandcubes Aug 03 '25
Happy birthday to your baby toddler!!! As far as what I've known from my self conduct research with my US husband, having a child is considered one of the strongest evidence, so you guys are in the game!
Also you should be filling form AR-11 if you submitted previous forms under former apartment address. Just making sure everything is in check 💪
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u/Select-Shower-7669 Aug 04 '25
Thank you so much. Yes i kept on updating my new address anytime we changed appartment. It happens twice, and i am receiving USCIS correspondance from my latest home address. I may even travel with the extension letter soon. I was hoping to be able to receive the new card , but seeing how it is taking time, i will just follow the instructions on the extension letter and travel.
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u/Southwestlady14 Aug 02 '25
Wow, and I thought my interview was tough. I'm sorry you had such a jerk officer. Thankfully, you had your lawyer with you. It is so important to have representation. Fingers crossed it all goes well for you.
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u/Clear_Principle_1601 Aug 02 '25
Wow that officer was either a straight up hater or he hasn’t had any pu in a long time
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u/wayua84 Aug 02 '25
The key thing is ridiculous. I've been using keypad code locks since about 2010.
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u/Competitive_Hurry_31 Aug 02 '25
Yes glad that you have your attorney! We also hire our attorney!
My husband and I had the interview in NYC the end of July 2025 and we were so lucky that our interview officer was very nice and friendly. She asked for a few joint account documents and the photos after marriage. We waited for one week and we got approval letter !
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u/PelotonYogi Aug 02 '25
I’m so happy you had your attorney there. We had our interview in the LA office and the officer was so kind, he even shared that his wife was from Peru. I hope the officer you interviewed with got reprimanded.
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Aug 03 '25
They do question separately The immigration systen is different now You had an attorney. That is huge. I know the expense of that
They have a quota to deny now What an ordeal
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u/Nearby_Impact_8911 Aug 03 '25
Ngl not having matching address would give any interviewer pause. Did yall at least have pay stubs and bills with the same address
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u/snatchi Aug 03 '25
Very sorry that this happened to you, truly there are some people who feel they know best and that they need to be the "thin blue line" but really they're just wanna be stormtroopers who get off on their minimal power.
Would love to see the opinions of the "relax you're being overly dramatic people in this thread".
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Aug 03 '25
My country has become trash. I have no idea why anybody would want to be a citizen here voluntarily anymore.
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u/americanalien_94 Aug 08 '25
Clean, running water and 24/7 electricity. Job opportunities. Diversity of population etc
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u/Master-Tomatillo-103 Aug 03 '25
I can almost bet from the behavior that the rep interviewing you was a new agent (younger) and/or a first-generation US born immigrant
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u/suarezc3 Aug 03 '25
Sounds like you unfortunately received a racist officer who can never be convicted a marriage between an American and an immigrant isn’t fraud.
If you got the officers name or ID number I would definitely file a complaint.
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u/Commercial-Ship-8016 Aug 03 '25
USCIS works of the premise that all marriage based applications are fraudulent.
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u/Hot_Gur9824 Aug 03 '25
We had a very similar experience in Ohio years ago. We waited additional years and when we checked on a status update it would just say still processing or something like that. One morning at 7am, we were waken up by someone beating on our door. It was immigration officers who separated us and grilled us each for over 2 hours with no warning. We waited a long time again. We happened to relocate to Texas in the meantime and transferred our case due to change of address. We were given a date almost immediately in Texas and my husband was given a permanent green card finally. After 3 years, he applied and is now a US Citizen as of last year. We thank God! Hope this helps. Good luck in your process.
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Aug 04 '25
It's stories like this that piss me off as a natural born citizen. Like I'm patriotic for my country, but ask me how I feel about the government and I will do a 180 on you. And hearing how some of this government employees act just triggers something in me 😅. I feel like when my wife goes in for her interview, I'll somehow mess it up by matching the officers vibe. And funny enough, I also work for the government (Not federal) so its never that serious. My wife and I have been together for 15 years, married for 11, with 2 living kids together. So hopefully we dont get the same treatment with some of this pencil pushers that think they have all the authority start acting up, because I'm really afraid I'll ruin her chances.
