GC Interview Discussions
I just received a email notification and the status shows that:
Your Current Status: Case is Ready to Be Scheduled for An Interview
Did any of you see the above status?
Does it mean it will go for an interview and just waiting for schedule or the field office has to decide if the interview is required and then schedule?
Looks like I am scheduled for an interview now that I got the update online that they will mail a letter soon after scheduling the interview. Starting this thread if someone has already attended an interview they can share their experience.Originally Posted by srimurthy
I would assume this status is just a reflection of next logical step but they may waive it and approve it directly unless you get the physical notice to appear for interview.
I hope so as I have not seen anyone post with this status :-)
My initial I-140 was filed by Firm A (holding H1B in 2010), which was taken over by Firm B and then Firm C took control. Firm C was shutting shop so I switched my H1 to Firm D in 2017 and filed a new PERM, Labor, and I-140. But the Client is the same from 2010 to 2020 even though my employer changed. Does anyone see concerns here and the Client is a pharma giant, what could be the questions in the interview?
Started at home at 10:15 am and reached USCIS office at 10:45am. Spoke with attorney outside the office for 15mins and went in to the building at 11:00am. The security was just like in airport, they asked your interview letter and asked me to remove your belt, shoes etc. after the security check there are small window counters where they will ask your id and interview letter and ask your A# as well and enter in to the system and write a number on the letter and ask you to go to upstairs.
After taking an elevator to upstairs / 2nd floor there will be a receptionist who takes your interview letter and asks you to sit the in the waiting area and they will be calling your name. Sat in the area at 11:15am.
Waited and waited and waited and no call until 12:15pm. The officer Magee came in asked me to come in and asked my spouse to stay outside and she don?t need an interview as I being the primary applicant.
Officer asked me to raise my hand and take an oath as I say everything truth. He opened my file and asked me
How long have I been in this country and when did I came in first?
How many times have you entered in to USA?
What are the visa statuses you were in those visits to USA? What are the timelines?
What are the different employers you were with since you first came in?
What are the timelines of each employer?
What are the client places you worked for each of these employers?
Asked about Comany name 1 and Company name 2 (name change). Are they different or same while verifying the employer info on the file and system.
Went thru personal info filled in the i485 applications like what is your full name, DOB, address, wife?s name, Kids? name, parents names etc.
Went thru the i485 part 8 questions each and every one
Asked me to sign that interview is concluded
I asked if they have medicals on the file that I interfiled, he said yes.
Came out to the door and said thank you at 1:10 PM.
Old P.D : 07/08/2008 (Lost), New P.D : 05/27/2010; I-485 RD: 10/19/2020; I-485 ND:11/07/2020; I-765/I-131 RD: 10/27/2020;EAD Approval 04/09/2021; I485 Interview held on: 08/09/2021; FO: Dallas; I-485 Approved: 08/20/2021; I-485 J Approved: 08/24/2021;
Thanks Chilli. That was very detailed information. Thanks and congratulations again for your I485 approval.
Very informative Chilli. Thank you and congratulations on your GC approval.
Out of curiosity, the timelines for the visa statuses and entry into the country -- did you have that ready and written down somewhere or responses were from memory? I am assuming the case officer was taking notes and cross checking on the computer or physically leafing through the I-485 hard copy?
Last edited by gammaray; 08-27-2021 at 11:04 AM.
That is very good to know, especially my spouse is not great with dates.
Also is it a concern if my client is the same for the last 10 years, but by Employer changed in between?
Last edited by srimurthy; 09-08-2021 at 09:21 AM.
Entry and Exit dates and work authorization status is very essential document for any immigration application, We always provide this as part each H1 renewal and also for I-485. Passport should have all entry and exit dates.
Yeah the information is all there. But when you are talking about 10-15+ years of entry/exit dates, work status, multiple passports with multiple stamps, multiple h1bs -- you can't easily reproduce it in an instance when asked a question on the spot (unless you consider fumbling through multiple h1b petitions and multiple entry/exit stamps on the several passport pages as easy). So the question to OP was if he had a "cheat sheet" ready with the dates or a great memory to produce everything accurately or were the answers just an approximation. And did the case officer cross-check dates as they were being answered.
Last edited by gammaray; 09-08-2021 at 10:07 AM.
yes I agree. This information is part of I-129 form itself or may be appendix to I-129. I don't see any issue referring to your documents during I485 interview and answer correctly.
Our interview was early and first thing in the morning with a 7:15 am slot. The guard outside the building where we are queueing up was very active and encouraging saying we are all hear for either naturalization or GC Interviews and don't worry everything will be fine and we will be approved.
The security and checks were as mentioned in the earlier posts. And then were guided to the 14th floor for people from NJ the Newark Federal building.
