Citizenship,Removal Proceedings, Selective Service

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snowyguy

Registered Users (C)
Hi!
First of all thanks to all of you who manage this place and others who provide useful information to others who visit and get their answers. I have a situation in filing in my N400. I fulfill all the requirements of N400 application. But I am stuck at the questions in "Additional Questions" section of the application. It asks about "Were you EVER in any removal proceedings?" and "Were you granted any relief?". Now I was in removal proceedings, and it was before I got my status adjust to permanent resident, and was granted relief by immigration judge and was allowed to adjust my status to that of a permanent resident. Is this question referring to removal proceedings
AFTER I got my green card or BEFORE I got my green card? Also I didn't register for Selective Service at the time I was in removal proceedings. But like many others I wasn't aware of it, although on I 485 which is filed for adjustment of status, it says that it doesn't apply to applicants over 26 years of age. At the time I got my green card I was already over 26. But whats confusing me is "Was I supposed to apply for Selective Service when I didn't even know whether I would live in USA or not?" because my case was granted a relief based on petition filed by parents i.e. I 130, who were citizens and luckily I got relief. I also have an arrest for a misdemeanor which was dismissed by court upon payment of court costs. I know when I will apply my arrest will bring my "good moral character" into question. But will my removal proceedings, which in fact were before I got my green card, and my unwilfull neglect to register for Selective Service (about which I am still not sure applied to my as a person in removal proceedings) negatively effect my case?
Is there an appropriate way to answer these questions? Also will my arrest and previous removal proceedings along will Selective Service make immigration doubtful about me as a person with good moral character?. My arrest was a false arrest(which I proved in court of law) and got my case dismissed. I haven't even got a single traffic violation before or after my arrest and am strictly abiding by laws of this country. My biggest fear is that all these things mentioned above might be used as a reason to deny my citizenship based on a mere thought that I wasn't consistent with my duties, first not to keep my status good before removal proceedings and then not registering for Selective Service(which again I had no knowledge of) and thirdly a false arrest. Please advise how I should answer all these questions and whether the removal proceedings questions refer to before or after green card. Thanks.
 
You may have gotten your green card at over 26, but if you were in the US between 18 and 26 as an asylee or refugee or illegal alien, you still were supposed to register. However, the failure to register is mostly irrelevant once you are over 31.

"Have you ever been in removal proceedings" includes the time before your green card.

You need to include the court documents for your arrest, even though the case was dismissed. And you should realize that a case being dismissed can still be considered as guilt if you admitted guilt (including plea bargaining) or the court imposed a punishment (not sure if they would consider court costs to be a punishment indicative of guilt). Was that arrest within the past 5 years?

You said your parents are citizens. Did at least one of them become a citizen before your 18th birthday? If yes, it is possible that you already are a citizen.
 
* I got my GC in 12/2000.
* I lived in US till 05/2003 continuously except for a gap of 31 days (1 month) when I once visited india in 10/2002.
* I moved back to India in 05/2003, and came back in 03/2006 permanently. * I visited US between 05/2003 and 03/2006 4 times, twice after more then 6 months gap but never after a gap of more then a year.
* I had advance parole issued once meanwhile which was valid till 07/2006.
* Since coming back in 03/2006, I have left US 3 times till now altogether for a total of 65 days (2 mos).
* Since getting GC, which is altogether 96 months apprx., Overall I have been in USA for about 58 months and India for about 38 months.
* Since coming back in 03/2006, I have been here for apprx. 31 months and away for 2 months

When is the earliest I can be eligible for US citizenship ? My calculations say that it would be in 03/2011 earliest. Is that valid?

Does 4 years 1 day rule apply to me ?
 
