I need advice regarding Naturalization

Marusia_GC said:
Please, advise me, should I show this letter at the Interview? Should I go to the local city police office, talk with the Head of the police department and request to remove this record?
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Bring the letter you have, and when it gets to that point of the interview, show the letter and explain that you accidentally broke a window and that charges were dismissed with no fine and no ticket. That's all you need to say. I'm sure the IO will not pay more than a few seconds' attention to it. They will put it in the same category as people who bring court records showing that they paid their $60 fine for speeding 5 mph over the limit.

You are not a criminal, this does not affect your moral character, so do not lose sleep over this, and do not bother your local police dept. about it. Please do not write any more forum posts about it either. ;)
 
arent you tired writing the same thing over and over again?
I really doubth that you are a professional...


Marusia_GC said:
Thank you very much, rjackal! I am not going to post anything related to this case unless I get into trouble at the interview because of it. Otherwise, I cannot imagine any other reason why they should deny my application: (1) slight accent should not be a reason for denial and (2) mismatch in height in my DL should also not be a reason. I came here to work legally from the very beginning. My initial J1 visa did not have a 2-year home return requirement, and in a year I converted it to H1-B visa with the same employer. Then I applied for GC, and after I-140 was approved (concurrent I-485), I was on Employment Authorization cards, which I renewed 3 or 4 times, all in due time. The only problem was that I got stuck in name check for many years, and eventually initiated FOIPA for myself, and sent out letters to FBI, Ombudsman, Senator, Representative, and finally the First Lady. After that my case was approved: they even called my office from Washington DC and apologized for delay in considering the case of such a valuable scientist/professor as I was. By the way, In my letters to Ombudsman and FBI I wrote that if they would not finalize the namecheck within some time (don't remember which terms I mentioned then), I would have to file a lawsuit. Could they revenge for this statement now???????
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Marusia_GC said:
I am awfully sorry for coming back to this "window question", but I have to. Though users of this forum have already given me useful advises that this should not be a big deal, it still bothers me, and since March 5, when I learned about the record at local police, I lost sleep and have very high blood pressure, which affects my everyday functioning. The words "Property destruction violation" are harsh and serious, though it is just a small cracked window glass falling apart at a touch! I have not been arrested, the case was not submitted to a court, and I have no idea how a ticket looks like and what I would have to do with it if I had ever got it. But there are scary words about "violation" and "infraction" in the record. Are these synonyms of a mild form of a crime? Of misdemeanor? I have never studied law and do not know this terminology. When my friend called 911, two policemen came into the apartment and talked with us. This cannot be considered a detention, right? By the way, I would like to understand, if someone is stopped by the police, e.g., for speeding, is this considered a detention? Should I write anything on paper explaining this case regarding the broken window? Should I better consult with a professional lawyer regarding this case before going to the interview?
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I know this advice will most likely fall on deaf ears, judging by your prior posts in this thread, but I'll give it a try (one only).

All of your questions were already answered by Bobsmyth in his first two posts at the beginning of this thread.
You just need to re-read them again.

You never received that ticket since it was dismissed before it was delivered/given to you. You don't have to disclose it and this ticket will almost certainly not show on any criminal background checks that the USCIS performs as a part of your application. Don't say anything about it at the interview, and the IO will not ask any questions about it. In fact, do not volunteer any information at the interview that is not directly asked for by the IO and do not chit-chat on off-hand topics. (If the question is "Do you know what time it is?", the correct answer is "Yes, I do", rather than "It is 10am".)

In the most unlikely situation (and you are more likely to get hit by a car than this) that the IO asks you about the ticket, then and only then explain exactly what happened - and that will be the end of it. Even in that (most nightmarish for you, I am sure) scenario, the IO will absolutely not care about some old dismissed citation and your application will not be denied because of it.

Do not waste thousands of dollars on a lawyer - it would be a real waste of money in this case.

Instead of legal help, you need medical and possibly psychological help - and I do not mean that disparagingly. Severe anxiety is a serious medical condition, and could lead to more serious consequences if left unchecked. So go and talk to your primary care physician. In the mean-time, consider something like tai-chi, yoga, meditation or at least running.
 
STOP WORRYING!

Even if you were arrested for that broken window and convicted in court for it, it still would not prevent your naturalization because it was very minor and it was more than 5 years ago.

So if the IO asks, "Have you ever been arrested, detained, or issued citations", I should say "NO"?
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Say NO, but show the interviewer the document you have for that incident, and explain that somebody filed this against you in 2004 without your knowledge and it was dismissed without you being arrested or charged for it, so you never knew that it was filed it until you researched your own background recently. Don't get into describing the story and details of it unless the interviewer insists on asking for the story and details (and they almost certainly won't).
 
