Originally Posted by
flyermatthew
I got the impression he was killing time until the fingerprint check was done. Although they don't tell you that they're running fingerprints, they do.
The agent who interviewed me actually said that their computers were slow & she wasn't able to get the results of the fingerprint check/criminal background check. (I think she mentioned it was an FBI database that was slow to respond.) After about half an hour she sent me home with the sticker on my passport and told me that I should assume I was approved, but I'd be contacted if the background check turned up anything suspicious.
I seem to recall that the agent had a sheet of paper with a list of 10 or 15 questions, and I got the impression she was required to randomly select several to ask me.