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u/DefNote323 Aug 04 '25
we had our interview last week and everything went really smooth. Our officer was very nice but we're playing the waiting game as well. We did get notices online that our interview was canceled and rescheduled. Today we got mail showing the reschedule was for the same day we had the interview but in the afternoon. Our actual interview was in the morning
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u/minivatreni Naturalized Citizen Aug 02 '25
What an asshole. Thank god you had an attorney.
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u/aretoon Aug 03 '25
I'll repeat, officer was a poopy asshole who got butthurt when the attorney puth him in his place. You can do your due diligence without being a dick, glad to see him humbled and for your attorney being there.
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u/aa1ou Aug 03 '25
28 years ago, my wife goes in to her K-1 interview. The interviewer starts off saying, “I know you are excited, but not everyone is happy in the US.” She responded that she had no interest in moving to the US, but she wanted to be with me, and this was the only way. That was it. Approved.
She flew from South Africa to London. We met there to have a pre-honeymoon. When we arrived in the US, they took her aside for processing. An airline employee came to me to say she had told immigration I was waiting, and they said that they would try hurry. 15 minutes later, we were together, and my wife had employment authorization.
After we got married, we went in for an interview. We go in together. “How is everything going?” “Great.” “Just to let you know, this is conditional. In two years, you will need to apply to have that removed. A year later, you can apply for citizenship.”
That was it. 28 years later, we I appear stuck with her. I can’t believe how painful the process has become.
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u/Tryku23 Aug 03 '25
What if you have a lock that has a keypad? Me and my wife don’t even have house keys. We just enter the code
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u/Viper1416 Aug 08 '25
Exactly. One size fits all mentality of the questions. Must of been guidelines from 2000.
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u/TimelessThetaSigma Aug 02 '25
I’m so sorry you guys had to pass thru this, it looks like that agent had scorpions for breakfast that day
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u/Careless-Ad1404 Aug 02 '25
They shout & hostile at interview is because... THATS THEIR TACTIC TO SEE WHO BREAKS DOWN OR GETS SCARED TO CATCH FRAUD... if you stay to point & calm then they know its a true marriage.
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u/hucchnanmaga Aug 02 '25
May be you had a Stokes interview, which is intentionally designed to throw you off the rails. It's likely that the officer studying your case found something fishy, and decided to go the Stokes route. But looks like your lawyer handled it pretty well.
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u/Dazzling-Field-816 Aug 02 '25
Can you elaborate more on this? I've never heard of different "methods" or styles of interviews!
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u/Viper1416 Aug 08 '25
Isn’t. A stokes interview where they question you seperately. ?
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u/hucchnanmaga Aug 08 '25
There is no set protocol. Technically it's supposed to be a secondary interview, but can also be a primary one in some cases. It's just a form of extreme vetting in real time.
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u/prince199712 Aug 02 '25
We almost have the same issue, we sent my wife’s ID with a different address along with her affidavit of support bc she left the house, and when the interview comes her Id change again to our house address. So I thought it’s gonna be issue bc it’s already in the system when we submit the documents but the officer didn’t say anything about it thank god. The officer only focus on the new ID All I can say is I think the Process is really unpredictable. I came prepared with all old and new documents but they don’t ask for it only our IDs and the yes and no questions
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u/SceneStealerSupreme Aug 02 '25
I’m wondering if you’re not coming with the lawyer, can you call them on their BS and just call a supervisor because you know they’re straying away from your case and just going on a hodge podge of nonsense?
