DUI and Citizenship - Very worried..Can't sleep

cjoshi, have you talked to an attorney regarding your appeal? What is his/her opinion? Please do not get completely influenced by the conclusory tone of many of the postings here. Though they may have been made in good faith, I would recommend that you consult an attorney, and a good one at that to get his/her opinion, before you decide on a course of action regarding your next steps.

Best of luck!!!
 
McMahon said:
I hope I am not too "picky" here. It won't be a second interview but rather a review of the decision for which new evidence may be submitted.

I agree with lotechguy in the sense that in the light of new evidence presented the USCIS review panel may rescind the decision.
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You might be right since they only told me to bring my GC and Letter of Appointment. However, when I filed for N336 (appeal) they had asked me to write an paragraph in my defense. I wrote how stupid decision it was to drive drunk and indeed my moral character was good etc.
 
pathenry said:
cjoshi, have you talked to an attorney regarding your appeal? What is his/her opinion? Please do not get completely influenced by the conclusory tone of many of the postings here. Though they may have been made in good faith, I would recommend that you consult an attorney, and a good one at that to get his/her opinion, before you decide on a course of action regarding your next steps.

Best of luck!!!
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That is my next step..Would it be beneficial to get an Indian Attorney or someone American?
 
cjoshi said:
You might be right since they only told me to bring my GC and Letter of Appointment. However, when I filed for N336 (appeal) they had asked me to write an paragraph in my defense. I wrote how stupid decision it was to drive drunk and indeed my moral character was good etc.
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Please feel free to bring more evidence than just the mnimum required - if you have evidence that would help the USCIS make a more informed decision, please do not hesitate :) It's like for the "Initial Interview" where many applicants bring in more evidence than the strict minimum listed on the Interview Letter.
 
McMahon said:
Please feel free to bring more evidence than just the mnimum required - if you have evidence that would help the USCIS make a more informed decision, please do not hesitate :) It's like for the "Initial Interview" where many applicants bring in more evidence than the strict minimum listed on the Interview Letter.
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I will make a note of that and talk to the lawyer.

Thanks y'all for being so supportive...
 
cjoshi said:
I will make a note of that and talk to the lawyer.

Thanks y'all for being so supportive...
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Also look again at pacer (on line court filings) and search for cases like yours. If your appeal faiils, I cannot be sure but I think if everything else is fine in your backgound except for this one incident its possible a judge will determine that not sufficent ground exists to conclude that you have bad moral character. You will need a very good attorney who has a track record of N400 denial reversals and you can get these names by checking out pacer for cases in your district
 
All,
What if there was a DUI that was plea bargained for a reckless driving charge with an arrest but no jail time and it was 4 yrs before GC was approved.?
Will that be an issue while applying for citizen ship as well? Will the more than5 yrs of good behavior before the oath date come into play here as well?
Pls chime in with ur thoughts.
 
Although they can look back at your whole life, the main period of concern is the 5-year period leading up to your citizenship application. A traffic arrest 4 years before the green card is before that time frame and should not affect your case (unless it is one of many arrests, showing a pattern of bad behavior).
 
uhbiv said:
All,
What if there was a DUI that was plea bargained for a reckless driving charge with an arrest but no jail time and it was 4 yrs before GC was approved.?
Will that be an issue while applying for citizen ship as well? Will the more than5 yrs of good behavior before the oath date come into play here as well?
Pls chime in with ur thoughts.
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Its an arrest that happened before the onset of the 5 year statutory period and you should mention it in your N400 snd include disposition an be prepared to answer questions about this in the interview. This once incident so much in the past in itself may not be sufficient to find a lack of good moral character.
 
In my opinion an American lawyer would be better, just in case you have to deal with someone who's biased.

