Easy Pink....And Some Advice

[Mr. Twister]

Hey guys,

 

My wife had her interview last week, it was ridiculously easy pink. She was asked the total of 5 questions.

 

Now, we did DCF in Beijing, since I have been in China and living with my wife for nearly 3 years now (although we just got married this past December) We applied on March 22, and got the visa June 22, 4 months later.

 

My advice?

 

#1. It has been said before, but FRONTLOAD, FRONTLOAD, FRONTLOAD! I think the VO already has a pretty strong idea about what they are going to decide before your SO even steps up to the window and frontloading and overwhelming them with positive evidence before the interview can only help the case. You want to make it seem like you are confident and that you have nothing to hide. Since we live together, we frontloaded with pictures, our apartment lease, a copy of every page of my passport as well as my Chinese visas, my work permit, my birth certificate, copies of all the pages of her white books, (marriage cert, divorce cert, birth cert, police cert), copies of plane tickets with both our names, etc. Our I-130 packet was huge. The bigger the better, I say!

 

#2. Even if you frontload, TAKE AS MUCH EVIDENCE AS YOU CAN TO THE INTERVIEW, ESPECIALLY MORE RECENT PHOTOS/CORRESPONDENCE IF YOU HAVE THEM.

 

#3. A problem I thought I might have was domicile since I have been in China so long, so I had my SO take my valid U.S. drivers license as well as mail I've been receiving from the Social Security administration and IRS at an address in America (my mom's house). This is the same address I said we were going to be living at in America. However, as has been reported elsewhere on here, DOMICILE WAS NOT AN ISSUE AS THE VO DID NOT ASK FOR ANY OF THIS EVIDENCE.

 

#4. On the day of the interview, COACH YOUR SO TO ACT LIKE SHE IS EAGER TO MEET AND TALK TO THE VO AND ANXIOUS TO SHOW ALL THE EXTRA EVIDENCE SHE HAS. Be friendly! Be confident! Above all, YOUR SO SHOULD OFFER TO SHOW HER EVIDENCE TO THE VO, DON'T WAIT FOR THE VO TO ASK FOR IT. This is what I told my SO:

 

a. Be the first to say "Good morning!" The VO will respond and ask "How are you?", so you should say "I'm great! How are you?" This is upbeat and it beats the canned typical Chinese response of "I'm fine, thank you." It also breaks the ice for both of you. Also, put all your evidence on the counter so the VO can see it.

 

b. When the VO asks for your passport, give the VO both your passport and my passport. This shows that I'm there to support you on that day and further establishes a bonafide relationship.

 

c. If the VO asks "How long......?" anything regarding us, answer and say "I have more pictures! Do you want to see them?"

 

D. If the VO asks anything about my job, offer them the employment letter (Even though I already included this both in the I-130 and the document hand-in)

 

E. If the VO asks about the co-sponsor (my mom), offer him the notarized letter from my mom explaining that she understands what it means to be a co-sponsor and that she is doing this willingly. Also offer copies of my mom's passport to identify her.

 

 

 

 

Get the idea? You need to coach you SO to listen for certain "trigger questions" so her immediate response is to offer up the evidence that you have regarding those questions. Even if the VO doesn't ask those questions, it never hurts to be prepared. I organized about 5 individual clear plastic folders (domicile, relationship, my job, co-sponsor, misc) for her which I then put in a large clear plastic folder so the VO could see our stack of additional evidence. I put the photos (about 40 of them) on top so the VO could see them through the plastic.

 

 

 

Final thoughts: Be organized. Be prepared. Be confident. Be friendly. It should not be difficult under any circumstances if you just follow these guidelines. I really feel a large number of people who fail do so because they are too apprehensive on the day of the interview.

 

Good luck to all!

[RobertH]

Congrats!

[Ryan H]

Congrats and thanks for your write up!

[screamneagle]

Bet you're glad THAT'S over! Congratulations and all the best for your lives in the US!!

[bobbyA]

Final thoughts: Be organized. Be prepared. Be confident. Be friendly. It should not be difficult under any circumstances if you just follow these guidelines. I really feel a large number of people who fail do so because they are too apprehensive on the day of the interview.

 

Great write-up and great advice!!

 

Thanks!!

[diamondeve21]

Oh man.. our I130 case was handeled by a lawyer and we did not FRONTLOAD anything! I mean it was very minimal! It was only a couple of pictures, few months of phone records and some travel documents. The lawyers said not to send to much documents in and told us to bring it to the interview! So now, my husbad have 4 pounds of evidence to show the VO. His interview is on July 11th... Do you think not frontloading at the I130 stage would hurt us right now?

[Ryan H]

Oh man.. our I130 case was handeled by a lawyer and we did not FRONTLOAD anything! I mean it was very minimal! It was only a couple of pictures, few months of phone records and some travel documents. The lawyers said not to send to much documents in and told us to bring it to the interview! So now, my husbad have 4 pounds of evidence to show the VO. His interview is on July 11th... Do you think not frontloading at the I130 stage would hurt us right now?

