arrested and jailed before marriage

[spungebob]

hey guys,

i just got my interview notice yesterday and started to worry already.
i would like to ask if anybody has been arrested before marriage?

in my case i got jailed in summer 2004.
i went shopping with 4 friends of mine at wal-mart. it was between 10 and 11 pm. as soon as we came inside we all went different directions. me and my roommate at that time went to get something to eat and drink; others just spread out in different departments.
we all came in one car, so it was our meeting point. after 20-30 min 4 of us were back. someone told me that he saw john, the guy we are waiting for, went to the bathroom. we waited 5 min, 10 min, 15.... then we saw wal-mart employees locking front doors. 11 pm.
me and my roomie were seating on the back seats chatting and making jokes about john being stuck in the toilet. the guys on the front were serious and at one point i saw them throwing something underneath the car.
minutes after i saw 2 police cars pulling in the parking lot... then another 2...
the car we were sitting in was surrounded immediately. we all were forced to get out.
"shoplifting" blinked in my head... screw me! i thought that is the end of my days... all i had been thinking of was my family... the faces of my parents, sister... what a shame!
with the help of an officer we saw john walking out the front entrance with handcuffs on.
2 mp3 players, mini-disk player, couple dvds, bunch of key chains and smth else... everything were found underneath the car.
as you may guess all 5 of us were dressed that night in orange robes.
it was mid-august, i had been in the united states for the first time and for less then 2 months. scared to death...
russian mafia... that's how we were called in jail... 5 young russian kids... all university students with at least 2 years of studying behind... new generation of engineers. great!
by 2 am next night, 24 hours later, we were all out. thanks god, we all had friends who managed to pay the bonds. i had been thanking my girlfriend for getting me out and thought that she could be useful sometimes... bad me!
on the 17th of september we had a court.
me and my roommate had been assigned not guilty.
3 others apologized and honestly accepted guilt.

two weeks after i flew home. i thought i might not be able to come back to the states because of that record. year after i got my visa again. then i changed my status to F1 and now i have an interview in about a month.

so, that's pretty much all i can say....
i'd really appreciate any suggestions. do i need to get that court order?
has anyone been in a similar situation?
oh, i've got another question... all the YES - NO questions in the i-485 form i wrote NO... now i think that was stupid of me... i did so only because i found my application for F1 status and i answered to the similar questions there NO.

thank you guys.

[TheRealCanadian]

See a lawyer. You have big problems.

[arran_hope]

During the interview officeer will ask you "YES"/"NO" questions again. You better get your "Not Guilty" court record and answer "YES' to appropriate question and mention your mistake when filling when the officer asked you "YES"/"NO". This will avoid present/future/any further issues from the wrong fillings of the application. Good luck with your interview. Officer may want to take more time to review the case if he is bit anal/doubtful about the whole situation.

[AJSINGH1]

I agree with Arran 100%

[TheRealCanadian]

You better get your "Not Guilty" court record and answer "YES' to appropriate question and mention your mistake when filling when the officer asked you "YES"/"NO".

The problem is that he has probably repeatedly made false statements under oath, when filling out the earlier visa applications. If the officer wishes to make an example of him, it can result in a lifetime bar so competent representation is a must. This isn't a do-it-yourselfer here.

[LucyMO]

yes, definitely bring a corrected I-485 form with you, and the court order, and honestly tell the officer about your arrest.

[arran_hope]

I misread the original post, hoping that he made mistake on only his 485 for YES/NO question. If the mistake is made on his F1 Visa form also then it troubling issue. Like TheRealCandian mentioned you should go with an immigration attorney. Make sure you check with more than one immigration attorney.

[Al Southner]

Sponge,

You are about to be toasted by USCIS. Stop fooling around, seek counsel of a competent immigration attorney. Moreover, even when you have a lawyer,
you knew beforehand that you were once arrested and detained, didn't you? I am eager to hear the argument that your counsel will make to USCIS regarding your F1 visa application which you can bet USCIS has thoroughly examined it...

