What is a Stokes interview?

People use the name Stokes interview for separate spouse questioning. The name comes from a New York case that USCIS still cites. It is not a label USCIS prints on every field-office appointment. This page is for couples preparing for a marriage-based Adjustment of Status interview at a USCIS field office. It is not legal advice, and it is not from USCIS. It cannot tell you what your officer will ask, or what USCIS will decide. Read your interview notice. Ask your lawyer about a concern that belongs to your case.

What is a Stokes interview, and where does the name come from?

In its current Policy Manual, USCIS cites Stokes next to one reason it requires an interview on a standalone family petition. The evidence is not enough to decide whether the marriage is bona fide, or the record indicates that the marriage is not bona fide. The citation is Stokes v. INS, 393 F. Supp. 24 (S.D.N.Y. 1975), and the November 10, 1976 order in case 74-cv-1022.

Bona fide has a set meaning in the Policy Manual chapter on spouses. The petitioner must show that the marriage was entered into in good faith, and that the spouses intended to build a life together when they married. They did not marry to evade immigration law. USCIS says the chance of a long marriage is not the test. A later strain does not, by itself, decide the question.

An older USCIS field manual uses the name more narrowly. Its interviewing chapter says Stokes refers to Stokes v. INS, No. 74 Civ. 1022 (S.D.N.Y. Nov. 10, 1976). By the terms of that decision, every Form I-130 spouse petition filed in the New York District Office had to follow set steps when marital bona fides were at issue. The petitioner was to get a written notice of the parties' rights. A separate rights list was to be mailed with the appointment letter. A list of documents to bring was also to be mailed. The manual said those terms applied only to the New York District, and it described a New York unit for cases of that kind.

That manual is not the current rule book. USCIS retired it and has been moving its contents into the Policy Manual. Where the two conflict, the Policy Manual prevails. A New York call-in appendix for Stokes cases was superseded on May 15, 2020. The older chapter is still in a field manual PDF USCIS posts. Do not use that old attachment as your appointment instructions.

People now use Stokes for separate questioning and a comparison of answers. Current policy allows an officer to question spouses apart. It does not give every office that label, and it does not limit separate questioning to a second appointment.

When may an officer question spouses separately?

USCIS may interview the petitioner, the beneficiary, or both, together or separately, at any stage. The rules it cites are in 8 CFR 103.2. They allow USCIS to require an appearance and to take testimony. An officer may question you apart at the first interview, or question you together. Your notice and the officer control that choice. This page cannot predict it.

For family-based adjustment, USCIS generally requires the Form I-130 petitioner to appear with the principal applicant. Derivatives must appear too. Each adjustment applicant must be interviewed unless the interview is waived. 8 CFR 245.6 states that duty and lists limited waiver reasons. The Policy Manual says a waiver is case by case. Do not assume yours will be waived.

On a standalone family petition, USCIS requires an interview when the evidence is not enough to decide marital bona fides, the record indicates the marriage is not bona fide, or there are material inconsistencies or derogatory information. It also requires one when testimony is needed to resolve discrepancies after a request for evidence or a notice of intent to deny, and when an initial interview leaves marital bona fides in question. USCIS may require an interview outside that list. It may also interview when a Form I-130 is filed with a Form I-485.

USCIS tells you the date, time, and place of a required appearance. If you cannot attend, read the notice and ask your lawyer first. If a required person does not appear, 8 CFR 103.2 treats the request as abandoned and denied, unless by the appointment time USCIS has a change of address or a rescheduling request that it concludes warrants an excuse.

How does separate questioning usually work?

If you are questioned apart, your spouse cannot fill a gap for you. Answer from what you know. The officer may later ask your spouse about the same event. Because testimony may be used to resolve discrepancies, the officer may set two answers side by side. A difference in words is not always a difference in fact. Two people can remember different parts of one day. A material inconsistency is a difference that matters to the record. Ask your lawyer if a particular difference worries you.

The officer also checks that you understood the application. You can correct a wrong answer, or update a fact that changed after filing. Blank items are resolved at the interview. If something is added or changed, sign and date the application again at the end. Do not invent a date to fill a blank. USCIS may take testimony and may direct an investigation. If you sign a statement, 8 CFR 103.2 says you shall, on request, get a copy with no fee. Ask for it, and show it to your lawyer.

This page does not claim that every separate interview is recorded. An older field manual told officers to make a record at the time, on paper or by audio or video. It said a videotape could be used to raise an inconsistency with the person interviewed, or with that person's spouse. That is an older instruction, not a promise about your appointment.

