FBI BACKGROUND CHECK

[pushbrk 12,324]

Former post leaders on VJ used to be thankful for this type of discussion between each other. You get offensive. Why, I have no idea. Unless your intent when you perpetuate this type of discourse IS to actually learn something without conceding that you might have.

I wish meauxna were here. She would box your ears.

Don't know what you mean by "post leaders" or why you are concerned with what other people liked or disliked in the past. I like correct and direct answers to questions, particularly simple ones. I like getting them and I like providing them. I don't care where I get them and doubt any information seekers here do either.

We've spent several pages arguing over whether expunged criminal records for US Citizens are available to the USCIS. They are. Please accept the facts and leave my education to those I choose to learn from and things I chose to learn. You can't teach me I'm wrong when I'm right. Life just doesn't work that way.

[TBoneTX 43,584]

Whatever else might be said, the citations and links that have been provided in this thread are extremely interesting. Many thanks to the chief posters for their exhaustive research.

[rebeccajo 14]

Hi rebeccajo, why did your husband go through such a long background check? Do you know?

What is the bottom line to this thread on FBI background check? Will an expunged felony (not AWA felony) in the background of the USC cause a problem/denial with the I-129f petition or not? Can we get a BOTTOM LINE?

Jonas

Long background check? It occurred during his adjustment of status and it happens sometimes. It happened frequently to cases submitted beginning with the year 2004. USCIS had returned thousands of cases to the FBI for deeper checks. A backlog ensued and some persons were caught in namecheck for years. When matches are found during the FBI namecheck process that cannot be cleared by the computer matching, (the FBI has 12 different computer systems which contain criminal data) then paper records must be searched. The FBI stores criminal records in 265 separate physcial locations. Compound this to the fact that the FBI uses the archaic algeabraeic algorithm called 'Soundex' to match names. Soundex converts the surname to syllaballic mutations. In my husband's case, there were five other surnames which were searched in addition to his own.

As to whether or not an expunged felony will show in the background of a USC, the gentlemen and I in this thread disagree. I say it may not show if the FBI has previously elected to expunge it. I do not believe they turn around and show the case just because USCIS is the querying party. I partly believe this because firstly, Pushbrk put up a link which says the FBI sometimes complies with the order or expungement. I secondly believe this because it is unlikely that a court will grant a plaintiff an expungement for serious offenses, i.e. a conviction that would matter in the granting of immigration benefits.

Edited December 30, 2008 by rebeccajo

[rebeccajo 14]

I understand the memo. You misread the paragraph referring to agravated felonies if you thought it supported your assertion that expunged records aren't in the report. The expunged records are there to be seen. We aren't discussing which ones are going to matter beyond AWA convictions, just whether the service has access to expunged criminal records. They do. How they use the information is another kettle of fish perhaps for another discussion.

I see William33 has provided additional evidence that indeed expunged records are available to USCIS through the agencies it uses to obtain them.

I misread nothing. As I stated above, it is an aggravated felony which is of interest to the service. I do not believe such a crime could be expunged.

I do not concur that William's links prove anything. The law he has cited applies to foreign born persons - aliens in the US. The law cited has been challenged in many courts as it essentially lowers the bar to below what a US citizen would have to pass.

[rebeccajo 14]

Don't know what you mean by "post leaders" or why you are concerned with what other people liked or disliked in the past. I like correct and direct answers to questions, particularly simple ones. I like getting them and I like providing them. I don't care where I get them and doubt any information seekers here do either.

We've spent several pages arguing over whether expunged criminal records for US Citizens are available to the USCIS. They are. Please accept the facts and leave my education to those I choose to learn from and things I chose to learn. You can't teach me I'm wrong when I'm right. Life just doesn't work that way.

I realize you like direct answers and you like providing them. As such you should appreciate the fact that what sometimes appears to be a simple answer is sometimes not. It is therefore a disservice to others to assert that your OPINION is an ANSWER.

And another thing - those interested in an honest education don't 'choose' where they learn. They examine all the data.

