Readmission to usa post-conviction...

Drummersteve

New Member
Hi all,

Posting in behalf of a friend, will try be as brief and succinct as possible.

- Citizen of Ecuador, obtained green card many years ago for USA, lived there for roughly 10 years.

- Left of her own free will, but was later convicted for a number of drug-related crimes in Ecuador. She did some jail time too of around a year. Unfortunately she was mixed up in her husbands actions, a passenger to an extent. Upon being arrested, interpol confiscated all green cards etc.

- This was almost 15 years ago (maybe more I'm trying to obtain records now).

She is sick and needs specialty care/treatment in the USA . Have done extensive research into the methods of visa application and later applying for waiver, but I wanted to know what the situation would be regarding her green card status? It was confiscated in Ecuador, not USA, but of course her previous convictions will deem her inadmissible.

What is the best course of action, attempt to reinstate her resident status by means of waivers, or apply for the B2 medical tourist visa and try and get a waiver when the inadmissible condition undoubtedly appears.

Thank you for any advice.

Marko
 
She abandoned US permanent residency by living in Ecuador, so attempts to reinstate US resident status would fail.
She could apply for a B2 visa, and would be asked to disclose her convictions. She may be questioned whether the treatment she seeks exists in her country.

Assuming she got her green card by virtue of marriage to a US citizen, is she no longer married to him?
 
The US is very unforgiving of drug crimes, and her involvement was serious enough for a conviction. Unfortunately I don’t see much if any chance of her being granted a visa with that on her record. Even spouses of USCs have battled to get waivers for drug related inadmissibility, for a non-immigrant B visa it’s a certain denial. As for her “green card status”, she doesn’t have one. She clearly abandoned residence long ago. If she has someone to file an IR visa for her and if there is a qualifying relative to apply for a waiver, she may - may- have a chance, but between I130 processing and waiver application that’s probably 2 years before she will even know if she can go or not.
 
Thank you for your responses, I’ll try and answer your questions and also I have another suggestion.

- She did not get her green card by virtue of marrying a US citizen, no, so this is not a route to re-obtain status, unfortunately. The treatment is not available in Ecuador, hence the intent on going to USA to be treated.

- B2 w/ waiver is the intended route, however, there is a process in Ecuador where you can clean your criminal record. Subject to her suitability to have it cleaned, would this mean it would not be necessary to disclose convictions in the application process? Or, despite clean record, would you still need to disclose the convictions?

Thank you!
 
- B2 w/ waiver is the intended route, however, there is a process in Ecuador where you can clean your criminal record. Subject to her suitability to have it cleaned, would this mean it would not be necessary to disclose convictions in the application process? Or, despite clean record, would you still need to disclose the convictions?

Thank you!

The convictions still need to be disclosed regardless - she has to answer “YES” to the question:
“Have you ever been arrested or convicted for any offense or crime ...” on the DS160 form. (bold emphasis mine).
 
Thank you for your responses, I’ll try and answer your questions and also I have another suggestion.

- She did not get her green card by virtue of marrying a US citizen, no, so this is not a route to re-obtain status, unfortunately. The treatment is not available in Ecuador, hence the intent on going to USA to be treated.

- B2 w/ waiver is the intended route, however, there is a process in Ecuador where you can clean your criminal record. Subject to her suitability to have it cleaned, would this mean it would not be necessary to disclose convictions in the application process? Or, despite clean record, would you still need to disclose the convictions?

Thank you!
No, expungement etc does not count for visa/immigration purposes.
 
As noted here, questions on many US forms tend to be of the "Have you EVER (whatever)" sort. Arrests/convictions must be disclosed.

How critical is the need for specialty treatment if the stated emphasis is her intention to go a yet-to-be decided route? The criminality cleaning process and B2 waivers cannot be a walk in the park, how is the friend dealing with her treatment during processes that have yet to be initiated?
 
Thank you all for your responses. I had suspected that cleaning her record wouldn't completely erase, so thank you for confirming.

With regards to inadmissibility, will having the record cleaned make her more likely to be admissible as opposed to not, despite having to declare the prior convictions? Or does it make little/no difference?

By intended route, I meant that I was inquiring about the green card just in case it could be an option... However realistically speaking the visa route was the originally intended route. As for the therapy, it simply isn't available here at all (its a pretty severe autoimmune disease, she is severely disabled). It's available in other countries, but it's a relatively alternative treatment, so the USA is the best place to go. In the meantime (and for the previous 20+ years), she has simply been taking the drugs typical of an autoimmune condition - helping symptoms but allowing disease to progress. She has always been afraid to go through this whole process given her past, but it's become so severe that were going to try.

Just in case its worth mentioning, she has family sponsors in the USA, along with many commitments tying her to Ecuador. She will also be travelling with her daughter (US passport holder) and myself (UK passport holder).

Thanks again for continued input from everyone.
 
Further update. ..

As for declaring the convictions, that's all well and good. However, in attempts to get the court records, we have been able to find one (was a report filed against her which eventually amounted to absolutely nothing), however the records relating to her drug-related offenice cannot be found.

I'm aware that if it can't be found, we need a letter from the court stating they have tried to find it but they can't, and reasons why. This is fine, we are in the process of obtaining this. However, as far as declaring the details in the visa application/subsequent waiver, what should we be writing? She can't really remember the exact details of the conviction itself, and there is no trace of the details on any electronic system given that it happened so long ago, just the case number.

Thank you again
 
Hi everyone,

My second post regarding the application of a visa for my friend. I have another thread regarding the applicaction process in general, but in anticipation of needing to apply for a 212 (d)(3) waiver, I am helping her organise all the relevant documents.

One of the recommended docs is a cover letter, cross-referencing legal grounds highlighting her suitability/for the waiver. I have been reading the various sections of the act, but could do with a bit of help highlighting the legal elements in line with her situation. Very briefly:

1) she is 64, severely disabled, and needs the visa to travel for medical treatment.
2) she has 3 charges against her name, 2 of which she was cleared of, and 1 of which relates to drugs, for which she was charged.
3) her most recent record was the drug-related charge, 19 years ago, and since has no records. We are in the process of having her record 'cleaned'.
4) she has ties to her residing country backed up with various documents acting as supporting evidence.

In relation to the grounds for permitting the waiver, is there anything I can reference in any sections of the act in relation to her situation? It's all very well writing a cover letter explaining why she feels she should be admitted, but if it can be backed up with references, this would obviously play into her favour.

Even if anyone can point me in possible directions to read more, I'd be extremely grateful.

Kind regards

Marko

Also, should such a letter be written from her perspective, or the perspective of a lawyer/representative (ie 3rd person)?
 
hi everyone,

have posted a few times relating to a friend and her criminal record. She has a record for a crime of which she was found guilty, which we have managed to find all of the documents for which we are preparing in advance for her waiver. However, she has another record on her file, which was basically a report filed by a woman for some kind of supposed verbal abuse incident.

It was false, and aside from the initial report being filed, nothing came of it. my question is, do we need to provide the official documents relating to this case too, despite nothing coming of if?

also, if all the documents are in Spanish, do they need translating and legally verifying before they can be submitted?

thanks!
 
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