How to Report "Adjourned in Contemplation of Dismissal (ACD)" case on N-400 Form?

Bobsmyth said:
an expunged ACD (when it's not defined as a conviction by immigration law) does not have an effect on your application since you don't need to disclose it.
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You do need to disclose it even when there is no conviction because of Question
16 and 17.

Question 16 and 17 still need to be answered with a Yes from the OP.
And a Yes to any of Questions 15-21 need to backed by certified court documents per instruction on the N-400 form.

and I believe certain crimes do not need conviction no matter how you define it to become a bar to citizenship.

Assuming a guy was stopped by a cop for no good reason and the cop find one kilogram of cocaine in the trunk of his car.
He went to trial, plead not guilty. The judge see the search is illegal search so order the jury to ignore such evidence
and the prosecutor has nothing else. Then jury must find the defendant "NOT GUITY". It is not a conviction
in criminal court. Neither is it a conviction for immigration purpose. But if USCIS get hold of details, they can
decline the application and even deport the person legitmately. I think there is a court ruling that evidence obtained by cops
thru illegal search can be used in deportation proceedings.
 
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Bobsmyth,
For the question dealing with things like ACD and Deferred prosecution... "have you ever been placed on a rehabilitative ..."

Should the answer be YES or No for someone who got deferred prosecution without pleading guilty (or even admitting guilt)?
 
WBH said:
You do need to disclose it even when there is no conviction because of Question
16 and 17.

Question 16 and 17 still need to be answered with a Yes from the OP.
And a Yes to any of Questions 15-21 need to backed by certified court documents per instruction on the N-400 form.

and I believe certain crimes do not need conviction no matter how you define it to become a bar to citizenship.

Assuming a guy was stopped by a cop for no good reason and the cop find one kilogram of cocaine in the trunk of his car.
He went to trial, plead not guilty. The judge see the search is illegal search so order the jury to ignore such evidence
and the prosecutor has nothing else. Then jury must find the defendant "NOT GUITY". It is not a conviction
in criminal court. Neither is it a conviction for immigration purpose. But if USCIS get hold of details, they can
decline the application and even deport the person legitmately. I think there is a court ruling that evidence obtained by cops
thru illegal search can be used in deportation proceedings.
Click to expand...

I was referring to not disclosing ACD in OP's case on question 19 as a YES since alternative sentencing implies a measure a measure of guilt.
 
Santao said:
Bobsmyth,
For the question dealing with things like ACD and Deferred prosecution... "have you ever been placed on a rehabilitative ..."

Should the answer be YES or No for someone who got deferred prosecution without pleading guilty (or even admitting guilt)?
Click to expand...

Imo, either way it wouldn't matter since the IO would still require the details of the case and charge for the determination of conviction under immigration law.
 
Bobsmyth said:
I was referring to not disclosing ACD in OP's case on question 19 as a YES since alternative sentencing implies a measure a measure of guilt.
Click to expand...

Still it has nothing to do with expungement. If he can answer No to Q 19,
he should answer No even if it is not expunged. If he should answwer Yes,
then he should answer Yes even if it is expunged.

But let's not be too picky about this. the OP has to provide court documents that will contain ACD. Let USCIS
make a decision. But is there such a concern that you don't know how to answer a question and answer one way
but the USCIS think you should anser the other way, will that cause any trouble? Will they think
you commoted perjury?

If one is not certain about whether to answer Yes or No, can he leave it blank and then answer that question
during the interview?
 
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Thanks for your help everyone! I am submitting the form, wish me luck. For completeness, and to summarize, I am answering:

Q15: NO (crimes/offenses for which I was not arrested)
Q16: YES (see OP)
Q17: YES (see OP)
Q18: NO (see OP)
Q19: NO (see OP)
Q20: NO (see OP)
Q21: YES (been to jail or prison, see OP)

Cheers! Will keep y'all updated.
 
changing my mind about Q19 (alternative sentencing or a rehabilitative program)

Vorpal said:
Here's an information sheet compiled by the NYS Defenders Association that outlines immigration consequences of convictions. It clearly states that while an ACD without a guilty plea is indeed considered "deferred adjudication", it is not considered a conviction for immigration purposes.

http://www.refugees.org/uploadedFil...ons/attachment31_immigration_consequenses.pdf
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Thanks Vorpal. Here is the relevant quote from the above link:

"A deferred adjudication disposition without a guilty plea (e.g., NY ACD) will not be considered a conviction."

Seems pretty clear that http://nysda.org considers my ACD (which was in NY state) deferred adjudication. I'm going to change my answer on Q19 to YES.

