denied citizenship

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perurican82

Registered Users (C)
I was denied my cz today because I did shoplifting back in 2000 and I filed my cz because I'm married to one since 2001. Now I was reading and the info I got was that u had to have good moral for 3 or 5 years. I have had good moral since 2001 when my probation was finished. Do I need to appeal??? please help.
 
Did you disclose the conviction on your original application?
What was the exact charge and what did you plead?
Did you have any other convictions/arrests in your entire history?
 
this is the letter I got:

"Notice of intent to reopen and deny application for naturalization"

this notice is to advise you that it is the intent of this service to reopen and deny your application pursuant to title 8, code of federal regulations (8cfr), part 335.5, based on the application record circumstances as explained below. This application was stamped approved before all required process actions were completed and derogatory information was discovered.

Section 335.5 title 8, code of federal regulations states in pertinent part as follows:
the service shall notify the applicant in writing of the receipt of the specific derogatory information, with a motion to reopen the previously adjudicated application, giving the applicant 15 days to respond. if the applicant overcomes the derogatory information, the application will be granted and the applicant will be scheduled for administration of the oath of allegiance. Otherwise the motion to reopen will be granted and the application will be denied pursuant to section 336.1 of the chapter.

Section 316 a of the immigration and nationality act, as amended, states in part:

no person, except as otherwise prvided in this title, shall be naturalized unless, such applicant, during all the periods referred to in this subsection has been and still is a person of good character, attached to the principles of the constitution of usa and well disposed to the good order and happiness of the united states.

section 316.10 (b)(3)(iii) of title 8, code of federal regulations, states in pertinent part:

(3) unless the applicant establishes extenuating cicumstances, the applicant shall be found to lack of good moral character if, during the statutory period, the applicant:

(iii) committed unlawful acts that adversely reflect upon the applicant's moral character, or was convicted or imprisoned for such acts...

a review of your application record indicates that on august 1, 2000 u were convicted of the offense of theft by shoplifting and u were sentenced to confinement in the xx county jail for a period of 12 months, with the entire sentence to be served on probation. You were also fined 450 ordered to pay 33 per month as a probation supervision fee and ordered to perform 5 days of community service.

In light of the foregoing, it is the intent of this service to re open and deny your application for naturalization as explained above. You are hereby granted a period of 18 days to provide evidence as to why your application for naturalization should not be opened and denied.

that's the whole letter I got and of course the form with instructions of N336 which costs $605.

I don't get it since I have been good with no criminal record or tickets since 2001. HELP!!
thanks
 
Get an attorney and send a letter to them saying that this is beyond the 5 year period.
 
Sorry to hear that. but go for Bobsmyth's questions so we would help you guide. And I think you should consult an immigration lawyer.

One thing: I notice your id name: perurican82. Are you from puerto rico or are you a citizen of peru? If you are a puerto rican, you are already a US citizen (US national).
 
Again, did you disclose the arrest on your original application?
Also, did you provide arrest record at interview?
It's not as simple as arguing that it falls outside of 5 year moral character window since we don't have all the facts of the case.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I think the problem is here :
convicted of the offense of theft by shoplifting and u were sentenced to confinement in the xx county jail for a period of 12 months, with the entire sentence to be served on probation.

They are treating your probation as a Jail sentence.Please get an attorney [competent one] and discuss it with him.This is out of your 5 yrs window and you have mentioned it in n-400 application as well. Only thing is the jail time as probation.I thought probation was probation not JAIL time.You need to talk to attorney.
There is this guy Ron Gotcher (Google it) and email it to him as well or use his forum for a reply.
Thats my 2 cents.
 
Bobsmyth said:
Again, did you disclose the arrest on your original application?
Also, did you provide arrest record at interview?
It's not a matter of arguing that it falls outside of 5 year moral character window.
Click to expand...

Yes even when I was doing my green card they knew and when we went to our interview for the greencard he had my papers from that incident and I had to pay for some form for forgiveness and they gave me my greencard.

Also when I applied for the n400 I also submitted the same info with all the papers from the court.
 
USGC485 said:
Sorry to hear that. but go for Bobsmyth's questions so we would help you guide. And I think you should consult an immigration lawyer.

One thing: I notice your id name: perurican82. Are you from puerto rico or are you a citizen of peru? If you are a puerto rican, you are already a US citizen (US national).
Click to expand...

I use that because my kids are peruricans a mixture of my husband which is from Puerto Rico and me from Peru.
 
perurican82 said:
july 2nd, 2007
Click to expand...

Since you were convicted on 8/1/00, and your probation ended on 7/31/01 (12 months thereafter), both the conviction and the probation were outside the 5 year good moral character window. Speak to a good lawyer as soon as possible, since you are only alotted 30 days to file an appeal.
 
From your facts, it sounds like they are using 12 month sentence of a CIMT (crime involving moral turpitude) as reason to deny you even though it falls outside statutory window. Contact a good immigration lawyer to discuss your appeal options.
 
Bobsmyth said:
From your facts, it sounds like they are using 12 month sentence of a CIMT (crime involving moral turpitude) as reason to deny you even though it falls outside statutory window. Contact a good immigration lawyer to discuss your appeal options.
Click to expand...

But how the then INS approved his greencard with knowing the incident and the punishment has was given?
 
calvillager said:
But how the then INS approved his greencard with knowing the incident and the punishment has was given?
Click to expand...

The IO has the discretion to deny or approve an application, based on the facts presented by the applicant. This is similar to the recent case where an applicant from NYC was denied naturalization because of 2 speeding tickets. The IO who reviewed the OP's application used his/her discretion to deny it. Based on the text of the denial letter, it appears that the interviewing IO recommended the application for approval, but it was subsequently denied by a supervisor.
 
Bobsmyth said:
Again, did you disclose the arrest on your original application?
Also, did you provide arrest record at interview?
It's not as simple as arguing that it falls outside of 5 year moral character window since we don't have all the facts of the case.
Click to expand...

It is as simple as that if they did not raise the issue officially. It is, of course, possible that they charged him with 20 different things in their heads but the piece of paper he has only points to the shoplifting incident. So that's all they've raised.

In any event, sounds like he disclosed it.
 
Shoplifting is sometimes a deportable offense, depending on the specifics of the crime, the sentence given, etc. Once you commit a deportable offense, it doesn't matter how long ago it happened, you can be denied and deported for it. The OP needs to seek a lawyer NOW to figure out if that incident of shoplifting is a deportable crime and to defend against possible deportation proceedings if it is.
 
Jackolantern said:
Shoplifting is sometimes a deportable offense.
Click to expand...
This is something that I fear for the OP initially. However, since his records had been looked at in the greencard application, deportation may not be looming for this time unless some serious stuff was not disclosed previously in the GC application.
 
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