Domestic Violence and Citizenship

domestic violence/us citizenship

We were in a fight recently, and my husband called cops for domestic violence, I was arrested, bailed out on bond same night, but was asked to appear before the judge in 2 days, who told me to join adult diversion program, and once I completed the course it would be taken off my record. In the meantime my husband filed an emergency restraining order against me till 14th of feb. I was in the process of applying for us citizenship, but it is asking me for charges like offense etc. my green card expires in july2011
what should I do. can I renew the green card without a problem, should i apply for us citizenship with explanantion. will I be depoted. My husband had filed for divorce 2 yrs ago, and at that time had filed for a restaring order for domestic violence, but we mutually settled to work on our marriage, but our file was officially never closed
 
The trial is October if i were you to be on the safe side i would apply for citizenship now, and before 6 months you would be a US citizen. you are innocent unless found guilty by the court in October
 
jayoa said:
Bottomline is that under immigration laws domestic violence is an aggravated felony...
Although I know women have the upper hand in such situations....
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jayoa, you are replying to a post from 2005 (fizk), if I understand correctly the most recent post is from "peaceonearth786" :)confused:) who is accused of domestic violence against her husband.
 
lagosguy said:
The trial is October if i were you to be on the safe side i would apply for citizenship now, and before 6 months you would be a US citizen. you are innocent unless found guilty by the court in October
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Simply bad advice to apply now since a pending domestic violence charge will result in a denial. An applicant can't be on probation or have any pending charges in order to be approved.
 
peaceonearth786 said:
We were in a fight recently, and my husband called cops for domestic violence, I was arrested, bailed out on bond same night, but was asked to appear before the judge in 2 days, who told me to join adult diversion program, and once I completed the course it would be taken off my record. In the meantime my husband filed an emergency restraining order against me till 14th of feb. I was in the process of applying for us citizenship, but it is asking me for charges like offense etc. my green card expires in july2011
what should I do. can I renew the green card without a problem, should i apply for us citizenship with explanantion. will I be depoted. My husband had filed for divorce 2 yrs ago, and at that time had filed for a restaring order for domestic violence, but we mutually settled to work on our marriage, but our file was officially never closed
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You can renew your GC now without any problems since you haven't been convicted of anything. Do not apply for naturalization until you have settled the charges and/or probation, and have determined the immigration impact of the actual end results.
 
peaceonearth786 said:
We were in a fight recently, and my husband called cops for domestic violence, I was arrested, bailed out on bond same night, but was asked to appear before the judge in 2 days, who told me to join adult diversion program, and once I completed the course it would be taken off my record. In the meantime my husband filed an emergency restraining order against me till 14th of feb. I was in the process of applying for us citizenship, but it is asking me for charges like offense etc. my green card expires in july2011
what should I do. can I renew the green card without a problem, should i apply for us citizenship with explanantion. will I be depoted. My husband had filed for divorce 2 yrs ago, and at that time had filed for a restaring order for domestic violence, but we mutually settled to work on our marriage, but our file was officially never closed
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You should have started a new thread instead of reopening a thread from 2005. Several of the subsequent posters were clearly confused by whose posts they were replying to.

Regarding your particular situation:

1) Do not apply for N-400 until your criminal case is closed and disposed of. USCIS will not approve an N-400 application with a criminal charge still open.

2) Talk to an immigration lawyer before you do anything else. You have to find out exactly what the immigration implications are of whatever happened so far with your DV case and what may happen later. A conviction for a DV crime is a deportable offense. Moreover, there is no such thing as "expunged"/"taken off the record" for the purposes of the immigration law and the definition of "conviction" for immigration law purposes is broder than the one used in criminal law. Certain kinds of plea deals and admissions of guilt in criminal cases may still count as "convictions" for immigration purposes, and you have to find out exactly what the story is with your case.
 
peaceonearth786 said:
We were in a fight recently, and my husband called cops for domestic violence, I was arrested, bailed out on bond same night, but was asked to appear before the judge in 2 days, who told me to join adult diversion program, and once I completed the course it would be taken off my record. In the meantime my husband filed an emergency restraining order against me till 14th of feb. I was in the process of applying for us citizenship, but it is asking me for charges like offense etc. my green card expires in july2011
what should I do. can I renew the green card without a problem, should i apply for us citizenship with explanantion. will I be depoted. My husband had filed for divorce 2 yrs ago, and at that time had filed for a restaring order for domestic violence, but we mutually settled to work on our marriage, but our file was officially never closed
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Bottomline is that under immigration laws domestic violence is an aggravated felony that will certainly put you on track for deportation. At this point, your primary focus is how to cozy up to your spouse to make him/her happier than ever before so he/she can back out of this case. Have him/her understand that it WILL never happen again and all that good stuff you guys talk about, you know. Have him/her appear in court with you and make sure your attorney makes it clear to the judge that your spouse is not interested in pursuing the case and to request the judge to confirm with your spouse since he/she is right there with you (otherwise if he/she is not present there with you it may not happen or may be adjourned to another day when it can) so he/she can confirm to the judge, when asked, that he/she is not interested in proceeding with the case or testifying against you (don't listen to talks that that judges are unlikely to allow such requests, they will listen to it, consider it, and ask your wife because if the case can be closed on same day they will do it and stop wasting taxpayer funds). Once you guys can accomplish this, the substance of the case simply disappears without your spouse's testimony against you because he/she is all they have, in fact, he/she is their entire case especially if there are no other witnesses. Then simply go to the appropriate office within the court system to obtain the disposition for the case at once. If there are other witnesses then you have to also convince them not to support the prosecutor's case by not testifying against you so you and your spouse can go take care of each other.

