Moral Character Question

M

membercentric

Registered Users (C)
3 years ago I had police come to my house because me and my wife were arguing and the neighbour called the police saying that they heard my wife shouting. The police came in, spoke with my wife for 10-15 minutes, asked me for my license, asked my wife if she wants to press charges against me, she said no. The police left the house and warned that I should not do this again. I said we both were arguning and fighting. They said in US you cannot do this. I didn't get anything from the police back after the incident. But may be they might have made the record in their system about the incident.

How should I answer the following question?

Have you ever committed a crime or offense for which you were not arrested?

Should I say YES or NO.

Please help.
 
I do not think you comitted a crime...I am not a lawyer but you had an argument that might have been louder than usual. I also doubt you are in any system.
 
membercentric said:
3 years ago I had police come to my house because me and my wife were arguing and the neighbour called the police saying that they heard my wife shouting. The police came in, spoke with my wife for 10-15 minutes, asked me for my license, asked my wife if she wants to press charges against me, she said no. The police left the house and warned that I should not do this again. I said we both were arguning and fighting. They said in US you cannot do this. I didn't get anything from the police back after the incident. But may be they might have made the record in their system about the incident.

How should I answer the following question?

Have you ever committed a crime or offense for which you were not arrested?

Should I say YES or NO.

no no no! no report been done so you are clean! don't worry
good luck!

Please help.
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I am just worried because I think the cops thought that I hurt my wife and it is a case of domestic violence which is a serious crime in US.
 
membercentric said:
I am just worried because I think the cops thought that I hurt my wife and it is a case of domestic violence which is a serious crime in US.
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If it was a case of domestic violence : they would have taken you in custody and the whole 9 yards.
 
membercentric said:
I am just worried because I think the cops thought that I hurt my wife and it is a case of domestic violence which is a serious crime in US.
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It would have been a criminal charge of domestic violance had your wife pressed charges and you were aressted.

Fighting and arguing with your spouce is not a crime, otherwise every married person in the country would be a criminal as we all argue.

Do not worry about it.
 
I think I have a situation that I am going to get a denial for sure.

When I first came to this country, I was told to pay for a SSN. I paid a large amount of money to a guy I knew (he was countryman too) and I got the SSN in the envelope.

When I was arrested after Sept 11, the INS agent asked me my SS number and I told him what it was. He looked at it and said it looks like a real number and I better tell them how I got it, I told them the truth, they asked me where I went, who I talked to, because you don't get SSNs like that. I told them everything.

After that I never heard about this issue. They didn't put it on my record of deportable alien form or anything.

When I was applying for I-130 and I-485 AOS my lawyer instructed me not to put any numbers, not to use that SSN for a while. For joint married tax purposes I got a ITIN number and everything.

In August 2002, I ordered a flight simulator tool off the internet and UPS delivered it. After a few days an FBI agent came to our apartment back in South Dakota. We had a nice little chat, was a very nice guy, I told him my plans to join the military but I happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time and now I was suffering. (At that time I was still waiting for I-130 IR visa approval, without that removal court could not move). He said he came to check out what I ordered, what I was going to do with it, just to make sure I am not building a B747 simulator in my house. We laughed and all. I asked him questions about naturalization and military security checks back then. Don't remember how but he mentioned about the SSN issue. I explained him the same thing I was told that was the only way.

Even when I got my work permit, I was worried and I placed him and my lawyer a call, if SSA would cause any problems about this number. Our FBI agent, who came to visit me a year earlier (he is retired now, very nice guy) told me to be truthful and explain the SSA people. I went to SSA and explained the situation, they ran the number and they said the number was good, apparently the number was authentic and came from SSA.

During my citizenship interview they didn't ask anything about it. But what if they say I lied under oath, didn't say YES to question number D15 "Have you EVER committed a crime or offense for which you were NOT arrested?" I didn't even know this was a crime.

I think I have NO CHANCE whatsoever now. They will find this. The reason I am worried is that, this must have been recorded somewhere even though they didn't take any action. If it was not recorded the agent in South Dakota would not have known something I was questioned for in New Jersey.

Should I withdraw my application? I DID NOT SLEEP this weekend, my wife was miserable trying to put up with my crabbiness. I feel like ***. I am done for good, the rest of my life I will stay as an LPR renewing my I-94 with I-551 stamp on it, year to year. I am sorry for letting people down here also, I try my best to be a law abiding person but I did break it once.