Wish you all the best ! I know how you feel as I was involved in an accident after I'd started my citizenship application even though I was being extremely careful while driving. Luckily for me the other guy turned out to be an illegal alien with no papers. Yes I lost some money because he had no insurance ofcourse but it didn't lead to any complications.

cjoshi said:
That is my next step..Would it be beneficial to get an Indian Attorney or someone American?
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My understanding from reading everything I can find is that DUI is not a crime of moral turpitude. Rehnquist decided that. INS only needs probation to end, because a second offence during the probation period is a deportable crime. I would be very surprised if CJoshi is denied after the probation period ends.
I am not a lawyer.
 
M23 said:
My understanding from reading everything I can find is that DUI is not a crime of moral turpitude. Rehnquist decided that. INS only needs probation to end, because a second offence during the probation period is a deportable crime. I would be very surprised if CJoshi is denied after the probation period ends.
I am not a lawyer.
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I called up a very reputed lawyer today...He is American, and has been handling immigration issues for last 30 yrs or so. He said the same thing. He asked me if I hurt anyone? I told him "NO". He said I should be alright... I'm keeping my fingers crossed at this time.
 
Well one of the things is you can be deported for almost any crime so it's never 100% that one won't be sent into deportation proceedings. However, I think if that was the case they would have done that during the first interview.

So with that, they may just review your case again, but I think the worst that can happen is that you would just be denied and then have to re-apply years down the road...
 
M23 said:
My understanding from reading everything I can find is that DUI is not a crime of moral turpitude. Rehnquist decided that.
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Was that decision involving an immigration-related case? Remember that the classification of offenses is different for immigration purposes. Shoplifting a low-value item is considered a misdemeanor in a normal criminal court, but for immigration purposes it is considered an aggravated felony and is a deportable offense. There are also other petty crimes that are classified as felonies for immigration purposes.
 
Cjoshi:
My advice is to stop listenting to the moral absolutists on this forum. I feel absolutely sorry they can't understand what you are going thro' and offer you gratuitous sermon for advice. I think you are absolutely fine, and if I were you, I would appeal again and again (and if you are absolutely sure of never making that profoundly human mistake again), INS has nothing against you. There are very few morally absolute people, and let the sleeping dogs lie. Please post your successs to this listserve so they know that this is a country of laws and not frivolous moral superiority. Thanks. And hope you are sober forever!!!
 
yes, it was...please read the washington post regularly.

Jackolantern said:
Was that decision involving an immigration-related case? Remember that the classification of offenses is different for immigration purposes. Shoplifting a low-value item is considered a misdemeanor in a normal criminal court, but for immigration purposes it is considered an aggravated felony and is a deportable offense. There are also other petty crimes that are classified as felonies for immigration purposes.
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ydes it was. this person was drunk, and killed someone, and INS tried (correctly in my view) deporting him. And Rehnquist (again correctly in my view) said "oh no sorry. this person is a legal permanent resident, so no go" not verbatim, of course. You all forget that legal permanent residents have DUI's before they get there, how can the law be any different for someone who already got there???? Oh please@@ IN my view legal permanent residents are pretty close to citizenship in most cases. Most social laws treat them the same way. I would love to hear someone challenge that, and would love to take them to happy court.
 
M23 said:
My understanding from reading everything I can find is that DUI is not a crime of moral turpitude. Rehnquist decided that.
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The Supreme Court in that case (Leocal vs. Ashcroft) said DUI is not a "crime of violence", not that is not a "crime of moral turpitude."

The standards for obtaining citizenship are stricter than for what it takes to not be deported.
 
Thanks everyone...Thanks M23....I will definitely keep you guys posted...

The "interview" with Immigration officer is on Oct 30 - 2007. So it's going to be couple of months before I will be able to post the result of the appeal.
 
Good luck and do post what happens so others in similar situations can benefit from you experience.

cjoshi said:
Thanks everyone...Thanks M23....I will definitely keep you guys posted...

The "interview" with Immigration officer is on Oct 30 - 2007. So it's going to be couple of months before I will be able to post the result of the appeal.
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