Oh...man... You should find an attorney, explain that you lied under oath to procure your F1 visa and you seek to lie again to procure your greencard, but this time you are about to enter no-crap zone. Once you are sworn-in, then USCIS has all the marbles. Under no circumstance should you attend this interview by yourself, plus spouse and without an attorney.

Were you ever fingerprinted for this arrest and your picture taken?

[Hack_It]

It seems to me that he got arrested after he got the F-1 visa. Maybe OP meant that he used the F-1 visa application as a reference tool for his AOS application.

[spungebob]

thank you all for the responses...
i was arrested in summer 2004 when i was on J1 visa... then, the same year, i went back to russia...
summer 2005 i came back on J1 visa again...
in october 2005 i switched to F1 status... the question on application for F1 status was:
"have you, or any other person included in this application, ever been arrested or convicted of any criminal offense since last entering the U.S?"
i answered NO, because it says "since last entering"...
during summer 2005 i hadn't done anything wrong...
when filing for AOS i got confused because of it...

i am not sure, but i think i got fingerprinted and photographed when i was arrested...

[Al Southner]

Sponge,

Understood, but that doesn't get you off the hook. You can't be technical when dealing with the immigration people. Some of the officers at USCIS are laws unto themselves, so they can abuse you in the process. More like a power trip....

You still need to get an immigration attorney for your current case. In most cases, you better off when you are up-front with the facts of your case with the USCIS. In that way, when crap hits the fan, then you are able to mitigate the blows which might be coming your way from USCIS.

The question then is: why did you check NO in the I-485? If you don't know if you were finger printed, then it is your responsibility to find out, because "I don't know" isn't going to cut it with USCIS. Start to get your facts and documents or you are going to be suffer...

[spungebob]

thanks al southner.
what documents would you suggest me to bring with us?

[hkgk]

Hey Spungebob,

I have a DUI that I did not report in 485. So I am kinda in a similar boat as you and at the same DO! I received an extra sheet of paper with my interview letter that states documentation required in reference to any arrests. They have already figured out that I made a mistake in my application and they want me to bring all documentation. As per the included document, they need "original" or "certified" court disposition for every charge irrespective of the outcome. I am going to contact the court today to get that. We will also need to get a copy of the police report.

I am not sure if you got all the docs already, but I thought I will let you know.

[dr_lha]

Everyone gets that piece of paper, its not because you have an arrest. Out of interest, why did you answer "No" to a question that the answer was clearly "Yes" to?

[Al Southner]

thanks al southner.
what documents would you suggest me to bring with us?

Spungebob,

Call the court and get all documents relating to your arrest, how the matter was handled and final outcome. In all documents, a final certified diposition of this matter need to be part of the documents which you ought to take to the immigration offcials on your interview day.

On your interview day, as soon as you are sworn, immediately tell the officer that you would like to amend the answers on your I-485. This might be sticky, but you are better off telling them where you made a mistake, rather than for them to bust your balls in the process, and leave you "ballless"


HKGK.... You really have issues with your case too. How can you ignore disclosing the DUI in the application? If you have all the documents, and the matter was disposed of favorably, why risk getting nailed on the wall like a bat by USCIS? Unless you play the memory card like Scooter Libby, you might be crushed by USCIS....

You might be rewarded for drinking and driving by USCIS....

[JustCounting]

Sponge,

Some of the officers at USCIS are laws unto themselves, so they can abuse you in the process. More like a power trip.... The question then is: why did you check NO in the I-485? If you don't know if you were finger printed, then it is your responsibility to find out, because "I don't know" isn't going to cut it with USCIS. Start to get your facts and documents or you are going to be suffer...

I cannot agree more than 100% with this statement. My husband and I just went through an interrogation, not an interview, last week. I still can't talk about it. Our case was approved, but not until the officer took his nine pounds of flesh and seemed to enjoy doing it. I understand now why people confess to crimes they didn't commit. And we didn't even have any "issues", such as the one in the subject of this post. Take a lawyer with you. This is imperative. And do not underestimate what they already know about you. Believe me, they know it all. Be ready to defend yourself.