Bobsmyth: as far as I understand it, you suggested earlier that I should say NO on Q19 because I was never sentenced. However, the question refers to "alternative sentencing or a rehabilitative program" -- so I am guessing that NYSDA is interpreting an ACD to be "alternative sentencing" (maybe not the same as real sentencing), or a "rehabilitative program" (although no rehabilitation took place, there was a 6-months requirement not to break any laws before the case was dismissed, which seems similar to requirements that a rehabilitative program might have).

Good thing I slept on this. Well, if I get the question wrong, I am sure I can explain to the IO -- they'll have my original court records, anyway.
 
Again, I don't think it matters what OP answers for question 19 since he'll still have to explain the details of offense and demonstrate that he indicated he never entered a plea and/or never admitted to sufficient facts to find guilt. The IO will make a GMC determination based on all the facts presented , and will most likely request to see the court documents. I would suggest writing a detailed letter explaining the charges that specifies OP did not enter plea and never admitted to sufficient facts to find guilt and present this to the IO at interview for the record. In the end, your best defense is what you present in form of documentation, not what you originally answered on application to that question.
 
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WBH said:
But is there such a concern that you don't know how to answer a question and answer one way
but the USCIS think you should anser the other way, will that cause any trouble? Will they think
you commoted perjury?

If one is not certain about whether to answer Yes or No, can he leave it blank and then answer that question
during the interview?
Click to expand...

The OP will have a chance to explain details at the interview, and the IO will make the required adjustments to answer 19. I wouldn't leave question blank , but would answer either yes or no and defend myself at interview with proper documentation and facts.
 
Bobsmyth said:
The OP will have a chance to explain details at the interview, and the IO will make the required adjustments to answer 19. I wouldn't leave question blank , but would answer either yes or no and defend myself at interview with proper documentation and facts.
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I agree with you. It is not like that you answer NO to all those Q 15-21
in in order to hide it. If you check some yes to those questions apparently
you dislose what you had in the past. Let the USCIS make decision
based upon court documents and your explnations.
 
It's common for IO to make changes to answers at interview, especially if you answer YES for citation question but only had a minor traffic ticket. The point of interview is to clarify any information you have provided.
 
WhoRunTings said:
I skimmed through this, but I'm not clear what part of it addresses Q19 directly. Could you point out the relevant section please?
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see section (c)
"(1) Effect of Expungement . Post-IIRIRA, expungements do not remove the underlying conviction in many cases. In Matter of Roldan , Int. Dec. #3377 (BIA 1999), the BIA held that a state court action to “expunge, dismiss, cancel, vacate, discharge, or otherwise remove a guilty plea or other record of guilt or conviction by operation of a state rehabilitative statute” has no effect. The regulations already provide that an expungement of a controlled substance violation does not affect the conviction. See 8 CFR 316.10(c)(3)(i) . Also, a second crime involving moral turpitude that is expunged is still considered a conviction. See 8 CFR 316.10 (c)(3)(ii) . Post IIRIRA, other expungements will not be given effect. If you are unsure of the effect of a particular expungement, contact your local district counsel .

The USCIS can in all cases require an applicant to bring in evidence of a conviction, even if the conviction has been expunged. It remains the applicant’s responsibility to obtain his or her record, even if it has been sealed by the court. In some cases the USCIS may file a motion with the court to obtain a copy of the record in states where the applicant cannot obtain it. "

So no matter what you answer, you have to go thru the incident. Might as well answer "yes".
 
Bobsmyth said:
It's common for IO to make changes to answers at interview, especially if you answer YES for citation question but only had a minor traffic ticket. The point of interview is to clarify any information you have provided.
Click to expand...


A few years ago, on N-400 there was just two question for criminal background:

One is " have you knowingly commited any crime for which you were not arrested". This question is till there
with "any crime or offense".

The second question is: "Have you ever been arrested, cited, detaied, charged, convicted,
fined, imprisioned for breaking or violating any law or odinance excluding traffic violation?".

Now this second was broken up into several question.

I think I-485 has not yet broken up that question into several yet.
 
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WBH said:
A few years ago, N-400 preppty much has just one question
"Have you ever been arrested, cited, detaied, charged, convicted,
fined, imprisioned for breaking or violating any law or odinance excluding traffic violation?". Now it was broken up into several question.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't be surprised they did so the basis of some applicants classifying DUIs as traffic violations and thereby not reporting them.
 
Bobsmyth said:
I wouldn't be surprised they did so the basis of some applicants classifying DUIs as traffic violations and thereby not reporting them.
Click to expand...

Why not just say "excluding non-durg or alcohol related traffic violations"?

It explain why "excluding traffic violation" was removed. But what
is the reasoning behind breaking "Have you ever been arrested, cited, detaied, charged, convicted,fined, imprisioned for breaking or violating any law or odinance?" into several questions?
 
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