How much will a misdemeanor - Criminal case impact our future citizenship process.
- Thread starter CaliGC
- Start date
dear friend:
Some lawyers only like you money. They know less than our people here. most of here have experience.
Friends,
Today I met up with an immigration attorney to discuss 1) Chances of deportation. 2) The impact of this misdemeanor for future citizenship.
For #1
The criminal case being pursued is regarding VC 20002 ‘Duty Where Property Damaged’. The law says “Any person failing to comply with all the requirements of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six months, or by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that imprisonment and fine”
For anyone to be deported due to a violation the penalty should be minimum of 1 year or more and in this case it does not apply. But if in the past 5 years if there was any other criminal case this could be combined and deportable.
The immigration attorney says for someone to be deported.
a. Is this a case of moral turpitude?
b. Did this happen in less than 5 years of entry to US OR issue of green card.
c. Does the penalty carry an year or more of jail time
In our case all the above three are favorable and should not be a cause of worry for now.
For #2.
The damage is already done! Booking (getting photographed and fingerprinted) will not change the situation. For best chances of getting citizenship it is REQUIRED to have 5 years of good conduct before applying. Since our GCs were issues in July ’07 and this incident happened in Sept. ’07 we will wait until 5 years are passed before applying for citizenship.
Thanks for all your suggestions. I’m not sure which way this thing would go but trust in god and hope for the best.
Today I met up with an immigration attorney to discuss 1) Chances of deportation. 2) The impact of this misdemeanor for future citizenship.
For #1
The criminal case being pursued is regarding VC 20002 ‘Duty Where Property Damaged’. The law says “Any person failing to comply with all the requirements of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six months, or by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that imprisonment and fine”
For anyone to be deported due to a violation the penalty should be minimum of 1 year or more and in this case it does not apply. But if in the past 5 years if there was any other criminal case this could be combined and deportable.
The immigration attorney says for someone to be deported.
a. Is this a case of moral turpitude?
b. Did this happen in less than 5 years of entry to US OR issue of green card.
c. Does the penalty carry an year or more of jail time
In our case all the above three are favorable and should not be a cause of worry for now.
For #2.
The damage is already done! Booking (getting photographed and fingerprinted) will not change the situation. For best chances of getting citizenship it is REQUIRED to have 5 years of good conduct before applying. Since our GCs were issues in July ’07 and this incident happened in Sept. ’07 we will wait until 5 years are passed before applying for citizenship.
Thanks for all your suggestions. I’m not sure which way this thing would go but trust in god and hope for the best.
Jackolantern
Registered Users (C)
Still, try to make sure the facts of the case are properly recorded (returning promptly to the scene of the accident, the other party leaving, you approaching the officer and not vice versa) so that USCIS does not think it is worse than it really is.
And now you and the rest of us know that it is better for a kid to be late for school or miss even the whole day of school than for us to get caught up in such a mess.
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Jackolantern
Registered Users (C)
Yes it will affect naturalization, but not necessarily stop it. You can't get citizenship while still on probation, and depending on the exact nature of what you were charged with it could even be a deportable offense (especially since you have two, not just one charge). USCIS interprets any punishment as guilt, even if it is just probation or rehabilitation. You should see an immigration lawyer to discuss the specific offenses and the laws surrounding them and their effect on naturalization and deportation.
Jackolanten: Thanks for your suggestions and I would make it a point to record them. Also, I forgot to mention, after the accident when my wife pulled over and stopped she saw few people yelling/shouting at her (this is is recorded in the police report, and supported by the witness). She left the scene because of fear and also thought that it was safe to drop off the kid at school than scare the kid in that situation.
One thing is, had the police been just 2 minutes late my wife would have been back at the accident spot which would have not left us in this state. But, she saw a cop enroute and flagged him and stopped and explained the incident.
Jackolantern
Registered Users (C)
Not you, I meant the authorities recording them. You want the court records to reflect what really happened.
Update on the Misdemeanor.
Friends,
I would like to update further with the outcome of the pre-trial. The pre-trial was set for last week and we were in court. Our attorney met with the District Attorney(DA) and negotiated on our behalf, The DA agreet to reduce the sentence to California Penal Code § 415 with a fine of $500 and a two year probation.
Reviewed the law for 415 and it is as below.
§ 415. Disturbing the Peace
Any of the following persons shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail for a period of not more than 90 days, a fine of not more than four hundred dollars ($400), or both such imprisonment and fine:
(1) Any person who unlawfully fights in a public place or challenges another person in a public place to fight.
(2) Any person who maliciously and willfully disturbs another person by loud and unreasonable noise.
(3) Any person who uses offensive words in a public place which are inherently likely to provoke an immediate violent reaction.
Out attorney mentioned that people get this kind of ticket/s even if you play loud music while having a barbecue party in the park and someone complains about it... no big deal to worry about future citizen ship and closed the case.
Thanks to you all especially Jackolantern, lotechguy for your valuable inputs to handle the case properly.
Friends,
I would like to update further with the outcome of the pre-trial. The pre-trial was set for last week and we were in court. Our attorney met with the District Attorney(DA) and negotiated on our behalf, The DA agreet to reduce the sentence to California Penal Code § 415 with a fine of $500 and a two year probation.
Reviewed the law for 415 and it is as below.
§ 415. Disturbing the Peace
Any of the following persons shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail for a period of not more than 90 days, a fine of not more than four hundred dollars ($400), or both such imprisonment and fine:
(1) Any person who unlawfully fights in a public place or challenges another person in a public place to fight.
(2) Any person who maliciously and willfully disturbs another person by loud and unreasonable noise.
(3) Any person who uses offensive words in a public place which are inherently likely to provoke an immediate violent reaction.
Out attorney mentioned that people get this kind of ticket/s even if you play loud music while having a barbecue party in the park and someone complains about it... no big deal to worry about future citizen ship and closed the case.
Thanks to you all especially Jackolantern, lotechguy for your valuable inputs to handle the case properly.
Jackolantern
Registered Users (C)
Two year probation? Did you check with an immigration attorney about it first? In some cases even probation can lead to deportation if the probation is for more than one year.