Current interpreter rules are in that same adjustment chapter. The interpreter should show a valid government identity document and complete an oath and privacy release. Translation should be word for word, without an added opinion, comment, or answer. A disinterested person should generally interpret. An officer may allow a friend or relative, or may use no interpreter if the officer speaks your language. USCIS may disqualify an interpreter who cannot translate, or who harms the integrity of the interview. Do not sign Form G-1256 before the interview. Sign it with the interpreter, in front of the officer. The form covers presence, your satisfaction with both directions, private information the interpreter may hear, and the officer's power to refuse that interpreter. English practice does not decide whether you may use one.

An applicant or petitioner may have an attorney or accredited representative, under 8 CFR 103.2. An older field manual said the representative may advise on points of law, and does not answer the officer's questions to you. If your lawyer cannot attend, ask the lawyer what to do.

How is a later interview different from the first?

The first interview may be the main review of the application and the relationship. USCIS generally expects the petitioning spouse to appear with the applicant. The officer may still speak with each of you alone that day.

A later interview is not a national format with a published script. One listed reason is that the first interview left marital bona fides in question. Others are material inconsistencies and a need for testimony to resolve discrepancies. An older field manual called a second interview exceptional, such as when new information appeared after the first one. That older description is not a limit on your officer.

The later interview may be narrower. The officer may already have the first answers, and may ask about a date, an address, or a document that did not line up. One spouse may be asked about a fact the other gave. You may not hear every reason in advance. Follow the notice on what to bring. If a line is unclear, ask your lawyer. A practice page is not a packing list.

A second appointment can feel like a bad sign. That worry is real. More questions mean the officer wants more information. They do not announce a result. This site cannot predict the decision.

How can you prepare without a shared script?

Prepare as if you will be alone. Each spouse starts from memory. A page of lines to recite can fail when the officer asks a smaller question. Check dates and addresses against records you have. A lease, a ticket, a message, or a photo may recall a month. Read the record. A photo file date may be a copy date, not the event date. If memory and a record disagree, do not force a match in practice. Note it. If it is on a filed form, ask your lawyer.

Practice apart, even if you also practice together. Apart, you learn what you can say with no prompt. USCIS may question you either way, so leave time alone. See practicing a green card interview with your spouse. Say "I don't remember" when that is true. Give the year if you do not know the day. A repeated guess can start to feel like a memory. If you were not there, say how you learned the fact. Do not borrow your spouse's memory. Your words need not match. Keep a true detail only one of you holds. A different city or year for the same event is something to check, not a line to make identical.

This page does not print Stokes questions to memorize. Use the marriage green card interview topics and all 91 practice questions as prompts, not as a script.

• Answer first. Compare afterward.
• Close your notes before you speak.
• Ask the same fact in another order.
• Leave a blank where you do not know.
• Ask for the question again if you do not understand it.
• Let the answer finish before you discuss a difference.

Start with how you met, when the relationship became serious, and where you have lived.

What should you do if your answers do not match?

Name the difference. Ask if you mean the same event. A first message, a first meeting, and a wedding can be three dates. One spouse may mean the legal ceremony, and the other the celebration. Label the event before you call it a conflict.

If the fact differs, look for a record of that event. Sounding sure does not decide it. If the record is unclear, keep the uncertainty. Do not pick a date so the answers match, and do not ask the other person to drop a true memory. A difference on a filed form, or on a document you will bring, belongs with your lawyer. Bring the record. Do not ask for a sentence that hides it. In practice, say what you remember, what you do not, and what you checked. Read about inconsistent answers in green card interview practice. That article is practice, not a filing.

How can you practice separately in Ready for My Interview?

Ready for My Interview is practice for a marriage-based Adjustment of Status interview at a USCIS field office. Each spouse can sign in to one shared case and take a separate practice session. You choose who is answering. You need not practice at the same hour. Later sessions can ask about earlier answers.

Feedback comes after the session. There is no score while you speak. Feedback can compare your answers with your earlier answers and with your spouse's answers. One person changing a fact later is not the same as two spouses remembering an event differently. Read the question and the answer before you decide what to check.

Both people can see the documents, sessions, and feedback. Remember that before you add a personal file. The person who created the case buys the rounds. Both of you use them. Packs are one-time: one Practice Round for $20, three for $50, or ten for $100. There is no subscription. Another purchase adds rounds. The creator can answer 3 questions before buying. Those 3 do not use a round.

Documents are optional. You can practice with none. Adding them is free. They are read when you build the dossier, which requires a purchase. Later sessions can ask about facts in those files. The tool does not send the files to USCIS or your lawyer.

What will this practice not do?

Ready for My Interview is not USCIS and not a lawyer. It gives no legal advice, fills no forms, and files nothing. It does not say whether your marriage meets the law. It does not predict approval, denial, or separate questioning. Feedback reviews practice. It is not a USCIS decision.

If a notice, a filed form, or a record difference worries you, ask your lawyer. Use the rest of the time to answer from memory, check what you can check, and follow your interview notice. To keep both sets of answers on one case, create a case and choose who will answer.