Jackolantern

Thanks for your answer. I didn't go for any plea bargains as far as I know. I wasn't asked any questions whether I would like to make a plea bargain or not. There was a paper from lawyer that said that I wouldn't sue the city of XYZ after my case is dismissed. On the copy of court which has it's stamp that court costs were paid, which I will submit with my N400, only says "case dismissed" if court costs paid which was 100 dollars. So I don't know if it is called plea bargain or not. The arrest was almost 4 yrs ago.
I am over 31 now as a matter of fact. But what exactly do I have to say in order to explain the question about SS on N400. Should I say I was present here between those ages mentioned and since now I am over 31 it doesn't apply to me?
I was in US before removal proceedings between the age of 22 to 24 and ofcourse still here now, but only time I was in removal proceedings was when I was between the age of 24.5 and 26, so basically a year and half. So 18 year rule didn't apply to me. But I appreciate your suggestion.
Do you have any idea based on your own experience or with your friends or from other sources that what will be the impact of these removal proceeding, selective service(which youve cleared already) and arrest in your opinion is a plea bargain or not, affect my case?
THanks again.
 
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snowyguy said:
Hi!
I fulfill all the requirements of N400 application. But I am stuck at the questions in "Additional Questions" section of the application. It asks about "Were you EVER in any removal proceedings?" and "Were you granted any relief?".
Click to expand...

There's no question on N-400 that asks "Were you EVER in any removal proceedings" or "Were you granted relief"

What the N-400 asks is:

25. Are removal, exclusion, rescission or deportation proceedings pending against you?
26. Have you ever been removed, excluded or deported from the United States?
27. Have you ever been ordered to be removed, excluded or deported from the United States?
28. Have you ever applied for any kind of relief from removal, exclusion or deportation?


Don't confuse removal proceedings with an actual removal order. With removal proceeding you will first be given a Notice to appear at a hearing that allows you to defend yourself.
 
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jj154728 said:
* I got my GC in 12/2000.
* I lived in US till 05/2003 continuously except for a gap of 31 days (1 month) when I once visited india in 10/2002.
* I moved back to India in 05/2003, and came back in 03/2006 permanently. * I visited US between 05/2003 and 03/2006 4 times, twice after more then 6 months gap but never after a gap of more then a year.
* I had advance parole issued once meanwhile which was valid till 07/2006.
* Since coming back in 03/2006, I have left US 3 times till now altogether for a total of 65 days (2 mos).
* Since getting GC, which is altogether 96 months apprx., Overall I have been in USA for about 58 months and India for about 38 months.
* Since coming back in 03/2006, I have been here for apprx. 31 months and away for 2 months

When is the earliest I can be eligible for US citizenship ? My calculations say that it would be in 03/2011 earliest. Is that valid?

Does 4 years 1 day rule apply to me ?
Click to expand...

You would be eligible to apply 4 years + 1 day after the last return (03/2006) that reset your continuous residence requirement. In your case that would be 03/2010.
 
snowyguy said:
I was in US before removal proceedings between the age of 22 to 24 and ofcourse still here now, but only time I was in removal proceedings was when I was between the age of 24.5 and 26, so basically a year and half. So 18 year rule didn't apply to me. But I appreciate your suggestion.
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I wasn't talking about whether you were in removal proceedings before turning 18, I was asking about whether any of your parents became a US citizen before you were 18.
 
Jackolantern said:
The other 3 questions would be answered NO, but it looks like this question would be YES for the OP.
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Even that's debatable since a removal proceeding does not necessarily equate to a removal order until the a final judgment is heard by the immigration court. If you seek relief (or have evidence to defend yourself) before a removal order has been decided, then I would say you never applied for relief from an official removal order.
An immigration lawyer would be in a better position to clarify this.
 
Bobsmyth said:
Even that's debatable since a removal proceeding does not necessarily equate to a removal order until the a final judgment is heard by the immigration court. If you seek relief (or have evidence to defend yourself) before a removal order has been decided, then I would say you never applied for relief from an official removal order.
An immigration lawyer would be in a better position to clarify this.
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Based on this statement quoted below, it would appear that relief was applied for and granted. But I would agree with the suggestion to have an immigration lawyer review the specifics of the case to determine if the situation met the definition of "relief" in the context of the particular question.
But whats confusing me is "Was I supposed to apply for Selective Service when I didn't even know whether I would live in USA or not?" because my case was granted a relief based on petition filed by parents i.e. I 130, who were citizens and luckily I got relief.
Click to expand...
 
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Jackolantern said:
I wasn't talking about whether you were in removal proceedings before turning 18, I was asking about whether any of your parents became a US citizen before you were 18.
Click to expand...
Yes there is a slight mistake in typing. I completely understood your point about 18 years of age eligibility. I just mixed up my lines maybe while typing.
 
