Case Dismissed. What is a Court Certified Letter?

[ganjik]

Hi, my assault DV case got dismissed on pre-trial by motion from prosecutor. Basically I was not guilty and she should have been charged and prosecuted. She lied in police report ... But ok this is not important.

Now I got Ceritifed Court Docket. with information that I plead Not Guilty and then at the end that the case was Dismissed.

My immigration attorney (from different state) keeps saying to me that I need a Court Ceritified letter that my case is Dimissed. My criminal attorney doesnt know what it is. I made a request to Court to get me this letter. Judge as it looks also doesnt know what the letter I am talking about and referred me back to my attorney (which one? )
Criminal attorney tells me that there is no other paper I can get from the court - No Final Disposition Paper since there was no trial, as for the Court Certified Letter it is first time he hears about it.

My question here - what it is the Court Certified Letter ? What format should it have? How can I request it ? Do I really need it, maybe Certified Court Docket is enough? I need to travel back to my country at New Year and I want to be prepared with all necessary documents for my way back.

Thx a lot!

[boatbod]

The certified court docket should be sufficient. Basically you just need official proof of the outcome of your case.

[JohnnyCash]

"My immigration attorney (from different state) keeps saying to me that I need a Court Ceritified letter that my case is Dimissed"

Regardless of from where an immigration attorney is, every immigration attorney will tell you the same. And if you read the naturalization application and a Guide to Naturalization then you will find that applicants MUST need to submit certified court documents if they were involved with any run-arounds with law.




"My criminal attorney doesnt know what it is"

Just couldn't be possible...not even anyone's wildest dream. Criminal attorneys make living dealing with court procedure, and you are saying that your criminal attorney doesn't know what "court certified documents" are???? You don't know what these documents are and perhaps couldn't be able to tell the criminal attorney in understandable way.




"Judge as it looks also doesnt know what the letter I am talking about and referred me back to my attorney (which one?"

I'm sure you know that April-Fool day has been passed a while back....lol...Are you saying that judge also doesn't seem to know what you were talking about??????????....Perhaps, judge was confused/wondering why you came to him for that letter. Judges don't give those letters/documents. You should have gone to court clerk to get any court document than to judge. And of course, judge was referring you to your criminal attorney. Judge wanted you to tell indirectly that you should have contacted your criminal attorney to get any assistance in this matter as everyone knows how and where to get those documents.



"Criminal attorney tells me that there is no other paper I can get from the court - No Final Disposition Paper since there was no trial, as for the Court Certified Letter it is first time he hears about it"

Well, you were not clear in your request to your criminal attorney which made your attorney to not to understand what you were saying. Court Certified letter doesn't say what letter you are referring. You should have said court certified documents of your case, that includes criminal complaint, any motion filed, dismissal and anything. You don't need anyone's help to get these documents because you can get these papers by your own by contacting the court where your case was handled. There is always a fee to certified any document thru a court. Certified means there would be a court seal on those documents to make it real. You need to go there in person, if you could, to get those documents and will be asked to show ID. If you request thru mail, then you will need to send the fees as per how many copies you would request of each document. Just get one copy of each document and then make copy of them. If you have case number which is also called docket number or Index number then it will make clerk's job easy to find your case. Make sure don't say court certified LETTER; instead tell them certified copy of disposition of your case or the last motion filed.




"I got Ceritifed Court Docket. with information that I plead Not Guilty and then at the end that the case was Dismissed"

This is the document. It's certified and in the end it does state about your case being dismissed. Many times prosecutors file ex-party Motion to judge to dismiss the case. Judge signed the same motion to grant that motion. And that motion becomes a Final Disposition of the case or Final outcome of the case. So you already have it. However, it's my advise to get your criminal complaint also since immigration officer might ask you to see it during the interview especially when you were charged for Domestic Violence offense...a deportable offense.

