Visa and More

Today: Green card through marriage - the interview One of our customers who wishes to remain anonymous has been so kind as to provide us with this report about the green card interview at US immigration. Due to editorial reasons, we can only give you an abridged version of this report in our newsletter.

PLEASE NOTE: This is a report about personal experience in a specific individual situation. It can serve you as background information, but is not a substitute for individual consulting.

General information "First off - it seems rather important to point out that you do not have to stay with your partner at all costs until the green card interview in case something goes wrong in your partnership. A widespread misapprehension seems to be that you really have to show up together for your joint interview. I have met many green card applicants who were completely focusing in this interview and thus under an enormous amount of pressure. If something goes wrong in your relationship then, you can be blackmailed far too easily. There are cases in which you may separate and still won't be deported immediately or lose your chance for a green card.

"I am going to marry a US citizen and get a green card."

Sounds easy enough - and yet it is a complex and not always easily handled issue.

Before the wedding I already was in the US with a (J-1) Visa and there I met a US citizen, and after a while we decided to get married. Since I had already obtained my visa with the help of a US lawyer, I contacted the same law firm again and told them about my intention to get married - until I made a severe mistake shortly before the wedding. In April of 2000 I went to Germany one more time and returned to the US at the end of the month. I hadn't been told that I could run into trouble if the official during the immigration interview noticed that I had got married only two weeks after entering the country and hadn't mentioned at the airport that I had returned to get married. I didn't immediately understand how serious this was, until the law firm told me that this fact alone was reason enough to end the interview and deny my green card. They told me this would count as visa fraud. Anyway, I had to take the risk - all guests were invited and my mother already on her way to the US.

After the wedding The wedding took place in the middle of May, all according to plan. The law firm told me that the appointment for the green card interview in our town could well be two years away, maybe it wouldn't happen before the end of 2002 (the waiting times vary greatly depending on state and city). After a few weeks I received my work permit and was quite happy that I was finally allowed to work anywhere I wanted. Since I was still working for a German company and had to spend a few more weeks in Germany for that, I had applied for a so-called Advance Parole via my law firm immediately after the wedding. I received this almost exactly three months after the wedding and was now allowed to enter the country whenever I wanted again.

IMPORTANT: If you do not have these documents, you are not allowed to leave the US until you receive your green card, not even on your honeymoon, so be careful with that!

However, returning to the US was quite nerve-wracking every time anyway, since I had to go to a special INS desk every time after border control. There were voter persons like me, too, who didn't have a green card yet and were no longer "visitors." The procedure was different every time, depending on which officer was there. Sometimes I was simply asked for my name and Social Security Number, sometimes I had to state my mother's maiden name or my husband's profession. Some officials only snarled "Who's sponsoring you?" and were content with the short answer "My husband." And then I was back in my beloved America and quickly forgot all the exertion.

One year and five weeks went by ... and, completely surprising, in June of 2001 I suddenly received the invitation for the green card interview in the middle of July 2001 already! This early interview completely took me by surprise - and not all in a good way. Of course I hadn't compiled all my documents yet (see below). The critical issue was that I immediately knew that my green card would only be on a conditional basis, limited to an initial period of two years (Editor: this is always the case, even if you don't get an interview within the first two years). If the interview is later than two years after the wedding, you will usually get an unconditional green card right away. Otherwise you have to apply for the unconditional green card after two years. I now had two weeks, from the end of June until the middle of July, to prepare our interview.

Interview preparations I compiled a list of all the documents necessary for the interview. Important documents apart from the usual identification are documents proving that you are living indeed as a married couple. Among the documents were a copy of my American driver's license and that of my partner with the same address on it, previously issued US visas, my tax card, pay stub and tax return of the past three years and our lease agreement. In addition I included bills for things we had bought together and ancillary costs (water, electricity, telephone etc.) that had both our names on them. Other helpful documentation was joint credit cards, car insurance, memberships (e.g. in sports clubs), bank statements from our joint bank account, lease or sales agreement of real estate that had been bought together and documentation of trips we had taken together (travel agency conformation, tickets, hotel bills etc.) Furthermore, photo albums with pictures from the time we met over the engagement and wedding until the present day.

Getting affidavits confirming that we had been living as man and wife and had led a "real" marriage was the most difficult part for me. I had always been used to taking care of myself and earning my money myself. And now this shouldn't be important anymore? What I disliked most were the neighbor's statements. It was embarrassing to go next door and ask people who I had maybe said hello to a few times but nothing more to give me a detailed description (10 to 15 points are good) of how they perceived our marriage. And that they had seen us together for a certain number of years and done things together with us. But the Americans we met didn't make a big deal out of it.

A few words of advice about the documents in general: best start collecting and labeling documents even before the wedding, at least right afterwards. This starts with the bill for the wedding rings, and maybe the restaurant bill for the wedding menu. And after the wedding, have all bills you can think of written out to both names (telephone, water, gas, cable etc.). Try compiling your personal documents as early as possible. Maybe you didn't take your tax returns from your country for the past few years to the US and have to obtain them first. If necessary, think for your partner as well - does he/she have a birth certificate? Does he/she have the correct address on the driver's license? You alone are responsible for having your documents in order. According to my experience, the average American doesn't know how specific the immigration authorities in his or her own country really are and how important it is for immigrants to have a gapless documentation for the immigration.

