Citizenship and past criminal record

R

reasonable66

New Member
Hi,

in 1993 I had an encounter in a store - I did not try to steal! - but at that time my English was bad, I could not explain well - anyway - they told me I should pay a large amount to the store - I did, called cops and they gave me a piece of paper to go to court - I did and thru an interpreter maintained I did not mean to do anything wrong. Case dismissed (1994), I do even not remember
I paid anything. I was never arrested, fingerprinted, sentenced, or any other way punished - just dismissed. I was convinced I proved my innocence.
I never had ANY encounter with anything law - like since
then, not even a single traffic citation. In 2001 I became
a permanent resident and did not mention anything
in my I-485, firmly believing what happened does not apply to anything asked and I was cleared. This year I applied to citizenship, went to an interview, and never mentioned it either - again - thinking it does not fit
anything they ask - I was inocent. Now I sit and wait
for the infamous name check before the oath.
Menawhile, I checked court records and found
dismissed case 1994 - "obtaining property under false
pretence" . No trace of any other info - over 10 year
old - all destroyed. I do not even remember being accused in this language. Anyway, I am contemplating
getting this record and explaining everything
to an immigration officer before getting a citizenship?
Would it be a bad idea?
What kind of trouble I am in and waht should I do?
Thanks,



L
 
Unfortunately you've sort of missed the window of opportunity - the interview - so probably the best thing sit back and wait for an oath letter to arrive. If by chance you get called for a second interview, you could bring it up then. Going for an infopass and explaining to them would probably do more harm than good.

I suppose you could call the USCIS 800 information line anonymously and ask them, but they are famously unhelpful.
 
ok ,but he hasnt taken the interview yet...anyways buddy u need to tell everything to the immigration officer...i dont think there is anychance of your case getting denied as long as u dont lie to the immigration officer and eplain in detail that this was more of a communication gap and you in the last 10 yrs hae worked on it and are very proficient in english...


hope this helps
 
query11. said:
ok ,but he hasnt taken the interview yet...anyways buddy u need to tell everything to the immigration officer...i dont think there is anychance of your case getting denied as long as u dont lie to the immigration officer and eplain in detail that this was more of a communication gap and you in the last 10 yrs hae worked on it and are very proficient in english...

No, I had an interview 3 months ago and told the
officer no to any crimes. Reason:
I was innocent, I said so to the judge,
the case was dismissed - no probation, community service, etc. - just dismissed.
I had no lawyer - was in court by myself.
I feel it clears me of all charges. I cannot
even access the records - they are destroyed by age, I did not even try to expunge them.
The ONLY info exists in the court database -
name, date , charge - dismissed. Period.
Got a printout of just that. What should I
do now? Why is it a bad idea to get an infopass
and just give the printout to an immigration officer with the above explanation?



L






hope this helps
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