Citizenship denied for lack of good moral character

[katiemanny 64]

I strongly suggest to you to not appeal, and just wait for the next 3 years to give it another shot, you've already miss represented yourself after not disclosing your shoplifting incident, not only will you dig the hole deeper for yourself but you will also bring yourself in front of USCIS infamous radar. You're lucky they did'nt take further action with you for not telling the truth on N400 form. withholding information from USCIS is misrepresentation and these guys has 0 tolerance for that.

Edited September 15, 2011 by katiemanny

[Miss smarty pants 84]

Along with the notice that they sent me, there is an appeal form as well. I have 30 days to apply for it if I decide to.

It might be worth a shot. But be very honest on your forms and try to explain your prior misunderstanding with the question. I don't know what your chances are of a successful appeal, but your chances are zero if you don't try. A lawyer can probably give you better advise. Really you are probably lucky they let you off without a misrepresentation charge. Good luck in your decision.

Edited September 15, 2011 by Moroccan-Wife

[lbluemoonl 5]

I strongly suggest to you to not appeal, and just wait for the next 3 years to give it another shot, you've already miss represented yourself after not disclosing your shoplifting incident, not only will you dig the hole deeper for yourself but you will also bring yourself in front of USCIS infamous radar. You're lucky they did'nt take further action with you for not telling the truth on N400 form. withholding information from USCIS is misrepresentation and these guys has 0 tolerance for that.

I understand your point but I was wondering that once they send you an appeal form with the denial from( which they exactly know for what reason they denied you) does it mean that they are still WILLING to consider your appeal and your explanations? and if i go ahead and file an appeal what are the chances? I don't think that the OI or USCIS give someone a chance to appeal if they know they do NOT want that person as a citizen. Maybe I'm wrong.

That's why I joined this forum to get different perspectives and opinions on this matter.

[lbluemoonl 5]

It might be worth a shot. But be very honest on your forms and try to explain your prior misunderstanding with the question. I don't know what your chances are of a successful appeal, but your chances are zero if you don't try. A lawyer can probably give you better advise. Really you are probably lucky they let you off without a misrepresentation charge. Good luck in your decision.

Thanks, Moroccan. I will see my attorny tomorrow. He definitely knows a lot more about these issues and the procedures. I think I will give myself another chance to explain myself and the situation.

Edited September 15, 2011 by lbluemoonl

[katiemanny 64]

I understand your point but I was wondering that once they send you an appeal form with the denial from( which they exactly know for what reason they denied you) does it mean that they are still WILLING to consider your appeal and your explanations? and if i go ahead and file an appeal what are the chances? I don't think that the OI or USCIS give someone a chance to appeal if they know they do NOT want that person as a citizen. Maybe I'm wrong.

That's why I joined this forum to get different perspectives and opinions on this matter.

The denial notice and the form to appeal is standard practice, I think they are required to notify you if an appeal is available after you've been denied Immigration benefits, though there's no guarantee that your appeals will be approved. Remember one thing you can indeed appeal but you might get a second denial based on the original reason for your first denial, and this is where things starts to get out of control cause you might have to explain why you decided not to disclosed the incident that made you ineligible in the first place.

[lbluemoonl 5]

The denial notice and the form to appeal is standard practice, I think they are required to notify you if an appeal is available after you've been denied Immigration benefits, though there's no guarantee that your appeals will be approved. Remember one thing you can indeed appeal but you might get a second denial based on the original reason for your first denial, and this is where things starts to get out of control cause you might have to explain why you decided not to disclosed the incident that made you ineligible in the first place.

That's exactly why I haven't taken any actions yet. I'll talk to my attorny tmrw. Thanks for your comment.

[Moomin 292]

whatever the reason was it's not the same issue in my case. No deportation has been issued for me and I have no reason to be worried about that. Just a denial citizenship which I can apply again in 3 yrs. So none of those that you mentioned are my concerns. Thanks for your comment though!