Do not agree to take any class and have the case removed from your record later, that is the same as admitting guilt. What you need to do is not let the case against you stand or end up in any plea or conviction otherwise you will be deported and there is nothing you can do about it. Any and every case of demostic violence you have or have ever had MUST be thrown out/dismissed without any conviction before you apply for naturalization. This also means the one you mentioned that never really got closed MUST also be "dismissed" otherwise you just cannot file for naturalization with a pending case anyway. The scenario I detail above are the outcome of what I witnessed, so take my advise. And seriously if you really did commit violence, just take this as a lesson and stop this behavior, if your spouse does not like what you are doing with/to him/her simply stop (you'll be surprised that your spouse can say you raped him/her).
 
jayoa said:
At this point, your primary focus is how to cozy up to your spouse to make him/her happier than ever before so he/she can back out of this case.
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"Cozying up" to the spouse is definitely NOT a good idea while there is an active restraining order in place, as there is in the present situation. The ONLY contact that is legal at this point would be through an attorney. If and when the attorney can successfully negotiate the dropping of the restraining order, and the judge signs off, it may be possible to begin to "cozy up". For the moment, all negotiations--involving both the restraining order and the underlying criminal charge--must go through an attorney.

There should be both an immigration attorney and a criminal defense attorney involved.
 
CalGreenCard said:
"Cozying up" to the spouse is definitely NOT a good idea while there is an active restraining order in place, as there is in the present situation. The ONLY contact that is legal at this point would be through an attorney. If and when the attorney can successfully negotiate the dropping of the restraining order, and the judge signs off, it may be possible to begin to "cozy up". For the moment, all negotiations--involving both the restraining order and the underlying criminal charge--must go through an attorney.

There should be both an immigration attorney and a criminal defense attorney involved.
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Well, whether its illegal or not, it all depends on both parties, not that they will go report themselves to the authorities for communicating with each other. If they really want to make a change they don't need anyone between them but if things are completely rotten between them then I guess there is no way to cozy up and a conviction may be imminent after the conviction. The scenario I detailed earlier also involved a restraining order, one is imposed by default until the DV case is settled, but both couples continued talks without any intermediaries and came to an agreement to have the spouse back out. I mean, these guys cozied up to the point that they both secretly arranged for the spouse to go to the house even with the restraining order in place. As I said it depends if they each still have any feeling left at all.

Peaceonearth786 knows what she wants and what she needs to do and she knows she needs to do it at all cost, so I will suggest for her to reach out to make things go well for her otherwise it may end up very bad for her. It may seem impossible but trust me I don't think it could be as bad as what I saw with my own eyes and followed from day one until the case dismissal.
 
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Please help me

I have a domestic violence case that I got when I was 18 with my then girlfriend whom is now my fiancé. My green card expires in February 2012 and I’m worried about deportation. I’ve been here my whole life since I was 5 years old it’s all I know I am now 23. My domestic violence case is over now. I didn’t do any jail time it was a misdemeanor I did the anger management classes and I’m even working on getting it expunged from my record I still have a few court fees to pay though. Me and my fiance have a daughter together. Is there anything I can do. im afraid about deportation my whole life has been here my fiance is here. idk what to do.. PLEASE HELP ME..
 
jrod0288 said:
I have a domestic violence case that I got when I was 18 with my then girlfriend whom is now my fiancé. My green card expires in February 2012 and I’m worried about deportation. I’ve been here my whole life since I was 5 years old it’s all I know I am now 23. My domestic violence case is over now. I didn’t do any jail time it was a misdemeanor I did the anger management classes and I’m even working on getting it expunged from my record I still have a few court fees to pay though. Me and my fiance have a daughter together. Is there anything I can do. im afraid about deportation my whole life has been here my fiance is here. idk what to do.. PLEASE HELP ME..
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What was the actual formal outcome of your DV case? Did the judge find you guilty? Did you plead guilty (or no contests), and if yes, to what exactly? Did you make any kind of a plea deal with the prosecutors? What was the actual sentence punishment imposed?
 