I did speak to my company attorney the day before and a week before and they felt it will be all routine and no need of an attorney to be present at the interview and if needed they can always follow up with any additional evidence needed. I took copies of all documents submitted and anything new like paystubs, status reports or timesheets. And the originals for all ID's, Passports, EADs, I-129s, education and BC, MC, Affidavits, Employment letters, I can think off to show.
At the initial counter the person checked the interview notice, pulled out all out files a big stack of all documents we submitted in Oct for the primary and all dependents. He asked if an Attorney is accompanying us and when we said no, made the notes of the applicants going for interview together. All this and waiting till the officer called for an interview took a couple of hours.
What I observed was most of the people coming for interview are coming without attorneys and only one are two are accompanied by Attorneys.
Then the officer came out and called our name and took us together (all three, primary and dependents) into a room.
We also broke some ice while walking to the room with regular chit chat about the day and the weekend.
Officer asked all of us to raise out right hand and take an oath as everything we state is the truth.
She went through the standard questions with all three of us
Went thru personal info filled in the i485 applications like what is your full name, DOB, address, wife?s name, Kids?
How many times have I been married?
How long have we been married?
How long have I been in this country and when did I came in first?
How many times have you entered in to USA?
What are the visa statuses you were in those visits to USA?
Where are you working and the employer information and the company address?
And with my spouse if she was working and if yes where and since the company was outside of New Jersey, she asked if it was remote work or what?
She stated that she works at the Client site and the kind of work she does with the client.
And while she was going through she crosschecked the information we are saying in the document and ticking it or marking as they are matching. She had a very efficient way of flipping the pages while crosschecking all answers by wrapping a rubber band behind the pen and I complimented her on that.
Then she went thru the i485 part 8 questions each and every one with me and my wife together and said my daughter need not answer them as she is a minor.
Then she said that she will go through the info with me and will be recording everything and also typing it in for me to sign later. And the answers would be leading to the next set of questions.
Then started asking the regular first with Personal information. Then employment information.
Where are you working and the employer information and the company address?
Are you also working at the same location? Or different? (I work at a client location)
What is the client location? How are the reporting managers?
What is the kind of work, Job description and regular activities in brief?
Do I manage any employees or resources?
When did you start working for them? How did you come to know about this position?
How long did you apply for this position?
Were there any interviews? If yes, where did the interview took place and how many interviews and rounds?
Did anyone else file 485 for you?
Did anyone else file Labor for you?
I said yes and went to the previous employer and how long I have worked for them?
They had some mergers, so I shared that and indicated that the merger documents are attached with the 485 docs submitted.
Then she asked me if I wanted to add anything more about this position and I said know.
Then said printed the whole questionnaire with answers and asked me to review while she went and brought along another officer to witness while we sign?
Asked me to sign that interview is concluded.
I asked if she needs any evidence or copies of I-129 or the new 485-J singed or LCA, she said she has all the info and did anything change?
I said I have copies of EAD's and AP that got approved after the 485 application and new paystub copies and my other kid who was born here his Passport copies.
I handed over those to her.
She said we are all done and my wife asked when will we get to know the updates. She said she has other interviews aligned and should cross check and update the status by end of the day. And asked us to keep checking online in a couple of days or so.
Came out to the door and while we were walking back she and my daughter talked about the all the high school stuff.
End of the day I cross checked and the status was updated.
Generally I felt the interview for GC is just a random check to see if things are as listed in the documents and see all dependents and applicants are genuine.
Unless there is a fraud or misrepresentation there should not be an issue or we should be worried about the interview.
But we should all be prepared and especially if there are kids, they know what we are answering and all are aligned.
The office did not look at any of the originals or any document I carried other than the Photo ID she request to verify for all there, and we presented the current passports.
Last edited by srimurthy; 10-18-2021 at 12:11 PM.
Thanks for posting. I asked this question before to prior posters but didn't get a response --- the entry/exit dates and visa status history, was that something you had written down? And your description mentions the VO was crosschecking it against the document. What document? The I-485 doesn't include any history of prior entry/exists, only the employment history. Just curious.
If we submitted all the copies of the Passport, I-129 and I-94s, that will cover most of the entry exit dates.
With us it was more on the lines of when was the last entry for me and my family, and how long have been in the country with the current visa. And since they were different for me and my family I just clarified.
I had 6 entries between 2000 and 2004 and remember mostly but you don't have to be specific about the dates, but the month should be fine. Also you can have a note or print out as say for specific date and entry and exit I can refer the notes and share the details. Else state the month and year.
For LCA and client site, they asked about the year and companies that filed the LCAs and what was the work location or site for those LCAs (just to remember).
Hope that answers the questions.
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