Make a copy of all documents and have them translated into English, if they are in another language.
All documents have to presented as original and copy, all those in other languages have to be translated into English and notarized. If you have them translated in the US, you can save a lot of money. All you need is a bilingual US resident - meaning a US citizen or green card holder who is fluent in both languages and can certify that the translations are correct. This certification has to be done in front of a notary public - and you can find one in almost any copy shop. There, the translator will fill out a form stating that everything has been translated correctly and leave a copy of his or her driver's license. Usually, one page won't cost more than $10.

Health certificate Make an appointment with a BCIS/INS authorized physician in good time. My law firm had handed me a complete list, but I quickly found out that it was best to first call a few of them and ask for the prices for such a check-up. Prices vary between $100 and $1,000! Finally, I chose a "cheaper" doctor who did all the tests according to the regulations and finally handed me the necessary documents in a sealed envelope. Please keep in mind that you will need a few inoculations that are not necessary in Germany. Among other things, you will be tested for HIV and TB (by the way - the simple skin test is enough to determine TB, don't let yourself be talked into an x-ray. This is not required and considerably more expensive). As mentioned before, you will receive the results in a sealed envelope. Ask the doctor for a copy for your own documents.

Fingerprints Two weeks before the interview at the latest you will usually get an appointment to be fingerprinted. This is completely "casual." However, be careful not to cut your fingers or injure them in any other way in the days prior to this appointment. You need a clean print of all ten fingertips. If only one finger is injured, the complete appointment will be rescheduled at a later date. As soon as you have compiled all your documents, organize them in a way that you will find everything quickly during your interview. All the documents together filled an entire clothes basket - and I actually felt a little weird. However, my lawyer reassured me and told me to take everything the way it was to be as well prepared for the interview as possible.

I can only recommend to all green card applicants to get professional support at home or in the US to prepare for this. The preparations alone are so complex I could never had handled them without help. In addition, you can ask all the questions you may have about the course of the interview - and, as in my case, maybe have a few trial runs to practice. Thanks to these "cross-examinations" we could not only practice and learn to recognize a few pitfalls. Especially my partner learned through these trail runs how important this interview was for us and how serious he had to take it.

The actual interview We were lucky - the appointment was at 8am already. With later appointments, it may happen that you have to wait several hours or even until another day. We were at the INS/BCIS building at 7:30am and met my lawyer. As a rule, you should dress conservatively and don't forget to wear the wedding rings! No problem. The three of us sat in the waiting room (the filled clothes basket in front of us) and around us other couples, families and single persons. A babble of voices that made me even slightly more nervous than I already was. I didn't have to wait long before I was called in to give my fingerprints. Usually, there you will already meet the official who will interview you later on. Keep in mind to always show your best manners. "Yes, Mam," "No, Sir," etc. A little over one hour later my name was called. I am absolutely sure that I didn't miss my name before, but when I came to the office door the official first of all snarled at me whether I wasn't interested in the interview, she had called for me three times already. My lawyer, who was right behind me, tried to tell her that we hadn't heard anything, but the official just barked at her that she hadn't been talking to her and she should stay out of it. I was totally shocked, but didn't try too long to explain the situation (because not one of us had heard anything - and it wasn't really that loud in the room), but I apologized and tried to calm down again. The official was simply in a really bad mood and wanted me to know it from the start.

My partner and I right away gave the oath that we would only tell the truth, and after that everything happened really quickly. "Where did you meet, which was your job at that time, which was your first travel abroad together" ... ? And in between the questions always the demands to see some of the documents: "Birth Certificate Original, Copy, tax return, old passport, new passport, and so on and so on..." I have to say, without my preparation and the almost perfect organization of my clothes basket I would have been pretty much lost. One time when I couldn't produce the correct document right away the official snarled at me that she had expected we weren't prepared for this interview. So please, don't let you personal emotions take over. Try to stay professional during the interview. Even my lawyer later told me that in all her years on the job she never met such a demanding and sometimes aggressive immigration official. But when it came down to it, I was depending on her good will, even if I had nothing to hide. Everything I told her was the truth and we were well prepared. In retrospect I realize more and more that it was the right thing to do not to let her provoke me. I just stayed calm and tried my best.

After a short time that seemed very long to me (ca. 20 minutes) the official signaled us that the conversation was over. Whenever I'd had a short time to breathe I had placed the photo albums strategically on the table in front of me. She had a quick look at them. Then she briefly informed me that the fingerprinting appointment from the week before had probably been on too short notice and the results weren't in yet. Furthermore, all the computers were down and she couldn't tell me how far they were with the confirmation. My lawyer was sitting next to us all through the interview and gave us the security that the interview would be done correctly. She wasn't allowed to interfere verbally, but she could have asked for a break in case the conversation had taken an unfavorable turn. When we were back in the waiting room she explained that it was quite usual not to get the green card immediately after the interview - even if the results from the fingerprint check were already in. She said usually it would take a few weeks. After another 30 minutes I was called in again and got my passport back - with a stamp in it. My lawyer, who was looking over my shoulder, said "Oh my god, this is the green card!" I had really actually made it.

Extremely happy we left the building ... I finally had my green card, at least as a preliminary stamp in my passport. The plastic version arrived three or four months later.

We will be happy to answer all your questions about visa interviews and other visa issues. Best use the contact form on our website.