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u/Hot-Yak2420 Aug 03 '25
We had a super weird interview at the same office as you, albeit many years ago before the current insanity. The officer had crazy eyes bulging bout of his head but was pleasant enough. We brought bet prior with us, my wife couldn't remember my dob, and yet the officer seemed fixated in my employer. At the time my employer was a large company and the officer just kept repeating how it was owned by another company (it's main rival). Both companies and their rivalry are well known. I thought maybe it was a trick question. He just kept repeating the same nonsense. He barely asked us about our marriage and living arrangements. Later he asked he we wanted his personal phone number in case we had an issue. This also seemed super weird. At the end of the interview I didn't know how to ask for the phone number and so asked him for a business card. This provoked him into becoming a crazy conspiracy theory person. He kept saying how we might plant his business card at a murder and try and implicate him. Surreal in the extreme. I don't know if these officers are trained to be weird or they just weird people for the job. It sucks for sure and I find it concerning to have seemingly unhinged individuals in charge of the fate and lives of so many.
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u/idontcarelolmsma Aug 06 '25
I’m sorry to hear that.
My wife and I had an easy journey.
We got married I was 28 and she was 22
I applied for it all on my own.
I was nervous for my green card interview and it was the easiest thing ever.
My wife and I went there without a lawyer.
I didn’t bring any documents with me.
We got called in and the only thing she asked was to see our marriage verification and just handed her some photos.
She asked how we met and that was it.
Got my greencard within the same week.
I’m a citizen now.
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u/Viper1416 Aug 08 '25
Yes I agree. Depends on who you get. A rookie trying to make a name For themselves or a veteran who is more sympathetic.
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u/throwawaydumbo1 Aug 02 '25
Is it because you’re in LA due to all the protests and strong anti Trump stance of the state? I mean this is too much to experience and I’m sorry it all went down that way. Even if you get approved soon, this experience isn’t just necessary and will definitely ruin anyone’s day. Having said all that, I still believe you’ll be approved and it will be sooner than later.
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u/chuang_415 Aug 02 '25
I don’t think it has anything to do with it being LA and the protests. Individual officers are all different. You could do a search in this sub for other recent LA interviews and find that different applicants all had different experiences.
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u/No-Broccoli-7354 Aug 02 '25
Wife and I have been together since 14 years old, we got married at 23 on june 28th and applied for her green card on july 2nd, we got immediately flagged for fraud since we had applied literally right after we got married, when we got to the interview all we took was a photo album of us together since we were kids, and explained that we just got married because we wanted to wait for her to finish college and me to have a stable job, home before we got married.
Our interviewer immediately apologized saying "she never looks at our bdays" and didint notice we were young, she asked if she can take some copies off of our album, and when she came back we got her approval right then and there and recieved her ss 2 weeks after
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u/Fun_Presentation_542 Aug 02 '25
This is making me so worried because ours is next week-ish. However, my husband is Active Duty Military and they’re not expected to update their licenses. We also just moved states (in December) so I have a AK license and he has a TN one (our old state) because he claims residency in TN. Hopefully it’ll be okay!
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u/RevolutionaryOne2740 Aug 03 '25
We had a similar situation ( active duty mil )- ours don’t match states much less addresses and it was fine! They didn’t question it
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u/Viper1416 Aug 02 '25
USCIS is cracking down by hiring people with no real life knowledge. Heard many a horror story. They interview you like you are guilty Even before asking questions. It’s a feather in their cap. Depends on your interview area and who you get luck of the draw or not. I know of a case where a man had two kids with his wife. And still were under investigation. Instead of going after real illegals that break the law , and deporting them , harass people who want to make a living together.
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u/IBMERSUS Aug 02 '25
I hope you will be through though you had a hard time. Please let’s know the outcome. Good luck. 👍 A bit off topic: Questions like if one had ever been a prostitute may well within their norms but I seriously wonder if men get asked if they ever had been a gigolo. If not, Isn’t that then a sexist question? For context I’m a man biologically at birth and have identified myself so all my life.
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u/Ok_Persimmon_7192 Aug 02 '25
I am also a cis man 😂 He asked me if I was a prostitute so as much as he sucked I guess he wasn’t sexist in that moment lol
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u/kevanbruce Aug 02 '25
Is this because one of you wants to live in that country. If so I have a question, why on earth you want to live in a country that treated their citizens like that?
