Adjustment of Status Interview
For many couples going through Adjustment of Status, the Adjustment of Status Interview can be incredibly stressful. It’s the not knowing what is going to happen at the Adjustment of Status Interview that causes all of the stress and tension. On this page I will do my best to explain to you what actually happens at the Adjustment of Status Interview.
At the outset, allow me to state that no two (2) interviews are the same. Just like no two (2) couples are the same, the same holds true for the Adjustment of Status Interview. The facts of each case will often dictate the questions that must be answered.
That said, there is enough similarities between all of these cases that one can predict, with some degree of certainty, the procedures of the Adjustment of Status Interview.
The first advice I have is to make sure you know where the Adjustment of Status Interview is going to take place. Map out the location in advance and DO NOT be late! In fact, be at least a half hour early.
When you arrive, be sure to have photo identification. You will have to pass through a metal detector, so do not bring anything that could get you in trouble. Leave the Swiss Army key chain at home.
Once you have proceeded through the metal detectors, you need to find the waiting room where the interview will take place. You should have copies of every scrap of paper that was filed on your behalf. In addition, you should have the Adjustment of Status Interview notice. Hand in the notice at the window. That is the equivalent of checking in.
After you have checked in, you will sit in the waiting room until your case is called. Do not be surprised if the waiting room is full. I often refer to the waiting area as similar to waiting at an airport terminal.
While you are waiting, I encourage you to review every document that has been filed on your behalf. There is no substitute for prior preparation. Each of you should know everything there is to know about what has been written in the petitions that have been filed.
When your case is called the hearing officer from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service will swear in each of you. In effect, you will be under oath and providing testimony.
In most cases, the hearing officer will ask each of you questions based on the information that has already been provided in the petitions. This is not the time for joking. This is a serious hearing, so leave the dry wit at home.
Generally speaking, the hearing officer will ask each of you questions about your married life. These questions are not too personal and are not designed to embarrass either of you. So you should not expect to have to answer questions about the intimate details of your life. Instead, the questions are designed to determine if the two (2) of you are legitimately married. Some of these questions may include where and when you met, when you were married,, each other’s birthdays, what you had for dinner the night before, etc. and so on.
The best advice I have at this stage is to be completely truthful and be unafraid. You two (2) already know all of the answers, even if you do not know the questions yet. This is so because it is the two (2) of you who are living this married life and who knows the two (2) of you better than you do? Nobody! So be confident.
If the interviews proceeds the way it is supposed to go because you have prepared and you are confident, at the end of the Adjustment of Status Interview the foreign national spouse will be approved for a green Card and will be provided with a document confirming this Adjustment of Status. A few weeks later the actual Green Card will arrive in the mail.