arrest issue please help!!

F

fresh72

Registered Users (C)
in 2001 i was given a ticket for an expired tag. i missed th court date and when i realized that i had missed it called and was told to pay ticket charges and extra charges for failure to appear in court. A year(2002) later i was stopped again(expired the next tag) and when they ran my licence it came back as suspended and i was arrested. what had happened was that when i failed to appear for the earlier charge they had suspended my licence and subsequently had not reinststed it after i paid the fine. after i produced a letter from the court that i had paid the earlier fine they just asked me to pay a fine at the next hearing.

i declared all this on my 485 petition now they have sent me an rfe on why my licence was suspended and why i was arrested.
how do i reply? and in the worst case scenario of my 485 being denied what can i do? i am working on my EAD... is there an appeals process or do i have to leave the country immediately?
 
First piece of advice to you is please get over the habit of 'missing things'. I can't beleive you missed extending registration TWICE and on top of that missed the court date ! Anyway, sorry for preaching, but could not contain myself.

Regarding your RFE, let your lawyer handle it. This has been discussed many times that arrests can have devastating effects on the immigration process. Your lawyer will be the best judge on how to reply. What I feel this should not be a big issue if you can explain all this properly. But again, this is just my view and I am not an immigration lawyer.

If, God forbid, your I-485 gets rejected, yes there is a appeals process. I don't know how successful that would be in your case, but that could give you some time to stay in country and hing other alternatives.

You said you are on EAD. Seriouslt consider fling for H1, because if I-485 gets denied you have a back up and can stay and work on H1.
 
fresh72 said:
in 2001 i was given a ticket for an expired tag. i missed th court date and when i realized that i had missed it called and was told to pay ticket charges and extra charges for failure to appear in court. A year(2002) later i was stopped again(expired the next tag) and when they ran my licence it came back as suspended and i was arrested. what had happened was that when i failed to appear for the earlier charge they had suspended my licence and subsequently had not reinststed it after i paid the fine. after i produced a letter from the court that i had paid the earlier fine they just asked me to pay a fine at the next hearing.

i declared all this on my 485 petition now they have sent me an rfe on why my licence was suspended and why i was arrested.
how do i reply? and in the worst case scenario of my 485 being denied what can i do? i am working on my EAD... is there an appeals process or do i have to leave the country immediately?
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I have the same situation where I got a ticket and contested the citation. In 2 years time, I moved to a new apartment and as expected my subpoena didn't reach me and was defaulted in my case. I was given a driving suspension and have to go to court and pay fines and told them that I wish another court hearing because the subpoena did not reached me. After paying , they issue me a driving record suspension clearance and I'll have a new court appearance date this Oct 21,2004. Just to verify my records, I called "Secretary of State" for my records if my case is clear and confirmed it.

I already spent nearly $200.00 but I believe I can clear my case on Oct. 21 so that the driving violation points given to me will be cleared, if I win.

The point here is be meticulous in dealing with your case and act on it immediately. Small things get bigger if you don't act on it as soon as possible. Your immigration lawyer could guide you on how to respond to your RFE. If you need to clear issues on your driving records, then do it first. One step at a time.

This could be a blessing in disguise for you because persons that I know that gets RFE get their approval afterwards.

Good Luck.
 
couple of additional questions

thanks for the replies
when my license came back as suspended it was technically a mistake by georgia because my license was valid at that time as i had already payed for the ticket and for my missing the court date. should i mention that in my reply?
also i am in my 7 th year in the us so if my 485 gets rejected or denied can i still work on my ead when i go through the appeals process?
 
fresh72 said:
thanks for the replies
when my license came back as suspended it was technically a mistake by georgia because my license was valid at that time as i had already payed for the ticket and for my missing the court date. should i mention that in my reply?
also i am in my 7 th year in the us so if my 485 gets rejected or denied can i still work on my ead when i go through the appeals process?
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I think your problem is due to the state screwing up with your paperwork.
If you are not guilty, contact the clerk at the court to clear your records - it happens all the time. Nothing to worry about . It all depends how much time you have to respond to RFE.
 
Can not answer no

The FP result will reveal your arrest record if you left a FP when arrested. If you answer no to that question, INS will find that you are cheating. It's even worse. They can deny you for not telling the truth. If you never gave FP when arrested, I think you can safely answer no. Although I am not quite sure what level of details FP can be checked. Anyway since they issue RFE instead of denying the case directly, it means that they just wanna understand the situation. As long as you give them clear explanation, they won't consider it a hurdle to approve the case. But you definitely need a lawyer who's got experience to handle arrest case in GC application. Hope it helped.
 
try to get a record check at your county court

You can file a motion in your local country clerk's office to get these charges off your record - and can send that as a proof as well (along with an explanation).
I had a problem where an unscrupulous had levied some pretty serious charges on me. The reality was that I refused to pay him the final $40 for a $250 because he really messed up my entrance door. (eventually I ended up spending $650 in getting the whole door replaced).
Anyway, to my shock he got an arrest warrant sent out for 4th degree assault charges and terroristic threat (all of which was bogus). I had to hire a lawyer - and upon paying this guy $250 he withdrew his charges. Turns out he was a druggie and my lawyer recommended to settle or spend that $250.00 in his retainer to come before a jury. I wanted to get it over with because of the GC process. Three months later, I went to the court, paid $5.50 to get my record cleaned up of that incident.
It takes 4-6 weeks to get the record cleaned of the charges, but it is worth it especially because of immigration and employment checks.
 
difference between Civil Infraction & Criminal

Guys….Guys

Poor guy has asked your advice, not your expertise.

