Answering question on I-129F regarding domestic violence

[Ready to do it 101]

Part C #2. Have you ever been convicted by a court of law or court martialed by a military tribunal for any of the following crimes:

Domestic violence, etc.

In 2002 I was arrested for Assault... (I agreed to go to jail for pulling my now ex-wife's hair)... they were going to take her or I, so I said take me. The charge was a minor misdeamor assault charge. Nothing serious, so I was told. I went to court and plead guilty/no-lo contendere and was given deferred disposition. Paid $59 in court costs, paid bond of $191, was told not to violate any fed, state, or city laws for 6 months, and no need to re-appear if no laws violated.

12 months later I requested my civil and criminal records from my county and nothing regarding this incident shows up. On my counties website it states that if you successfully comply with the terms of deferred disposition than the case is dismissed. I successfully complied with the terms and it's nowhere in my criminal records so I assume the case is dismissed. That being said, do I need to mention anything about this? I think the answer is no, but I did plead guilty/nolo contendere so if anyone can give some knowledge on this it would be appreciated.

What is Deferred Disposition?

Deferred Disposition is a suspended sentence. On your plea of guilty or no contest, the court will defer a finding of guilt, assess Court costs, and order that you post a bond and comply with certain conditions. If you successfully comply with the terms, your case will be dismissed, and the bond money will be applied to a special expense fee. If you fail to comply with the terms, a judgment will be imposed, a conviction will be reported to DPS (Texas Department of Public Safety), and the bond money will be applied to the fine.

[YuAndDan 153]

Yes you sill need to mention this, I would attach a letter, and get whatever from the court indicating it was dismissed.

USCIS does do background checks and if this comes up and you did not mention it, they can and do cause problems.

Moving this to the IMBRA forum..

[Ready to do it 101]

Thank you for the response. Wait, please don't move as I am new and not familiar with the IMBA forum. I would like to wiat for more responses before my post is deleted. Specifically because it says "convicted." The case was dismissed according to my court's website rules. Further, if they do a background check, nothing shows up... I already did this on myself back in 2003. Perhaps there are some attorneys on this site that might chime in, thus I respectfully request the post not be deleted.

Thanks

Yes you sill need to mention this, I would attach a letter, and get whatever from the court indicating it was dismissed.

USCIS does do background checks and if this comes up and you did not mention it, they can and do cause problems.

Moving this to the IMBRA forum..

[canadian_wife 1,820]

the post wasn't deleted, it was just moved

I suggest you disclose it. A lot of trouble can be had by trying to hide your past

Good luck

[Sayha or bust. 71]

You should be able to get this information online from the courthouse, these are public record. By no means a denial of the visa, your fiancée will be made aware of it during the interview.

[amykathleen2005 441]

If you want actual legal advice you are going to have to hire an attorney.

Also I am pretty sure that whatever background check you were able to do is not as in depth as one USCIS may go, especially is something does pop up on your record somewhere.

[Ready to do it 101]

The problem I see with mentioning it is

1) I wasn't convicted and

2) there is no record of it, so I would be explaining something that when they look into it they won't even find an arrest record... thus they'll be scratching their head, and I just want to make sure that wouldn't delay things. I.e. In 2003 I specifically gave the court my cause # and they had me fill out a form to get my records. 2 weeks later I got my criminal record in the mail... only thing on it was details pertianing to a dismissed DWI from 1992. I.e. they had zip about this incident. I then returned to my courthouse again... with the paper I received in the mail (my criminal records), gave them the cause # again to this domestic assault issue, and their response was they have no records on this. The cause # didn't even show up in the system (no arrest record, nothing about me going to court, deferred disposition etc). It's like it never even occured. I did all of this back in 2003 because I was applying for a job with fiduciary responsibility that asked that I list all arrests, misdeamors etc. I did not list this back then, and when the company did their background check they showed me my records.... nothing regarding this incident showed up.

SO, I can list it but I feel like listing it would delay things more than not not listing it, and since it specifically asks about "convictions" in the question I kind of feel like it opens up an unnecessary can of worms as I was not convicted and since there are no records I was even arrested I'm not sure the reason behind listing it.

[amykathleen2005 441]

You ask a question on a forum but it seems that you have already decided what your answer is. Go with whatever you think....

[canadian_wife 1,820]

In my opinion, the US government has more sophisticated methods for background checks than a layperson.

