Letter of interview request from Buffalo office, so worry!

[Ha Nguyen]

Hi everyone,

I got a letter from the Buffalo office request that both me and my husband need to have an interview with them in Buffalo. I am half worry and half happy. I have some questions that I would appreciate if any one could advise me:

1/They sent me the letter to inform that we will have an interview but didnt say the date, so how long average does it take to be in queu until i know the date?

2/ Why they want to interview both of us in the same office in US? i thought they will interview my husband in Canada not US?

3/ I am living in California now, so it's not convenient to fly to Buffalo, can I ask them change the interview place in any place near California like Los Angeles?

4/Does any one know which questions they will ask in the interview?

5/I and my husband knew each other from my cousin in Canada in Jan 08 by email and chatting, we met first time in Cali in June 09 as I am an international student in US. and the second time we met in July 09 and decided to get married. we didnt have wedding reception but wait until i get to Canada. Is it the reason why they request interview? Short time to get married and no wedding reception?

We find it so difficult to arrange the trip to Buffalo, New York as I know it's a crowded city. I just hope i can get through this nightmare soon.

This is my time line:
31 Aug 09: Sending application
24 Sep 09: Approving sponsorship
7 Oct 09: Filing in Buffalo office
6 Nov: Getting letter of interview request.

Thank you for your help!
I am looking forward to your valuable advice

Regards,
Ha

 

[Karlshammar]

There's a letter in the country-specific package where you list your preferred interview location. Los Angeles is one of them. Did you send that in with your application?

 

[Ha Nguyen]

No, I only filled out the form IMM008- Application for Permanent Resident in Canada and they ask me the visa office requested for the process of application. So i choose Buffalo as i know this is the only place in US process for Permanent Resident cases. I dont understand what do you mean about the country-specific package? what form number is it? thanks.

 

[rorita_76]

Hey, I can answer some of your questions
2-they held the interview in the same office that is working on your application, in your case buffalo.
3-it is not recomended to change the place ans the date of an interview because it might take several month in order to get a new date for the new interview and it would look bad in the eyes of the immigration that you aren't doing your best to be your husband/wife as soon as possible.
4-search this forum, there is lot of post that contain some of the questions that they might ask
5-I guess like you said, short time and no wedding reception has raised a flag, didn't you send other proof to prove your geniune marriage, emails, pictures, gift receipt, phone calls bills, trip tickets...any other kind of communication?

Please note, that from the posts I read over this forum, wen they request both husband and wife for an interview, they tend to ask lot of question,and lot of commun question. you will be interviewd seperatly, asked the same question usualy, and then they will compare the answres t o see that they are the same, so prepare well and good luck

 

[Ha Nguyen]

Hi Rorita,

Thanks for your advice.
I did sent them all the emails and phone bill, pictures from the trip, and the honeymoon. But i think they might require more evidences.
because from the time we got married until we sent application there is only 1.5 months.
I am Catholic, so I would appreciate to have the blessed for us from the church. Therefore, we havent bought wedding rings yet. but wait until we go to have ceremony in the church when i get to Canada. Do you think it is neccessary to wear wedding ring to the interview??
One more question, they sent me the letter of request interview with my first name is mis-spelled, it must be HA instead of THU, my husband sent them the email to ask for the correction. but we havent seen the correction in the application checking online yet. Is it a big problem if when i go to the interview and they get confused with my name???I am sure that I wrote my right name on the Application.

 

[rorita_76]

Before you go to the interview, try to collect more evidence to prove the geniune of your marriage, because it is realy a short period between your marriage and sending the application, from some post over this forum, they say it may raise a flag. Concerning the wedding ring, I am not sure, but it might be a good idea to wear it, you know we can't predict what the officer think or analyse, so it is better to be safe than sorry. about your name, sometime it take long time to update the info on the ecas, but make sure to tell them about the error in your name during the interview and take a copy of the email you sent them, otherwise the wrong name will go to your PR card.

 

[Ha Nguyen]

Hey Rorita,

Thanks for taking the time to help us out. I am Ha's husband. For evidence, I have 3 months of phone bills with over 1500 minutes of time talking to her each month. Actually, my last one was over 3500 minutes to various people, not sure how many are with her but it is a lot (maybe 2000) haha, and thats not including the many hours of chat.. I also have receipts and credit card statements that I can bring with us for various things that I purchased for us and her along with reciepts with both our names to match. I also pay for her tuition for school. I am planning to go to San Jose and spend a week with her on the 24th of Nov and I am looking forward to it I will keep boarding passes and everything else for that, along with photos. I am confident that we have good evidence, but what bothers me the most is "How much notice will they give for our Interview"? I don't care about going to Buffalo. I would fly around the world a million times for my girl, but I would just like to know when the interview will be. They only gave her a letter saying that they will let us know what the date and time will be. I am just worried that they will only give us a few days notice to get our airline tickets and car and hotel.