Where did your spouse work when you first met?

“Where did your spouse work when you first met?” is a practice question about work 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 an earlier job to connect employment history with the start of your relationship. The workplace at first contact may differ from the workplace when you began dating. Keeping those points separate helps explain the timeline in your own words without replacing an earlier job with your spouse's current one.

What might the officer ask next?

• What company employed your spouse at that time?
• What kind of work were they doing then?
• Did they change jobs before you began dating?
• Were they still in that role when you married?

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?

First identify what you mean by meeting, especially if first contact and the first in-person meeting happened at different times. Recall the employer and type of work tied to that point in your relationship. Separate what you knew then from details your spouse told you later. If you cannot remember when a job changed, say so rather than moving it to fit a familiar date. Explain the sequence you actually 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 work questions

• Where does your spouse work, and what kind of work do they do?
• What is your spouse's typical work schedule?
• What is your spouse’s approximate annual or hourly income from their current job?
• Have either of you changed employers since you filed your applications?
• Does the adjusting spouse currently have employment authorization, and where do they work if employed?

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