[ganjik]

Thank you Bobbysmith and Johnnycash. Yes I know the danger I was in (being under risk of deportation) and I researched a lot on this subject. I was confused that immigration attorney said that Certified Court Docket is not the Cetified Court Letter that he was referring me to. My criminal attorney said that Certified Court Docket is the only paper I can get from Court Clerk. And we did get it together right after last pre-trial, paid some fees like 5$ per copy.

So it looks like I got the necessary document. Good! I was bit worried that this Certified Court Docket is very easy to forge! since only the first page is Stamped! all the rest of pages could be easily re-printed by anyone so thats why I was thinking I needed some other document.

As for complaint - my criminal attorney says its a police report. I went to police station and they refused to give me report. As they said only my attorney could get it and attorney said he can not give me a copy, I can only read it or see it in his office. So how the heck do I get a complaint/police report?

Also, when I read the police report - honestly to God, I wanted to put that bastard (me) into prison myself - meaning she lied so much in this report, she hid all her actions, didnt mention and of course didn submit tshirt to police that she teared off me while stopping me from leaving the house. So many lies .... i dont know how to be ? If anyone would read this report he would immiediately feel that I am a guilty party. and only she and I know the truth. But never in this complaint or court docket I admitted any incriminating facts. There was a fight between us but she was an agressor.
Anyway question - do I need to keep a complaint with me for immigration officers at Port of Entry (during my travel from and back to USA)? Or only do I need it at my future naturalization interview?
thx!

[ganjik]

JohnnyCash and Bobbysmith
so could you confirm that I wont need complaint at the POE port of entry.

Also since complaint/police report contains facts that are not truthful - can I seal it? one of immigration attorney I contacted suggested to seal it before interview. Is it a good idea?
thx

[ganjik]

I called to Court clerk and confirmed that Certified Court Docket is the same as Certified Court Records and so I have it. I also found out that I can get a Certified Complaint from Court clerk too. So I am planning to get it too.

Bobsmith and Johhnycash pls if you know of course, do you think I need to keep Certified Complaint on my travels out of and back in to USA so to show it at Port of Entry? Or Certified Court Records will be enough?

thx

[sbernal]

did you get arrested? is USCIS asking for a certified copy of your arrest record? I was cited but not arrested and they are asking me for that. The issuing agency was the Univeristy police but they don't certify anything. I asked for a copy but they said the best they can do is sign it..

[ganjik]

sbernal

I am not yet applying for my naturalization. my 5 years are not due yet. But I am preparing all the docs now. I am not sure what to advise you as I am myself was confused a lot with all the Certified "papers" terminology that basically point to the same paper in the end. Maybe in your case signature is enough. On my Certified Copy I have a Stamp and a Signature.

[harvydonald]

Certified copy is very simple.
The clerk from the court that handled the case makes a copy of the relevant document, sometimes they print it from microfilm. An authorized person from that court then stamps and signs that document. The stamp has a language that contains the word "certified".

If you have the original...chances are that it is a certified copy and you can just hand it over...if you want to keep one for future...you will need to get one from the court. I know that Notary Public in Texas are not allowed to certify copies of the court documents. You have to go to the court that had the case, and you can even ask for everything that is in your file. They usually have a fee they charge per page.

[vincy]

i was arrested a few years ago,6 or 7 year to be so what exact.i can't remember the charges fully to tell you the truth but i was alot of charges .it happen on the night of the last great blackout in brooklyn ny.i was fingerprinted and everything then saw a judge after almost 73 hour,the judge ask the charges and then released me with out any need of paying bail but a court date was set for a later date which i appeared for and after that one there was another one set which i did appeared for again and at that time the charges was dismiss and i was allowed to go and if my memory serve me right the paper was then handed to the bailiff who then ripped them up and the next case started against another person , now here my question .i tired doing a back ground check on myself with nycourt which is located at 25 beaver st in Manhattan for 55 buck but it came up with nothing what does this mean because i don't have any records of disposition to prove that my case was dismiss and i can't remember anything much beyond what i stated above about the case ,so what does really mean does it mean that i don't have record,if so where can i find it if nycourt could find and i had just turn 21 i think so that another reason why i was release with no bail since i had no other offense but i know for a fact that the case was not dismiss
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[Bobsmyth]

If your case was dismissed then there is no conviction record. What USCIS wants to see is that you weren't convicted. Evidence of the court disposition should be sufficient to prove this.

