Arrest Question

[lissa04 3]

Hi there,

I was arrested twice when I was younger, I have no criminal record. Unfortunately I did have to spend 3 days in jail.(Over the weekend) My concern is that this December I become eligible to apply for citizenship. I was wondering should I even bother? I am concerned that I may be denied, even though I have no criminal record. Can anyone give me some insight? Also has anyone applied with an arrest record, and what was your outcome?

Thanks,

Lissa

[Chica Yeyé 41]

Since you already went through the process for immigration and they said nothing; I hardly think it will be an issue now.

[sirch320 0]

Hi there,

I was arrested twice when I was younger, I have no criminal record. Unfortunately I did have to spend 3 days in jail.(Over the weekend) My concern is that this December I become eligible to apply for citizenship. I was wondering should I even bother? I am concerned that I may be denied, even though I have no criminal record. Can anyone give me some insight? Also has anyone applied with an arrest record, and what was your outcome?

Thanks,

Lissa

You will have to declare your arrests on your N-400 application and get certified copies of court dispositions on those arrests. Non-disclosure of these facts is considered dishonesty by USCIS and may cause them to deny your application if they find out about them on the basis of lack of good moral character.

[akdiver 3]

You will not be denied citizenship for such minor offenses. However, if you LIE about it, you are concealing a material fact. If they find out, they can revoke your citizenship.

Read this for details:

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html...756C0A961958260

It describes how people screwed up by lying about something that wasn't a problem to begin with, but lying about it was. Please don't put yourself in this situation.

It's also worth pointing out that, if I remember correctly, you needed to reveal this stuff in previous applications - such as AOS, etc. If you failed to reveal it before and reveal it now, someone may catch this fact and it could cause you problems.

[antda 13]

Hi Lissa04,

Sorry you were arrested and had to go through that ordeal before. If you made it this far in the immigration process though, I figure that you shouldn't be too concerned, as they already know of your prior arrest records and it's no surprise to them about that (unless you didn't say anything about that before). You do though, as stated on all the application forms for all the stages, have to provide a court-certified records (from Canada, I'm assuming), stating about this situation in your prior records history and of any new records here in the USA which you may have...

Hope this helps.

Ant

Hi there,

I was arrested twice when I was younger, I have no criminal record. Unfortunately I did have to spend 3 days in jail.(Over the weekend) My concern is that this December I become eligible to apply for citizenship. I was wondering should I even bother? I am concerned that I may be denied, even though I have no criminal record. Can anyone give me some insight? Also has anyone applied with an arrest record, and what was your outcome?

Thanks,

Lissa

Since you already went through the process for immigration and they said nothing; I hardly think it will be an issue now.

[lissa04 3]

Yes I have sent them all the documentation in the past along with when I applied for my I-751. I have just heard that when it comes to citizenship they are extremely strict, and will find every reason to deny you if possible.

[akdiver 3]

have just heard that when it comes to citizenship they are extremely strict, and will find every reason to deny you if possible.

That's just not true - esp. with Canadians. Hell, it's practically the 51st state anyway (:

Be honest and forthcoming and you will be fine. Besides, they will already know about what you told them before, regardless of whether you put it down this time or not. So you had better put it down. (:

[antda 13]

Hi Lissa04,

Yes, they can be strict on immigration. But as long as you explained the situation before, and they approved you then, then you should have no problems now. Just be honest when explaining your situation and provide the certified court paperwork about it, then you'll be fine. As well, as long as you meet the general naturalization requirements under "good character" and haven't been convincted for the last three-five years of crimes of "moral torpitude" listed on the general naturalization requirements then you should be fine citizenship wise too.

USCIS' General Naturalization Requirements:

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/men...00045f3d6a1RCRD

Crimes of moral torpitude:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_turpitude

Hope this helps too. Good luck on your immigration journey.

Ant

Yes I have sent them all the documentation in the past along with when I applied for my I-751. I have just heard that when it comes to citizenship they are extremely strict, and will find every reason to deny you if possible.

Edited August 28, 2008 by AntandD