Voting Before Naturalization Can Cause you Problems

To WBH

Finding a good lawyer (w/track record) is not a difficult task, but finding an affordable good one is entirely a differrent story (that also depends on OPs financial means). Also getting suggestions from anonymous persons in an immigration forum is one thing, and getting advice from a reputable lawyer is another. I would personally find me a good lawyer rather than base my future on anonymous suggestions.

To maslouj

Again use caution! That registration record might be the piece of evidence necessary to seal your fate (denial, etc....). Before sending it in, find a good lawyer. The choice is yours!

I agree with you Formerf1. I have an appointment with one local lawyer here in Memphis and he is charging me $75 for 20 minute consultation. I would see how much he would ask for if he needs to do more work. I honestly think that Mrs Khanna may be a good lawyer, he is devoting this website for us to discuss our cases and he probably has seen all kind of cases. When I am done with my appointment this afternoon, I will give him a call and discuss my options with him.
Thanks
 
I agree with you Formerf1. I have an appointment with one local lawyer here in Memphis and he is charging me $75 for 20 minute consultation. I would see how much he would ask for if he needs to do more work. I honestly think that Mrs Khanna may be a good lawyer, he is devoting this website for us to discuss our cases and he probably has seen all kind of cases. When I am done with my appointment this afternoon, I will give him a call and discuss my options with him.
Thanks

If you are in Memphis, I would try Greg Siskind. He is awesome - I used him before and he is very knowledgable.
 
I agree with you Formerf1. I have an appointment with one local lawyer here in Memphis and he is charging me $75 for 20 minute consultation. I would see how much he would ask for if he needs to do more work. I honestly think that Mrs Khanna may be a good lawyer, he is devoting this website for us to discuss our cases and he probably has seen all kind of cases. When I am done with my appointment this afternoon, I will give him a call and discuss my options with him.
Thanks

Good decision!
 
Erhard Van Vuuren is on Facebook and is in Charlotte, NC - clearly he was not deported which leads me to believe OP has a very strong chance of winning this case....good luck!
 
Erhard Van Vuuren is on Facebook and is in Charlotte, NC - clearly he was not deported which leads me to believe OP has a very strong chance of winning this case....good luck!
He could have remained on Facebook without updating his location after being deported.
 
He could have remained on Facebook without updating his location after being deported.

In the comments to the article, there is a quote from an online petition that appears to have been made by the guy's mother. The quote states that he was found not guilty.
 
In the comments to the article, there is a quote from an online petition that appears to have been made by the guy's mother. The quote states that he was found not guilty.

The issue is that for unlawful voting and voting registration,
doee deportation requires a conviction in criminal court first?

And what is statutate of limiation to prosecute unlawful voting ?
 
Erhard Van Vuuren is on Facebook and is in Charlotte, NC - clearly he was not deported which leads me to believe OP has a very strong chance of winning this case....good luck!

I found him and sent him a message. I hope he will respond. I will let you know what he tells me if he does not get pissed off at me :)
 
If OP can prove (a record or voice record )that this came up in GC interview he is partly safe.

It seesm I485 does not have such a question. If I-485 does not have such a question, I wonder why the IO asked about this. But Unless the IO wrote it down somewhere I doubt there was any record. Are applicants (for anything allowed to tape-record interview process?
 
Here is the letter I am planning to send with the required document. Please let me know if I need to add or remove something. I wrote it with all my heart and truthfully:
Dear officer .....,
First, I would like to thank you for your time and generosity during the interview on 07/13/09.
I have enclosed all the documents you have requested for your convenience.
I would like you to know that on 01/19/2000, I signed a voting registration form as part of my application for my State ID. I had been in the US for exactly 1 year and 3 months, I can promise you that my English then was not good enough and I remember struggling with basic questions in any form or application I came across. I signed all the forms and gave them back not paying attention to the fact that I must be a US citizen to vote. I thought voting registration is part of ID application. I voted with my x-wife on 11/07/2000 (not 2004 as I stated in my N-400), because I thought if they mailed me a voting card, I needed to vote. After words, I knew that I was not eligible to vote, and I am being honest again, I honestly don’t remember how and when I knew this. It may had come up in a conversation with someone after the elections and I had never voted since then.
When I was interviewed for GC, I was asked the same question and I answered it truthfully, as I did with you. Unfortunately, no one had ever told me to remove my name from the registry or anything else. I thought I had to register in every election to be able to vote and since I did not register after that (2000) it has never crossed my mind that I was still registered. I would have never voted if I had known that I was not eligible. The last thing I want to do is to jeopardize my chances. I did not gain anything from voting, so why would I do it knowingly or intentionally?
I have maintained good criminal, employment, credit, school and even driving records all my life and during my 10 years in the US. I am in school pursuing a B.S in Business Administration and I have never been arrested or committed a crime of any kind, I paid my taxes year after year and I have a 3.58/4.00 GPA. I am also a good father of a 4-Year-Old US citizen baby and have a lot of respect for people and good values in general.
Becoming a US citizen is something I have always dreamed of, and to me, it is my new birthday, my new person and my new life. I love this country more than my birth country because I am treated as a human, I feel respected and protected in here more than anywhere in the world. This country gave me so much and I would like to be able to give back as a US citizen and live the life I came for 10 years ago.
I would do whatever it takes to make up for my stupid mistake if I have to. I have been honest and truthful about any mistake I made unknowingly and I would do whatever I need to correct it and make up for it.
Thank you for taking the time to read my letter and for everything you do for us. Every person you interview, remembers you for the rest of her/his life, because you are the person who opens the door to our new and honorable lives as US Citizens.
 
