My Interview Experience @ Buffalo

I just like to share with everyone my experience about this whole immigration process. Maybe someone out there might be in the same boat like what we had experience. Our experience might be helpful in a way :-)

Backgrounder: Our case was under a Family Class Sponsorship. Same-sex marriage. I live in the U.S. on a work visa. Met my Canadian husband online February 2010. I visited him after 2 1/2 months of almost talking online everyday last mid April 2010 and stayed with him for 9 days. During my visit he proposed to me and I said Yes. June 2010 we got married in Toronto after 2 days I went back to the US. First week of September 2010 my husband visited me in California for 10 days. We did a road trip from LA to Vegas to Grand Canyon Arizona. We submitted our application last week of September 2010; first week of October 2010 my husband was approved as sponsor. My file was transferred to buffalo. First week of November, I received a letter an Acknowledgement receipt. Last week of December 2010 I received my initial assessment letter that an interview was needed. March 2011 my husband visited me again in LA. May 2011 after five (5) months I received an email regarding my interview date and time. I also received the letter detailing what I had to bring. June 2011 I went to visit my husband and celebrated our first wedding anniversary together, dinner at 360 Restaurant CN Tower, road trip to Orillia and Ottawa to visit my husband siblings.

So last week, July 14 I had my interview in Buffalo at 830am. I was called 840am. The lady immigration officer was actually nice and all smiles when she greeted me. She let me prepare myself by bringing out the documents with so that it will be easy for me to have access with it when she asked for it. Then she said that the interview will be of two parts. First part was verification of information, address, work, etc. This information was basically from the form we filled up and submitted. Second part, was about our relationship. From the time we met until during the interview. She let me tell it like a bed time story, while she typed on her computer because as she explained to me she needed it for a transcript of my interview, like a narrative report. Anyway, while I was blabbing about our relationship, she will asked question in between which was relevant to prove that our relationship is genuine. For example, my husband is 18 y/o older than me. She asked me if it will be a problem in the future that I will always be younger than him. She also asked me if we have plans to have family. She also asked me since, I am not out with my family as a gay man, what will I tell them when I move to Canada. At this part of the interview, I should be feeling nervous and scared and panicking on how to answer. But, since what I had with my husband is so real and true. I replied to the immigration officer with all honesty. The only documents she asked was photos from our recent trips. My husband and I had been through a lot with all the waiting and upsetting and disappointments. But when the immigration officer said, I am ready to approved your application and issue you your visa and I can clear and put all the documents back into my bag. I was the happiest person in the world. And being a proud husband I even asked the immigration officer, if she would like to meet my husband and she said yes. So I went out of the interview room, my husband patiently waiting and very nervous as I walked toward him. I whispered to him that I am approved and I would like him to meet the immigration officer. So after the meeting we stepped out of the interview room, waiting for my passport and documents.

I have had read some interview experience done in Buffalo from this forum, most of decision was positive and some are not. So for all your lingering questions, whether age, religion, sex or race matters, it does not. What matter most is proving your relationship is genuine. People might call us crazy for marrying too quickly, like after 4 months from the time we met online and a month and a half from the time we met in the flesh. They might actually think that it was just a marriage of convenience due to age difference. But when two people are deeply in love with each other and their willingness to resolve conflict and becomes interdependent along the way, CIC will definitely approved the application. We have been married for 13 months and I can't wait to land in Toronto next month. Cheers!

Have a good weekend everyone. I wish you all a positive response on your application :-)