The US Government does many things behind closed doors. That said, denying visa's for criminals or their petitioner is one among many. After 20 years in the USG, I can assure you that the laws you cite are unique cases that are not applicable or applied in the mainstream.

I am done on this topic, as the facts of USG reach are clear. Ask those denied for further insight.

Regards,

William.

Perhaps the government does many a thing behind closed doors. As I stated above, that is for the courts to settle. That is what due process is for and thank God for it. And the 'unique' cases which set precedent.

Thanks for the respectful discussion.

Whatever else might be said, the citations and links that have been provided in this thread are extremely interesting. Many thanks to the chief posters for their exhaustive research.

Thanks.

[Grahm&Sarah 0]

There is a lot of great and helpful information here, and it seems perhaps the expunged felony will show or not. But as the O.P. in this thread, is there any black and white specifics on whether or not this is grounds for denial of a petition? Has anyone on here had a felony, not AWA, that got approved without problem? Feel free to message me privately if you wish. Thank you again everyone.

Grahm&Sarah

[pushbrk 12,324]

There is a lot of great and helpful information here, and it seems perhaps the expunged felony will show or not. But as the O.P. in this thread, is there any black and white specifics on whether or not this is grounds for denial of a petition? Has anyone on here had a felony, not AWA, that got approved without problem? Feel free to message me privately if you wish. Thank you again everyone.

Grahm&Sarah

Yes, petitioners still on parole for felonies have had their petitions approved and loved ones issued visas. I can't point to their posts, but I've seen them. It's been a while. The key here is that we know the list of things that qualifies the USC to have their petition approved. A clean criminal record is not on the list. The recent Adam Walsh Act changed that somewhat but only for certain crimes covered in the act.

It's important to note your original question (in post 5 of about 70 in this thread) and subsequent answer that began the long discussion.

Q. I understand that, no, it was not a disclosable crime. Will it show up on the background check as expunged or just not show up at all? Does anyone know?

A. Yes, of course it will show up but even the crimes that must be disclosed are not a justification for denial. You'll be denied if the crimes fall under the Adam Walsh Act. Otherwise you could be a felon on parole and get a family petition approved. It's when the intending immigrant has a criminal record that you need to worry.

The long discussion has been about the first half of the first half of the first sentence of the answer. There has never been any disagreement about the rest of the answer. Nobody has even hinted that a non-AWA conviction would negatively impact petition approval except that I think I noted terrorism related convictions, charges or suspicions probably would do so as well.

There's been some attempt to change the focus from whether and expunged record would be visible to which crimes the service is interested in and one has completely ignored the direct references indicating expunged records are available for law enforcement purposes. As an aside, private companies like Equifax and others who independently gather public information are not required to expunge (neither segregate or delete) their records after an expungement lawsuit is successfully completed, but they are not a factor in visa cases.

Also ignored was the fact I consulted with two of my direct sources in the FBI and State Department's law enforcement division asking them directly if they've seen expunged criminal records. The answer is yes.

The difference in how a USC and immigrant are treated in this regard has to do, not with whether expunged records are available and seen in the background check but whether and how the record would impact the case. The difference in that regard is significant but never an issue debated in this thread becaue there's no evidence of disagreement on the issue.

It is not simply my opinion that expunged records are available to and routinely seen by USCIS staff during petition adjudication. It is a fact, I've researched directly with two sources and on the internet with several more. William33's recent additions to the thread both in personal knowledge and citation further bolster the evidence of fact, not opinion. There's been an attempt to make the discussion about my unwillingness to learn from another poster when the fact is, I'm unwilling to be convinced by anybody that right is wrong. For me, the discussion has been about the facts, not the people doing the discussing.

I hope you'll now relax secure in the knowledge that unless you're a terrorist or have an AWA related conviction on your record, you need not worry about a prior conviction causing your petition to be denied.

[Grahm&Sarah 0]

There is a lot of great and helpful information here, and it seems perhaps the expunged felony will show or not. But as the O.P. in this thread, is there any black and white specifics on whether or not this is grounds for denial of a petition? Has anyone on here had a felony, not AWA, that got approved without problem? Feel free to message me privately if you wish. Thank you again everyone.

