How to Prepare for a Marriage Green Card Interview
Securing a green card is a big step in the immigration process. If you or your spouse are applying for permanent residency, it is likely that this step brings a huge sigh of relief with it. However, there is still one major barrier to overcome – the marriage green card interview.
While the immigration process can be stressful, you do not have to do it alone. Contact Garmo Group at 619-441-2500 to schedule a consultation and discuss your legal needs.
Make Sure You Have the Necessary Paperwork
Any paperwork you have that proves the legitimacy of your marriage is advantageous in this process. Furthermore, you should bring all of the original documentation that you submitted for your initial application. This includes birth certificates, your marriage certificate, passports, documentation of previous marriages, and court documents.
You should also bring any documents that you have compiled since you have been married. Bring birth certificates for any children you have had together, mortgage paperwork, joint tax returns, bank account statements, and insurance documents.
As far as documents that prove the legitimacy of your marriage, look for anything that you would use to show the nature of your marriage. You might bring photos of the two of you together, photos of you two with friends and family, letters you have written to each other, and social media posts. Also consider bringing phone records that show how frequently you call or text each other.
Clarify Important Dates
The most important part of preparing for an interview is making sure you and your spouse are on the same page. Although your marriage may be fully legitimate, you still might forget certain dates as time passes and memories start to fade. Ensure that both of you know the important dates for your relationship as they may come up during the interview. They may ask when you started dating, when you got engaged, your anniversary date, when you first started living together, and other important milestones in the relationship.
Make Sure You Can Talk Comfortably About Each Other’s Daily Lives
The goal of a green card marriage interview is to determine whether the marriage is real or if it is being used strictly for immigration purposes. For that reason, the interviewer may ask questions about your daily life that seem odd. They may ask about your morning routine, how your kids spend their time, which medications the other spouse takes, when and how you celebrate birthdays, and how chores are split.
These may seem like easy questions for to answer, but this might not always be the case. For example, if one of you manages the workload around the house and schedules all the appointments, the other spouse may not know much about the daily household operations. Talk about these topics and fill in any gaps in each other’s knowledge.
Refresh Information on Family and Friends
One key feature that interviewing officers might see as a sign of validity is the inclusion of family and friends. Fraudulent marriages rarely involve communication with friends and relatives, since neither individual actually plans on staying together for the long term. But even in legitimate marriages, a spouse may not spend too much time with the other spouse’s family and friends. Therefore, you might struggle to answer questions about them. Do a review of the important people in your life and the life of your spouse and be ready to answer basic questions about them.
Be Honest and Try to Relax
If your marriage is legitimate and you and your spouse genuinely love each other, that will come through in the interview as long as you are honest and don’t let nerves get the best of you.
This is particularly important if you get pulled for Stokes interviews. These are interviews in which the spouses are interviewed separately. If the interviewer asks a question you don’t know the answer to, tell them that. It’s better to say that you don’t know than to make up a fake answer.
Try to avoid looking at the interview as a judgment of your marriage. The interviewer isn’t trying to see if you have the perfect marriage. They simply want to know that you are legitimately married and not trying to circumvent the immigration system.
We’re Here to Help You Through the Immigration Process
Immigration requirements are overwhelming, but you don’t have to go through this process on your own. With a skilled attorney by your side, you can skip the errors that often hold up the immigration process and cause unnecessary delays. To learn more about how we can help, contact Garmo Group at 619-441-2500 or message us online.