Does having an attorney at your Marriage-Based Green Card USCIS Interview make your case look suspicious?

April 5, 2023

News, tips, UncategorizedNo Comments

Absolutely not! Having a good attorney makes you look, and actually be, prepared for your USCIS interview. 

Before the interview, your attorney should do the following:

1. Provide you with a copy of your application and ask you to carefully review it for updates and edits (mistakes)
2. Provide you with a list of common interview-questions that you can review and practice with your spouse
3. Meet with you for about 60 minutes to review any updates/edits and conduct a mock interview with you and your spouse
4. Assess why your case may have been scheduled for an interview (since most cases are not schedule for interview, as of fall 2023) and prepare explanations and documentation that will address the potential weaknesses/problems in your case
5. Provide you with a check-list of documents that you need to provide to the attorney or bring with you to the interview

If your attorney is not taking those steps to prepare you for the USCIS interview, then your attorney is not doing his/her job and you should consider hiring a new attorney to represent you at your interview. 

During the interview, your attorney should take thorough notes of the officer’s questions and your answers, provide documents that they officer cannot find, provide explanations of your immigration history, criminal history, and any legal issues in the case, push back on the officer if s/he is asking inappropriate or irrelevant questions or badgering you or your spouse, and/or speak with a USCIS supervisor if the officer is not appropriate or does not give a decision on the day of the interview. The attorney should explain that the best way to get information from the spouses is in person, and that USCIS should take the opportunity that day to obtain information from the couple that they need. Also, you or your attorney should suggest that USCIS call the people who wrote letters of support for you in order to confirm the testimony that they provided in their letters. 

 

If you need to talk to an experienced immigration attorney. We’ve helped hundreds of people traverse the complicated immigration and citizenship process. We would love to help you as well.  Call (617-272-7980) or email hello@cambridgeimmigrationlaw.com to get in touch.