However, go with what you think is best. Note, that failure to disclose - and they find out about it - could result in a bad day

Good luck

[Maxx121 14]

If its not a conviction, you dont need to mention it.

Will it come up in their background check? the arrest will but and they will prolly let her know about that, but your not breaking any rules cause you were not convicted.

but like the original poster said, check with a lawyer.

also, make sure you share all that with your SO cause they might ask her if she knows about it at the interview.

you can get arrested 1000 times, but if it gets dismissed 1000 times you have a clean record. but they will always be able to tell you were arrested 1000 times. But without a conviction the system has to look at it like you were not guilty.

also, if you want to be proactive, go to the court and get a copy of the disposition and attach it to your file with an explanation of why you didnt check it off.

Edited January 2, 2011 by Maxx121

[Ready to do it 101]

I was told that immigration attorneys frequent this board. That's what I'm hoping for. I have googled "Is deferred disposition a conviction." 100% of the answers say "deferred disposion is not a conviction, and the majority of them say it's the same that occurs when records are expunged as well." Thus the reason there is no record of any of this. I was 99% sure that I should not mention this as there are no records and it specifically asks about "convictions." Now I am thinking from the responses that perhaps I should list it, but ultimately I hope someone who has had a similar situation or an attorney responds. Common sense says "No, you would not list this because it's not a conviction." But it looks as though this board is 4-0 so far saying list it. I'd love to provide paperwork from the court showing it was dismissed but they don't even have paperwork that there was ever even an arrest. I of course kept my records given to me showing the cause #, and terms of the deferred disposition... but that does not show it's dismissed. It simply shows that if I don't violate the terms it will be dismissed. There are no records it was dismissed because there are no records it even occured (other than what I have showing the terms of deferred disposition, which the court does not seem to have).

In my opinion, the US government has more sophisticated methods for background checks than a layperson.

However, go with what you think is best. Note, that failure to disclose - and they find out about it - could result in a bad day

Good luck

Max... great point. I will absolutely inform her.

If its not a conviction, you dont need to mention it.

Will it come up in their background check? the arrest will but and they will prolly let her know about that, but your not breaking any rules cause you were not convicted.

but like the original poster said, check with a lawyer.

also, make sure you share all that with your SO cause they might ask her if she knows about it at the interview.

you can get arrested 1000 times, but if it gets dismissed 1000 times you have a clean record. but they will always be able to tell you were arrested 1000 times. But without a conviction the system has to look at it like you were not guilty.

also, if you want to be proactive, go to the court and get a copy of the disposition and attach it to your file with an explanation of why you didnt check it off.

[Sayha or bust. 71]

Does you future wife know of this? If so don't worry. Once again it is a not a denial for Visa.

[Maxx121 14]

courts keep everything, they have to, if you have the docket # i would just go down to the court house in person and request a copy.

what you got was an ACD

google:

Adjournment in contemplation of dismissal

they hand those out like candy for minor court cases.

[Inky 1,110]

USCIS does background checks but they also collect FBI checks as well. So they go pretty deep into the backgrounds.

[james&olya 1,121]

I was told that immigration attorneys frequent this board. That's what I'm hoping for. I have googled "Is deferred disposition a conviction." 100% of the answers say "deferred disposion is not a conviction, and the majority of them say it's the same that occurs when records are expunged as well." Thus the reason there is no record of any of this. I was 99% sure that I should not mention this as there are no records and it specifically asks about "convictions." Now I am thinking from the responses that perhaps I should list it, but ultimately I hope someone who has had a similar situation or an attorney responds. Common sense says "No, you would not list this because it's not a conviction." But it looks as though this board is 4-0 so far saying list it. I'd love to provide paperwork from the court showing it was dismissed but they don't even have paperwork that there was ever even an arrest. I of course kept my records given to me showing the cause #, and terms of the deferred disposition... but that does not show it's dismissed. It simply shows that if I don't violate the terms it will be dismissed. There are no records it was dismissed because there are no records it even occured (other than what I have showing the terms of deferred disposition, which the court does not seem to have).

Max... great point. I will absolutely inform her.

I am not a lawyer and I have no experience with this personally. But it seems to me to be clear cut that if you have no conviction you would be lying if you listed this. I think you risk slowing things un-necessarily by trying to go beyond the requirements and make an issue of this. So I say DON'T list it, but have all your documentation ready to go if they ask about it! Again, I am NOT a lawyer!