Criminal Record Concerns

[Mr Man 0]

I'm hoping this will come to nothing, but it's plausible that it'll be a problem.

Waiting on an answer to an earlier thread before I send my I-130 in again, due to a couple of small errors. However, I've made a really stupid mistake recently, and am concerned about the outcome.

A few years back I found a freedom pass (a card giving old folks free London travel) on the floor at a station, and put in my bag, fully intending to return in. However, I totally forgot, and just left in my bag, which went in the back of a closet due to wear and tear.

Fast forward to mid-November 2009, and I pull out my old bags, intending to throw them out - I go through the compartments of this bag and come across the freedom pass, which has been there all that time. I put it in my wallet, intending to get rid of it.

The last few days, my wife and I end up using it due to financial constraints, and today I get caught with it in my wallet - there is a threat of court and a criminal conviction for fraud - I'm sure this would be a minor conviction, and would sit on my record for a very brief amount of time, but would this cause a lot of problems?

[canadian_wife 1,829]

My first questions are were you formally arrested? Is there a charge against you? How serious is the 'threat' of court? Where does this case stand now?

If you are charged with fraud - then your inadmissability depends on whether fraud is considered a crime of moral terpitude. You don't actually have to be convicted for it to affect your admissability.

http://www.lexisnexis.com/practiceareas/im...pdfs/web793.pdf

Wikipedia claims it is a crime of moral turpitude:

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

That being said, I tell my students that if they cite wikipedia in their research papers, they automatically fail because it is such an unreliable source of information.

[Mr Man 0]

My first questions are were you formally arrested? Is there a charge against you? How serious is the 'threat' of court? Where does this case stand now?

If you are charged with fraud - then your inadmissability depends on whether fraud is considered a crime of moral terpitude. You don't actually have to be convicted for it to affect your admissability.

http://www.lexisnexis.com/practiceareas/im...pdfs/web793.pdf

Wikipedia claims it is a crime of moral turpitude:

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

That being said, I tell my students that if they cite wikipedia in their research papers, they automatically fail because it is such an unreliable source of information.

Fraud is a crime of moral turpitude - however, there is obviously a deliberate attempt to not make that level of fraud TOO damaging to those who commit it - the maximum sentence punishable is 51 weeks, 1 week short of a year: the legislation states that

(2) Criminal and related grounds.-

(A) Conviction of certain crimes.-

(i) In general.-Except as provided in clause (ii), any alien convicted of, or who admits having committed, or who admits committing acts which constitute the essential elements of-

(I) a crime involving moral turpitude (other than a purely political offense or an attempt or conspiracy to commit such a crime), or

(II) a violation of (or a conspiracy or attempt to violate) any law or regulation of a State, the United States, or a foreign country relating to a controlled substance (as defined in section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802)), is inadmissible.

(ii) Exception.-Clause (i)(I) shall not apply to an alien who committed only one crime if-

(I) the crime was committed when the alien was under 18 years of age, and the crime was committed (and the alien released from any confinement to a prison or correctional institution imposed for the crime) more than 5 years before the date of application for a visa or other documentation and the date of application for admission to the United States, or

(II) the maximum penalty possible for the crime of which the alien was convicted (or which the alien admits having committed or of which the acts that the alien admits having committed constituted the essential elements) did not exceed imprisonment for one year and, if the alien was convicted of such crime, the alien was not sentenced to a term of imprisonment in excess of 6 months (regardless of the extent to which the sentence was ultimately executed).

No-one is imprisoned ever for this kind of fraud, but it's obviously a deliberate policy to make the prison term less than one year maximum, to stop punishment on this front.

There is also a question as to whether it qualifies as a non-recordable offence - I rather think that it's beyond the realms of fare dodging, and probably would result in a recordable offense, so I'm going to just 'fess up to my error and throw myself on the tender mercies of Transport for London.

[SunDrop 59]

Respectfully, I'm rather struggling with your 'situation'. You found it in a station, but pocketed it instead of just handing over to a station attendant or the ticket window? It was a couple of years ago - they need to be renewed annually. You then put it in your wallet and it was found in your wallet? How was it 'found' in your wallet - there are stop and search laws in the UK and the TfL are a division of the metropolitan police.

Regardless, fraud is fraud. You haven't answered the questions about formal charges, arrest etc. so giving you accurate advice is rather difficult. The fact is that you have pending legal proceedings during your DCF process and unless it is resolved before your interview, you are very unlikely to be approved.

I'm sure this would be a minor conviction, and would sit on my record for a very brief amount of time

Hmmm, nope. It will always be on your record. Allie and Nigel encountered difficulties when his ACPO certificate came back with 'no live record'. Even though he admitted to having received a juvenile caution for letting the air out of someone's tires, they were required to get a subject access record to prove the nature of the crime and are in AP, pending decision.

[JustJ 0]

I know the DS-230 specifically asks:

Have you ever been charged, arrested or convicted of any offense or crime?

You'd have to list it there, right?

[Mr Man 0]

Fingers crossed this is now solved, with just a small fine.