[Jewel12]

I'm so sorry for what happened to you, Spongebob!

But you should have checked "yes" on the application... Sure, you were arrested, but you were found not guilty - no crime was committed, so you would have been fine, had you not lied.

Definitely take all the papers related to that arrest with you to the interview, and good luck!!

[Al Southner]

I'm so sorry for what happened to you, Spongebob!

But you should have checked "yes" on the application... Sure, you were arrested, but you were found not guilty - no crime was committed, so you would have been fine, had you not lied.

Definitely take all the papers related to that arrest with you to the interview, and good luck!!

Jewel,

You can be all sorry you want, but some of this people are really asking for a hammer from USCIS. As you rightly pointed out, if you weren't found guilty of the crime you were accused of, what is the motive for lying to USCIS? I see no harm in being up front about the facts, so that you can be of great to USCIS... You pay all your fees, and you are approved... everybody wins...

In most cases, concealing material facts which is certainly going to derail your immigrantion benefits is the worst form of deception. USCIS view this in unfavorable light, because you sought to misled them or short-circuit their investigation by failing to disclose all your sins. As such, when they deny your benefit, they have more solid grounds to do so, first will be misleading the government, which in the eyes of the law, IS TRUE. As such, any attempt to reopen the case will require first addressing the lies in the application, and I wonder how many attorneys would want to deal with this ridiculous self-inflicted gunshot in your nuts.... However, I know lawyers who loathe the government can certainly do the dirty work for you, but it will come at a steep price.....

About 4 months ago, I advised a gentleman who was applying for his citizenship, but was arrested with friends who stole something at a department store. He was charged as a member of the group, accomplice and other ridiculous charges, which the prosecutor dropped because of insufficient evidence again him per se. However, he didn't want to disclose this in the N400, for obvious reasons, moral turpitude is the strongest bar set forth by USCIS to eliminate a ton of doochebags. I personally believe that people's moral should be examined for all benefits.

In short, I told him to disclose this in the application form, include copies of the final court diposition, police reports and any information that will clear his good name. At the time of him preparing the application, he didn't have all this information and evidence, so he just send his application without attaching the documents. At the interview, he brought the all the paperwork, and was told a decision will be made after examination of the documents relating to his indiscretions. In less then 2 weeks, he N400 was approved and was recently sworn in as a new American citizen, because I believe that he was upfront and took responsibility for his actions. Actions of hanging with thugs or thieves, so he is done, his case was completed in about 4 months....

As such, all who seek to conceal their actions to procure immigration benefits do so at their own peril...

[spungebob]

all right, guys.
i got a disposition order from the clerk of the court, criminal arrest record from the police department, talked to the officer who made an arrest and he gave me his phone number in case CIS wants to talk to him, then i got letter from my employer at that time stating that he knew about this situation, he helped me and believed that i was innocent... got another letter from the lady i used to live with at that time with good characteristic of me, and she also knew about everything and went to court with me...
will it help you think?

[NeShawn]

You should do fine. Wish you success.

I too had Charlotte as DO. I was interviewed 12/7/2006. I got approved and passport stamped but no welcome letter or green card yet.

[hkgk]

HKGK.... You really have issues with your case too. How can you ignore disclosing the DUI in the application? If you have all the documents, and the matter was disposed of favorably, why risk getting nailed on the wall like a bat by USCIS? Unless you play the memory card like Scooter Libby, you might be crushed by USCIS....

You might be rewarded for drinking and driving by USCIS....

Al Southner,

I understand your point. I had no intention to lie about this. I was arrested and fingerprinted which means it will be in the database. I defintiely did not forget about the incident, but I just did not think that they were looking for DUI arrests based on "traffic related" phrase. Call me stupid, but I made a mistake. I did not do enough research to find out what is being asked. Unlike the 485 form N400 form does explain what is being asked.

I have been in this country 10 years and I have never been out of status or get into trouble with USCIS. I also have an EB-3 filing parallel to this.

Bottomline - The damage is done. Now I need to find a way to salvage this. Thanks to you for your concerns as well as advice. Well appreciated.