N400 habitual drunkard question and ever been in court question?

B

barr1025

Registered Users (C)
Could anyone offer advise whether I should put yes or no to the above question?

I am a recovering Alcoholic, 3 years sober. I have never been arrested or in trouble ever as a result of my drinking. No DWI or DUI.

And my second question is: at the interview I have heard where the IO asks have you ever been in court? I was but not on a charge, my ex wife made an application for a restraining order, I was never charged, I was asked to appear in court alongside my wife at the time to put my side of the story to the judge before he made his decision, my wife and/or her lawyer never showed up, I did and the judge closed the case, i.e. no case to answer.

Thanks in advance for any advice!
 
An alcoholic is a habitual drunkard and as such is ineligible for naturalization based on lack of moral character during the statutory period according to 8 CFR 316.10(b)(2)(xii).
Furthermore, if the restraining was a result of your alcoholism it only reinforces the lack or moral character finding.
This being said, you should wait to apply for naturalization until your alcoholism falls outside the statutory period.
 
Thanks for reply. In fact there was no restraining order, just the threat of one, I appeared before the judge to answer this but my ex wife did not, it was a period of high emotions for both and not related to alcohol. Regarding the habitual drunkard part and moral turpitude, well I have never done anything wrong, but i gather from your reply that nevertheless it should be put down on the form. I am bearing in mind you are just sharing your views and appreciate that.
 
barr1025 said:
Regarding the habitual drunkard part and moral turpitude, well I have never done anything wrong, but i gather from your reply that nevertheless it should be put down on the form. I am bearing in mind you are just sharing your views and appreciate that.
Click to expand...

From the immigration rules, just being a habitual drunkard in itself during the statutory period is enough to find an applicant lacking in moral character. There's no legal requirement that you did something wrong while being a habitual drunkard; being one is reason to deny an application based on lack of moral character.
 
barr1025 said:
Could anyone offer advise whether I should put yes or no to the above question?

I am a recovering Alcoholic, 3 years sober. I have never been arrested or in trouble ever as a result of my drinking. No DWI or DUI.

And my second question is: at the interview I have heard where the IO asks have you ever been in court? I was but not on a charge, my ex wife made an application for a restraining order, I was never charged, I was asked to appear in court alongside my wife at the time to put my side of the story to the judge before he made his decision, my wife and/or her lawyer never showed up, I did and the judge closed the case, i.e. no case to answer.

Thanks in advance for any advice!
Click to expand...
Agree with Bobsmyth on this one. The fact that your drinking didn't result in any criminal convictions etc. is irrelevant. If you are a self-described alcoholic then you don't meet the criteria for naturalization. If memory serves, the N-400 asks if you have EVER been a habitaul drunkard, in which case even in the future you will have to disclose that at one point you were in AA. However, I agree that once you are outside the 5 year window, you should be OK.

One thing to keep in mind is what your wife said on the original request for a restraining order...did she mention your drinking as a primary reason for the request? If so, then you now have a paper trail that, at the very least, accuses you of having a drinking problem, irrespective of whether the restraining order was granted or not. If you didn't have this, the chances of USCIS ever finding out that you had a problem would be very very low. However, because of the application, you may want to wait to apply for naturalization.

Before you apply, you may wish to speak with an attorney to see what you can do to bolster your chances (disclosure: I am naturally conservative, and suggest people use immigration attorneys at the slightest hint of a problem). One thing you can do is to document your sobriety: keep a record of AA meetings attended, get letters from your AA chapter regarding your attendance / sobriety etc., and of course show that you have a normal, stable life (employment records, perfromance reviews)...this is all good stuff to show that you have kicked the habit for good. Best of luck to you.
 
Habitual Drunkard question on N-400

This relays my personal experience with habitual drunkard questions as this thread was very helpful to me when filling in my form 400.

I am 4.5 years sober and an active member of Alcoholics Anonymous. A very reputable immigration law firm that my corporate employer uses confirmed my understanding that for legal purposes habitual drunkard means the same as alcoholic. Relevant period is the statuary period, which in my case is 3 years because I am married to US citizen (I understand usually to be 5 years). I am not "documentable" as I never had a DUI or something of the kind.

I chose to answer "no" to ever habitual drunk question as I interpreted question to be a question of moral shortcoming which I do not consider my alcoholism to be. I did choose to add alcoholics anonymous to organizations I am a member of. In interview, interviewing officer of course made connection and I explained i) that I was sober during statuary period, ii) that I did not answer "yes" to ever drunk question as I considered moral shortcoming questions, and iii) that I considered alcoholism a disease like many others. He was was satisfied with this and I went through naturalization ceremony today :).

Hope this is helpful to somebody as this thread was helpful to me.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top