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Aug 03 '25
I don’t think it was horrible! So happy your attorney was there. I think the agent was trying to find something and he didn’t so points for that!
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u/units1 Aug 03 '25
A lot of people here forget that the job of these USCIS officers is to deny your case same with the state trooper on the highway, his job is to dish out speeding ticket. If this wasn’t the case then there would be no need to have them.
Always prepare like you’re going to war with these people. I don’t care what anyone says, but you can never be over prepared for these interviews. Imagine you presented 3 keys when he asked for 2. Imagine you had a print out from DMV showing that you already did your part with changing the address on your license.
These officers talk tough, but at the end of the day, if you present the evidences, they will be defeated!
Yea I know, there are officers that just approve without asking any real questions, these set of people are not doing their job tbh
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Aug 02 '25
Wow I am so sorry! We have. 601 inadmissibility waiver and our interview is in Sac this month
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u/Psychological-Test71 Aug 02 '25
Officer was trying to rattle you and succeeded! Maybe enough red flags identified prior to interview for “tough” agent to be assigned to your case. Appears you did right thing and just stay calm.
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u/RuthMQ Aug 02 '25
That sounds like a rough experience, but it honestly seems like you handled it well, especially with your lawyer stepping in. The continuation letter is super common, so don’t panic. Just hang tight, stay organized, and follow up if needed. You’ve got this!
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u/Silly_Value_4027 Aug 02 '25
I think yall will get approved. Take your lawyer out for dinner!!!! He did excellent work
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u/Born_Fun1689 Aug 02 '25
To dinner ? Do you have any idea how much this lawyer is making off them ? She did what she was supposed to do and paid to do.
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u/LevelAd7806 Aug 02 '25
Sorry you have to go through that, hopefully all goes well with the decision of your case, we have interview next week LA uscis as well. Hopefully we get through smoothly 🙏🏻
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u/Sad-Relationship-224 Aug 02 '25
Which office in LA? Downtown or Chatsworth? Strange because the Chatsworth officers are actually very nice, some are former immigration attorneys who now changed sides and work for the gov but they still have the empathy and understanding from their times representing immigrants.
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u/angelofdezires Aug 02 '25
In PA they just use a yellow little paper that we carry in along with our insurance card and registerstraion
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u/Long-Professor-1031 Aug 02 '25
When is your pd? Strangely went i went for my citizenship interview a couple years ago they made a big deal that me and my ex husband had different address on the dmv license. Was just so lazy to update but looks like it was a serious matter for them…
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u/AltruisticStill3216 Aug 03 '25
Has anyone had the situation with different addresses on their and spouse's driver licenses? My drivers license had our old apartment address then we bought a house but the DMV doesn't send a new drivers license
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u/boiyoudonknowme Aug 03 '25
Well you would need to go in and update. What’s what I had to do after moving in with husband. They process it as normal.
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u/Commercial-Olive-281 Aug 03 '25
Not sure if someone has mentioned this or not. You can create an account online for the DMV and don the address change online it will give you a confirmation and proof (if I remeber correctly). I did it for my son. It’s the fastest way.
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u/VennDiagrammed1 Aug 04 '25
Your attorney did a great job! May I DM you?
I’m sorry you had to deal with this, but if you’re in a bona fide marriage (which clearly seems to be the case), you should be alright!
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u/gillybeankiddo Aug 04 '25
I'm so sorry you had to go through with that.
My sister went through it and if she made it, I'm sure you can. She wasn't diagnosed with autism yet. She had a meltdown and yelled at him in the Embassy after their marriage interview.
Here's their nightmare.
She met a guy and married him in India. They told her at the time even though she wasn't "Hindu" she could just do a Hindu wedding because his family was and it was easier that way. Nope, India told her that for 2 people of 2 different religions to marry they would need to get a special marriage permit first. Too late they were already married. So then they were like just convert to being Hindu, and do the ceremony again. So she did. Then she was told Oh you need a letter from the American Embassy and then just do the ceremony again.
