Do you have any pets? What are their names?

“Do you have any pets? What are their names?” is a practice question about daily life for a marriage-based green card interview at a USCIS field office. A real officer may ask it in other words, ask something else, or skip it. Practice can help you explain your own facts. It cannot tell you what USCIS will decide.

What is the officer checking with this question?

The officer may ask about pets as one part of understanding the household you share. Names and daily care can connect a simple fact about your home to the responsibilities each spouse handles. If you have no pets, the answer does not need an invented detail or a description of animals that belong to someone else.

What might the officer ask next?

• What kind of pet is each one?
• Who usually feeds or walks them?
• Did either of you have these pets before you lived together?

The next question usually comes from the words in your answer. If you name a person, a place, or a month, expect a question about it. The guide to green card interview follow-up questions explains how to practice past the first answer.

How do you prepare to answer it?

Review the names and types of animals that actually live with you. Think about who feeds them, walks them when needed, or arranges their care when you are away. Distinguish a household pet from an animal you sometimes look after for a relative. If an adoption date or age is uncertain, keep that uncertainty separate from the names and care details you know.

Answer from your own memory, in your own words. Do not learn a script or a sample answer. If your spouse remembers a detail differently, first check whether you mean the same event. Ask your lawyer about any concern with your forms or documents.

Can you practice this question out loud for free?

Yes. Choose "Answer it now, free". The officer asks this question first. You answer out loud, and the officer follows up on what you said. You can try 3 questions free, and you do not need documents. Feedback comes after the session, not while you speak.

More daily life questions

• Who usually wakes up first in the morning, and around what time?
• What did you eat for your most recent evening meal together at home, and who made it?
• Who does most of the cooking in your household?
• How do you usually spend weekends together?
• Which bedroom or sleeping area does each of you use at night?
• What time does your spouse typically leave for work or return home?
• Who handles laundry, cleaning, and other household chores?
• Where do you usually shop for groceries?
• What did you do for your spouse's last birthday?

Read the daily life topic guide, or see all 91 interview questions.