Samanta20_2001
New Member
Hello, I just had my citizenship interview and honestly I don't know what to make of it. It was very quick and the IO officer did not ask to see any of my original documentation, although I did ask her if she would like to see anything in relation to my application. I had five folders of original documents with me but she never asked to see any of them. As soon as I got home, my case got updated that additional evidence was required. The next day it got updated again that additional evidence was recieved, however I did not send anything but another day later I recieved a letter in the mail stating that they only had a court document copy of an incident I reported and only originals were acceptable. In addition they are now are asking for arrest records which I don't have, as I have never been arrested. Here is a little background to the problem: I arrived in the states in August of 2001, in early 2002 I went shopping at a grocery store. Once I was done shopping and checking out, I remembered that I saw some "FREE" samples on a shelf , so I went back to grab couple (plastic pouches, small sample size of hair serum, like the ones many retailers give out for free for people to try cosmetic products or hair products) Long story short I was stopped by the front door and since this did not appear on my reciede, I was basically accused of stealing (keep in mind that those things, later I found out were about $1.40 and I had just paid a $70 grocery store bill- I had absolutely zero intentions of stealing) . They called an officer and when he arrived, I had to call a friend of mine to translate because I barely spoke English at the time. The officer pretty much knew right away that I did not try to steal and he even made the store manager take off the FREE misleading sign. Turns out those things were given for free only if you had purchased something additional (I think it was a shampoo) otherwise they costed $1.40. The manager insisted on pressing charges, so the officer had to record everything but the officer pretty much said not to worry about it and that he believed me. So he ended up not showing up on the court date and my case was dismissed. Fast forward to today - I was honest on my application and disclosed that incident. I had obtained a record back in 2009 from the court showing the dismissal and that is what I submitted with my N400 application. I have never had any other tickets, or such incidents since then nor have ever committed any type of crimes in my life. This record actually does not exist any longer as just this past week I called the court again and asked what else they can give me so that I can satisfy the USCIS requirements. They couldn't even find the case number so they are sending me confirmation of "no record found". I also went to my local police department and got fingerprinted and requested a clearance letter to show that I have never been arrested from the state that this incident occurred. Problem is that I moved out of that state 8 years ago and I can't physically go there, I have to wait for everything in the mail and I am worried that it will not arrive before the USCIS deadline given to me (30 days total from the day of my interview) to submit the additional documents. I need some experienced help here, do you guys have any feedback or advise for me? Do you know if I can request an extension of that deadline, so that I have time to obtain the documents? I talked to the police department in that state and asked if there is any way to speed up the background check but they said no. It is on first serve first come basis and they can't guarantee I will recieve the clearance letter before the deadline. Also, I really feel like my case was not handled properly by the IO officer, so I requested a phone call from a 2nd tier officer and I plan on telling him how the appointment was handled. I had the original court dismissal letter with me and she never asked to see it despite of the fact that I offered to show anything she needs and I explained to her in detail what had occurred- yet she barely documented anything. I was never arrested, so I never even thought that I would need any kind of police records. Any help would be highly appreciated. P.S: please don't advise me to get a lawyer, I have one and he is not much help nor advising me on what to do. Thank you in advance for any helpful information provided! Oh and that store sucks. 14 years ago (not 13 years wrong math-sorry) shortly after the incident I even made the effort to write them an apology letter when I barely spoke English for this minor misunderstanding along with a card and they decided to make my life hell for $1.40!!!!!
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My Oath ceremony was last week! Thanks again!