Can I apply for Citizen? Arrested but no conviction..Thanks for your help

A

abdoul2010

New Member
I have been arrested in Miami fl during memerial weekend in 2007 for disorderly conduct...and the case was vacated in 04/2008..The disposition was a nolle pros..I was FP and release..
Now I am up to apply for my citizenship..Am I going to be denied because of this...???I am applying on the five year rule..
I hope I dont to wait another five year after the case was vacated to apply....
Thank you for your reply..
 
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If this is the only incident on your record you shouldn't have any issues for naturalization.
Did you have to enter a plea ?
 
I was arrested when I was younger, and the first thing the IO said was that he was happy that it was past 10 years. So you may want to wait till 5 years since your arrest. Personally I didn't think it had mattered since I was never convicted. He told me that there was certain requirements and time restrictions when I went to my interview, but he didn't get into them. You may want to consult with an immigration attorney.
 
z28eater said:
I was arrested when I was younger, and the first thing the IO said was that he was happy that it was past 10 years. So you may want to wait till 5 years since your arrest. Personally I didn't think it had mattered since I was never convicted. He told me that there was certain requirements and time restrictions when I went to my interview, but he didn't get into them. You may want to consult with an immigration attorney.
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What matters for the N-400 purposes is if one was convicted/pleaded guilty, rather than if one was just arrested. If the OP was never convicted and never pleaded guilty to anything, than an arrest should not cause a problem for naturalization purposes, provided the OP can provide documentation that the case has been closed.
 
baikal3 said:
What matters for the N-400 purposes is if one was convicted/pleaded guilty, rather than if one was just arrested. If the OP was never convicted and never pleaded guilty to anything, than an arrest should not cause a problem for naturalization purposes, provided the OP can provide documentation that the case has been closed.
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Well I am just telling you what I was told in the interview. You would think that an arrest has no bearing when it comes to your naturalization, but I guess it does. Most of the time the IO can't adjudicate the case right away and it has to be approved by a supervisor.
 
z28eater said:
Well I am just telling you what I was told in the interview. You would think that an arrest has no bearing when it comes to your naturalization, but I guess it does. Most of the time the IO can't adjudicate the case right away and it has to be approved by a supervisor.
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What I said is based on what the rules are, not on "what I think". Your IO might have been just shooting breeze, or perhaps in your case there was a conviction, and not just an arrest. Even if a supervisor may have to review the file before an N-400 is approved, this is a far cry from and not at all the same as "you may want to wait till 5 years since your arrest". The latter is just bad and incorrect advice. So I repeat: An arrest that did not lead to a conviction, even if the arrest occurred during the statutory 5-year period before filing N-400, does not preclude an N-400 from being approved and does not prevent the finding that an applicant has good moral character.
 
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Then why the hell would an immigration officer say that he was happy to see that the arrests were longer then 10 years ago( in my case) if it didn't mean anything? I have no convictions period! What he did say is that there is certain criteria that one must pass when it comes to an arrest, and how long ago counts. Unless you were arrested, and have been in an interview that asked that sort of question, then you actually have no clue what happens because you haven't been in that predicament. If you read my post which I don't think you did I suggested to consult an attorney.
 
z28eater said:
Then why the hell would an immigration officer say that he was happy to see that the arrests were longer then 10 years ago( in my case) if it didn't mean anything? I have no convictions period! What he did say is that there is certain criteria that one must pass when it comes to an arrest, and how long ago counts. Unless you were arrested, and have been in an interview that asked that sort of question, then you actually have no clue what happens because you haven't been in that predicament. If you read my post which I don't think you did I suggested to consult an attorney.
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You are just plain wrong and are giving bad and incorrect advice.
I do have a clue, because I have followed this forum for quite a while and have read a great many posts where this issue was discussed. Also, I have read the rules and did some research. Read, for example, http://imminfo.com/Library/citizenship/naturalization_gmc.html
where the rules and the underlying law are discussed in detail.

You wrote: "So you may want to wait till 5 years since your arrest". This was absolutely WRONG advice!
 
z28eater said:
Then why the hell would an immigration officer say that he was happy to see that the arrests were longer then 10 years ago( in my case) if it didn't mean anything? I have no convictions period!
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Part of the problem is the definition of "conviction" for immigration purposes is different from the regular legal definition. For example, if you got probation for 6 months followed by the case being dismissed, it is still considered a conviction for immigration purposes even though it is not a conviction in the state's point of view. This is why it is standard practice for applications with arrests to be reviewed by a supervisor -- so they can look at the details and figure out what is a conviction and what is not.

In your case, with the 10-years ago incident, the IO figured that the age of the incident means it would not prevent you from showing good moral character even if it is a conviction (as it was not serious enough to be a permanent bar to naturalization), so the supervisor would be able to approve it in 2 minutes, and the IO was happy to be able to wrap up your case quickly without the hassle of possibly writing up a denial letter.
 
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