What questions do they ask in a green card marriage interview?

If you are seeking a Marriage-based green card, you might be asked the following questions by an Immigration officer to determine if your marriage is bona fide. Often you and your spouse will be separated for part of the interview to see if your answers match.

There are several things that you must keep in mind about these interviews.

1. Although most of these questions focus on whether you are living together that is actually only one factor that the USCIS officer is supposed to look at in determining if your marriage is bona fide under the immigration laws.
2. There is absolutely no way to tell exactly what questions you will be asked. Immigration varies the questions quite a bit and even though the attorneys in our firm have sat through hundreds if not thousands of these interviews there is no way of knowing what questions you will in fact be asked.
3. It is highly unusual for couples to give matching answers to a 100% of the questions. We have heard questions like "what color is your spouse's toothbrush" or "what did your spouse wear to bed last night?"
4. Making a mistake on rather trivial questions like this is not usually a problem. However, if you miss too many of them or if you miss a big obvious question like "does anyone else live with the two of you?" will often result in a denial of your case and possibly criminal charges and/or removal proceedings.
5. Many people (and for that matter many Immigration officers) do not fully understand what a fraudulent marriage is under the law. It is less concerned with whether you are living together and more concerned with your intent at the time that you entered into your marriage. Put another way, does the officer believe that you and your spouse entered into your marriage with the intent to make a life together, or was your marriage solely to evade the immigration laws? If at the time of your marriage you did not have any intent to make a life together and were only entering into it for immigration purposes you are subject to criminal penalties. Don't do it!
6. For most of these questions, the officer does not care what the actual answer is. He or she just wants to see if your answers match your spouse's answers. Tell the truth. Do not give answers merely because you think it what the officer wants to hear.

Here are just a few suggestions of what questions you might be asked about your marriage if you are seeking to get a green card.

