interview done. waiting for

[scaredandalone]

Hello. First time here and I see a lot of people have knowledge and all.
I just recently finished my interview for citizenship. Test went good. But I'm not happy with what I did back in 2005. me and my ex had an arguement and grabbing her hand left a red mark and that's not an excuse for what i did. Went to jail for 7 days 3 for good behavior since I was scared. But my public defender told me if i pled no contest I would be release now and at that time jail time was the scariest experience. So I did but I don't know that's gonna be a burden now.
During the interview she asked me what happened then and I answered truthfully. She was kinda rude and I was nervous. She then proceed to tell me if i had the copy of the arrest record which I don't have but she has the court docket copies. Then she told me I need to get a copy of that and from there I would either get my oath location or deported. I'm scared I have two kids and a wife all citizen. I called my ex and she told me on the police report basically said I'm guessing in terms simple battery and nothing major. I took a year of class and 3yr probation which all was finished.
Now I'm so scared cause what she said. Why would should fo the distance to interview me and give me a paper I passed the tesr and all just to tell me it all depends on that police record. My first and last time.
Does anyone here get thier citizenship off a simple battery or whatever and it was drop to misdemeanor? I read around here but no one wrote back if they got it or not and that scares me. It could only lead to two things.
Please help I just got my life rolling....

 

[baikal3]

Hello. First time here and I see a lot of people have knowledge and all.
I just recently finished my interview for citizenship. Test went good. But I'm not happy with what I did back in 2005. me and my ex had an arguement and grabbing her hand left a red mark and that's not an excuse for what i did. Went to jail for 7 days 3 for good behavior since I was scared. But my public defender told me if i pled no contest I would be release now and at that time jail time was the scariest experience. So I did but I don't know that's gonna be a burden now.
During the interview she asked me what happened then and I answered truthfully. She was kinda rude and I was nervous. She then proceed to tell me if i had the copy of the arrest record which I don't have but she has the court docket copies. Then she told me I need to get a copy of that and from there I would either get my oath location or deported. I'm scared I have two kids and a wife all citizen. I called my ex and she told me on the police report basically said I'm guessing in terms simple battery and nothing major. I took a year of class and 3yr probation which all was finished.
Now I'm so scared cause what she said. Why would should fo the distance to interview me and give me a paper I passed the tesr and all just to tell me it all depends on that police record. My first and last time.
Does anyone here get thier citizenship off a simple battery or whatever and it was drop to misdemeanor? I read around here but no one wrote back if they got it or not and that scares me. It could only lead to two things.
Please help I just got my life rolling....

First, about the results of the naturalization interview, Form N-652 which you should have gotten at the end of the interview
(see sample form here: http://www.visajourney.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10002/normal_N-652.jpg)
Most likely your N-652 shows that you passes English and Civics tests (the very top box on the form) and then it has Box B checked in the middle of the form "A decision cannot yet be made about your application". Is this correct?
The fact that you passes English and Civics tests is in no way sufficient for approval of your N-400 application as there are quite a few other requirements that you need to satisfy, including the good moral character requirement.

It appears from your post that you may well be deportable. Any conviction for a crime of domestic violence is deportable, see
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/8/usc_sec_08_00001227----000-.html
"(E) Crimes of domestic violence, stalking, or violation of protection order, crimes against children
(i) Domestic violence, stalking, and child abuse. Any alien who at any time after admission is convicted of a crime of domestic violence, a crime of stalking, or a crime of child abuse, child neglect, or child abandonment is deportable."

It looks like your conviction does qualify as a crime of domestic violence, and it was an exceptionally bad idea for you to plead no contest to the charge. You should not have pleaded guilty/no contest to ANY criminal charge without talking to an immigration lawyer first. The criminal lawyer that represented you probably knows nothing about the immigration law and did not realize that he was giving you bad advice.

That said, even if you are technically deportable, the IO considering your N-400 still has the discretionary power to approve your application - and maybe that is what would happen. In many cases N-400 applications of technically deportable aliens are approved, e.g. for people who by mistake registered to vote and claimed to be a U.S. citizen on the voter registration form.

The IO may also deny your application (on the lack of GMC grounds) but not refer your case for deportation.

In the worst case scenario your N-400 will be denied and your case will be referred for deportation proceedings. Even if that happens, you may have access to several types of relief from deportation. In fact, there is a recent policy decision by the DHS and the Obama administration to reduce the number of deportation cases for aliens not involved in serious crimes, see for example http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/19/us/19immig.html

In any event, you have to wait and see what happens, hope for the best and prepare for the worst. I suggest talking to an immigration lawyer now about the possible consequences of your situation. A good immigration lawyer should be able to give you a better idea about how likely the worst case outcome (start of the deportation proceedings) is and how to prepare for it.