Traffic violation is a Civil Infraction, not a Criminal, and you do not want mention this on your GC application, by saying yes, you will confuse them. Are you a criminal? You did not commit a Felony, or you can not make difference between Civil Infraction & Criminal?

Traffic Violation is not a crime, it a viloation! Even though your driver license was suspended and you were arrested for a night…

You should have said NO on your GC application, Now you need to get back with your attorney, get all copies of troubles/ticket/court, and have your Attorney reply the reference, with a explanation that; arrest was made due to a traffic violation NOT CRIMINAL.

And one more thing as a friendly advice. Do not reply to the reference your self; how could you fill out a GC application when you don’t seems to know the difference Civil and Criminal, please avail professional guidance of your Attorney.
 
mtgc said:
Poor guy has asked your advice, not your expertise.
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The correct word is experience. Majority of the members on this forum are not immigartion attorneys. I think the guy knew what he can expect.

mtgc said:
Traffic violation is a Civil Infraction, not a Criminal, and you do not want mention this on your GC application, by saying yes, you will confuse them. Are you a criminal? You did not commit a Felony, or you can not make difference between Civil Infraction & Criminal?

Traffic Violation is not a crime, it a viloation! Even though your driver license was suspended and you were arrested for a night…
Click to expand...

If you read the original post carefuly, his problem is not just traffic ticket.While traffic violation may not be a crime, failure to appear in court might have serious consequences if not dealt with properly. The more reason to clear his name in the court records.
 
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thanks for your expertise and advice :)

maybe i was not clear ... my lawyer advised me to declare it in the 485 application as i was arrested and finger printed.
i have a certificate from the court that the conditions for the suspension have been met. the only thing that looks stupid in my case is that i had two expired tags violations in a year that is the only thing i am worried about.

as for the reply to the rfe we are attaching all the documents and the lawyer is drafting out a truthful and detailed letter on what happened .so hope for the best.

the one thing that i was wondering about is what happens if they deny my 485? what are my options as i am in my 7 th year?
 
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traffic infraction

As I explained, traffic infraction is not a valid reason for denial; whether or not you appeared in the court, they can only fine you with respect to the violation, I read the Law (I am not a attorney) but I have discussed with a good immigration attorney.

Prepare a good explanation for the reference, and discuss all your option with attorney, if your attorney is not helpful, and then consult with other expert attorneys, it’s your right to know the true info about your immigration case, and it is your right to collect your immigration benefits, even though it will cost some extra money. I hope this will help, and good luck with your GC.
 
Thank, good English!

armie said:
The correct word is experience. Majority of the members on this forum are not immigartion attorneys. I think the guy knew what he can expect.



If you read the original post carefuly, his problem is not just traffic ticket.While traffic violation may not be a crime, failure to appear in court might have serious consequences if not dealt with properly. The more reason to clear his name in the court records.
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Thank, good English!
 
need help. we had a misdeameanor and maximum panelty was some $ fine and no jail time. instead of paying fine and taking conviction on record, we got out taking middle road of community program (no contest) and completed in 1 month. records are sealed and case dismissed.
DO WE NEED AN ATTORNEY REPRESENTATION DURING AN INTERVIEW OR IT WILL BE SAFE TO GO ON OUR OWN? WOULD ANYONE PLEASE LET US KNOW ASAP.

rani4001
 
pl explain me.

I have same ,how you managed community service? When I said No Contest. Judge said guilty and released me with $200 fine.and how u can remove your record from record.

Your finger print will bring your data when USCIS checks.
 
Expunge

roneedonee said:
I have same ,how you managed community service? When I said No Contest. Judge said guilty and released me with $200 fine.and how u can remove your record from record.

Your finger print will bring your data when USCIS checks.
Click to expand...



It may cost u about two hundred and fifty dollars to expunge the record. Get an attorney
 
fresh72 said:
in 2001 i was given a ticket for an expired tag. i missed th court date and when i realized that i had missed it called and was told to pay ticket charges and extra charges for failure to appear in court. A year(2002) later i was stopped again(expired the next tag) and when they ran my licence it came back as suspended and i was arrested. what had happened was that when i failed to appear for the earlier charge they had suspended my licence and subsequently had not reinststed it after i paid the fine. after i produced a letter from the court that i had paid the earlier fine they just asked me to pay a fine at the next hearing.

i declared all this on my 485 petition now they have sent me an rfe on why my licence was suspended and why i was arrested.
how do i reply? and in the worst case scenario of my 485 being denied what can i do? i am working on my EAD... is there an appeals process or do i have to leave the country immediately?
Click to expand...
Guys,
I strongly object the way the responses were given.FRESH72 do not worry unless you committed a felony.Otherwise you would be perfectly fine but take the help of an Immigration attorney.
 
Just my two cents....Do make it a point to blame it on the "State" for not updating the records in a timely fashion, which is why your driver's lic continued to show as invalid even though the fine was already paid....and hence the arrest. You might have a copy of the check you wrote for the fine indicating date paid etc. It only takes one screw ball to appreciate another...and I believe messing up records (or failing to update things in a timely fashion, by the "State") will be very well appreciated by INS.
Best Wishes
 
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