You're asking regular people for advise. They are not judging you but helping you detect any issues in your case. Would your answer had been the same if you had asked the question before applying for citizenship?

Immigration Officers don't have opinions like members on a forum. They have authority, and it covers denial and approval. They deny on behalf of the info you submit and most of all; the info you do not submit. Yes, you can apply again in 3 years but you aren't guaranteed an approval. One little mistake when you were 18 is not a little mistake in the eyes of immigration. It is "good moral character" or not, hence lawful permanent resident.

You're given 3 years in the US to prove you understand what LPR means, not 30 days - unless you think USCIS made a mistake by denying your case based on good moral character.

Please correct me if I am wrong.

Edited September 15, 2011 by moomin

[Aztec&Taino 144]

And just for your info, once you are married to a U.S-BORN Citizen, you won't get deported unless some serious homland security issues like terrorisim is the case. Besides if YOU think you are a good example of a good moral character, you better have some respect for someone who's husband is a Physician-Soldier and is putting his life for fighting for YOU and YOUR country.

People can get deported for a variety of reasons and being married to a US-born citizen does not preclude people from having to follow the law. So, your past came back to hunt you and your application for citizenship was denied. You can hire an attorney and spend lots of money in trying to appeal the decision. Or, you can do as you were told an re-apply in 3 years. Why the hurry to become a US citizen? As long as you are a legal permanent resident you have the same rights as a US citizen -except the right to vote.

On a different note, it is terribly bothersome and tiring when people point to the right-doings of others as part of THEIR moral character. How does it make YOU a good moral character if your spouse is a physician? What have YOU done to deserve citizenship in the US? Apparently, the issue has already been decided; you were denied. Good luck on your appeal.

[keyshawn18 52]

I think some of you have gone over the top attacking this guy.To call him a thief when you do not know the facts of the case is not fair.He/she was simply asking for advice on how to proceed, not for people to sit in judgement and issue personal attacks.I want to apologize that you posted something here and this is the response you got.VJ is better than that.Sorry.As far as your situation, I dont know how to proceed.

[Deputy Purple 1,294]

whatever the reason was it's not the same issue in my case. No deportation has been issued for me and I have no reason to be worried about that. Just a denial citizenship which I can apply again in 3 yrs. So none of those that you mentioned are my concerns. Thanks for your comment though!

You're right the two cases are not the same, you committed Material Misrepresentation which is punishable with revocation of your LPR status, Deportation and Lifetime re-entry ban.

JustBob is correct on all of that, you got lucky and should appreciate that as you wait for 3 more years to reapply for Naturalization.

Now if you don't think they'd order you deported then you can look at the German wife of US Veteran case. Would they hunt you down, probably not but how happy would your life be if suddenly you're living on the illegal presence side of the fence?

As per JustBob's personal comments on the subject, I withhold comment...

Edited September 15, 2011 by Bob 4 Anna

[Oksana & Max 94]

I got my citizenship 4 years ago. And when I was young and stupid I was arrested for misdemeanor which was eventually reduced to administrative violation. I declared everything on my N-400, and never got asked a question about that on the interview. And 2 years ago I got TS even with this arrest.

Just wait 3 years, don't push on the USCIS. As a lot of people are mentioned you are lucky not to be charged with lying. While I understand that it was the missunderstanding, this is how they understood it as well.

Also you mentioned that ticket was dismissed??? There is no dismissal if you are paying the fine, you've been found guilty. So your case is closed, but not dismissed.

[Gina & Dan 2]

Provided your initial post is correct. I AM NOT A LAWYER but have directly asked for this answer before when filling out a government form. The answer is unless a judgement of guilty is handed from the judge you answered the question correctly. An arrest in the United States means nothing, you are innocent until proven guilty. You also did not misrepresent on the form, because you were told the case was dismissed. Therefor you were found innocent and it does not exist. I would however make sure your facts are in order. Get the original dismissal notice, if you plead guilty to a lesser offense you were guilty though. Take that to your lawyer and file the appeal. If there is inconsistency in the court order and what your were told, get the court transcripts. You first need to show you did not "Intentionally Misrepresent" this is why where you sign it states you have not KNOWINGLY given false information.

