Question about criminal record, before filling for citizenship!

[samanthajayne8 0]

Hi There,

I have a quick question, its regarding my criminal record. Back in 2005 I believe ( I was 17 ) I was caught stealing and was not really arrested, but it is on my UK record. When I had my I130 interview, the immigration officer said it was not enough to stop me from immigrating, and I handed him my record, along with a handwritten letter from a police officer that basically stated that I was not arrested, and had been a good citizen since.

Should i put on the n400, that i did commit the crime? Will they still have the paperwork on file? Im thinking all the other crime related questions on the n400 I would say no. I never was convicted. All that happened after I was caught, was that the police officer took my info, and they called me the next week to make a poster on how stealing is wrong.

Please help!!!

[Pitaya 2,577]

~Duplicate thread removed~

[engineer21 51]

You weren't arrested but you were caught. Sounds like you got caught before you even left the location where you stole the item. So at the very least it would count as an attempt to commit a crime.

Since you already have documentation and have disclosed this to USCIS before (with positive results I assume), I would check "yes" in N-400 form and provide explanation + documentation.

Saying yes is not automatic grounds for denial, but failing to disclose can be.

I'm worrying over speeding tickets right now because I didn't check yes for those and I already sent my application. If I could take the form back and fix it I would..

[Big Papa Zone 93]

So if I'm understanding you correctly, this offence occurred in Blighty, prior to you even coming over here? Well, it didn't stop them admitting you in the first place so based on that, and the assumption that you've been a pillar of society ever since, I can't personally see it being an issue (just as long as you're straight about it on the form).

On a slightly different note, do you actually NEED to become a USC? It's just that my take on it has always been that, if you're in any doubt at all about negative consequences stemming from an N-400 application, just stick with the green card.