Bobsmyth said:
There's no question on N-400 that asks "Were EVER in any removal proceedings" or "Were you granted relief"

What the N-400 asks is:

25. Are removal, exclusion, rescission or deportation proceedings pending against you?
26. Have you ever been removed, excluded or deported from the United States?
27. Have you ever been ordered to be removed, excluded or deported from the United States?
28. Have you ever applied for any kind of relief from removal, exclusion or deportation?


Don't confuse removal proceedings with an actual removal order. With removal proceeding you will first be given a Notice to appear at a hearing that allows you to defend yourself.
Click to expand...

Bobsmyth. I completely understand where you are coming from. Here is a little research I did by going through my court papers and it does make sense that ACTUAL REMOVAL might be different from JUST BEING IN REMOVAL PROCEEDINGS.
I found on the court paper from removal proceedings that " I was allowed to adjust my status according to SECTION 245 of Immigration and Nationality Act. Which MIGHT mean that it wasn't a RELIEF and there MIGHT be a difference between a RELIEF and ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS given the fact that I was in removal proceedings.
Now there are three other SECTIONS on the court paper under which a person in removal proceedings can be granted an adjustment of status.
1. SECTION 240A (b)(1)
2. SECTION 240A (a)
3. SECTION 240A (b) (2)

There are no other sections except these four I mentioned above except under which court grants a cancellation of removal.
Therefore I think you are right. But I just want to make sure that we are not misunderstanding any LEGAL DEFINITIONS. These two questions have made my life hell. I went to my lawyer and I realized I can be a better lawyer.
 
Jackolantern said:
Based on this statement quoted below, it would appear that relief was applied for and granted. But I would agree with the suggestion to have an immigration lawyer review the specifics of the case to determine if the situation met the definition of "relief" in the context of the particular question.
Click to expand...

Bobsymth has a valid point. In my mind it is a RELIEF and in actuality RELIEF might be mean a completely different thing. RELIEF might mean an order to stop removal, and REMOVAL is what has "already been ordered". I am still going through INA to find out.
Lawyers are not a definite answer. I am finding lawyers to be extremely prejudiced toward new applicants. My lawyer filled out all of my application wrong and it didn't seem to be a mistake. Therefore I turned to other sources like this place.
Is there any way I can talk to USCIS directly and ask the questions? I called there toll free number and couldn't find an option that applied to ask questions about naturalization. Any help will be appreciated.
 
Bobsmyth said:
Adjustment of status qualifies as relief according to this source, so I would lean more on the side that it doesn't matter when relief was applied , either during removal proceedings or after formal removal order was handed down in proceeding. That being said, the answer would be YES to question 28 as Jackolantern suggested.

http://immigration.findlaw.com/immi...portation/immigration-deportation-relief.html
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I just read the FORMS OF RELIEF. I does say that "adjustment of status" is a form of discretionary relief. The last thing, my question about Selective Service. Jacko said it was irrelevant once one is over 31 which I am at the moment. Should I send an explanation why I didn't register? and If I do what should I write in it. Thanks.
 
snowyguy said:
Jacko said it was irrelevant once one is over 31 which I am at the moment. Should I send an explanation why I didn't register? and If I do what should I write in it. Thanks.
Click to expand...
Because of your age, most likely they won't ask about it, so don't proactively draw attention to it. Just be prepared to answer about it if asked in the interview.

Note that if your adjustment of status was filed before you turned 26, you may have been automatically registered with SS.
 
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Jackolantern said:
Because of your age, most likely they won't ask about it, so don't proactively draw attention to it. Just be prepared to answer about it if asked in the interview.

Note that if your adjustment of status was filed before you turned 26, you may have been automatically registered with SS.
Click to expand...

thanks jackolantern. My adjustment of status was filed after I turned 26. Infact my petition for adjustment of status was approved after 26 years of age. I understand that they probably won't ask me about my SS but my question was SHOULD I WRITE "YES" or "NO" to SS question on N400? Since I was in US between after 22nd bday, again first two and half years on another visa and just one year and a half in court removal process after which my case was allowed by judge for adjustment of status. So bottom line, what do i answer to SS question " YES" or NO.
 
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