Emigrating from another country to North Carolina can be an exciting yet stressful experience, especially if the reason you’re coming here to live is that you are marrying a U.S. citizen. Depending on your cultural background, you might encounter significant challenges when acclimating to new customs and traditions, including different food, language and everyday lifestyles. Some things can make the experience even more stressful, however, such as immigration officials notifying you to appear at a Stokes interview.
If you’ve received this notification in your postal mail, it means that the U.S. government suspects you of entering marriage under fraudulent pretenses, most likely to obtain a green card. If a Stokes interview doesn’t go well, you could be at risk of deportation.
Proving to USCIS that your marriage is bona fide
When the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) department calls you and your spouse to a Stokes interview, they plan on asking you a lot of questions. The purpose of the questions is two-fold: 1. to check whether you and your spouse give answers that align with each other, and 2. to prove that your marriage is not a fraud.
The following section provides numerous examples of the types of questions you might have to answer at a Stokes interview:
- On what day of the week is garbage collected in your neighborhood?
- Where did you and your spouse go on your first date?
- What color are the walls in your bedroom?
- At what time does your spouse typically go to bed at night?
- What does your spouse usually eat for breakfast?
- How many siblings does your spouse have?
- What foods are your spouse’s favorite and least favorite?
These are questions that the average married couple would typically have no trouble answering. If USCIS officials notice that your answers do not coincide, they will flag your case for further investigation.
You must bring several things to an immigration interview
To demonstrate that your marriage is legitimate and was not entered into under false pretenses, you must bring many documents and other items to a Stokes interview, such as your marriage certificate, proof of citizenship for your spouse, bank statements, tax returns, utility bills and photographs that feature a timeline of your relationship as a couple.
Never lie to an immigration official
If you do not have one or more of the required items or do not know the answer to a question during your interview, it is best to admit it to the interviewer. Some people think they can beat the system by fabricating an answer. However, USCIS officials often discover lies, and those people wind up making their situations worse.
If you have questions about the immigration interview process or have encountered legal problems as you navigate the system, you can reach out for additional support at any time.