Articles – U.S. Permanent Residence
The Immigration Interview
By Mitchell J. Cohen
A very wise individual once said, “If you don’t prepare, prepare to fail.” This expression especially rings true when it comes to your interview with your local United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) office. Yet every day, people will go to their immigration interviews unprepared, and the consequences can be horrific. Their cases may be denied, and some applicants may even be arrested by immigration at the time of the interview, and even deported back to their country of origin. How does one avoid becoming one of these unhappy statistics? How can you increase your chance of winning your immigration case? In this article, I will share some valuable information, which I hope you will find instructive.
1. Arrive on time.
Immigration officers expect you to be on time for your immigration interview. If you are late, the officer may deny your application. Be prepared to encounter long lines at the entrance of the immigration building, and therefore it is advisable to arrive at least 30 minutes before your scheduled interview.
The Marriage Interview
By Mitchell J. Cohen
Many people believe that simply marrying a United States citizen results in an automatic approval for residence. That is a fallacy. In fact, the USCIS puts the husband and wife through a rigorous marriage inspection process. At the very least, the marriage inspection process will involve an interview of the both spouses in front of an immigration officer who is trained to ferret out fraudulent marriages, that is marriages entered into for the sole purpose of obtaining a Permanent Resident Card (also referred to as a “Green Card”). People in a fraudulent marriage situation usually do not co-habitate.
Sometimes, however, individuals may live under in a home as “roommates,” but not as bona fide husband and wife. The marriage certificate by itself does not mean that the marriage is a valid marriage for immigration purposes. It is the task of the husband and wife to prove to an often cynical and skeptical immigration officer that the marriage is in fact a bona fide marriage, and not a sham marriage.