[playmaker]

Go to the court where your case was dismissed...Go to the clerk and pay about 5 dollars and have them give you certified document showing the case was dismissed and the police report...I was in the same exact situation and i did get those papers...My advice to you though just expung your record..Many here will argue that expung doesnt matter when it comes to immigration..Thats a myth!!!!Based on my experience because i was told by an attorney to expung before applying..it matters alot especially when the case is dismissed...Once the case is dismissed, whatever you tell the IO is what they go by coz they cannot find the record that has been expunged and this is a fact proven beyond a reasonable doubt!! Dont hire an attorney to expung for you unless you want to waste your money..ist a straight forward process especially when the case is dismissed.....All this information comes from my first hand experience

[Wavejazz1]

STATE OF VIRGINIA

If you live in Virginia and need a Court final disposition as well as a proof of fine payment you can search for all your case numbers print them out and take to court with you and you’ll save a lot of time by providing the court clerk each case number separately.

VIRGINIA’S JUDICIAL SYSTEM, http://www.courts.state.va.us/ click on Pay Traffic Tickets and Other Offenses Click on General District Court Case Information, Type the characters shown in the image for verification: XXXXX, and Click ENTER.
You can search your Traffic/Criminal or Civil cases ACTIVE, INACTIVE OR BOTH.

Wave

[Bobsmyth]

.Many here will argue that expung doesnt matter when it comes to immigration..Thats a myth!!!!

Very wrong! Expunged convictions can still be considered convictions for immigration purposes.

Therefore, the Court affirms the BIA's decision that Petitioner's conviction remains a "conviction" for immigration purposes, despite the state court expungement.

http://www.visalaw.com/04oct1/6oct104.html

[playmaker]

Very wrong! Expunged convictions can still be considered convictions for immigration purposes.

@ Bobsmyth..What do you mean very wrong?? I dont think you understood my response to this guy whose case was DISMISSED in court and not CONVICTED..I did not say anything about conviction...Its true that expunged records can still be considered conviction for immigration purposes and I believe even a layman knows this. However, my argument is based on the fact that many here argue that do not even think about expunging dismissed cases because immigration dont care and they can still see those cases which is entirely false based on my experience..So I was advising ganjik whose case was dismissed to think about expunged so that he does not have to produce police reports which can be used against him...all he will have to produce as in my case is expung order from the court and nothing more...I hope I am abit clear this time

[Bobsmyth]

@ Bobsmyth..What do you mean very wrong??

It was in response to your general statement "Many here will argue that expung doesnt matter when it comes to immigration..Thats a myth!!!!".
To state it's a myth is misleading. Even an expunged dismissed case where the defendant entered a plea other than not guilty is considered a conviction for immigration purposes.

[floyd]

did you get arrested? is USCIS asking for a certified copy of your arrest record? I was cited but not arrested and they are asking me for that. The issuing agency was the Univeristy police but they don't certify anything. I asked for a copy but they said the best they can do is sign it..

From my admittedly small sample size of 1 (my personal experience), USCIS AOs are not robots who look for one thing only. If you submit a letter, on official u. police letterhead with a real signature (ink) on it, and also saying that they do not provide any other type of certified copy, that should be enough. Make sure it says [a] you were cited and [b] what was the outcome (fine paid, not fine, whatever)--CIS just wants to see that this is not a pending matter.

In my case, the court records were destroyed because they were 12 years old. The court provided me a signed copy of the docket, and a letter explaining why the records don't exist. That was sufficient. The AO barely looked at it besides to verify that I had paid my fine.