Naturalization Input

[sliderip]

I came to USA legally back in 88 on F-1 Visa. I had a felony back in 95 , it was non aggravated white collar crime. For that i was sentenced to 6 month half-way house, my co-defendant was given just probation because he was a citizen , judge made that clear to me.

I also had a shoplifting charge which was dismissed. (1994)

Around that time i had common law marriage to a US citizen, which we made legal before all this but i had failed to file I-130 and 485 etc (no money)
She did file for I-130 when i was in halfway house but then INS showed up and took me in for deportation based on felony.
I was not deportable based on INS criteria but at that time i did not know what felony is or pretty much anything how INS works etc
After few months one INS judge let me out and told me to go see another judge in OKC. Long story short that judge gave me something called 212h along with permanent green card in 98.

One other problem i had was back taxes, i did not file back in 00,01 and 02 ,, well i thought we did but i learned years later that it was not the case. I filed and paid all my taxes, IRS waived all the penalties but insisted that i pay interest on the back taxes so i ended up making a payment plan with them which i had abided by completely.

I know i could have applied for Naturalization long time ago but that bad patch in my life and dealing with INS left some sour taste in my mouth and i never wanted to go back to INS.

But my GC will expire soon and i am contemplating to renew my GC or apply for Naturalization.

Let me hear of any input you may have. I talked to one lawyer and he said i have nothing to worry about felony since it happened 15 years ago etc but i still would like to hear from valued members of this forum.

Thanks

 

[rick92]

Listen. nobody is perfect. So if you show good cause from whenever this incident ocurred up until now, nobody will use against you. But you do have respond YES to the question of having been detained, arrested by a law enforcement officer and show disposition of your case by the authorities. The rest with the IRS, you made a payment plan, would not worry about it.

Good luck with your N-400.-

 

[boatbod]

I recommend you consult with a good immigration lawyer before sending any application in to USCIS. You may find that your felony coupled with the history of tax problems makes it hard for you to be naturalized at the moment. Getting your GC renewed shouldn't be much of a problem because USCIS already knew about the felony when they first granted your LPR.

 

[aabbcc11]

As long as you paid back taxes and penalties etc whatever, the IRS issue will not be a big deal since that is something you can throw money at. If you pay them off that problem eventually goes away. The other law poblems are more serious and really beyond the limited capabilites of this forum's users.