In this video, we're going to talk about 10 tips for surviving a fraud marriage interview.
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Hi everybody.
My name is Jacob Sapochnick and I'm an immigration attorney based in San Diego, California.
We get a lot of questions.
People are getting summoned to second interviews after a filing their marriage petitions.
I've decided to do this video to explain some things to make the process a bit easier for
couples that are going through this process, how, what to do and how to repair.
Here are 10 tips that can help you survive as stokes interview, a second interview.
Number one.
Number one is be honest with yourself, with your partner, and with your lawyer.
It's very important that anything that happens, you have to be honest about the process, you
know, whether, um, you don't have enough documents or whatever it is, be honest before that interview
because once you get in there, it's very difficult to change anything.
It's important to be honest with yourself, with your spouse, and with your lawyer.
Tip number two, make sure that you prepare all the documents the week before the interview
so you can go back and forth with your attorney, with your spouse to understand what's in the
case.
Sometimes you have to show them bona fides of your marriage documents, joint bills, accounts,
pictures, things like that.
Make sure you prepare everything in advance so you feel comfortable with the documents
when they ask you to show them, you are able to find them very easily in the in the pile
instead of fumbling for everything and losing track.
It's very important to be prepared at least a week before the interview.
Make sure you have everything ready.
Tip number three, never ever try to lie or invent information at that interview.
It's better to be honest and say, I don't remember than inventing things because it's
worse to say … they'll say that you lie to them or charge you with misrepresentation
than just say, listen, officer, I really don't remember.
I just can't answer this question.
I just don't remember it.
It's very important to be honest and just say to remember, instead of inventing facts,
tip number five, make sure that when you enter the interview, you are comfortable and facing
the officer, looking them in the eye instead of looking at the ground or looking away,
look at the officer, be comfortable and let them finish the questions before you answer.
Many, many cases.
I was present interviews where clients were answering information that was not even asked.
You know things that they thought the officer as which makes things look odd.
Listen to the question of the officer and only then answer.
It's very important because they also want to make sure that you understand and if you
don't understand, really ask them to repeat the question.
Tip number six.
It's very important that at the time of the interview you are familiar with the situation
around you.
You understand that you're here at an interview.
This is not a chatty conversation.
You are there.
It's a government procedure, so you are there to tell the truth, to be honest and your there
also to convince the government that this is a real marriage.
When you go there, you behave in a way that is natural, so don't over touch your spouse,
don't over pretend that you are in a loving relationship.
Behave like you behave in any normal setting.
It's very important because the officer will pick on that.
I had cases where couples walk in there and in my office they're so cold and quiet and
it just is there a nature.
That is a culture, but at the interview they try to be over affectionate.
There's no need for that because the officers will pick on that energy, have the same energy
you have at home, at the interview.
It's an official interview so act and give that respect to that interview.
Tip Number eight, remember that you have rights as well.
Sometimes the immigration officer may be harsh.
Sometimes they feel that something is going on and sometimes they're trying to do their
job.
They are trying to find a fake marriages and sometimes they're not always right.
There are cases where they'll try to separate you and they'll try to put some pressure on
the U.S. citizen spouse.
They may say read the I130 form loud.
You sign here.
We don't think it's a real marriage.
You need to be there on this case.
If this is a real marriage in your there and you try to fight your rights to get this case
approved, intimidation by the government, you don't have to fall under that pressure.
If they try to intimidate you, sign something and you don't feel that comfortable, you can
always say, officer, I want to talk to my attorney.
I don't want to sign this.
This is your right.
Remember, if you know you're right and they try to put pressure on you, you do not have
to sign anything and you have the right to stop the interview at anytime and speak with
your attorney.
Tip number nine, always and always be courteous and polite to the government, whether it's
the officer they interviewed, the supervisor, communication afterwards, any requests for
evidence, make sure that you maintain professional courtesy and polite because the worst thing
can happen to you is that you're in an interview and you treat the officer with bad faith and
disrespect than most likelihood is that they're not going to be there on your side and they're
going to be more inclined to not be helpful.
Always be respectful to the government officers at the interviewer or anywhere else.
Tip number 10, remember in fraud interviews there, the purpose of government is to determine
whether the marriage is real or not, so they have their structures for those interviews
in many ways.
Therefore, they follow a similar format.
They want to understand what you're doing at the day of the interview.
They will ask you questions about maybe the weekend before.
They may ask you questions about how you met and they were going to repeat those questions
several times throughout the interview to see if you're confused or whatever.
It's important to be aware that it's a particular format for this fraud interview, that you
have to be aware that it's not just the chitty-chatty conversation.
They'll be asking you certain things about the day before, the weekend before, a full
day description of what you've done, both sides and they'll separate you.
They're going to write it down.
It's very important, again, to be mindful of what kind of interview it is, be prepared
and always, always remember, you can always stop the interview if things don't go well
and consult your attorney.
I hope those tips were helpful and if you have any questions, please post them in the
comments below and we'll do more of those based on your questions and your concerns.
My email is Jacob@h1b.biz . You can email me as well with your questions.
I look forward to seeing you at our next video.
Thanks for watching.