Who introduced you, or did you meet on your own?

“Who introduced you, or did you meet on your own?” is a practice question about how you met 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 this to understand the connection that brought you together. If someone introduced you, their role may give context to your early relationship and the people who knew you then. If you met on your own or online, the question may instead lead to details about that setting and how the first conversation started.

What might the officer ask next?

• How did you know the person who connected you?
• Did that person know both of you before the introduction?
• If you connected online, which service did you use?

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?

Recall whether another person actively introduced you or was simply present when you met. If there was an introduction, review that person's name and how each of you knew them. If you met online, think about the service and how contact began rather than inventing an introduction. Do not guess who sent the first message if you cannot recall it; explain what you know about the start of contact.

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 how you met questions

• How did you and your spouse first meet?
• When did you first meet your spouse, and where exactly were you?
• What was your first date, and what did you do together?
• How long after you met did you start dating seriously?
• What city and state or country was your spouse living in when you first met?
• What was your first impression of your spouse?
• Did your relationship involve any period of long-distance contact before you lived in the same place?

Read the how you met topic guide, or see all 91 interview questions.