INTERVIEW PROCESS WENT STRANGE.

[Angie Y Shane 2]

I do not feel you are understanding my questions. We did not willfully be dishonest. My wife was issued a citation to pay for a fine from a theft in store. We were not trying to hide anything. My wife never went to jail or was arrested. The Ds-230 does not specify about citations. Maybe about court offenses, that is clear, but again we were advised by our attorney to not disclose a citation if we was not arrested.

[Spoom 8]

Hey, up to you, I'm just giving my interpretation of the laws. You were the ones asking for advice here; I'm not going to sugarcoat it. Perhaps your attorney was gambling on the fact that they wouldn't see it in your records.

[so2008 0]

You and your wife will just need to wait and do nothing at this time.

[Skeeter211 2]

For the record....I don't know the laws of Columbia, but in the USA (California) receiving a citation means you have been arrested, whether physicallly restrained or not. The citation is your promise to appear in court, if required, to answer to the charges against you. Some crimes do allow payment of a fine without actual court appearance, but nonetheless, the person was still "arrested" and then released with a citation and a date to appear in court (or pay the fine).

I think it was a mistake on your part to not disclose a theft charge. Whether it was intentional or a misinterpretation of the instructions is not for us to decide. The one adjudicating your case at the Embassy is the only person that matters on that question. I am not so sure a new DS0230 is a great idea, but a complete and honest explanation is the only thing that can be done now. Remember that most consular officers have heard it all before, so honesty is the best policy. Whatever the consequences are or are not, will be decided by them and we can only speculate. Good luck!

You might also consider the advice of an attorney, preferrably not the one that told you to omit the facts in the first place.

Scott

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

We wanted to disclose it on the form but they only asked for arrests. My wife was issued a citation only. Now is there a possible way we can clear this up if they ask my wife about it?

No it doesn't. It asks specifically "Have you ever been charged, arrested, or convicted of any offense or crime?". They would probably consider shoplifting to be an "offense", and the fact that she was ordered to pay a fine as being "charged" and "convicted". It would have been safer to just answer yes, and include the relevant court documents.

If this is the reason for the AP, then I doubt it's a big deal. Americans get citations all the time for parking infractions, and they also pay fines for them. I doubt most Americans would think they would have to answer "yes" to such a question because of parking tickets. Your wife will probably just need to gather the relevant court documents and explain the situation at her interview. If they ask why she didn't report it on the form, she can just say she didn't think a citation qualified as a "crime" or "offense". Misinterpreting a question doesn't rise to the level of willful misrepresentation. I think she'll get through this ok.

I tend to agree but am not sure whether shoplifting is considered a crime of moral turpitude. It is definitely a crime and an offense. Paying a fine for a crime is a conviction.

Question 41 on the DS-230 doesn't say anything about crimes of moral turpitude that would make an alien inadmissible. It reads exactly as I quoted. It simply asks if the alien has ever been charged, arrested, or convicted of any offense or crime.

[pushbrk 12,898]

For the record....I don't know the laws of Columbia, but in the USA (California) receiving a citation means you have been arrested, whether physicallly restrained or not. The citation is your promise to appear in court, if required, to answer to the charges against you. Some crimes do allow payment of a fine without actual court appearance, but nonetheless, the person was still "arrested" and then released with a citation and a date to appear in court (or pay the fine).

I think it was a mistake on your part to not disclose a theft charge. Whether it was intentional or a misinterpretation of the instructions is not for us to decide. The one adjudicating your case at the Embassy is the only person that matters on that question. I am not so sure a new DS0230 is a great idea, but a complete and honest explanation is the only thing that can be done now. Remember that most consular officers have heard it all before, so honesty is the best policy. Whatever the consequences are or are not, will be decided by them and we can only speculate. Good luck!

You might also consider the advice of an attorney, preferrably not the one that told you to omit the facts in the first place.

Scott

Also be aware that the ommission and the crime of theft (shoplifting) are separate issues. They could understand perfectly your wife's interpretation of the question and not enter a finding of material misrepresentation, but still find her ineligible for the crime itself. Chances are if no misrepresentation is found, the ineligibility can be overcome with a waiver.

As the OP has said, this is all speculation as to the reason for the AP. Regardless, it sounds like bad advice not to disclose the theft charge as it IS a crime of moral turpitude.

