My name is Yakov Spektor and I’m one of the partners of the law firm Spektor, Spektor & Berman, the immigration lawyers.
And today, we will talk about a very popular topic, applying for a marriage-based green card, and specifically the interview with the USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services).
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Marriage Based Green Card Interview Tips
Now, there’s a lot of confusion about marriage based green card interviews with the USCIS. First of all, they cannot declare your marriage invalid. If you are married properly, you will continue to stay married.
Now, what does it mean to be married properly?
That generally means that sometimes people get married by a priest or an imam, but never register or do civil marriage. In that case, it’s only a religious marriage, and they chose not to be recognized by the US government.
Or what happens is that some people think that they are divorced, but they’re not. For example, your ex-wife told you that she’s divorcing you, you think that it’s done, but she never put the papers in. And then you get married again. And yet you’re still married to your ex-wife.
Marriage based green card interview questions
And in that case, your new marriage goals are considered invalid. Now many people come to me and they say, well, Yakov we have been married for real, they share their life, what’s they have to prepare for?
And then they usually ask them the following questions:
Where did you spend your wife’s birthday?
What was the last movie you saw together?
Where did you go for Thanksgiving?
Can you name all the people who were sitting at that Thanksgiving table?
What did you get your wife for her last birthday?
And even assuming that you’re one of those rare people blessed with a good memory, who can guarantee that your wife can answer those questions with those same answers.
Preparing for marriage green card interview
They want to see if your answers match because that shows to them that the two people since you in front of them do share life together. So it is super important to prepare for that interview.
And of course, in addition to the questions that you will be asked, the government will want to see various documents such as tax returns, bank account statements, et cetera. Now, this shows that you do live together, pay taxes together, and spend money together.
Photographs are very important. Some people are really not into the habit of taking pictures, but many photos from family events, vacations, friends, in law’s family, really go a long way towards convincing your interviewing officer that you are quote-unquote, for real.
Don’t forget that he’s seeing you for the first time in his life, but it’s within his power to grant or deny you your marriage based green card. So during the interview, right is super important. Make sure that you are prepared. Thank you for reading and have a wonderful day.