• Name and address. 
• Name and Date of Birth of Spouse. 
•  What are the languages you speak? 
• Do you have any children together? If so, how many and their ages. 
• When and where did you meet your spouse? 
•  Describe your 1st meeting.
•  Did you make arrangements to meet again? 
• Did you exchange phone numbers? 
•  When did you meet next? 
• Which one of you called or texted to set up the second meeting
• Where were you living at the time? Where was your spouse living? 
• Why did you decide to marry your spouse?
• When did you decide to get married? Where were you at the time? 
• Which one of you proposed? Describe the proposal.
•  Did you live together before marriage? 
• When and where did you get married? 
• How did you and your spouse get to the church, courthouse, etc.? 
•  Who were the witnesses to the ceremony? 
• Who else attended your wedding?
•  Did you exchange wedding rings? 
•  Where did you purchase these rings? Did you and your spouse purchase them together? 
•  Did you have a reception after the ceremony? 
•  Where was it held? 
• Do you have any photos of the ceremony and /or reception? 
•  Describe the reception. 
•  Did you go on a honeymoon? If so, when and where? 
•  If you did not have a reception, what did you do after the wedding ceremony?  Where did you live after the wedding? 
• How did you move your belongings into that house after the marriage?
• How did your spouse move their belongings into that house after the marriage?
•  Describe the place where you lived right after the marriage. The number of bedrooms and bathrooms; furnishings; the color of walls, floor coverings, appliances, etc; type of air conditioning, heating, etc; # of telephones, televisions, etc. 
• If you lying in bed on your back does your spouse usually sleep on your left or your right?
• Do you use a phone or a clock to set an alarm for the morning?
• Do you have cable television?
• Where did you get the furniture? Was it already there, did you buy it, was it a gift, or did it come from your, or your spouse's, previous residence? 
•  If brought to the house or apartment, describe how it was transported. 
•  Describe your bedroom. 
• Where do you keep your clothes? 
• Where does your spouse keep his or her clothes? 
• Where are the bathroom towels kept? 
• Where do you keep the dirty clothes? 
•  Where is the garbage kept in the kitchen? 
•  On what day of the week is the garbage picked up? 
• Where do you usually shop for groceries? Do you go together with your spouse? How do you usually get there? 
•  Where do you work? What days of the week do you work? What kind of work do you do?
• What hours do you work? What is your salary? 
•  What is your telephone number at work? 
•  When was the last vacation you had from work? 
•  Did you and your spouse go anywhere together at that time? 
• When was the last vacation you and your spouse took together? 
• Where did you go? How did you get there? Describe it. 
•  Where does your spouse work? What days of the week? What hours? What is the salary, if you know? 
•  What is your spouse's telephone # at work? 
•  When was the last time your spouse got a vacation from work? 
•  Has your spouse taken any trips without you? When and how many? Why didn't you go?
•  Do you or your wife have any scars or tattoos? If so, where on the body?
• Since you have been together have either of you been ill enough to go to a hospital? When? Describe what happened.
•  Do you know your spouse's family members? If so, which ones? If your spouse has children from a previous marriage, their names, ages, where they live, and where they go to school, if applicable. 
•  Where do you live now? (If different from where you lived right after the marriage, then go over the same questions as above). How much is the rent? When is it paid? How do you pay for it?
• Do you regularly attend church, mosque, or synagogue? If so where? When was the last time you attended? Did your spouse go with you?
•  Do you have a bank account together? Where? What kind of account? (Checking, savings).
• Are both of you listed on the account? (Do you have a bank letter, canceled checks, etc.?) 
•  Did you file a joint tax return this year? Do you have a copy with you? 
•  Do you own any property together? What property? Did you bring copies of the documents with you? 
• What kind of automobile do you and your spouse have? Describe them. 
•  Do you have an insurance policy listing your spouse as the beneficiary? If so, do you have a copy? 
•  Have you taken any trips or vacations together? Do you have photos from these trips? 
•  Do you have any utility bills, or receipts from items you have purchased together? 
• What other documentation do you have to show that you are living together as husband and wife? 
• What is your spouse's favorite hobby?
• Does anyone else live with you and your spouse?
• Has anyone in the past ever lived with you and your spouse since you started living together?
•  Do you have any pets? What kind, what are their names, and describe them? 
• What is your spouse's favorite sport? What is his or her favorite team?
• What did you do for Christmas, New Year's, your anniversary, your last birthday or your spouse's last birthday? Did you exchange gifts? If so, what kind of gift? 
• Did you or your spouse go to work yesterday? If so, at what time did you and/or your spouse leave the house and return? 
•  Who usually cooks the meals at the house? 
• What is your spouse's favorite food? What is your favorite food? 
•  Does your spouse drink coffee? If so, does he or she use cream and/or sugar? 
•  Did you eat dinner together last night? Did anyone else have dinner with you? What did you have? 
•  What time was dinner served? Who cooked it? 
•  Did you watch TV after dinner? What shows did you watch? 
• Does your refrigerator make ice or do you use ice trays? 
• At what time did you go to bed? Who went to bed first? 
• Where do you usually do your laundry?
•  Did you have the air conditioning or heater on? 
• Who woke up first this morning? Did an alarm clock go off? 
•  Does either of you take medication daily? What kind and how often? 
• Did you or your spouse take a shower? 
• Did you come to the interview together? Who drove? 
• Who locked the front door on your way out to come to the interview?
•  Did you have breakfast? Where and what did you eat?

Many people who want to get a green card through marriage are not aware of what they need to do and say at their interview. This results in many people getting denied and even criminally prosecuted for fraud or lying on the application or during the interview.

If you have been scheduled for an immigrant visa (green card) interview, it is very important that you prepare properly and answer all questions honestly. Giving wrong answers could result in arrest, imprisonment, and your removal from the United States.

 The best way to avoid being denied or removed from the United States is by preparing properly before your green card interview with USCIS. An experienced and qualified Immigration Attorney will not only represent you at the interview but will help you understand what questions can be asked at your immigration interviews so that you can give honest answers without risking arrest or deportation.