Grahm&Sarah

Yes, petitioners still on parole for felonies have had their petitions approved and loved ones issued visas. I can't point to their posts, but I've seen them. It's been a while. The key here is that we know the list of things that qualifies the USC to have their petition approved. A clean criminal record is not on the list. The recent Adam Walsh Act changed that somewhat but only for certain crimes covered in the act.

It's important to note your original question (in post 5 of about 70 in this thread) and subsequent answer that began the long discussion.

Q. I understand that, no, it was not a disclosable crime. Will it show up on the background check as expunged or just not show up at all? Does anyone know?

A. Yes, of course it will show up but even the crimes that must be disclosed are not a justification for denial. You'll be denied if the crimes fall under the Adam Walsh Act. Otherwise you could be a felon on parole and get a family petition approved. It's when the intending immigrant has a criminal record that you need to worry.

The long discussion has been about the first half of the first half of the first sentence of the answer. There has never been any disagreement about the rest of the answer. Nobody has even hinted that a non-AWA conviction would negatively impact petition approval except that I think I noted terrorism related convictions, charges or suspicions probably would do so as well.

There's been some attempt to change the focus from whether and expunged record would be visible to which crimes the service is interested in and one has completely ignored the direct references indicating expunged records are available for law enforcement purposes. As an aside, private companies like Equifax and others who independently gather public information are not required to expunge (neither segregate or delete) their records after an expungement lawsuit is successfully completed, but they are not a factor in visa cases.

Also ignored was the fact I consulted with two of my direct sources in the FBI and State Department's law enforcement division asking them directly if they've seen expunged criminal records. The answer is yes.

The difference in how a USC and immigrant are treated in this regard has to do, not with whether expunged records are available and seen in the background check but whether and how the record would impact the case. The difference in that regard is significant but never an issue debated in this thread becaue there's no evidence of disagreement on the issue.

It is not simply my opinion that expunged records are available to and routinely seen by USCIS staff during petition adjudication. It is a fact, I've researched directly with two sources and on the internet with several more. William33's recent additions to the thread both in personal knowledge and citation further bolster the evidence of fact, not opinion. There's been an attempt to make the discussion about my unwillingness to learn from another poster when the fact is, I'm unwilling to be convinced by anybody that right is wrong. For me, the discussion has been about the facts, not the people doing the discussing.

I hope you'll now relax secure in the knowledge that unless you're a terrorist or have an AWA related conviction on your record, you need not worry about a prior conviction causing your petition to be denied.

Thank you very much pushbrk. On the other side of this, if the USCIS will be able to see the felony, will they also be able to see that it was, in fact, EXPUNGED? My question is will it look like a regular felony to them when viewing or will they at least know it was expunged as well? Hope that is clear. I appreciate all your time and work to find out the answers.

Thanks

Grahm&Sarah

[pushbrk 12,324]

There is a lot of great and helpful information here, and it seems perhaps the expunged felony will show or not. But as the O.P. in this thread, is there any black and white specifics on whether or not this is grounds for denial of a petition? Has anyone on here had a felony, not AWA, that got approved without problem? Feel free to message me privately if you wish. Thank you again everyone.

Grahm&Sarah

Yes, petitioners still on parole for felonies have had their petitions approved and loved ones issued visas. I can't point to their posts, but I've seen them. It's been a while. The key here is that we know the list of things that qualifies the USC to have their petition approved. A clean criminal record is not on the list. The recent Adam Walsh Act changed that somewhat but only for certain crimes covered in the act.

It's important to note your original question (in post 5 of about 70 in this thread) and subsequent answer that began the long discussion.

Q. I understand that, no, it was not a disclosable crime. Will it show up on the background check as expunged or just not show up at all? Does anyone know?

A. Yes, of course it will show up but even the crimes that must be disclosed are not a justification for denial. You'll be denied if the crimes fall under the Adam Walsh Act. Otherwise you could be a felon on parole and get a family petition approved. It's when the intending immigrant has a criminal record that you need to worry.

