Naturalization with an Arrest for domestic violence but "Dismissed Charges" and "No Guilty Plea"

D

dcva

New Member
My Wife and I were involved in a heated argument. Wife has a history of psychological issues, which can spontaneously get worse (temporary delusions/paranoia etc). She called 911 to complain that she was afraid and feeling threatened. Officers arrived and did not find any problem. No arrest. She went back to the police station 3 days later and complained again about the same incident and gave a written statement. This time, the police showed up with an arrest warrant with an indicated court appointment. Did not take me with them and did not book me. Hired a lawyer who talked to the prosecutor. On the court date, the prosecutor asked for a general continuance of the case, to a date three months later, with "anticipated dismissal". I did not plead guilty and indeed did not say anything in the court. Nor did my lawyer. Nor did the prosecutor (other than to ask the judge for continuance). Three months later, the prosecutor requested that charges be dismissed and the judge agreed. This was the final disposition of the case.

I was served with the arrest warrant in January 2013. The case was dismissed May 2013. I am a LPR in the US since 1999. I am now keen to proceed with naturalization as this case made me realize the importance of citizenship status.

My question is the following:

If I apply for naturalization now, will this history create an insurmountable problem for me? Is there a risk that I will be deported? Am I better off waiting for 5 years to get past the 5 year CIMT window? My sense is that the case was dismissed and without any guilty plea by me or finding of guilt or anything like that. However, is there a worry that the immigration officials will "re-try" the case in their interview with me and find a way to deny my application?
 
I am no expert on this but I highly doubt this will affect your naturalization. All your cases were dismissed which means the judge(s) found you not guilty on all counts. On each of your court dates, what were you charged with? I think all you need to do during naturalization is disclose those arrests on your forms and have certified copies of the final disposition of each case sent in to them as well as carried with you to your interview. Immigration cannot "retry" you of something you were found not guilty of! Assuming someone falsely accused you of a CIMT and you got arrested but the judge found that it was all a hoax and dismissed the charges, USCIS cannot find you guilty of CIMT you did not commit and the judge verified that you did not commit can they :cool:? That would not make sense at all to deny the naturalization based on dismissed charges. Good luck.
 
It should be OK there is no conviction. But prepare that the IO can ask some questions like "What really happened
betwee you and your wife?", "Did you beat or hit your wife? " etc.
 
Mombasa_guy said:
I am no expert on this but I highly doubt this will affect your naturalization. All your cases were dismissed which means the judge(s) found you not guilty on all counts. On each of your court dates, what were you charged with? I think all you need to do during naturalization is disclose those arrests on your forms and have certified copies of the final disposition of each case sent in to them as well as carried with you to your interview. Immigration cannot "retry" you of something you were found not guilty of! Assuming someone falsely accused you of a CIMT and you got arrested but the judge found that it was all a hoax and dismissed the charges, USCIS cannot find you guilty of CIMT you did not commit and the judge verified that you did not commit can they :cool:? That would not make sense at all to deny the naturalization based on dismissed charges. Good luck.
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Thanks. My worry actually is that USCIS DOES or MAY try to "retry" cases based on the fact that their interpretation of the laws and of a "conviction" or "guilt" is different from what is used in the judicial system. My reading of postings on this forum is exactly that -- various posters have indicated that the USCIS applies a broad standard to judge guilt and that there is considerable discretion involved.
 
dcva said:
Thanks. My worry actually is that USCIS DOES or MAY try to "retry" cases based on the fact that their interpretation of the laws and of a "conviction" or "guilt" is different from what is used in the judicial system. My reading of postings on this forum is exactly that -- various posters have indicated that the USCIS applies a broad standard to judge guilt and that there is considerable discretion involved.
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You can check if your case meet defnition of any element below. If not,don't worry

http://www.uscis.gov/ilink/docView/INT/HTML/INT/0-0-0-65/0-0-0-4483.html

(1) A conviction exists for immigration purposes where an alien has had a formal judgment of guilt entered by a court or, if adjudication of guilt has been withheld, where all of the following elements are present: (1) a judge or jury has found the alien guilty or he has entered a plea of guilty or nolo contendere or has admitted sufficient facts to warrant a finding of guilty, (2) the judge has ordered some form of punishment, penalty, or restraint on the person's liberty to be imposed, and (3) a judgment or adjudication of guilt may be entered if the person violates the terms of his probation or fails to comply with the requirements of the court's order, without availability of further proceedings regarding his guilt or innocence of the original charge
 
WBH said:
You can check if your case meet defnition of any element below. If not,don't worry

http://www.uscis.gov/ilink/docView/INT/HTML/INT/0-0-0-65/0-0-0-4483.html

(1) A conviction exists for immigration purposes where an alien has had a formal judgment of guilt entered by a court or, if adjudication of guilt has been withheld, where all of the following elements are present: (1) a judge or jury has found the alien guilty or he has entered a plea of guilty or nolo contendere or has admitted sufficient facts to warrant a finding of guilty, (2) the judge has ordered some form of punishment, penalty, or restraint on the person's liberty to be imposed, and (3) a judgment or adjudication of guilt may be entered if the person violates the terms of his probation or fails to comply with the requirements of the court's order, without availability of further proceedings regarding his guilt or innocence of the original charge
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Here maybe the tricky part: "has admitted sufficient facts to warrant a finding of guilty". The question is if the admission of sufficient facts has to be made in the crminal court. If the applicant admit such sufficient facts to the USCIS, then what
will happen.
 