I had a DV case in 2003, which was dismissed, after that I got my GC in 2004 with no problem, then I had a DV case in 2005, pleaded guilty (per my attorney advice) sentenced to 365 days in county jail (suspended) and informal probation for 365, the case was closed in august 08 2006. I applied in 2009 for my citizenship without knowing the requirement for 5 years of good moral character, the application was denied and stated that I can reapply after august 2010,
Now we are in august 2011....can I apply for citizenship without a problem???
Thank you
 
mimo1609 said:
I had a DV case in 2003, which was dismissed, after that I got my GC in 2004 with no problem, then I had a DV case in 2005, pleaded guilty (per my attorney advice) sentenced to 365 days in county jail (suspended) and informal probation for 365, the case was closed in august 08 2006. I applied in 2009 for my citizenship without knowing the requirement for 5 years of good moral character, the application was denied and stated that I can reapply after august 2010,
Now we are in august 2011....can I apply for citizenship without a problem???

Thank you
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Provided that no new or different issue has come up, yes, apply.
 
Domestic Violence charge I NEED HELP PLEASE

Hi, i have been 12 month in usa and i have 2 YEARS GREEN CARD but i have problem that I fought with my wife and she got mad and called police for me and they charged me (mesdameanor domestic battery) and my wife tried to dismiss it but unfortunately it did not happen..anyhow I have some question :

1-Can I renew 10 years Green card ?????
2-Is this problem will affect on my citizenship??????
3-can i hire a lawyer to open the case and try to dismiss it?

Help please
Thank you
 
JohnnyCash said:
"this is my first offense in this country"

So what? Whether this is your first offense or million ones, it doesn't make a difference as far as deportation (or USCIS) is concerned. Because if an alien is EVER convicted for a crime that would make him/her deported, then such alien CANNOT be saved from being deported even if s/he is convicted for only one crime in his/her lifetime. However, it does matter as far as sentencing on a crime is concerned. Yet still, this has to do with a criminal court, and not with USCIS. Because if someone doesn't have any prior criminal history then criminal court's judges don't give harsh sentencing in most cases; instead they could give either a shorter jail time, or a community service or probation only. But again, it has nothing to do with USCIS/deportation as USCIS will definitely deport you regardless of this is your first offense if this offense falls in the category of crimes that make aliens deportable. Immigration laws are very clear on this.


"I've been here almost 10 years"

So what? Whether you have been living in this country for 10 yrs or 100 yrs, it doesn't make a difference to USCIS when it comes to carrying out immigration laws. And, immigration laws say very clearly that if an alien is convicted for a deportable crime AFTER being a LPR, then there is nothing could stop him/her being deported. Read carefully-Nothing can stop deportation for LPRs if they get convicted for a deportable crime, even if they might have US born children or USC spouse or if they have been living in this country for 100 yrs, or if they have committed a crime only first time in their life. So obviously, how long you have been living here, doesn't matter once an alien is a LPR. However, it DOES matter if you were not a LPR. Because if an illegal alien is ever placed on deportation proceeding in front of Immigration Judge, then s/he MAY have a chance to ask Judge to cancel the deportation if s/he has been living in this country for 10 yrs at least, even if s/he has been living here illegally. But be noted: alien would need something more than just 10 yrs' presence in this country to avoid deportation, such as- alien would need to prove that if s/he is deported then s/he would face extreme hardship in many sense. And, judge will review other favorable factors too. Nevertheless, don't forget that we are here discussing an immigration consequence in context of criminality. And if an alien, whether legal or illegal, gets convicted for a deportable crime, then it doesn't matter how long s/he has been living in this country.


"is there any way I can protect myself from deportation?"

Apparently, you haven't read my earlier posting wherein I said very clearly and loudly that even God cannot save you from deportation IF you would get convicted on this crime. So, the only thing you can do to save you is-make sure not to get convicted. That is. There is no buts, ifs, could, should, would...
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There is no way to protect yourself from deportation, but there is a way to continue living in the US.
You may simply not apply for a citizenship and just live on your permanent resident status which doesn't have much disadvantage from not having a citizenship in terms of social security benefits or residency. You don't even need to renew your green card if you choose not to and as long as you pay your taxes, live a law abiding life and not get involved in any criminal case, you most likely will be safe from deportation and can continue to live legally in US.
 
mimo1609 said:
I had a DV case in 2003, which was dismissed, after that I got my GC in 2004 with no problem, then I had a DV case in 2005, pleaded guilty (per my attorney advice) sentenced to 365 days in county jail (suspended) and informal probation for 365, the case was closed in august 08 2006. I applied in 2009 for my citizenship without knowing the requirement for 5 years of good moral character, the application was denied and stated that I can reapply after august 2010,
Now we are in august 2011....can I apply for citizenship without a problem???
Thank you
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In what state did you applied
 
I been a permanent resident for 31 years I had a domestic violence against my husband in 2007 misdemeanor. Can I apply for citizenship?
 
It has been 10 years since your case and you should be able to prove that your "reformed" behavior since then has demonstrated you have a good moral character, however as the previous person stated, I would probably use a good immigration lawyer with experience with this particular type of issue.
 
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