Applying for a Permanent Resident Card (also known as a Green Card) or a Visa into the United States is an incredibly long and tiresome process. Sending in the application alone is incredibly stressful. Once the application has been sent in the client has to wait to hear from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to see if they have moved on to the next step. This step is setting up an interview. However, majority of people do not know how the interview process looks like or what to even to expect. The Law Office of Travis Helm is here to help you through this difficult and trying time.
Once you have an interview scheduled you and your attorney (if you have one) will be notified by mail. This piece of paper will tell you when and where your interview is taking place. It will also tell you what you need to bring to your interview, i.e., passport, drivers license, social security number, etc. If you have any questions, please reach out to your attorney or USCIS if you do not have an attorney, either the attorney or USCIS will be able to clarify any questions that you may have.
Once your interview is scheduled then it is extremely important that you review your application. The application is what they will be using and referring to when USCIS interviews you. Read through all the affidavits to make sure you are on the same page as the individuals that wrote them, you should have reviewed them before sending the application in. It is always a good idea to refresh your memory on what the individuals said. The process from turning in your application to the interview can take an extended amount of time.
When the date of your interview arrives the day usually goes as follows.
You will arrive to your location of the interview, please make sure to research where you are going in advance.
If possible, go to the actual location therefore you do not get lost on the day of the interview.
There will be numerous people in the waiting area as interviews generally get scheduled for a certain amount of people at a time.
Then a USCIS Officer will call you up, they will verify your identity by looking at identifications that you took with you to the interview.
From there they general roll right on overview to the interview.
They will ask you questions pertaining to your immigration applications, hints why it is important to review everything.
If there are any issues with the application the officer will bring it up during this time.
If you are applying based on a marriage, there may be additional steps that need to be taken. The USCIS officer might require you and your spouse to report to Fraud Unit. This is where the officers will interview both you and your spouse separately then compare the stories to make sure the marriage is not out of fraud.
After the interview with the officer if there are not any additional steps the officer will usually tell you if you have been accepted or not. However, if their supervisor has to sign off on the approval it could take a couple weeks to get the official acceptance. If you are accepted as a permanent resident, it is incredibly important that you do NOT leave the country without your green card in hand.
Overall, the process of applying for a visa or permanent residence can be overwhelming but at the end can be extremely rewarding. If you or someone you know is looking for an attorney to help with your green card application, please give us a call at 307-460-2032 so we can set up a consultation and help you down the road to citizenship.
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