My husbands “conditional” green card will expire this summer which means I will need to put together all the necessary paperwork to remove the conditions in order for him to get a 10 year green card.
Our life together for Immigration is simplified into housing, assets and liabilities. Looks kind of cold on paper. I did include some additional personal papers/photos. I should have everything ready by the middle of the week to send out.
One word of advice for those who are going through the same thing: ORGANIZATION.
Make sure you collect all pertinent information. Do not leave anything out!
My duplicate binder. The original was sent to the lawyer to help us complete the application.
The first time we had applied for the conditional green card based on marriage, I organized EVERYTHING into this huge binder with separating tabs and a table of content. Sent it off to the lawyer who was impressed with what I had done. (Make a duplicate binder for yourself and keep putting updated correspondence from Immigration in there.) Within 3-4 months of submitting the application, he was approved for his green card. The lawyer said that was the fastest they’ve ever seen anyone get an approval.
When I had gone in for the interview with Immigration, I could have sworn that our interviewer pulled out my binder, the one that I had originally sent to our lawyer. I can’t say that the process went smoothly due to my organization of our papers. Our lawyer did a fantastic job of helping us through the whole process, looking through my huge binder and helping us fill out the forms. I was advised that we didn’t need legal counsel for our application since our situation was very straight forward, but I like the added insurance that a lawyer brings into the mix.
Another word of advice: truthfulness/honesty.
If you are in a real relationship, you have nothing to hide and they will see that it’s a real relationship. For the interview appointment, we saw the interviewer separately. I thought the interviewer was really friendly. My husband said that she was very stern with him. I told him that she had to weed out fraudulent applicants. After our interview appointment, my husband and I talked about the questions asked and what our answers were.
There were two questions that clearly shows them that we are husband and wife.
Question: How many microwaves do you have in your house? and where is it?
My husband’s answer: We have one in the kitchen. (The interviewer asked him to confirm again. He stood by his answer.)
My answer: We have two. One in the kitchen, attached to the cabinet, that is part of our rental apartment. The second one was a wedding gift from my sister and it’s stuffed in our closet since we don’t currently need it.
(I knew that he was going to forget the other microwave from my sister. That’s a husband for you.)
Question: Who is your current landlord?
My husband’s answer: I don’t know the company’s name. (The interviewer pressed him to explain this lax in knowledge.) We just moved to the apartment a few months ago. (We did at that time.) My wife takes care of all our bills from our joint account. (I do since he thinks its a chore.) I do know the apartment complex’s name. ******* Apartments.
My answer: ********* Management.
My husband thought that he had failed the interview because his answers weren’t the same as mine. I know some people get very nervous when they go in for the interview. Just treat it as if you are being questioned by a friend, co-worker, teacher, etc. Answer as honestly as you can. What husband and wife out there, that you know of, who has the same answers to the same questions. LOL Don’t sweat the little stuff. We didn’t answer the questions exactly the same but the answers are an indication that we are husband and wife. Only a real husband would give those kind of “wrong” answers. I had a good feeling from the interview and my intuition was proven correct when he received his confirmation letter.
Wish us luck on this round 2 of the green card process. This time, the binder will be much smaller.
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