Hello to all, great forum here. This is my first post.
In applying for US Citizenship and completing the N-400, I had 3 areas of concern.
1) I was arrested almost 10 years ago, for a domestic issue, subsequently charged, and then the case was dismissed. I am in the process of obtaining all the court documents which I plan to attach to the N-400. Should I attach additional explaination? The arresting authority states they do not release a copy of the arrest report without a subpeona. Will the arrest and charge cause concern or hinder my application?
2) I obtained a voters registration card (they simply asked when I renewed my license, if I would like to register to vote). Subsequently I voted a couple of times. I honestly did not know that I was not allowed to vote as a non-citizen. I am not am I? I am guessing that is why the application asks. My wife said to me the other day "just tell the truth, I am the one who encouraged you to vote, and so you did." Should I attach explanation for this too? Will this be a concern?
3) When I became a permanent resident I was over 26, however I lived in the US from the age of 20. I have never registered for selective service. I was sent a letter from them years ago, and at the time I responded with the statement that I was "not a resident of the US," and therefore not required to register... This one bothers me. Of course I will just be honest on the application, but will I be questioned on this one? Is this a concern?
Thanks in advance to all those who try and help out with answers.
Before I respond to your concerns, I want you to know that-
[1] You DO have a serious problem, which could make you deported for good. And then even having being married with a USC or/and having US born children won't protect you from deportation. Pay attention here-you could face LIFETIME bar to enter into the United States.
[2] You may consult with as many as immigration attorneys you like, but don't forget the fact that ultimately it would be your immigration life on stake than anyone else. That means, think many times and do your homework before making a final decision.
[3] Believe it or not most immigration attorneys don't provide correct/accurate info. Why? I honestly don't know. It could be because they don't know much about a given situation being not specialized in that area of immigration laws, or they just want to be ratained on the case at any cost which makes them to give wrong info. Further, you will NEVER find a consistence in their opinions. If you do a search on this forum and others then you will find that most people who have been deported or those whose cases were messed up were because of their attorney's mistakes. Therefore, it's VERY important to consult with at least 5-7 attorneys before making a final decision. And always do your homework no matter what than relying blindly on anyone's opinion (including attorneys').
[4] You may easily become a US citizen despite of your given situations, but it would entirely depend upon you on how you would answer to these concerns on your application for naturalization. I don't think there are many attorneys out there who would tell you how and what to answer on these concerns because most attorneys (97% of them) won't suggest you how to manipulate things to circumvent immigration laws. They would just hear you out and might give you a positive answer by saying that "Don't worry. I'll take care of it", but it's acutally just to get your case. As for me, then I'm going to put all the cards on the table for you to pick it up from.
Let me break down your questions for a better understanding.
[1] Since the Domestic Violence charge against you got dismissed then you have nothing to worry about. But I want you to know that if you had been convicted on this Domestic Violence charge then it would have been the end of your immigration life in this country for LIFETIME under INA 237(E).
You MUST need to submit a certified copy of 'Dismissal Order' from a court along with your application and a very brief explaination on what happened. But try not to give out too much information though. Also, you would need to bring Orginal Certiflied copy of it with you when you would appear for an interview because immigration officer would definately demand it to keep in your Alien File even though you would send it along with your applicantion. And you would also need to get the copy of the charge/arrest-report because immigration officer most probably would like to see and have it. However, you don't need to send it along with your application, but you would definately need it with you at the time of interview. You can get the copy of it by contacting the arresting authority. And if they are saying that they cannot provide it without a subpeona, then file a motion with the court to get a subpeona so that you could get the required documents about your arrest. It's not that hard/difficult, nor it takes more than a week. Without a Dismissal order, your application for naturalzation will 100% be denied. I could be wrong, but it seems to me that you are not an organized/responsible person; otherwise most people do keep all the documents of such an important incident of their life even after 20 yrs later. Anyway, so long you could provide Dismissal order to INS on this matter, you will be fine.
