Order Of Protection And Naturalization

boatbod said:
Your answers to Section D questions will be important. Since you were never arrested, cited or charged in connection with your court appearance, that removes questions 16 thru 18 as problem areas. You may want to carefully consider the answer to "19. Have you ever been placed in an alternative sentencing or a rehabilitative program?" because the Anger Management class may fall in that category. Thankfully it seems the court didn't actually order you to take the class, so again you may escape closer scrutiny.

The reason I'm bringing all this up because the slightest hint of domestic violence will cause the IO to dig deeper and could ultimately derail your N-400 unless you can prove the allegations were baseless. Be aware the burden of proof rests with the applicant, not the government. i.e. You must show you are a good person, rather than the govt needing to prove that you're not.
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Also I still dont understand how this can derail my citizenship application. It is not a criminal case. Also nothing was proven against me. It was just a mistake presented by my wife's attorney to the judge, about the agreed order between us. Please clarify as to why you think this is so major ?

Also is there anything that we can do about this now.
 
puneet_it said:
Also I still dont understand how this can derail my citizenship application. It is not a criminal case. Also nothing was proven against me. It was just a mistake presented by my wife's attorney to the judge, about the agreed order between us. Please clarify as to why you think this is so major ?

Also is there anything that we can do about this now.
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I agree that it shouldn't be an issue. If however USCIS somehow finds out about the allegations & court case, they will likely investigate and demand documentary evidence of the outcome. At that point, you may have a problem if the "rehabilitation" program is mentioned in the case disposition.

I have absolutely no idea what you can do about all of this now. Its too late to change the original outcome, which is why we were all strongly suggesting you had representation at the original hearing. I'm not trying to scare you, as I do believe you are 95% unlikely to have any issues, however I do think you need to be prepared to cover all bases, just in case.
 
boatbod said:
I agree that it shouldn't be an issue. If however USCIS somehow finds out about the allegations & court case, they will likely investigate and demand documentary evidence of the outcome. At that point, you may have a problem if the "rehabilitation" program is mentioned in the case disposition.

I have absolutely no idea what you can do about all of this now. Its too late to change the original outcome, which is why we were all strongly suggesting you had representation at the original hearing. I'm not trying to scare you, as I do believe you are 95% unlikely to have any issues, however I do think you need to be prepared to cover all bases, just in case.
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Thanks and you have been very helpful. I have been talking to several lawyers yesterday. They are saying that my wife should call her lawyer and ask him to change the original order and present it to the judge again during another hearing. They do tell me that this is not a big deal because the court has NOT ordered me to do this. My wife and me are thinking of hiring another attorney to do this. What do you think about this.

Secondly following is the verbiage of the order motion form:

This matter coming on to be heard, on plantiff's Petition for Order of protection, the Court being fully advised in the premises and having jurisdiction of the subject matter, and of the parties; proof pf personal service of the petition for dissolution of Marriage, Petition for Order of Protection and Notice of Motion for Today's hearing being filed herein;

The court being advised that the parties have agreed that Plantiff and the minor child shall be allowed to immediately reoccupy the marital residence at XYZ beginning on May 7, 2008 peacefully and without interference; that the parties have agreed to immediately commence and pursue attendance at marriage counselling and the defendant MYSELF has agreed to immediately commence and complete a professional program of anger management therapy.

On plantiffs motion it is ordered that the petition for dissolution of marriage and petition for order of protection are voluntarily dismissed.

Signed by her attorney and then by the judge. Also the important thing to keep in mind is that the verbiage in the form : IT IS HEREBY ORDERED is complely stricken. Hence the order is not a court order. It is just a mutual agreement amongst my wife and me based on what the attorney has written.

Please advise if there is anything else that we can do to change this verbiage now. Can any good immigration lawyer help us out regaring this ?
 
I've pretty much already given my opinion, but I will comment that I don't like the court verbiage. The part that gives me a problem is "the defendant MYSELF has agreed to immediately commence and complete...". Does voluntarily "agreeing" to this constitute a rehabilitation program under the rules of immigration law? I don't know, but I'd sure want to find out before its too late to do anything about it.
 
Get a new attorney and see if you can remove the "the defendant MYSELF has agreed to immediately commence and complete..." clause from the letter.
 
