Domestic Violence / Citizenship Process

[rvelazquez]

Hello All,

My EX-girlfriend and I had a really intense argument about 10 months ago from now.

Everything started with a damn bracelet. I remember she telling me about meeting a person at a train, over the time they became pretty good friends, to the point that she started to go out more often with him rather than me. One day she came to my place with a bracelet which was given by her friend, she was showing off and telling so much stuff about the meaning of the bracelet that I Started to get really irritated. Without thinking and/or knowing I grabbed her by the hand and asked her to remove the bracelet, then we started arguing about it. I let her hand go and told her that I was going to take a walk in order to cool myself down. While going out she started following me and with her phone in hand called 911.

Two patrols attended the call and stopped me on the street. The officers started doing her job by asking me and asking her questions. Once the interrogation ended, I was told by the officers that they were not going to put me under arrest (nor I was told to show up before the judge in court) but that I have to go to the hospital and make sure I was not ”crazy” or had any intention of harming someone (including one self). After that incident my EX-girlfriend and I stayed together for another couple of months until she cheated on my and replaced me to another guy.

My main concern now is my citizenship. Would the above incident could cause any problem while applying for citizenship? Is there something I need to know before applying? In case of a rejected application, would I be still able to renew my Green Card?

Any help and/or advice will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[baikal3]

Hello All,

My EX-girlfriend and I had a really intense argument about 10 months ago from now.

Everything started with a damn bracelet. I remember she telling me about meeting a person at a train, over the time they became pretty good friends, to the point that she started to go out more often with him rather than me. One day she came to my place with a bracelet which was given by her friend, she was showing off and telling so much stuff about the meaning of the bracelet that I Started to get really irritated. Without thinking and/or knowing I grabbed her by the hand and asked her to remove the bracelet, then we started arguing about it. I let her hand go and told her that I was going to take a walk in order to cool myself down. While going out she started following me and with her phone in hand called 911.

Two patrols attended the call and stopped me on the street. The officers started doing her job by asking me and asking her questions. Once the interrogation ended, I was told by the officers that they were not going to put me under arrest (nor I was told to show up before the judge in court) but that I have to go to the hospital and make sure I was not ”crazy” or had any intention of harming someone (including one self). After that incident my EX-girlfriend and I stayed together for another couple of months until she cheated on my and replaced me to another guy.

My main concern now is my citizenship. Would the above incident could cause any problem while applying for citizenship? Is there something I need to know before applying? In case of a rejected application, would I be still able to renew my Green Card?

Any help and/or advice will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

So what EXACTLY happened at the end of that 911 visit by the police? Did they issue you any citation? Ticket? Charge you with anything at all, even if it did not involve an arrest? Did you have to pay any fine as a result? Did they drive you to the hospital? If yes, what exactly happened at the hospital? Were the police there with you until you were examined?

 

[rvelazquez]

So what EXACTLY happened at the end of that 911 visit by the police? Did they issue you any citation? Ticket? Charge you with anything at all, even if it did not involve an arrest? Did you have to pay any fine as a result? Did they drive you to the hospital? If yes, what exactly happened at the hospital? Were the police there with you until you were examined?

As it was stated in my initial post, I was stopped while walking on the street and never received a citation (ticket) nor was I called to appear in court.

Regarding the charges and as far as I know, there were no charges against me (I found out this by going to my local police station and obtaining a clearance letter, which came out showing no records of charges, arrests or convictions)

I was driven to the hospital in an ambulance and taken to the emergency room. There were some police officers at the entrance of the hospital but they were never with me. While at the hospital, I had to talk to a social worker and she determined I was totally find of my head. So the hospital sent me back home in a taxi.

The only thing I had to pay was the Hospital Bill/Services.

 

[baikal3]

As it was stated in my initial post, I was stopped while walking on the street and never received a citation (ticket) nor was I called to appear in court.

Regarding the charges and as far as I know, there were no charges against me (I found out this by going to my local police station and obtaining a clearance letter, which came out showing no records of charges, arrests or convictions)

I was driven to the hospital in an ambulance and taken to the emergency room. There were some police officers at the entrance of the hospital but they were never with me. While at the hospital, I had to talk to a social worker and she determined I was totally find of my head. So the hospital sent me back home in a taxi.

