N-400 denied. DWI/Careless driving. Failure to establish a finding of good moral character

M

memento

New Member
2 years ago I was denied my citizenship because I “failed to establish a finding of good moral character.

I applied as “married to a US citizen” in January of 2008, in march of 2008 I was arrested for 4th degree DWI which was dropped to careless driving, and received one year of probation. In May of 2008 I had an interview, and told the officer everything that happened before during and after my arrest. In February of 2009 I was denied citizenship because I had probation, as far as I understand.

Here is what the official letter said:

"Section 316 of the Act states:
No person...shall be naturalized unless such applicant...(3) during all period referred to in this subsection has been and still is a person of good moral character.

Title 8. Code of Federal regulations, Part 316.109(c)(1) states in part:
An applicant who has been on probation, parole, or suspended sentence during all or part of the statutory period is not thereby precluded from establishing good moral character. An application will not be approved until after the probation, parole, or suspended sentence has been completed."

The probation ended in 2009. I got divorced this year and planning to reapply based on my 5+ year permanent residence in the US.

I wanted to see whether anyone have had similar cases before and what are the chances of denial of citizenship for the second time. Do you have any advice for me before I apply? I have not had any problems with law or driving violations since DWI in March of 2008. Does it make sense to wait longer, to show that I have been trying to “reestablish my good moral character”?

Thank you for your time and advice!
 
From what I have experienced and other comments I have read is in order to show good moral character one must have been finished any probation or parole for a period of 5 years. You may want to contact a lawyer to be on the safe side. I think if you send in another application USCIS may take your money and run right now. I would wait till 2014 to re-apply.
 
z28eater said:
From what I have experienced and other comments I have read is in order to show good moral character one must have been finished any probation or parole for a period of 5 years. You may want to contact a lawyer to be on the safe side. I think if you send in another application USCIS may take your money and run right now. I would wait till 2014 to re-apply.
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Thank you for your advice. I have heard the same thing about "5 years" but I can't find any official info on this matter. Does anyone know if there is an official source to verify this info?
 
In accordance with Section 101(f) of the Act, the Service shall evaluate claims of good moral character on a case-by-case basis taking into account the elements enumerated in this section and the standards of the average citizen in the community of residence. The Service is not limited to reviewing the applicant's conduct during the five years immediately preceding the filing of the application, but may take into consideration, as a basis for its determination, the applicant's conduct and acts at any time prior to that period, if the condu ct of the applicant during the statutory period does not reflect that there has been reform of character from an earlier period or if the earlier conduct and acts appear relevant to a determination of the applicant's present moral character.
 
Thank you for the info, z28eater. This is also what I found:

INA: ACT 316(a)

(a) No person, except as otherwise provided in this title, shall be naturalized, unless such applicant, (1) immediately preceding the date of filing his application for naturalization has resided continuously, after being lawfully admitted for permanent residence, within the United States for at least five years and during the five years immediately preceding the date of filing his application has been physically present therein for periods totaling at least half of that time, and who has resided within the State or within the district of the Service in the United States in which the applicant filed the application for at least three months, (2) has resided continuously within the United States from the date of the application up to the time of admission to citizenship, (3) during all the periods referred to in this subsection has been and still is a person of good moral character, attached to the principles of the Constitution of the United States, and well disposed to the good order and happiness of the United States.

INA: ACT 316(e)

(e) In determining whether the applicant has sustained the burden of establishing good moral character and the other qualifications for citizenship specified in subsection (a) of this section, the Attorney General shall not be limited to the applicant's conduct during the five years preceding the filing of the application, but may take into consideration as a basis for such determination the applicant's conduct and acts at any time prior to that period.

As far as I understand, there is still a good chance of getting the citizenship but the there is "the Act" and that's what helped the interviewing officer make his decision in my case 2 years ago, not the personal impression that I made and truthful explanation of what happened, that I made a mistake and the alcohol level was minimal.
 
memento said:
As far as I understand, there is still a good chance of getting the citizenship but the there is "the Act" and that's what helped the interviewing officer make his decision in my case 2 years ago, not the personal impression that I made and truthful explanation of what happened, that I made a mistake and the alcohol level was minimal.
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Here is the rub: If a person who DWI and is stopped, and turns out to be a professor in Princeton, and another a widget-inspector at Acme Industries - It is quite likely that the prof. is evaluated differently. The Interviewing Officer may take lightly if the professor said - I went to party of my Graduating Class and did not realize that I had more than is acceptable.

So, it is up to individual. I will wait for others to chime in who are in fact more knowledgable of the Law.
 
I could be wrong but I think that most officers are stuck on the 5 year rule. When I went in for my interview one of the first things the officer said when we got to being arrested part on the application was that he was happy to see that my arrest was past 5 years. So really it is up to the immigration officer. Is it really worth taking a chance of spending $ 675 for them to say no but thank you for your money anyways?
 
I got a DWAI in January 2008, had my citizenship interview August 9th 2010 and got approved (based on the 5 year residency requirement). Their main concern is if
a) it was a one time incident
b) you completed all of the court orders and paid all the fines
c) you are not on probation anymore
 
Does anyone know if this would apply to a single simple possession of control substance conviction over 9 yrs ago?
 
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