Today, I have talked to several immigration lawyers and each one of them is telling me that I have nothing to worry. Question 19 on N 400 is only for criminal cases. This is a civil case and no charges were filed against me.

So the answer to Question 19 would be NO for me. This will most likely not even be discovered during any background checks since I was not fingerprinted and it is not regarded as a felony.

So now I am even more confused..:confused:
 
CrossHairs said:
Get a new attorney and see if you can remove the "the defendant MYSELF has agreed to immediately commence and complete..." clause from the letter.
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If we get this clause removed, will it affect my or my wife in any negative way ? She did put a lot of nasty allegations against me in the Order of Protection. Things like domestic violence, verbal abuse to her, to her mother and to my child.. All lies which could not be proved.

So now she is worried about it as well..We are still trying to figure out how to get it removed since her attorney did not cooperate with her.:confused:
 
VivaLasVegas said:
Can a complaint against that attorney be filed? (since he isn't co-operating any more)
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Yes , we will do the same. However at this time we are trying to figure out how to get that verbiage removed. This has been really stressful and confusing for us.
 
OP, I don't know why are you wasting your time taking asking around here. this forum is helpful but no one is immigration lawyer here.
You really need to consult immigration lawyer and take your wife with you to understand the seriousness of the situation. No offense to anyone here. All of you have been helpful but this situation demands expert advice.

Everyone on this thread asked you for taking the lawyer but you did not listen! Your wife would have understood. She had one too!

I personally think you will be fine but truely you need lawyer to tell you this, not US. You might have to go with lawyer when filling for citizenship. I would suggest have initial consultation with Rajiv Khanna and have a peace of mind untill time for filling citizenship comes else this incident will be in back of your mind for ever.

Glad to see you and your wife have reconcile the differences.
 
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Citizenship999 said:
OP, I don't know why are you wasting your time taking asking around here. this forum is helpful but no one is immigration lawyer here.
You really need to consult immigration lawyer and take your wife with you to understand the seriousness of the situation. No offense to anyone here. All of you have been helpful but this situation demands expert advice.

Everyone on this thread asked you for taking the lawyer but you did not listen! Your wife would have understood. She had one too!

I personally think you will be fine but truely you need lawyer to tell you this, not US. You might have to go with lawyer when filling for citizenship. I would suggest have initial consultation with Rajiv Khanna and have a peace of mind untill time for filling citizenship comes else this incident will be in back of your mind for ever.

Glad to see you and your wife have reconcile the differences.
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Today, I consulted an immigration lawyer and showed him the release form. He said that this is not going to hurt me in anyway. In fact i should not lose sleep on it at all. USCIS dont care about civil cases..

He also said that he can try and get this verbiage removed (since he also practices civil law) and I will have to pay 600 bucks. To me paying 600 bucks is much better than living with this for another year..

Yesterday I talked to 2 other immigration lawyers and they said the same thing. The answer to Question 19 would be NO in my case. So I think I will be ok.

If I get deported for something like this then that is my luck...:cool:. But I will certainly fight it out in court since nothing is proven against me.

On Monday I will ask this lawyer to back to court and try and get the verbiage removed..Will keep everyone posted.
 
puneet_it said:
Today, I consulted an immigration lawyer and showed him the release form. He said that this is not going to hurt me in anyway. In fact i should not lose sleep on it at all. USCIS dont care about civil cases..

He also said that he can try and get this verbiage removed (since he also practices civil law) and I will have to pay 600 bucks. To me paying 600 bucks is much better than living with this for another year..

Yesterday I talked to 2 other immigration lawyers and they said the same thing. The answer to Question 19 would be NO in my case. So I think I will be ok.

If I get deported for something like this then that is my luck...:cool:. But I will certainly fight it out in court since nothing is proven against me.

On Monday I will ask this lawyer to back to court and try and get the verbiage removed..Will keep everyone posted.
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gr8, $600 is a cheap price to pay for good night sleep in IMO:D
Good luck.
 
Citizenship999 said:
gr8, $600 is a cheap price to pay for good night sleep in IMO:D
Good luck.
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I am praying that this will be taken care of this week. We are hiring this lawyer to go to court and get it amended next week. I am hoping the judge will agree to the amended form. Will keep everyone posted. I dont want my citizenship chances messed up due to some stupid mistake of which I was not even aware of..:confused:
 
How did it go?