My only relief in my mind is that, my FOIA request said they no main file records and for this "crime" they didn't take any action. But still, I am looking at a denial for sure.
 
Bushmaster said:
During my citizenship interview they didn't ask anything about it. But what if they say I lied under oath, didn't say YES to question number D15 "Have you EVER committed a crime or offense for which you were NOT arrested?" I didn't even know this was a crime.

I think I have NO CHANCE whatsoever now. They will find this...
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Bushmaster, I saw your similar posting on the lawsuit thread. I think the best course of action is not to do anything at all -- just continue as usual and hope they will oversee your SSN issue. If it does turn out to be an issue, hire a lawyer and deal with it at that time.

USCIS is a wondrously incompetent agency -- remember, these are the same folks who posthumously (*after* September 11th) approved flight-school student visas for two of the attackers (
see article).
 
You ordered a flight simulator! :eek: I don't want to be rude or disrespetful to your situation but if I was your immigration officer I would denied your application . You have three big red flags: using a false SS, buying a flight simulator and have the FBI visit your home. If I was you I would contact a lawyer ASAP. Good Luck! Why were you arrested after Sept. 11? :confused:
 
I am sure there's nothing wrong with buying a flight simulator but the FBI stop at his house for some reason and all that is in their files. I don't think after 911 they will take this slighly but I am not a lawyer or expert so who knows.
 
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Awww, c'mon - a PC based flight simulator? Yeah, I'm sure thats a common terrorist training tool... Sounds like tax dollars at work, sending someone to investigate that.

Bushmaster, it sounds to me like you shouldn't have too much of a problem despite the dubiously obtained SSN. It has been >5 years since the offense took place, and USCIS did grant your GC after they knew the problem existed. Tell the truth but don't bring the subject up unless asked, and you should be ok.
 
gordi9 said:
You ordered a flight simulator! :eek: I don't want to be rude or disrespetful to your situation but if I was your immigration officer I would denied your application .
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Gordi9, thanks for writing, I don't want to be rude or disrespectful to you, so you can safely see this as a joke but I am glad you are not my immigration officer, otherwise I would have been stuck in Guantánamo Bay without charges. :D


You have three big red flags: using a false SS,
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Gordi, but I have just explained in my post above that I NEVER had a false SS#, the number I was issued came in the mail, and it is confirmed by the SSA after I inquired about it. So it has been a legit number from the beginning.


buying a flight simulator
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As a matter of fact, I have a lot of flight simulators for my computer, and my occupation is pilot. So I used to fly for a living in my native country. This is perfectly normal. Occupation is not a red flag but circumstances are.

and have the FBI visit your home.
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Like my buddies in the military say, I have a f*cked up name, it sounds arabic though it is not, so FBI agent explained to me when he came that it was the delivery company UPS called them and wanted them to check it out.

Why were you arrested after Sept. 11? :confused:
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My only charge was remaining in the US for a period of time longer than permitted. My wife and I had our wedding arrangements, we had our date set and everything, just 10 days before the wedding I had my wallet stolen in a stupid way, she was out of state and I called her, she advised me to call the lawyer we were intending to hire and ask if me losing my birth certificate, international driver license etc would matter. I called and talked to the secretary or associate sort of person and I explained my situation, I got carried away with conversation and started telling my life story, being a pilot and all that. The lawyer never called me back, never talked to me, but called my fiance and asked her if she was sure of marrying me. We were not doing some arranged marriage, we knew each other for a long time and she was very upset with that attitude. Then, the next day, township police sent detectives to my place and they questioned me, they told me they found my wallet, I went down there to see FBI and INS. INS arrested me on the immigration violation. I was put into removal proceedings. I was then released from INS custody, got married, filed I-130, got that approved, filed I-485, got that approved by Immigration judge, and 2 months after that, I joined the US miltary where I am still serving today. :)
 
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boatbod said:
Bushmaster, it sounds to me like you shouldn't have too much of a problem despite the dubiously obtained SSN. It has been >5 years since the offense took place, and USCIS did grant your GC after they knew the problem existed. Tell the truth but don't bring the subject up unless asked, and you should be ok.
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They have never asked about this after that. Interesting I just remembered, the night I was arrested, I was interviewed as I indicated above, after they were done questioning, I was sent to an immigration officer who did the booking. When he was filing out the record of deportable alien form I mentioned about the SSN conversation I had with the INS special agent. He was like "Nah, don't worry about that" So he put "N/A" in that spot on the form. I am tending to believe that this might not pose a moral character problem as under the military naturalization I have to demonstrate only one year of good moral character and mine is longer than that.
 