 

Unless your lawyer is Marc Ellis or John Roth, I have to think their experience with GZ is minimal at best.

 

By not frontloading, there is no guarantee that any of that evidence will be seen by a CO as they may not ask for it or give it right back without so much as a glance if your husband tries to give it to the CO unsolicited.

[diamondeve21]

Oh man.. our I130 case was handeled by a lawyer and we did not FRONTLOAD anything! I mean it was very minimal! It was only a couple of pictures, few months of phone records and some travel documents. The lawyers said not to send to much documents in and told us to bring it to the interview! So now, my husbad have 4 pounds of evidence to show the VO. His interview is on July 11th... Do you think not frontloading at the I130 stage would hurt us right now?

 

Unless your lawyer is Marc Ellis or John Roth, I have to think their experience with GZ is minimal at best.

 

By not frontloading, there is no guarantee that any of that evidence will be seen by a CO as they may not ask for it or give it right back without so much as a glance if your husband tries to give it to the CO unsolicited.

 

What should I do now? I'm pretty worried.... So this is what we submitted with the I130 which was filed more than a year ago...

 

Joint bank account statments.

25 pictures

6 months of call history...

 

That lawyers told me I130 is a quickie that does not need much evidence. She even said she had clients send in applications w/o ANY evidence and she had no problems with it!!!

 

Btw, I did FIRE that lawyer due to a whole bunch of other issues we had... (Not only she charged banks for simple paper work, her prices were also not set in stone. She would charge one client one price and the next client another price. Her prices also changed from day to day... It has happened twice where I call her couple of weeks later and inquire about the same service but some how the price was few hundred dollars more expensive... the list goes on....)

 

So as of now, I just express mailed my husband 4 lbs worth of evidence including call records, emails, letters, receipts of hotels stays, plane rides and vacations, pictures... I was hoping to drop off all this during the document intake day but I just found out that the embassy will not accept any of it until the actual interview day! I just hope the VO will have a chance to even look at it during the 15 minutes of face time. Any suggestions?

Edited July 6, 2011 by diamondeve21 (see edit history)

[Beachey]

 

So as of now, I just express mailed my husband 4 lbs worth of evidence including call records, emails, letters, receipts of hotels stays, plane rides and vacations, pictures... I was hoping to drop off all this during the document intake day but I just found out that the embassy will not accept any of it until the actual interview day! I just hope the VO will have a chance to even look at it during the 15 minutes of face time. Any suggestions?

 

 

 

First, you may be fine with the evidence submitted so relax, you can't go back in the past and change what you submitted with the I-130.

 

 

What I think you should do is make sure your husban d has all the info well organized so he can quickly access it to address any questions the VO might have. So what you need to do is think about what might lead the VO to believe that your relationship is not bona-fide.

 

How much time have you been together? Have that info ready to show to the VO.

 

Also make sure your pictures are well organized so that you can show the timeline and story of your relationship. That might be enough.

 

I am going to make a guess that you are orginally from China? This probalby helps. If not, how good is your husband's English? Is the VO going to question how you communicate? How does your husband answer. Would a stranger find your relationship unusual?

 

Any Red flags? Are you older than your husband (especially more than a year or two)? Does he already have other relatives in the US, especially if you have a work/personal relationship with them.

 

And chances are, if you don't have enough evidence you may get a blue slip where you then need to submit the evidence you could have submitted with the I-130. A direct white slip would be unusual unless your case has significant red flags.

[dnoblett]

Oh man.. our I130 case was handeled by a lawyer and we did not FRONTLOAD anything! I mean it was very minimal! It was only a couple of pictures, few months of phone records and some travel documents. The lawyers said not to send to much documents in and told us to bring it to the interview! So now, my husbad have 4 pounds of evidence to show the VO. His interview is on July 11th... Do you think not frontloading at the I130 stage would hurt us right now?

 

Unless your lawyer is Marc Ellis or John Roth, I have to think their experience with GZ is minimal at best.

 

By not frontloading, there is no guarantee that any of that evidence will be seen by a CO as they may not ask for it or give it right back without so much as a glance if your husband tries to give it to the CO unsolicited.

 

What should I do now? I'm pretty worried.... So this is what we submitted with the I130 which was filed more than a year ago...

 

Joint bank account statments.

25 pictures

6 months of call history...

 

That lawyers told me I130 is a quickie that does not need much evidence. She even said she had clients send in applications w/o ANY evidence and she had no problems with it!!!

 

Btw, I did FIRE that lawyer due to a whole bunch of other issues we had... (Not only she charged banks for simple paper work, her prices were also not set in stone. She would charge one client one price and the next client another price. Her prices also changed from day to day... It has happened twice where I call her couple of weeks later and inquire about the same service but some how the price was few hundred dollars more expensive... the list goes on....)

