Applying for Citizenship after a 415.2 (Disturbing the Peace - Misdemeanor) conviction

Need help from folks that have direct or indirect experience with a similar situation in California.

I was arrested on DV charges, and ultimately pled guilty to a 415.2 (Disturbing the Peace) Misdemeanor charge. Here is the specific charge:
415. Any of the following persons shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail for a period of not more than 90 days, a fine of not more than four hundred dollars ($400), or both such imprisonment and fine:
(2) Any person who maliciously and willfully disturbs another person by loud and unreasonable noise.

My actual sentence was to attend 32-hours of anger management classes and paying a fine of $130 - both of which have been completed. There was no probation - so the case has concluded last month. Even though the actual conviction does not read like a DV, it "originated" from DV charges. The original statement from the alleged victim is, of course, scary - but my statements indicate that it was a simple domestic argument with no violence.

I have been on GC for about 7 years now, and do not have any other criminal history (barring minor traffic tickets). I am planning to apply for naturalization now. My questions are:
(a) I have received conflicting advice (from immigration lawyers) on whether my citizenship application is likely to be approved if I apply now, wait for 1 year, or wait for 5 years. Does anyone have any direct experience/advice on this?
(b) Will taking an immigration attorney along for the interview help? I am assuming that the IO will still ask the same questions from me - so what is the role of an attorney?
(c) when I was arrested my fingerprints were also sent to the DNA databank as well as FBI (they usually only need this for felons). I can get them cleared up, but it takes almost a year. This match from the databank will obviously show up for my N400 processing, but can it harm any more than a delay?
(d) If I do apply for an N400 now, and assuming it gets denied - does that leave me in any worse position for future reapplying than if I just hadn't applied now? Apart from the $680, I mean.
(e) Will a record-clearance/expungement help my case in any way?

Any practical guidance will be much appreciated.

Thanks!

How long ago did the arrest in question occur? And how soon after the arrest did you plead guilty to 415.2?

Also, in this post from July 2011 you wrote that you had submitted N-400 in June 2011:
http://forums.immigration.com/showt...racker/page8&p=2323077&highlight=#post2323077

But in the post above you say that you are "planning to apply for naturalization now".

So what happened with your June 2011 application?
 
The arrest in question happenned a couple of days after my N400 post that you pointed out. As a result, I had to abandon that application until the criminal case was settled. So I am now planning to reapply, and thats what the current question is about.

I see. I'd probably talk to an immigration lawyer before trying to re-file N-400.
It is probably the case that this conviction does not count as a CIMT conviction. If you can also make sure that it won't be viewed as a DV conviction then you may be able to re-apply now and have a reasonable chance of approval, since you have already completed all the punishment that was imposed (fine and anger mangement class). However, even in that case, the N-400 may be denied on discretionary grounds, depending on how lucky you are with the IO.


If it turns out that this thing somehow counts as a CIMT conviction, you'd have to wait 5 years before you can apply.
If it turns out that this conviction can be counted as a DV conviction, then you'd have to be even more careful to make sure that you are not deportable.
So I'd definitely talk to an immigration lawyer first, to assess your situation.
 
Hi Sanjeev, Could you please give me you email address, i sail in teh same boat as you i would like to know if you were able to apply for N-400 or wait 5 yrs
 
Good news !! I was in the same boat . I was arrested for domestic battery and then my lawer talk with DA and give me deal to plead guilty nolo for pc 415 I agreed and reduce charge for pc 415 . Then I had complete my community hours and anger management class after completion Case was dismissed. After that I applied and passed my citizenship interview. Thanks
 
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