Bushmaster, I have to admit that I have no knowledge about flight simulators. I swear to God when I first read it I thought you have a freaking plane in your house. I wish you luck with your N-400 approval. I am sure your military service is going to help you.
 
gordi9 said:
Bushmaster, I have to admit that I have no knowledge about flight simulators. I swear to God when I first read it I thought you have a freaking plane in your house. I wish you luck with your N-400 approval. I am sure your military service is going to help you.
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Ha ha ha, that is what FBI thought that I was building a simulator in my house. You know, it is fine to come and inquire and I believe they should. Everyone is telling me that I should relax because military service looks well as a good moral character demonstration.
 
Bushmaster,

It's very important to keep in mind that just because INS granted someone a green card before knowing well everything about "damaging" information, that doesn't mean that they made a right decision at that time. INS officers are also human beings. So obviously, they also make mistakes quite often like we do. But those mistakes could be known to them at the time of naturalization because INS does scrutinize the whole immigration records of the applicant at the time of naturalization. That's why it's always better to see a few immigration attorneys before filing N-400 if there is something "disturbing".

I could understand why so many presumptions are coming into your mind given the uncertainity of your pending N-400. However, I must say that you don't have anything to worry about. Since you are from a Muslim country and were put on deportation before, it's just taking them a longer time to get clearance on you. That's all.

How you obtained SSN in the past is totally irrelvant here when it comes to proving good moral character especially if you have NEVER lied about it to anyone in the past nor concealed it on your application. Also, it's important to know that INS can go beyond the statutory period of 5 yrs in order to determine the moral character of an applicant.

As for the appeal, then of course everyone can file an appeal. However, filing an appeal is one thing and prevailing on the appeal is another. Filing an appeal doesn't mean one must gonna prevail, which you know better; rather winning an appeal depends upon the facts, evidences and merits.

Whenever INS denies an application, they always give reason why it is denied and they also give instrucitions on how someone can appeal their decision.

Further, it's too late to withdraw pending N-400 if you might be thinking of this for the purpose of saving your LPR or preventing deportation. Why? Because INS has already started checking your WHOLE records and might have done their investigations too. So, withdrawing N-400 at this stage won't prevent deportation if INS would find something on you to deport you.

Nevertheless, I personally don't think that there is something you need to worry about. It's my suggestion that you should contact your Congresspersons to check the status on your case; otherwise God knows when they will clear you up.

Good luck
 
Dear Johnny,

I use the same screenname all over the internet so people recognize me, have we met before?

Like you said I NEVER lied to anyone about the issue, I told about it to INS, FBI and SSA. My worry was about the question on N400 D.15 "Have you EVER committed a crime or offense for which you were NOT arrested?" I didn't think this as an offense or crime and on my AOS application my lawyer filled out the same question NO, so obviously I didn't want to cause an inconsistency.

I didn't think this issue would cause me to get deported or be put in prison, like I was mentioning, I became the victim of these greedy people and their corrupt business. My lawyer once told me that INS and FBI's main concern at that time must have been to get to the bottom of this ring that was providing people SS#s by illegal means. Worst case, I tried to find if this issue (obtaining a SSN by illegitimate means) is an offense that makes you deportable, I couldn't find.

2 senators and 2 congressmen are working on the case, and all are waiting for my deployment orders to Iraq so they can ask the case adjudicated expeditiously.
 
Bushmaster,

Your answer to the question # D.15 on N-400 is absolutely correct when you answered it to by saying NO. You did not commit any crime/offense even though it seems like this. Further, it's not a deportable crime either, especially when you were/are not convicted for using/producing false documents. So, don't worry about this at all.

Like I said earlier, your best bet is involving the congresspersons to your case as soon as possible.

And yes, we have met before many times, since 2003.

Take care, and have a Happy Thanksgiving.
 
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