You should hire an experienced immigration attorney to help you through the marriage based immigration green card interview, if you are not already represented by competent legal counsel. Why?
1. Legal paperwork – your attorney will help ensure that your paperwork is completed and submitted in a proper manner.
2. Determination if the marriage is real – the hearing officer will ask questions to try to determine if the marriage is real. Some sample questions include:
How did you meet?
How did he propose?
Are there photographs of the wedding?
What side of the bed does he sleep on?
Where does your husband park his car?
The details that a hearing officer can ask can be very tricky. Sometimes a hearing officer asks questions poorly, that can lead to a appearance of inconsistency. This is especially true if the hearing officer elects to interview the parties to the marriage separately.
Hiring an experienced Immigration lawyer, such as attorney Sufen Hilf, will help you anticipate the questions asked, to help you relax during the process. Usually the first interview occurs with the couple together with their attorney. The first interview usually lasts for about 20 to 30 minutes, but it can go longer at the discretion of the hearing officer. Sometimes the first interview is conducted separately when there are suspicions or concerns raised based on the paperwork previously submitted.
When a second interview is scheduled, there may be a concern by the hearing officer that the marriage is a good faith marriage, or there may be a concern about the evidence submitted. During the second interview you are likely to be asked questions separate from your spouse. Hiring an experienced Immigration lawyer can help you present the proper evidence that the marriage is real. Documents such as bank accounts, joint credit card accounts, insurance, love letters, proof of children being born to you and your spouse (such as birth certificates) can be presented. These documents are often necessary to convince the hearing officer to approve the case.
3. Hiring an experienced Immigration lawyer will give you the peace of mind that the process will go as smoothly as possible. When it comes to your family, you should take no chances. A lawyer will help to avoid lengthy delays in the process that cause unnecessary anxiety to the couple involved.
Sometimes in life you only have one opportunity to reach the right result.
Hiring the right Immigration lawyer may be one of the most important decisions you make for yourself and your family. There are many lawyers who claim to do more than what they are able – just as there are many surgeons in the world that are no better than butchers. Do not settle for a legal hack job. Practicing law is a skill that develops over time with experience, commitment, dedication, and God given talent. There are no amateur attorneys at Hilf & Hilf, PLC – only professionals that are guided by the humanity in the individuals we serve, and the drive not to settle for what is easy over what is right.