WBH said:
Here maybe the tricky part: "has admitted sufficient facts to warrant a finding of guilty". The question is if the admission of sufficient facts has to be made in the crminal court. If the applicant admit such sufficient facts to the USCIS, then what
will happen.
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OP has indicated that he did not admit to wrongdoing in court and all charges were dismissed. OP has maintained his innocence all along and all he is doing is admitting to the 'arrest' and producing certified copies of the disposition showing everything was dismissed. Unless he goes to USCIS and says "hey I beat up my wife" I highly doubt that clause is relevant to his case.
 
WBH said:
Here maybe the tricky part: "has admitted sufficient facts to warrant a finding of guilty". The question is if the admission of sufficient facts has to be made in the crminal court. If the applicant admit such sufficient facts to the USCIS, then what will happen.
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Except that that is one of three elements ALL of which need to be present for someone to be considered guilty for immigration purposes. The other two elements clearly are not present so as long as the OP brings the court dispositions to show this, I don't see how there could be a problem. Even the first element doesn't seem to present--as long as he can truthfully state that he did nothing wrong. But even if somehow he said something to the USCIS that was interpreted as warranting a finding of guilty--it is hard to see how he'd be guilty for immigration purposes when neither of the other elements are present.
 
Mombasa_guy said:
Unless he goes to USCIS and says "hey I beat up my wife" I highly doubt that clause is relevant to his case.
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Even if he DID make such an admission to USCIS, it wouldn't be a conviction for immigration purposes because the other two elements aren't present--hence there would be no removal proceedings. However such an admission might well result in the officer exercising their discretion to find that an applicant lacks GMC--so it could be grounds to deny the N-400.
 
IF IT IS DISMISSED WITHOUT A TRIAL, there is no need to worry. You paid no fines, fees , no probations or etc.
Your case may not be approved at the interview though.
Are you still with your wife?
 
rrnsuptl could

jonny1 said:
IF IT IS DISMISSED WITHOUT A TRIAL, there is no need to worry. You paid no fines, fees , no probations or etc.
Your case may not be approved at the interview though.
Are you still with your wife?
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Separated and the future of where we end up is uncertain. Having read the previous posts and re-read them, my worry now is about the GMC issue. That is, that the IO will raise issues about the lack of GMC even with the dismissal of charges.
 
dcva said:
Separated and the future of where we end up is uncertain. Having read the previous posts and re-read them, my worry now is about the GMC issue. That is, that the IO will raise issues about the lack of GMC even with the dismissal of charges.
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IMHO it is unlikely you'll be denied for lack of GMC but there is no way to be 100% sure until you have the interview. The thing is that your initial observation (in your 1st post) that you are vulnerable until you become a USC is true--so there is little to lose and a lot to gain by applying. At worst you will lose a little time and money (naturalization is much simpler than a GC case) and at best you will be much more secure in your status in the country.

Ultimately the interview is a face-to-face process and it is hard to predict how that will go based on online interactions such as this. If what you are saying on here--and only you know for sure--will stand up to face-to-face scrutiny--if there are no important details you are leaving out--then I don't foresee a problem.

The only thing I might consider would be postponing the N-400 until there is some kind of a resolution with your wife. Either "we are back together and very happy--this was clearly a one-time incident" or "we have gotten a divorce and I'm ready to move on" presents some more closure than you have now and might give a bit more assurance in an interview that this matter is behind you.
 
CalGreenCard said:
Even if he DID make such an admission to USCIS, it wouldn't be a conviction for immigration purposes because the other two elements aren't present--hence there would be no removal proceedings. However such an admission might well result in the officer exercising their discretion to find that an applicant lacks GMC--so it could be grounds to deny the N-400.
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I agree!
 
jonny1 said:
IF IT IS DISMISSED WITHOUT A TRIAL, there is no need to worry.
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It is true if it is dismissed with prejudice. If it is dismissed without prejudice before teh jury swear in or the DA present first evidence, then in theory it is not final since DA can re-file charges because double jeopardy has not kicked in yet and statute of limitation ha snot run out.

Of course, this is theoretical speculation and I think the IO will only apply this to more serious crime.
 
If you're denied over this incident, any competent immigration lawyer should be able to get the denial overturned in court. With your case being dismissed with no guilty plea and no penalty, it is not a basis for denial of naturalization.
 
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