If the question was arrested, you were incorrect. You will need to show how based on the dismissal it was an error/misunderstanding and not an intentionaly misrepresentation.

Good Luck

[Channah&Aaron 51]

; If I were you, I wouldn't wake up a sleeping dog and wait these 3 years out and apply for citizenship again.

Be happy you didn't get deported for misrepresentation which they have zero tolerance for..

Move on, you're still with your hubby & that is all that matters right now, right?!

[Robert&Karen 264]

I think some of you have gone over the top attacking this guy.To call him a thief when you do not know the facts of the case is not fair.He/she was simply asking for advice on how to proceed, not for people to sit in judgement and issue personal attacks.I want to apologize that you posted something here and this is the response you got.VJ is better than that.Sorry.As far as your situation, I dont know how to proceed.

He was arrested and paid a fine, which means he was convicted. He admitted taking something out of the store for which he did not pay. The fact he left something there on his own accord does not make this a valid exchange or purchase. He tried to play it down in the original post, which means denial, which can be worse than the crime itself. Covering out of shame is understandable, but then why come here.

Regardless, for petty crimes like shoplifting you can indeed simply get a ticket for it, like a traffic citation. Every case is different but here is a typical scenario. You show up in court and if it is your first offense the tendency today is to give you a slap on the wrist. A small fine, maybe community service, maybe 2 hours in jail, tops. After a short informal probationary period, and if you have not broken more laws, you can change your plea to not guilty, and the matter is dismissed. In California this is under section 1203.4 of the penal code.

Then if an employer asks if you were convicted you can legally say no. Arrested? Yes. But they are not to ask that. Now if you apply to the government for work, yes you were convicted but it was dismissed under the code mentioned. Be up front. You can write to the Dept of Justice and request a copy of your rap sheet if you don't know what the details are.

Solution? Get ALL the information you can on the case, review it, and know it. It happened, do not deny that fact. You were convicted, do not deny that fact. We are no longer covering what you did or did not do, we are covering events of the past as recorded. The FBI keeps all the records in databases that never go away and every government agency can examine. You can be that anytime you sign a government form with fine print that they can pull that data.

I'm sorry that you misunderstood the needs to be clear. Hopefully your record has remained untarnished ever since and you stay out of other troubles, and thus show that you are a credit to this country and an honorable person after all.

Just so you know, if you ever steal from the same store chain again (I know you won't, so this is good trivia), and they see you have a shoplifting conviction from that store, you can count on a charge of burglary and deportation if you are not a citizen.

I used to work plainclothes security in major dept stores.

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

The issue is not that the I.O. was stupid when he was 18. The issue isn't even that he's still ignorant of the facts, as his following posts document, or that he apparently has a serious attitude problem. The issue is that he not disclosed the first citation, and to top it off, he also did not disclose the theft charge, for which he was charged and fined. That's called misrepresentation, and that's probably the most severe charge an immigrant can get when dealing with USCIS. Trying to wipe this off as a misunderstanding is an insult to human intelligence. The N-400 form is clear about this, and so are the instructions. I don't buy that for a second and neither did the I.O.

Had he disclosed everything, I'm fairly sure he would have been approved. But just like me, Immigration officers like to be taken for a fool. That's why the I.O. told him to go home and come up in 3 years when he had plenty of time to think about what he did. This all is in his A-file, so in three years, the next I.O. will also be very thorough when trying to establish if the applicant is somebody deserving of U.S. citizenship or not.

The option to appeal this is part of our judicial system. Let him appeal this. Let him feed a lawyer some money. I have no problem with that. But if I was the I.O. getting the appeal on my table, I would stop being nice to this guy and really call him out, using any and all legal means at my disposal.