What Does USCIS Look for in a Marriage Visa Interview?

 Posted on October 18, 2022 in Immigration

People who come to the United States may not have done so because they are looking for love, but they very often find it. When someone is in the United States legally, whether on a tourist visa, student visa, or work visa, they may find someone they want to spend their life with and decide to get married. When this happens, the visa holder and their spouse will need to go through an Adjustment of Status process to get the foreign spouse a Green Card.

Because getting married is one of the easier paths to getting a Green Card (and therefore citizenship), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is very sensitive to the potential for fraud in these cases. It is important, therefore, to have an immigration attorney who can help you carefully prepare your application and get ready for the notoriously difficult Marriage Green Card interview.

Preparing for a Marriage Green Card Interview

The interview itself is the last step in the initial Green Card application process. Before you schedule the interview, you will need to fill out a significant amount of paperwork, including proof that your relationship and marriage are legitimate. Such proof can include:

• Photos together of your relationship over time, especially of a wedding, travel, and time spent with both spouse’s families
• Birth certificates of any shared children
• Joint income tax returns, bank statements, or other financial documents indicating you share your finances
• A joint lease or mortgage
• Driver’s licenses with the same address
• Copies of phone records demonstrating regular correspondence
• Original copies of letters from family and friends describing your relationship

These can take time to organize and should not be left to the last minute. The more thoroughly you can document your relationship, the more likely you will be to achieve success.

The Interview

The interviewing officer will be on the alert for discrepancies that suggest you may not be telling the truth in your application. Sometimes they look for superficial signs that a couple might be mismatched, such as a couple with a significant difference in age, income level, or attractiveness. Other times, they will try to sort out inconsistencies in your statements or documentation by asking questions.

Interview questions will typically focus on the history and nature of your relationship, including how you met, how you spend time together, and what your future plans are. Interview questions can get very personal - it is important not to be offended and just to provide simple, honest answers. Do not give more information than the officer is asking for.

If the officer suspects a discrepancy, or if they want to double-check a couple’s bona fides, they may separate the couple into different rooms and ask them difficult questions. These questions can include specific details about the house, such as descriptions of furniture, or details about a couple’s habits together, such as which partner does which household chores. While these may feel very personal, the questions should be easy to answer for a true couple, and if you genuinely do not know the answer to a question, you can simply say so.

Contact a Bloomingdale, IL Immigration Lawyer

Preparing for a marriage visa interview with USCIS can be intimidating - but you do not have to do it alone. Get the help you need from an experienced team of Naperville, IL immigration attorneys with Mevorah & Giglio Law Offices by calling 630-932-9100 and scheduling a free consultation. We have helped many people from all walks of life obtain their visas so they could live the American dream. Call us today.