[james&adry 3]

I believe the shoplifting incident might be the only reason why your wife is undergoing an AP. The NVC would have caught her name in their system or surely the USCIS from beforehand right? My wife is Colombiana and her last two names are Arzayus Escobar.. scary eh? But turns out these names are very common downrange.

[keithNvaleria 0]

First of all...you should probably wait to see what the problem is before you over-react. It may be something entirely different. If that is the case, running in now with a preemptive explanation may only create a new problem. As for the seriousness of the offense, you are now trying to minimize it after the fact. A citation IS a charge of an offense no matter how slight. So in that case, you should have probably have been up front about it in the origional submission. Also, in Law Enforcement, there is a thing called a "near hit", which with a common name, simply means that some person with a similar or equal name is either wanted or has a record, and the near hit tells officials to check further to see if the 2 partys are one in the same or different people. Good Luck to you.

[k.loveh 0]

I do not feel they will deny me for larceny. We were not being dishonest about anything. again a citation could be many reasons. A petty shoplifting citation. the citation was paid and closed.

If my wife is called to another interview yes we will fill out another DS-230 form just in case to present.

But we do not even know for sure what they are looking for. Do they tell you?

Why don't you try calling the Embassy? It is diffcult to get through, I know from experience, but it's worth it that you try.

[youtube 0]

I wouldn't hyperventilate. Wait for the notice to see what they are asking for.

You may be working yourself up for nothing.

[MouadsWife 161]

Administrative processing is usually because either your name is on a government checklist (which usually puts you in AP at the National Visa Center stage, not the Consulate stage) or that they found something in your record.

It doesn't matter how long ago the citation was, whether it was paid, or whatever other factors you might put in there. Those things may have mattered if you had explained on the forms that the beneficiary had had the citation (in which case they'd probably get you to file for a waiver), but now you've defrauded them by wilful omission, which incurs an automatic denial and automatic ban.

I guess you just need to hope that that's not what they're looking at right now. If it is, I echo the others that you should explain that you didn't realize that the question included citations, though I don't know how much that will help you.

What factors puts a persons name on a government checklist? Just curious.

[Angie Y Shane 2]

You know I think you are right. I spoke with one attorney well know today about this process. He stated to me that when in the consular stage if there is a hit on my wife it would be generally something in regards to a similar name on Homeland security list or FBI list.

But being my wife has never traveled to America before this kind of rules her out as for her petty theft from 6 years ago. Also her police certificate plainly states no prior record.

But it was advised if my wife is called back to another interview to fill out another Ds-230 and have a visa wavier in hand just in case. disclose the information about my wife's citation and explain very clearly the outcome.

I assuming we have been put into AP for some reason we may not know. others have advised the same, thank you to those for the positive feedback and help.

It sure is the most horrible feeling to be approved and then my wife gets home and hears different from the embassy by phone. How screwed up and cruel this system is. We have been going threw this for almost three years now. My wife is 7 month pregnant and was crying all day, i feel badly and wish this would end.

[Angie Y Shane 2]

I do not know the factors but I assume terrorism, or home land security reasons. They call it the watch list. Also multiple law enforcements combine there criminal finger prints uploaded into some major system.

[LOLAs 1]

sometimes we tend to oversearched ourselves and worry about things we do not have control over. You don't know why all this is happening and there is nothing u can do about it. And, the people here all have maybe some experience but not exactly the same experience, meaning they cannot really give you the right answer. You cannot introduce any new document at this time and i guess all you can do is to just wait. You can see a lawyer if your mind is so disturbed and you will get a clearer picture. I really hope that this will go away wiyhout any of the problems you are envisaging. Don't bury your head in this, see a lawyer for a few bucks and get the best answer then cross your legs, pray and hope for the best. Afterall, you do not have any control over this plus - immigration people, like a friend told me, are also God's people, everyone is controlled by God.

[steveandrong 1]

seeing how the police certificates state that she has no prior record, i think you are worring about nothing...well not exactly nothing, they don't throw your visa into AP(Administrative Processing) for nothing.....but it would be my guess that it is not over the shoplifting citation....and you will have a hard time getting out of the consulate just what the reason is.....just remember, the consulate is there to protect you....hahahaha....i've already had our dealings with the consulate in Guangzhou, and believe me, it was no picnic...but we're all here now facing the next battle....AOS....but at least she is here and we can face this battle together