The only thing I had to pay was the Hospital Bill/Services.

In that case it appears to me that this incident will not affect your naturalization application.
As far as I can tell, there is no question in N-400 in response to which you'd have to disclose this incident: you were not charged, cited, arrested or detained. There is, perhaps, a slight possibility to interpret the police driving you to the hospital as you being "detained" but I doubt it. Just in case, I suggest that you get a copy of the police report (if you don't have it already) and schedule a one-time consultation with an immigration lawyer (try to find one recommended by AILA) before you file N-400, since domestic violence related offenses can have serious consequences in naturalization proceedings.
However, as far as I can tell, you are in the clear.

 

[rvelazquez]

In that case it appears to me that this incident will not affect your naturalization application.
As far as I can tell, there is no question in N-400 in response to which you'd have to disclose this incident: you were not charged, cited, arrested or detained. There is, perhaps, a slight possibility to interpret the police driving you to the hospital as you being "detained" but I doubt it. Just in case, I suggest that you get a copy of the police report (if you don't have it already) and schedule a one-time consultation with an immigration lawyer (try to find one recommended by AILA) before you file N-400, since domestic violence related offenses can have serious consequences in naturalization proceedings.
However, as far as I can tell, you are in the clear.

There is actually one question in the application N-400 which is concerning me (Page 8, section D, question 16.) As per the instruction it seems that I have to disclose "an official statement by the arresting agency or applicant court that no charges were filed" and attach a written explanation.

BTW, police officers never took me to the hospital, it was a worker from the hospital who took me to the hospital.

 

[baikal3]

There is actually one question in the application N-400 which is concerning me (Page 8, section D, question 16.) As per the instruction it seems that I have to disclose "an official statement by the arresting agency or applicant court that no charges were filed" and attach a written explanation.

No, you don't.

Since you were not arrested, cited or detained (although you should double-check with the lawyer on the detained thing) as a result of that 911 call, the correct answer to Q16 is "No" (unless, of course, you were arrested, cited or detained on some other occasion).

 

[rvelazquez]

No, you don't.

Since you were not arrested, cited or detained (although you should double-check with the lawyer on the detained thing) as a result of that 911 call, the correct answer to Q16 is "No" (unless, of course, you were arrested, cited or detained on some other occasion).

Yes, I will double-check on the detention thing (since I am also a little confused with its definition). In case of rejection of my application, what else would it happen to me? Deportation?

No, I've not been involved with any other police related incident.

 

[baikal3]

Yes, I will double-check on the detention thing (since I am also a little confused with its definition). In case of rejection of my application, what else would it happen to me? Deportation?

No, I've not been involved with any other police related incident.

First, I don't see why your N-400 application would be denied (unless you have some other skeletons in the closet, so to speak, that you have not told us about).

Second, a denial of an N-400 does not invalidate your GC - you remain an LPR and, generally speaking, can re-apply for naturalization later.

In some situations if some seriously derogatory information is uncovered during the naturalization proceedings, and the IO determines that the applicant is actually deportable, the IO could forward the case to an immigration judge for deportation proceedings. However, that only happens in very rare cases, when something quite serious comes up (e.g. an actual conviction for a serious crime). The IOs have fairly wide discretion and, with some exceptions explicitly defined by law (e.g. having been convicted of an aggravated felony), the IOs can and routinely do approve N-400 applications of applicants who are technically deportable. This happens, for example, to many people who mistakenly registered to vote while being GC holders.

You can read the definition of a deportable alien at
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/8/1227

In your case, even if the lawyer says that what happens to you constitutes having been "detained" (which seems unlikely to me), the most that you'd need to do is answer "Yes" to Q16 and enclose a copy of the police report and then explain what happened at the interview.
Since you were not convicted of anything and not charged with anything, this would not prevent your N-400 from being approved - and certainly would not make you deportable.

But, as I said, in my personal non-expert opinion, what happened to you does not constitute having been "detained" and, if that is correct, you don't have to disclose the 911 call incident anywhere in your N-400 and should answer "No" for Q16.