[2] This issue could be a "death warrant" for you. Why? Because by voting you have indirectly claimed to be a US citizen which is a violation of immigration laws and a sure ground for deportation. Falsely claiming to be a US citizen is 100% a deportable crime with lifetime bar to re-enter into the US. No waiver is permitted in this situation. Thereby, even though your wife is trying to defend you by saying that she was the one who told you to do so, yet still it doesn't cut off the fact that you did violate the immigration laws by registering to vote which makes you automatically deportable for lifetime as per immigration laws. Besides, she is not above the laws even if she might be a natural born US citizen. So if you would tell the truth on this to the INS (either on the application or to the officer at the time of interview) as per the advice of your wife or would try to justify by saying what your wife thinks of you then you would be signing a "death warrant" for your immigration life in this country.
However, if you don't tell the truth on this and/or would never mention about it then INS has no way to know about it. And then this issue will sink for good. But that doesn't mean that I'm encouraging/telling you to lie/hide. It's totally up to you to decide what to do about this issue. I'm here to put all the cards on the table for you to pick up. Telling the truth would be the end of your immigration life for sure, while concealing/hiding the truth on this issue would give you an opportunity to be a US citizen. So, think about it and do what you wanna do. Sometime people should read between the lines.
Nevertheless, you (and others) would be surprised to know that at many places (small counties) here in the US it is completely legal for immigrants (including illegal) to vote. So it would also depend where you live. But then it would still be against the INS laws. I mean, something could be legal in state laws but not in federal laws. In some previously reported cases attorneys had unsuccessfully tried to defend their clients on the ground that these immigrants did not do this willingly, meaning they were not aware of the fact that they shouldn't have registered to vote or shouldn't have voted. Some attorneys also argued by portraying these alleged immigrants as "innocence" of this doing. Unless I've missed, I've not heard even one single case wherein alleged defendant/immigrant was able to stop his/her deportation in the end. Yes, some courts might have agreed to listen/review their case on appeal but that doesn't mean immigrants were able to stop their deportation in the end. So, this issue is the only issue that you should need to worry about.
[3] I don't know how old you are and at what age you became LPR but if you are now over 37 yrs old then this issue is completely mute even though you deliberately failed to register with Selective Service. Read my posting on this matter on one of the sticky threads wherein I've explained this issue in detail. Just you to know that you were actually required to register with Selective Service in the past because you were an illegal and illegal people do required to register too. What you need to do now is-ask for a Status Letter from Selective Service by filling up a form. Selective Service will send you a Status Letter within 4 weeks which you would need to take with you at your interview along with an affidavit. Don't EVER dare to mention to them or INS that you had previously responded to Selective Service back then by saying that you were not required to register due to the fact that you were not a US resident. Because by saying that you deliberately failed to register with Selective Service. Plus, it wasn't up to you to decide whether you were required to register or not. I'm sure after receiving your response, Selective Service mistakenly thought that you were on nonimmigrant status which made them not to contact you anymore especially when you didn't tell them that you were an illegal.
Anyway, don't dare to tell to anyone about what you previously responded to Selective Service when they contacted you. INS won't know about it for sure. And I don't think Selective Service has any record of your that response. When you go to interivew, then just take a notarized affidavit with you by saying that you didn't know about your obligation to register with Selective Service, nor you wilfully failed to register. Don't voluntarily open any issue with the officer. Just you to know that INS is fully aware of the fact that 99.99% of illegal people don't know anything about registering with Selective Service. That's why INS don't even care about it. The only time they care about it is when a male becomes a LPR before the age of 26 and failed to register with Selective Service. You will be fine on this one.
As to your other concerns then if your application gets denied because of bad character then you can refile it after 5 yrs of it's denial. But if your application would be denied for number two concern then you will be deported for good. Every green card holder needs to renew their green card every 10 yrs because the green card remains good just for 10 yrs even though your status as a Legal Permanent Resident would remain valid for good.
At last, don't rely blindly on your attorney if you choose to hire one. I personally don't think you need an attorney because I don't see any issue here except number 2 wherein attorney cannot do anything anyway because you did vote.
Good luck.