 

So as of now, I just express mailed my husband 4 lbs worth of evidence including call records, emails, letters, receipts of hotels stays, plane rides and vacations, pictures... I was hoping to drop off all this during the document intake day but I just found out that the embassy will not accept any of it until the actual interview day! I just hope the VO will have a chance to even look at it during the 15 minutes of face time. Any suggestions?

For the most part CR-1/IR-1 spouse visas have a lower incedent of denial than K-1, do the committed nature of being married prior to petition submission.

 

Joint account statements / call history / photos is more than I sent in when we filed for or K-1 five years ago, in our case it was (Email Log a few sample emails, Chat Log, Skype Log, some pictures together, as well as a picture of me with my wife's family) I studied the process and simply did all the paperwork my self, never used a lawyer, and figured the only time to use a lawyer is if something got fouled up.

 

You say a year ago, I hope you filed your IRS return as a joint return using an ITIN for your husband.

 

Also in Guangzhou it is about 5 minutes of face time.

[david_dawei]

You say a year ago, I hope you filed your IRS return as a joint return using an ITIN for your husband.

IMO, this is irrelevant to the case.

 

IMO, The top five issues for your case would be:

1. How you meet

2. How many trips and face time you have in person

3. The marital/child/age situation on both sides

4. Is he a CCP member?

5. What city is he from?

 

Your past filing is past. Don't concern yourself with that. Look ahead.

[bullmastiff]

and how you communicate ??? if she speaks no English , you better speak Chinese . then, they may ask how you learn it ???

pls bring photos to the interview . officer will ask .

also 3 yrs tax return is asked during document collection even though NVC is ok with the most recent year and employment letter.

[diamondeve21]

You say a year ago, I hope you filed your IRS return as a joint return using an ITIN for your husband.

IMO, this is irrelevant to the case.

 

IMO, The top five issues for your case would be:

1. How you meet

2. How many trips and face time you have in person

3. The marital/child/age situation on both sides

4. Is he a CCP member?

5. What city is he from?

 

Your past filing is past. Don't concern yourself with that. Look ahead.

 

I will write an EOR letter which will address everything. We are actually elementary classmates and we had a brief relationship when we were 15. We kept in touch all these years and remained best friends since then. He is not a CCP member and this is both of our first marriage. We are the same age and we are from the same city. I think we look pretty good there. Although we have a lot of communication records, I am just worried that the embassy do not have much evidence right now.

[diamondeve21]

and how you communicate ??? if she speaks no English , you better speak Chinese . then, they may ask how you learn it ???

pls bring photos to the interview . officer will ask .

also 3 yrs tax return is asked during document collection even though NVC is ok with the most recent year and employment letter.

 

I am Chinses and so is he. We actually went to elementary school together so we have a long relationships history. However, I am worried about the sponseringship aspect becuase I am a full time student earning a doctare degree and I do not work. I do have some savings though... My co-sponser is a really good friend and he makes barely enough above the poverty guidline. Would this be a problem?

[diamondeve21]

 

So as of now, I just express mailed my husband 4 lbs worth of evidence including call records, emails, letters, receipts of hotels stays, plane rides and vacations, pictures... I was hoping to drop off all this during the document intake day but I just found out that the embassy will not accept any of it until the actual interview day! I just hope the VO will have a chance to even look at it during the 15 minutes of face time. Any suggestions?

 

 

 

First, you may be fine with the evidence submitted so relax, you can't go back in the past and change what you submitted with the I-130.

 

 

What I think you should do is make sure your husban d has all the info well organized so he can quickly access it to address any questions the VO might have. So what you need to do is think about what might lead the VO to believe that your relationship is not bona-fide.

 

How much time have you been together? Have that info ready to show to the VO.

 

Also make sure your pictures are well organized so that you can show the timeline and story of your relationship. That might be enough.

 

I am going to make a guess that you are orginally from China? This probalby helps. If not, how good is your husband's English? Is the VO going to question how you communicate? How does your husband answer. Would a stranger find your relationship unusual?

 

Any Red flags? Are you older than your husband (especially more than a year or two)? Does he already have other relatives in the US, especially if you have a work/personal relationship with them.

 

And chances are, if you don't have enough evidence you may get a blue slip where you then need to submit the evidence you could have submitted with the I-130. A direct white slip would be unusual unless your case has significant red flags.

 

I am pretty worried that we didn't frontload the I130. did not frontload the I130. All the evidence that the VO have are just the ones that was sent in with I130, which is not a lot. I was under the impression that we were allowed to drop off relationship evidence during the document drop off day but I guess not. I really hope the VO will look at the 4lbs of evidence that my husband is bringing now. I heard that most of the VO already made their decision prior the interview and I hope he does not have a denial in mind. So lets say he did have a denial in mind, do you think the evidence that we are bringing in now can influence his decision? I am so worried right now.