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How to Ace Your Marriage Green Card Interview


How to Ace Your Marriage Green Card Interview

Preparing for your marriage green card interview can seem intimidating, but with the right process and resources at hand, you can ace it. Understanding what to expect when you go for your interview can help make the whole experience much smoother.

The American government offers nationality status or citizenship to the spouses of a United States citizen, but this requires the spouse to appear for an in-person interview with their partner to verify the legality of their marriage and if the spouse meets all the legal parameters laid down as per US law. To begin with, we can discuss the basics of the interview.

The couple interviews are scheduled for a specific date and time by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

What documents do I need to bring to the immigration officer interview?

Once an interview is scheduled and a person’s case has been approved, they must show up at the USCIS office with their original passport and documents listed on their case file. The candidate is required to bring your original documents like a marriage license, a marriage certificate, birth certificates, any previous divorces papers. The originals of your divorce (or divorces) are needed to verify your past standing in marriages, and they are also necessary to legalize the current marriage. The candidate’s passport, work authorization permits, Visa documentation if the candidate was already present in the US. 

The procedure of the interview begins after your arrival for the appointment with an immigration officer who is responsible for swearing you in, and after that, you’re going to get right into the questions about how well you know each other.

What is the best way to answer an immigration officer’s questions?

The process of interviewing with an immigration officer is a crucial step in obtaining a visa. Arriving at the appointed time for your interview is essential, as the immigration officer will swear you in and then begin to ask you questions about your background and reasons for wanting to enter their country. It is important to answer all questions truthfully and accurately in order to ensure the smooth passage of your application.

These answers are a fundamental way to establish a relationship that allows the candidate to pass the I-130 petition part. This part focuses on your marriage, the establishment of bonafide trust, and proves that you are really married for love and family and not for your green card.

What kind of questions will the immigration officer ask me during the interview?

The first thing they will ask you is where you live now, to make sure your address is the most updated, and they can mail the green card to your current mailing address. 

After that, they might ask you where you lived before that, and for your previous address.

Most common questions for a marriage green card interview:

πŸ“How did you meet? 

πŸ“ Where did you meet?  (If you met on a dating app, you have to explain why and how, and when you signed up, and then you were looking for love and weren’t just looking for somebody who’s a US citizen.)

πŸ“ Where do you live now? 

πŸ“ On the corner of what streets do you live? 

πŸ“ What are the intersecting avenue and streets?

πŸ“  Is it a building? 

πŸ“ Is it a private house? (They can look it up right there when you’re sitting there on Google.) 

πŸ“ Is it a second floor, third floor, or the top floor? Or is it a private house? 

πŸ“ Do you share your place with someone else? (If you have roommates, it’s a bit weird for them. They might ask you who they are. If you live with family, who is the family you live with. Know the family members, their names, their ages, who lives where. That includes your spouse’s children from a prior marriage.)

Among other factors, the interviewer wishes to know about regular life influencers such as

Your finances: 

βœ”Do you have a joint account? 

βœ” If yes, at what bank? 

βœ” Do you have your paycheck going to that account every month? 

βœ” If not, where does, where does that paycheck go?

βœ” How do you manage your finances together?

βœ” How do you get to work? 

βœ” Who leaves in the morning first? 

Knowing each other’s daily schedules, time off from work. 

βœ” Where did you spend your last New Year’s? 

βœ” Where did you spend last Christmas? 

βœ” Whose house that you go to for Thanksgiving, if you did. 

βœ” Where did you spend your last birthday? 

βœ” What was your last birthday present?

βœ” How often do you spend quality time together?

βœ” How do you and your partner coordinate your daily schedules?

They also wish to know about the wedding such as about the ceremony of how you got married. 

βœ” Who attended? 

βœ” Did you have witnesses? 

βœ” Did you have your family there? 

βœ” If no, why not?  (You have to have the answer to that question prepared if your family didn’t attend your wedding).

βœ” Did you have a church wedding, or synagogue, or mosque wedding? 

βœ” What temple/church/mosque did you attend for the wedding? 

βœ” Did you have an officiant or religious priest or somebody like that do your wedding? 

βœ” How many people were there? 

βœ” Where did you move to when you got married, or maybe you were already living together? 

βœ” What kind of stuff did you bring with you when you moved in? 

βœ” How many bedrooms do you have? How many windows do you have in each room? 

βœ” Does your bed point to the door or sideways? 

Information about personal time spent together:

βœ” Have you gone on vacations together? 

βœ” Have you met each other’s family? 

βœ” If you went on vacation, where did you go? 

βœ” Where was the last time you went together? 

βœ” Do you plan on having children? 

The medical condition of both the partners

(This establishes that you have mutual communication and trust. The question can be of the nature that if your spouse has any major medical problems or anything they needed surgery for, you should be quick to answer and familiar with the situation.)

βœ” Do they have any body markings, Tattoos, piercings? 

βœ” Where were they born? 

βœ” How old are they now? 

βœ” How old were they when you married them?

The Final Advice

Be prepared, bring copies of everything and originals to be prepared for many questions. Be prepared to answer them pretty quickly and to have all the documents ready. The best thing to do is to bring an accordion folder and put all your paperwork, the original in the front, copy in the back. Don’t be nervous. Don’t look at each other for answers, and don’t try to have your spouse help you answer. It’s not a good idea.

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