Marusia_GC said:
The story has no end so far... Today I did go to the local Police Department. I requested to remove "contact ... Municipal Court for dispositions" from that letter, which further states "Dismissal Circumstances: NOT FILED ON BY CITY PROSECUTING ATTORNEY". They refused to do this. I explained that this had been just a misfortune, not a violation. They looked at the police report associated with this citation, and I asked to print out a copy for me. What this letter says (the words written by a policeman; "female" here is me), "While speaking with the female, I observed some cuts on her hands, and asked if she needed medical treatment, and she told she did not. I decided to issue the female a destruction property summons instead of arrest for a broken window 2 ft x 2 ft size". The ladies in the police department said that I must have had signed a ticket at that time, at the presence of the policemen. Honestly, I do not remember signing any paper! However, I was badly bleeding and stressed out at that time, so it could happen that I had signed something, but I do not remember!!! They said that I could remove this record by filing an expungement (frankly, I have no idea what this means) through hiring an Attorney. Do I have enough time to do this before the interview? I doubt... Should I really do this??? I also doubt... Should I show this full Incident Report to an IO at the interview? Yes, if an IO asks me. In fact, I am almost ready to tell about this at the interview, since they might have contacted the local police department and already have this record against me. I am afraid that if hiding, this would be considered as a reason for denial.
One problem... my health is too weak to handle all this... This all seems so unfair and tragic...
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Please stop posting until AFTER you are interviewed and have a decision from USCIS.

And see a shrink.
 
Marusia_GC said:
I cannot understand why everyone is mad with me about this window accident! This is a real trouble which jeopardizes my naturalization! I need to act properly to avoid complications. I am totally exhausted of tears and sleeplessness during 2 months. Almost ready to quit and go back to my home country for good... I am a cancer survivor after all...
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I had a cousin whose case got denied because the IO felt that he was 5'5 ish instead of 5'8 as shown on his DL. He appealed and lost the case. So you should definitely worry.
 
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Marusia_GC said:
The story has no end so far... Today I did go to the local Police Department. I requested to remove "contact ... Municipal Court for dispositions" from that letter, which further states "Dismissal Circumstances: NOT FILED ON BY CITY PROSECUTING ATTORNEY". They refused to do this. I explained that this had been just a misfortune, not a violation. They looked at the police report associated with this citation, and I asked to print out a copy for me. What this letter says (the words written by a policeman; "female" here is me), "While speaking with the female, I observed some cuts on her hands, and asked if she needed medical treatment, and she told she did not. I decided to issue the female a destruction property summons instead of arrest for a broken window 2 ft x 2 ft size". The ladies in the police department said that I must have had signed a ticket at that time, at the presence of the policemen. Honestly, I do not remember signing any paper! However, I was badly bleeding and stressed out at that time, so it could happen that I had signed something, but I do not remember!!! They said that I could remove this record by filing an expungement (frankly, I have no idea what this means) through hiring an Attorney. Do I have enough time to do this before the interview? I doubt... Should I really do this??? I also doubt... Should I show this full Incident Report to an IO at the interview? Yes, if an IO asks me. In fact, I am almost ready to tell about this at the interview, since they might have contacted the local police department and already have this record against me. I am afraid that if hiding, this would be considered as a reason for denial.
One problem... my health is too weak to handle all this... This all seems so unfair and tragic...
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Expungement won't help you, since USCIS can see expunged offenses (with the help of the FBI's database) and treats them as if the expungement was not done.

Don't bother with the latest report you just got, just hand over the document you already had which showed the dismissal and you'll be fine. Even if you were arrested and convicted of it, it is too minor and too long ago to affect your your naturalization eligibility, so why are you worrying so much about it? WHY?
 
Marusia_GC said:
The IO might conclude that the "decision cannot be made", and my case will be delayed for additional check-up, maybe they would contact local police...
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And even if they delay your case to check it out further, they're still bound by the 120-day deadline according to 1447(b).

But I marked NO on the N-400 form. I will have to say about this ticket and show the first record letter, if needed. I will show a copy of a check paid for the glass - this is the only proof I have. The IO might conclude that the "decision cannot be made", and my case will be delayed for additional check-up, maybe they would contact local police... But at least it should not be denied because of "bad moral character".
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Correct. Even though you omitted it from the N-400, you will not be penalized for the omission if you disclose it in the interview.

Even in the worst case of total denial (don't know why), I can go back to my home country and live and work there.
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Naturalization denial usually does not result in losing the green card. Most people who are denied naturalization get to keep their green card, and then they wait for the required amount of time to regain eligibility, and they reapply. For them to revoke your green card, they would have to find that you were convicted of a deportable offense (which this window thing isn't), or that there was fraud in your green card process or you were ineligible for the green card when it was granted. I assume none of that happened with you, so you'll keep your green card even if your naturalization is denied.

So just relax, and when the interviewer reaches the section with the "good moral character" questions, say NO about being arrested or cited, then hand over the document and say something like "I found out that this was filed against me in 2004, but it was dismissed without me ever being arrested or charged for it." Don't give any details of the story, don't voluntarily tell them you broke the window, don't say anything more about it unless they ask for specific details. Most likely they will just look at it for a minute or less, and move on without caring about it any more.
 
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