I found him and sent him a message. I hope he will respond. I will let you know what he tells me if he does not get pissed off at me :)

The people after experiencing this kind of issue tend to keep a low
profile as they should. So he may not be willing to talk about this
even I beleive he certainly show sympathy for everyone with similar problem
 
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Here is the letter I am planning to send with the required document. Please let me know if I need to add or remove something. I wrote it with all my heart and truthfully:
Dear officer .....,
First, I would like to thank you for your time and generosity during the interview on 07/13/09.
I have enclosed all the documents you have requested for your convenience.
I would like you to know that on 01/19/2000, I signed a voting registration form as part of my application for my State ID. I had been in the US for exactly 1 year and 3 months, I can promise you that my English then was not good enough and I remember struggling with basic questions in any form or application I came across. I signed all the forms and gave them back not paying attention to the fact that I must be a US citizen to vote. I thought voting registration is part of ID application. I voted with my x-wife on 11/07/2000 (not 2004 as I stated in my N-400), because I thought if they mailed me a voting card, I needed to vote. After words, I knew that I was not eligible to vote, and I am being honest again, I honestly don’t remember how and when I knew this. It may had come up in a conversation with someone after the elections and I had never voted since then.
When I was interviewed for GC, I was asked the same question and I answered it truthfully, as I did with you. Unfortunately, no one had ever told me to remove my name from the registry or anything else. I thought I had to register in every election to be able to vote and since I did not register after that (2000) it has never crossed my mind that I was still registered. I would have never voted if I had known that I was not eligible. The last thing I want to do is to jeopardize my chances. I did not gain anything from voting, so why would I do it knowingly or intentionally?
I have maintained good criminal, employment, credit, school and even driving records all my life and during my 10 years in the US. I am in school pursuing a B.S in Business Administration and I have never been arrested or committed a crime of any kind, I paid my taxes year after year and I have a 3.58/4.00 GPA. I am also a good father of a 4-Year-Old US citizen baby and have a lot of respect for people and good values in general.
Becoming a US citizen is something I have always dreamed of, and to me, it is my new birthday, my new person and my new life. I love this country more than my birth country because I am treated as a human, I feel respected and protected in here more than anywhere in the world. This country gave me so much and I would like to be able to give back as a US citizen and live the life I came for 10 years ago.
I would do whatever it takes to make up for my stupid mistake if I have to. I have been honest and truthful about any mistake I made unknowingly and I would do whatever I need to correct it and make up for it.
Thank you for taking the time to read my letter and for everything you do for us. Every person you interview, remembers you for the rest of her/his life, because you are the person who opens the door to our new and honorable lives as US Citizens.

No offense, but I would leave the letter writing up to a lawyer. Writing a personal letter by spilling your guts to USICS may end up backfiring and does not provide a legal defense to your case.
 
No offense, but I would leave the letter writing up to a lawyer. Writing a personal letter by spilling your guts to USICS may end up backfiring and does not provide a legal defense to your case.

I agree. Man I am just so disperate right now.....I need to just step back from it all and let the lawyer tells me what to do.
 
No offense, but I would leave the letter writing up to a lawyer. Writing a personal letter by spilling your guts to USICS may end up backfiring and does not provide a legal defense to your case.

What if there is no legal defense but it has to reply on purely appealing for mercy and lenience?
 
in the INA purview generally, there is not much left fo this and every thing is to be fought 'technically' means as per the provisions of law .

If that Erhard Van Vuuren did get off the hook, I doubt that it is because of technicality. He did vote and laws say voting without cizenship is deportable.

Techincally speaking, failure to file AR-11 is deportable but almost no one ever get deported for that
 
Firt offense may be with a fine.Because every case if they want to pursue,
it is the question of economics and issue serious too I guess.To procesute and clsoe the case it costs very huge for the agency!

It is the question enforcement part and they are lax.If they want they can.
That is the real problem when how and where.
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Note: I am not a lawyer and I am just a lay man without any legal knwledge.!
Read the above STRICTLY at your own risk.

If anyone is really deportable, then how much time does the person have
to pack things up (selling house, cars, close bank acounts, terminate
children's schooling etc)? Or the ICE simply place the person into the
custody and place him onto a plane? Can one just leave on his own?

It may not be a good idea to even fight it. The only difference is you lose more
money.
 
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