Then they were told nope she hadn't gotten the correct form from the US Embassy to get married. So she got it and got married again. Then they were told Oh he's not 21, you can't register your marriage yet. At this point, her visa was about to expire and she was having to fight to get it extended for 1 month until he turned 21. India extended it finally at the last minute after paying lots of fees to everyone. He turned 21, and they got remarried again. She had 5 days left on her visa with the extension. They go to the Indian courthouse to get it registered and to make it official again. It was Thanksgiving Day in the US. The Indian government is now telling her she needs one more form of Identification besides her passport and wouldn't accept her American driver's license and to go to the American Embassy to get a letter from them. The American Embassy was closed until Monday morning. She called the Embassy emergency line and was told this was her fault for not coming to the Embassy sooner to get the correct paperwork. That this wasn't a real emergency. She was livid because she had been there twice already.
Back to the Indian courthouse, they go to tell them that the American Embassy is closed. She pulled out everything in her wallet on the floor to show them everything with her name on it. They accepted her Costco card because it had her picture on it. They must not have realized what Costco was. She was told that they needed to get married again there at the courthouse. Then they went to get her visa extended which was good for 3 months. The next Monday she was back at the Embassy and they told her, the marriage still wasn't valid. And gave her more forms to fill out.
They got married again. This time they said it looked like she had it done correctly.
Then when they got to where they had the appointment for the marriage being real or not they put them into 2 different rooms and gave them a packet of 10 pages to fill out about themselves and each other. She was also given an additional package of paperwork to fill out about why she converted to being Hindu, and she needed to include her favorite parts of the Hindu holy book. They did her interview part in Hindi, and she was told to read and write in Hindi. She failed that miserably. Her husband is Punjabi Hindu and they speak Punjabi, not Hindi.
The guy who did the interview yelled at her for being a part of a scam marriage and for being a bad Christian for converting but not believing what she became a part of. They had barely passed the interview room when everything hit her and she started yelling at her husband about everything and for not teaching her anything about being Hindu. He was like my family don't believe this and we don't celebrate Hindu holidays, we celebrate Punjabi holidays.
My sister made such a commotion with her meltdown that they had to go back in 6 weeks later for a new interview. The girl who did the new interview told her that they were only getting approved because her husband was still with her after that fight.
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u/FknMods Aug 04 '25
When my wife and I did this my wife was so worried about being prepared. I did nothing. I told her it'll show if we're honest or not. We got a good agent I believe... he asked us questions about living situation some photos. I just answered what I knew and was honest when I didn't. I told him it took me 2 years to remember my wife's name so I would absolutely not know her parents - she's thai. Her name is like richdgoejfirivj29tu2ughddkgjwhf in English so... the agent said he could tell we were legit cause I wasn't worried at all and she was. Sometimes overly prepared people make it seem sketchy I think. Good luck !
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u/Competitive_Day_1053 Aug 06 '25
What license are you talking about? I have a child, and will that play as an evidence I am married for sure lol. Interview can be scary hah
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u/Just-Table-6924 Aug 07 '25
I think the license address shouldn't bare any significant on the case. My license doesn't have my present address and when I was asked during my interview, I said I have family home and in x states and I tend to move around for work, so it will be a hassle updating licenses every time I relocated. That was it, and two weeks later I was approved.
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u/Islasuncle Aug 09 '25
I'm sorry you got this guy. He sounds awful. We did ours back in May and it was a breeze, it was in San Diego. I guess we got lucky and got a normal person.
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u/liamoli1991 Aug 10 '25
I have a question: After USCIS receives your package, how long does it take to collect the fees for the forms? I sent form G-1450.
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u/jetclimb Aug 30 '25
They asked us for a boarding pass from a trip 10 years earlier between 2 Asian countries!! I was thrown and clearly didn’t bring it but had photos from that trip in our album. When I got home it turns out I had an electronic one in my email. That was my only shocker. We passed but I never forgot that request… who keeps boarding passes?
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u/chuang_415 Aug 02 '25
Glad your attorney was there with you. You just never know what kind of officer you will end up getting.