Hi puneet_it,

Did you get this resolved? Don't want to scare you but I just talked to a service agent and she said it could go against you during your naturalization process. Is there anyone in a similar situation? My wife had an Order of Protection against me for a year and it expired 8 months ago.
 
Protective Order

Hello, my future ex-wife request a protective order against me.The protective order was granted today. I have been in the US for 8 years I am a legal resident alien. I get divorced 5 years ago, this second marriage last just a year. I have never been convicted, I was not arrested because of this last incident or fingerprinted. My plans are to apply for my citizenship next year. With the constant changes in the law, How much is this incident going to affect my process? If this a reason for the citizenship to be denied for me can I still apply for extension of my residency?
 
Another post of protective order

Hello, my future ex-wife request a protective order against me.The protective order was granted today. I have been in the US for 8 years I am a legal resident alien. I get divorced 5 years ago, this second marriage last just a year. I have never been convicted, I have not been arrested or fingerprinted. My plans are to apply for my citizenship next year. With all the changes in the law how much this incident is going to affect my process? If this a reason for the citizenship to be denied can I still apply for extension of my residency?
 
geragal said:
Hello, my future ex-wife request a protective order against me.The protective order was granted today. I have been in the US for 8 years I am a legal resident alien. I get divorced 5 years ago, this second marriage last just a year. I have never been convicted, I have not been arrested or fingerprinted. My plans are to apply for my citizenship next year. With all the changes in the law how much this incident is going to affect my process? If this a reason for the citizenship to be denied can I still apply for extension of my residency?
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A civil protective order does not affect your eligibility for naturalization. However, violation of that protection order could lead to criminal charges and have serious consequences for you.
 
puneet_it said:
Today, I have talked to several immigration lawyers and each one of them is telling me that I have nothing to worry. Question 19 on N 400 is only for criminal cases. This is a civil case and no charges were filed against me.

So the answer to Question 19 would be NO for me. This will most likely not even be discovered during any background checks since I was not fingerprinted and it is not regarded as a felony.

So now I am even more confused..:confused:
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I am very eager to talk with u.
 
Order of protection- reissue warrant for DV arrest?

Knoxville,TN.My wife and I got had an argument where she we where both physical she had black eyes I did not directly hit her and in the notarized order of protection she wrote that she was struck by me not punched. There were pictures taken by the police and she was advised to get a warrant for domestic violence and an order of protection. She did file both. Over the weekend she researched the consequences of deportation for a domestic violence arrest for I am non-citizen married to us citizen I can apply for N-400 in 9 months Dec. we will be married 3 years. Monday she was called by her advocate saying the order of protection was not signed when the notary was there.My wife called the DA after she was told the order of protection had not been signed at first the DA refused to even drop both for she did not know that the order of protection was not signed. When my wife told her this she said she would call the next day after she had spoken with the advocate about the order of protection. The DA called back in an hour to advise my wife that she would drop the criminal domestic violence arrest warrant if my wifed signed the order of protection but was warned she had to follow thru or the DA "would not have nice things to say." We are unclear what the DA means by this. My wife did as the DA asked and the DA dropped the criminal warrant. I was pulled over by an officer wed. and was given a warning for speeding he did take my license to his car.We are now going to a local church for conseling and would like to resolve this without the order of protection. My wife has told her advocate she has not seen or spoken with me for I have not been served the ex parte order. If I remain unserved ex parte order by the court date Aug 6 will it be dismissed? If she does not go to the court date will it be dismissed? Can the DA reissue the warrant if OP is dismissed by neither one of us going to court as she has told my wife she "would not have nice things to say? When my wife called the circuit court to see if I had been served the ex parte order she was told no and she asked if I was not served by the court date what would happen and she was told it would be dismissed. My wife's advocate told her that they would reschedule the court date if she went and ultimately if I did not show up for the reschedule it would be dismissed for I had not been served the ex parte order but does the DA have the right to reissue the warrant for arrest? Are they misleading my wife to feel she has to follow thru? I have not talked to a lawyer just yet I have called for consultation but no one has called me back so I am wondering if there is no case for them to call me back and I should just not get served and my wife not show up for the court to have it dismissed. The pastor at our church has advised for us to drop the order of protection and seek conseling as first methods of this. Thank you for taking the time to read this. I hope I have given enough information.
 
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