In a marriage visa interview, the officers are trained to review documentation that leads him or her to determine whether the marriage is bona fide. They are also trained to ask a series of questions that are not always the same. These questions are usually generalized and the responses from the spouses will provide the officer with more detailed questions.
Importantly, if the noncitizen spouse is applying at a U.S. Embassy experience shows the interview process to be rather abbreviated. Thus, the following examples are when the couple are seeking “adjustment of status”, which takes place at a USCIS Field Office. An Officer may ask the couple:
- what they do together
- biographical information about each member to the couple or the other
- what is his mother’s name
- what is her father’s name
- have you ever met her brother and spoken to her sisters
- information about their trips and vacations together
- how the relationship began
Usually, the interview questions are not drastically invasive and the couple are together throughout the interview. However, if an officer begins to suspect fraud or misrepresentation, the couple’s interview could be stopped and a new appointment date scheduled. At the next interview, the couple will most likely be separated and subjected to what is known as a “Stokes Interview”. In rare situations, the Officer could conduct the Stokes Interview when the issue is identified and skip the whole process of scheduling a new interview date and time.
