What type of questions does USCIS ask at a marriage-based interview?

Preparing for Your Green Card Interview

Knowing some of the questions that the immigration officer will as you and your spouse will allow you both when preparing for your visa or green card interview. The interview normally takes place about three months after your marriage green card is filed with USCIS.

During your marriage-based interview with USCIS you will be asked a series of questions about the development of your relationship, how you met and how much you know about your spouse. The interviewer is trying to get some insight on the status of your relationship and checking to ensure you both have the same responses. Below is a list of sample questions divided in categories.

What type of questions does USCIS ask at a marriage-based interview?

Development of the Relationship:

Where did you meet?
What did the two of you have in common?
Where did you go for dates?
When did your relationship turn romantic?
How long was it before you decide to get married?
Who proposed to whom?
Why did you decide to have a long or short engagement?
Did your parents approve of the match? Why or why not?

The Wedding:

How many people attended your wedding?
Did each of your parents attend?
Where was the wedding held?
Was there music or entertainment?
What kind of cake (or other food) did you serve?
Who were the bridesmaids and groomsmen?
How late did the guests stay?
Did the bride change clothes for the reception?
Did you serve liquor? What kind?
Did anyone get drunk or otherwise embarrass themselves at the reception? Who was it? Can you describe it?
What time did you leave the reception?
Did you go on a honeymoon?
When did you leave for the honeymoon?
How did you get there? If you took an airplane, what airline did you take?

Regular Routines:

Who gets up first? What time do you both normally wake up?
How many alarm clocks do you set in the morning?
Who makes breakfast?
What do each of you eat for breakfast?
Does your spouse drink coffee in the morning?

What is the location of your spouse’s workplace?

Who is your spouse’s current employer? Do you know their past employer?
What is the name of your spouse’s boss?
How much does your spouse earn every month or year? How often id your spouse paid?
What time does your spouse arrive home from work?
Who cleans the house?
What day is your garbage picked up?
Who takes care of paying the bills?
Do you have a joint bank account? Where?
Do you have a cat, dog or other pet? Who feeds it? Who walks it or cleans up after it?
Do you and/or your spouse attend regular religious services? Where?
Where do you keep the spare toilet paper?
Does your spouse take any regular medications?
What did you do this morning, yesterday, last weekend, etc.

The Kids:

Who picks up the children after school?
Who packs the lunches for the kids?
What are the kids’ favorite activities or toys?
What are their least favorite foods?
Which children, if any, still use a car seat?
What is your usual babysitter’s name?

The Cooking:

How many times a week on average do you eat out?
What is your favorite restaurant for special occasions? For weekly outings?
Who does most of the cooking?
Who does the grocery shopping? Where?
Is there a particular food that you eat every week?
What is your spouse's favorite/least favorite food?
What color are the kitchen curtains?
Do you have a barbecue grill? Do you use it?
Is your stove gas or electric?

Other Family Members:

Have you met each other's parents?
How often do you see each other's parents? Where do they live?
When was the last time you saw them? Where? For how long?
On important holidays, do you buy individual gifts for your parents-in-law? Do they buy individual gifts for you?
How do each of you get along with your parents-in-law?
How many brothers and sisters does your spouse have? What are their names?
Which other members of your spouse's family do you see frequently? What are their names? When was the last time you saw them? What did you do together?

Home Technology:

How many land-line telephones are in your house? Where are they?
What type of mobile phone does your spouse have? What's the phone number?
How many televisions are in the house? In which rooms? Do you watch shows together, or separately? Name one show you always watch together.
Do you record any television shows?
Do you subscribe to a DVD rental or streaming video service?
What company provides your cable service? Internet service?
How many computers, laptops, or tablets are in the house? What kind are they?
Does your spouse listen to the radio? What station?
What kind of car does your spouse drive?

In the Bedroom:

What size is your bed (Twin, Queen, or King)?
Do you have a regular mattress, futon, or waterbed?
How many windows are there in your bedroom?
What color are your spouse's pajamas?
Who sleeps on each side of the bed?
What form of contraception (birth control) do you use?
When was your wife's last menstrual period?
When did you last have intimate relations?
Where do you keep your toothbrushes? What kind of toothpaste, soap, and shampoo does each of you use?
Do either of you read or watch TV before going to sleep? Do you have lamps next to your bed?
Have you ever had an argument that resulted in one of you sleeping in another room? Who, and which room?

Where/How You Live:

Do you live in a home or apartment? Who pays the mortgage or rent? How much is it?
Do you have a garage? Who parks in it? Do you use a garage door opener?
Is there a carpet in your front hallway? What color(s) your sofa a regular one or does it have a pull-out bed?
Have you ever had houseguests sleep there?
What type of curtains or window coverings are in your living room? What color?
How many staircases are in your house?
How many sinks, toilets, and showers are there in your house or apartment in total?
Do you leave any lights on when you go to sleep at night?

Celebration:

When is your spouse's birthday?
What did you do for your spouse's last birthday?
What did your spouse give you as a present for your last birthday?
How did you celebrate your most recent wedding anniversary?
What religious holidays do you celebrate together?
What's the most important holiday of the year in your household? Where do you typically celebrate it?
Have you and your spouse gone to see a movie or other form of entertainment lately? When, and what did you see?
What did the two of you do for the last big events like New Year's Eve? Fourth of July?
Who takes pictures at important family occasions?

It is important to properly prepare for your marriage green card interview, or you could experience a delay in the approval of your case, or worse, your application could be denied if you don’t present the proper information at your interview.

The USCIS officer may separate you and your spouse and interview you individually, if they suspect during the green card interview that the marriage may not be real. These questions can be tricky if the two people do not know each other.

More Tips

Keep your answers short and brief
Plan to arrive at least 30 minutes early
Dress formally and conservatively, like a job interview
Do not guess on anything, it is fine to say you do not remember, instead of guessing the answer
Be prepared with your documents and duplicate copies to give the USCIS officer, for example: wedding photos, kids birth certificates, joint bank statements, photographs together
You do not need to memorize anything, there are no specific test questions, just be honest.

Lastly, just breathe, and relax you have nothing to worry about. If you need additional assistance, reach out to an immigration attorney today!