Interview Prep

We get countless calls from potential clients who attended their interview during which something went drastically wrong!  For this reason, we are now 1-hour Zoom prep sessions during which we will conduct a mock interview just like a USCIS officer.  We will closely listen to your answers and give you valuable feedback so on interview day, you will feel much more comfortable.  Ninety percent of our clients who sign up for our Zoom preps have told us that they feel less anxiety and more prepared.

We offer these prep sessions for the most common interviews:

Adjustment of Status (Form I-485): USCIS schedules interviews based on discretion and often shifts with the current administration.  Generally, USCIS interviews a couple together, in the same room at the same time. However, there are “Stokes Interviews” whereby a couple is separated, and interviewed one at a time.  This type of interview is conducted when USCIS presumes that foreign national married in order to obtain an immigration benefit.  But here’s the kicker- there is no way for you to predict whether you will be interviewed together or separated.  In our experience, we have found that “deficient” filings (prepared either without an attorney or prepared by an inexperienced or unethical attorney) has resulted in a Stokes interview being scheduled. 

On rare occasions, USCIS has even scheduled a 2nd or 3rd interview.  If you have received a 2nd interview notice, please contact our law firm immediately.  The purpose of subsequent interviews is for the officer to take sworn testimony, then use it to “impeach you.” These are usually audio and video recorded and a “Sworn Statement” is taken (the officer types everything that you say) and then you must sign it at the end of the interview.  This information is then used against you.

Consular Interview (Immigrant or Nonimmigrant): Consular interviews are the most important interviews of all of them. Do you know why? First, the Consular Officer (CO) has “unreviewable discretion.”  This means that a visa can be denied based on the officer’s feelings (which are usually rooted in law).  Second, there is no formal process such as a “motion to reopen or reconsider” and no “appeal.”  In fact, a supervisor has usually already reviewed the case and supported the denial. Third, one denial is going to impact all future applications – they remain on your record forever! Finally, no attorney is allowed to attend the consular interview with you, and often, the officer does not allow anyone other than the applicant to attend the interview.

Periodically, we get calls from potential clients who were denied a visa and in these instances, we do not even schedule a consultation because we believe the chance of overturning the visa denial is extremely low.

For all of these reasons, we do everything in our power to ensure that our clients are never denied and thus far, we have had 100% success! So when we prep a client, you can rest assured that we are extremely detailed and thorough.

Relative Petition filed for Those with Removal Orders (Form I-130): USCIS often schedules interviews for those who file relative petitions (Form I130) for those in active removal (have an immigration court date) or those who have been ordered removed by an immigration judge. For those in these cases, the legal burden of proving a legitimate marriage (that the foreign national did not marry in order to obtain an immigration benefit) is much higher, which is why a waiver is required.

Naturalization: USCIS will interview every applicant seeking to naturalize. This is the final stop on the immigration journey so believe us when we tell you that USCIS will go through your entire US immigration history.  Moreover, once USCIS naturalizes a person, it is a long and arduous process to de-naturalize that person so USCIS is going to be extremely careful before it approves the case.  It will go through your entire US immigration journey with a fine-toothed comb, beginning with the very first visa you obtained, through the green card application, up to the naturalization application.  Every application and document ever submitted to USCIS will be reviewed by the officer.

The most common language found in a USCIS denial notice is “…your green card was issued in error, therefore you are permanently banned from naturalizing.”  This happens when USCIS discovers something that was not disclosed to them (either intentionally or unintentionally) prior to the approval of your green card. In other words, had USCIS known about that fact, it would not have approved your green card. But since USCIS did not know about it, it approved your green card application.  However, now that the fact has come to light, USCIS has discovered that you should have never been approved. Although USCIS will most likely allow you to keep your green card status, it will not allow you to become a citizen. We are proud to inform you that in at least two of these instances, we were still able to naturalize our clients!!!

Most of the post-interview calls that we receive from potential clients are from those who have bombed their naturalization interview. Why is this?  When we ask callers what went wrong, they explain that they did not know (or expect) USCIS to ask them questions beyond the last 3 years (if married to a US citizen) or last 5 years (if you have held a green card for 5 years or more).  This is THE single-most mistake that people make – they assume that USCIS will not ask them any questions outside of this period.

The most common question these callers ask is “what is my chance of success?”  Our response is, “tell us how we can erase your testimony from the record, and we can tell you your chance of success.”  Once words are said, they cannot be unsaid.  Your testimony becomes a permanent part of your immigration record.  Moving forward, if you say something different than what’s in the record, USCIS will think, “well was s/he lying then, or is s/he lying now?”  That is why the words that come out of your mouth at an interview can “make or break” your case.

In these cases, we have gotten many clients approved by taking a 3-part approach. First, through an affidavit, we explain in a persuasive manner how the inconsistencies arose and then we have the client clarify the truth (telling the officer what actually happened) and lastly, we enclose documentation that supports our position. 

Removal of Conditions (Form I-751): Heed our warning when we tell you that interviews for petitions to remove conditional status are a HUGE RED FLAG in your case. USCIS never schedules interviews for cases they intend to approve. They are calling you in to get your testimony because they found something somewhere that is very, very problematic.  DO NOT attend this type of interview on your own. 

Do you have an interview coming up and would like to schedule a prep session?  Whether you are awaiting your interview notice, or already have an interview date, we implore you to schedule a prep session with us.  Remember, “prevention is better than cure.”  Send us an email or submit an inquiry through the chat. We would love to help you!