The long discussion has been about the first half of the first half of the first sentence of the answer. There has never been any disagreement about the rest of the answer. Nobody has even hinted that a non-AWA conviction would negatively impact petition approval except that I think I noted terrorism related convictions, charges or suspicions probably would do so as well.

There's been some attempt to change the focus from whether and expunged record would be visible to which crimes the service is interested in and one has completely ignored the direct references indicating expunged records are available for law enforcement purposes. As an aside, private companies like Equifax and others who independently gather public information are not required to expunge (neither segregate or delete) their records after an expungement lawsuit is successfully completed, but they are not a factor in visa cases.

Also ignored was the fact I consulted with two of my direct sources in the FBI and State Department's law enforcement division asking them directly if they've seen expunged criminal records. The answer is yes.

The difference in how a USC and immigrant are treated in this regard has to do, not with whether expunged records are available and seen in the background check but whether and how the record would impact the case. The difference in that regard is significant but never an issue debated in this thread becaue there's no evidence of disagreement on the issue.

It is not simply my opinion that expunged records are available to and routinely seen by USCIS staff during petition adjudication. It is a fact, I've researched directly with two sources and on the internet with several more. William33's recent additions to the thread both in personal knowledge and citation further bolster the evidence of fact, not opinion. There's been an attempt to make the discussion about my unwillingness to learn from another poster when the fact is, I'm unwilling to be convinced by anybody that right is wrong. For me, the discussion has been about the facts, not the people doing the discussing.

I hope you'll now relax secure in the knowledge that unless you're a terrorist or have an AWA related conviction on your record, you need not worry about a prior conviction causing your petition to be denied.

Thank you very much pushbrk. On the other side of this, if the USCIS will be able to see the felony, will they also be able to see that it was, in fact, EXPUNGED? My question is will it look like a regular felony to them when viewing or will they at least know it was expunged as well? Hope that is clear. I appreciate all your time and work to find out the answers.

Thanks

Grahm&Sarah

I didn't ask that question, so I don't know. Remember, it doesn't matter.

[rebeccajo 14]

Grahm -

What I hope you will do is speak with a qualified immigration attorney regarding your past convictions. That would be a far wiser thing to do than rest your hopes on the discussion in this thread.

To other readers - The links produced in this thread which indicate expunged records are disclosed to USCIS refer to a petition or application made by a foreign born person. Foreign born persons are held to a different standard than USC's in this regard as they are subject to the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act. It may be that the FBI reports expunged records of US citizens to USCIS - if that is the case it is not proven by the links herein.

IMO this discussion, if nothing else, sheds a different light on a different issue. What more convincing argument could there be for naturalizing once the time is at hand than the fact that non-citizens are treated differently than USC's for the same crime?

[pushbrk 12,324]

Grahm -

IMO this discussion, if nothing else, sheds a different light on a different issue. What more convincing argument could there be for naturalizing once the time is at hand than the fact that non-citizens are treated differently than USC's for the same crime?

A good point for those concerned about how their future criminal activities will impact their immigration status.

[christera22 8]

okkk

Edited May 19, 2009 by christera22

[Ed+Cindy 1]

I just read that an FBI background check will show felonies but not always show if they were expunged. I had a felony years ago (I am the USC) not of violent or sexual nature, and it was also expunged shortly after. Is this a problem for me?

Also, does an FBI background check show credit history or credit score?

Thanks

Grahm&Sarah

FYI on expungments, which may or may not help.

I had an arrest in 2002 for a misdemeanor. It DID show up on an FBI check in 2004. In 2008, I filed an explungment, which was approved. Afterward, I did another query on my FBI file and the arrest WAS GONE.

Not sure if this will be the case with yours.

Expungments will always remove an event from local (county/state) files, but I wasn't sure if it will remove events from a federal file, so I was glad to see that it did remove it from my federal file.

Edited May 19, 2009 by Ed+Cindy