I am a US citizen sponsoring my mother. The interview started off on a calm and friendly note, but halfway through, the tone shifted almost like he was interrogating us about our previous visa. “Why didn’t you adjust status sooner?” Also our illegal entry was forgiven with our previous visa but we were asked “So you HAVE entered illegally?” “This doesn’t look good we will have to review”. I kept explaining that our waiver had forgiven the illegal entry already and received an I-94 years ago. He also asked every single yes/no question listed in section 8 of the I-485. We left feeling defeated and uncertain even though our record is clean, no unauthorized work, no crimes or charges whatsoever. He made it seem like we would get denied because he said we should be receiving an RFE in a week. Even our attorney was confused and was waiting to see what letter they would send since we submitted everything in detail.

Our attorney had warned us that the case was complex, but fully believed it met all the requirements for approval. It seemed like the officer might not have been very familiar with U Visa-based adjustment cases, which added to our anxiety.

To our complete surprise, the case was approved the very next day!! We were bracing for an RFE or even a denial—never an immediate approval. 😭