Public-Charge Re-Interview: Every Question Applicants Were Asked, and What to Bring

Since 10 September, US embassies have been told to review every immigrant visa refused solely under the 75-country pause and, given the time that has passed, to re-interview applicants in person. Since 18 September the new public-charge rule applies to those interviews. This guide collects what applicants have reported from the re-interviews held so far: the questions, the documents, the length, and the outcomes. It is crowdsourced and anonymised, and it is not legal advice. It will be updated as reports arrive.

How you find out

Every re-interview reported so far was announced by email from the post, between one and ten days before the date. Two came in messages written for diversity visa applicants and sent to spouse cases. One was set for a date the applicant could not legally reach in time. Before the interview, several posts asked for a new medical first, and in two cases the panel clinic knew about the request before the applicant did. If your medical is more than six months old, expect the new exam to be the first instruction.

What the interview is like

The longest reported ran about eighty minutes. Officers worked from a printed checklist and ticked items as they went. Applicants describe it as starting from scratch: questions from the first interview were asked again, and the relationship questions in a spouse case were repeated in full. One applicant reported that officers consulted each other during the interview about how to complete the new forms. At the end, one officer said the decision was not hers and the case needed further processing. In another, the applicant was told to leave the passport for issuance.

The questions reported

Grouped by theme. Not every applicant was asked every question.

Money and assets

• How much do you have saved? How much does your spouse have saved?
• Do you own property? What is it worth? Do you have assets in your home country?
• Do you have investments? Do you have debts?
• How much would your household have available in an emergency?
• How will you support yourself when you first arrive?
• Do you depend only on the petitioner's income?

Work

• What does the petitioner do, and what is their salary?
• What do you do now, and what did you do before?
• Do you intend to work in the United States? What kind of work? Do you have an offer? How quickly do you expect to find work?
• If you do not speak English, what is your plan for employment?
• Can you work for at least ten years in the United States?

Health and benefits

• Do you have health insurance, or proof that you will be covered on arrival?
• Do you have any health conditions? Do you take medication?
• Have you ever received public benefits in your home country? Has the petitioner ever received public assistance in the United States?

Age and household

• Age, and whether it leaves enough working years to save, to reach forty quarters of contributions, or to qualify for a pension.
• Education, and whether skills transfer.
• Where you will live, and whether the petitioner owns the home.

The documents asked for

• The email that rescheduled the interview.
• A contact sheet with the US address you will move to.
• The most recent tax return and W-2, for the petitioner and any joint sponsor. One post also asked for a joint sponsor's spouse to sign an I-864A because the sponsor filed a joint return.
• Proof of health insurance, arranged through the petitioner's employer in the one approved case that described it.
• Bank statements and proof of assets, for both petitioner and applicant, with values.
• Proof of the petitioner's employment and income.
• Proof of property ownership.
• Education and work history for the applicant.
• Photographs of the couple, in a spouse case.
• A new medical, if the old one has expired.

How the cases ended

Of the re-interviews reported with an outcome, three were approved, all after the full financial conversation. Two pause cases were refused on public-charge grounds under section 212(a)(4), and in both the refusal came after a short phone call with no financial questions and no request for a joint sponsor. One petition was returned to the petitioning agency with a recommendation to revoke on the same ground, although the petitioner met the income threshold. Several plaintiffs re-interviewed together at one post were each handed a new 221(g) slip and their passports, with no decision. Government status reports on diversity visa cases in the same period show refusals outnumbering approvals by roughly six to one, then by seventeen to one.

The public-charge bond form now carries a field for a consular case number, which suggests that a bond may become an alternative to refusal. We hold one visitor-visa case conditioned on a bond of 10,000 dollars, and no immigrant visa case yet.

What to carry in

From the cases that were approved: everything in the documents list above, organised so that any number you state can be shown. Applicants who said they had savings were asked to prove it. Know your realistic employment plan, and if English is weak, have an answer for how you will work without it. If a joint sponsor is involved, bring the sponsor's return and be ready for the spouse's form. From the cases that were refused: do not assume there will be a conversation, and do not assume a joint sponsor will be invited.

Where this stands post by post

Not every post is calling anyone back, and at most of those that are, only named plaintiffs have been called. The status-by-embassy page shows what each post has done, updated daily.