Petitioner Should Fall Under AWA, CR-1 & CR-2 Approved!

[You Don't Know Me 6]

At the time I filed my I-130 I wasn't aware of AWA being implimented yet as a vast majority of the AWA has yet to be put in place (and some states will not even impliment it at all).

Then a couple of weeks after filing I became aware of it and was so depresssed as my wife & I thought we were done for. I even started planning to more to her country when I could wrap-up my life in the US and bring enough to provide for us there.

Then 2 months later I received mail from USCIS. I cried when I opened that envelope which I was sure contained a NOID but it was in fact the NOA2!

2 weeks later the NOA2 for her son arrived. Yes I was shocked.

You see back in 1986 I was convicted of Criminal Sexual Abuse of a minor (victim was 8 years old I was 16). My conviction was recorded as an adult conviction and I entered adulthood with a Class-X felony conviction. I attended years of sex offender treatment and eventually built a life despite this conviction.

As we entered the NVC stage I was sure we'd be halted at any minute but we flew through in about 5 weeks time.

Next was the wait for the Embassy Interview, I was so nervous that they'd slam her about my past there. Of course my wife has known about it all along and still choose to follow her heart and stay with me (even when we both thought the Petitions would be denied).

So she went to the interview and it was a breeze! No "He's a pervert" or any grilling like that. Just "Your Visas are approved".

Yeah we stressed until she had the Visas in hand and they were on a plane within 16 hrs of receiving them!

POE was incident free and they've been here for about a month now!

I really want to know what went right with our case and share any useful information with others effected by AWA so I'm filing a FOIA Request for a copy of our USCIS File. I'm hoping there will be mention of AWA and a reason why I wasn't required to provide "Proof of no threat" to my wife & young stepson.

I wonder if the fact that I've had sole custody of my 2 daughters for the last 10 years had anything to do with it. Or maybe the USCIS worker remembered seeing me on the Montel Williams show several years ago when I was actively advocating for SO Recovery.

Honestly I'll be staying low key until I see something in the file that indicates they were aware of my past and decided I was okay. I know a simple background check shows the conviction so they have to have known about it.

I will update everyone when I know more.

[kazuava 4]

Wow! Amazing!

Congratulations for you and your family!

THat is amazing that thay have not asked for any proof! Unbelievable!

How long did it take for you from filing to aproval? What Service Center did you fike at? What country is your wife from?

My case is diferent. Read the topic "AWA: 3 years married, no grencard yet".

I do believe, a lot depends on a human factor too. After having 2 interviews I have that impression.

I'm only a few days on this forum, but I see that there a few cases with AWA petitioner were approved. THat makes me believe in the best outcome in our case.

I hope, people who deserve it will have a 2nd chance in their life! Good luck to everybody!

[You Don't Know Me 6]

That is amazing that thay have not asked for any proof! Unbelievable!

Yeah, I feel the same way. I'm hoping that there are annotations in our file which indicate that they were aware of my conviction and indicate why I wasn't asked to provide proof.

I'll be nervous until she's naturalized in 3 years if there is nothing in the file to indicate a concious decision to not apply AWA to us.

How long did it take for you from filing to approval? What Service Center did you fike at? What country is your wife from?

We were put through the California Service Center.

The I-130s were approved in 4 months.

We took 6 weeks to go through NVC (would have been only 4 weeks but we left someting off the DS-230 by accident & got an RFE to correct)

Then we had a 1 month wait for her interview in the Philippines and a final wait of 1 week for her to receive the Visas. They were on the plane about 16 hrs after the Visas were delivered.

I hope, people who deserve it will have a 2nd chance in their life! Good luck to everybody!

That is my sincere hope also. This is one of the reasons I want a copy of our file. I'm hoping it wil shed some light on why our Visa Journey was so smooth and help others out.

[canadian_wife 1,826]

I'm going to ask the obvious, you disclosed the incident when you went through USCIS right? Are you currently registered as a sex offender?

[Darnell 8,478]

I'm going to ask the obvious, you disclosed the incident when you went through USCIS right? Are you currently registered as a sex offender?

Ya, that's what popped into my mind as well.

[You Don't Know Me 6]

I'm going to ask the obvious, you disclosed the incident when you went through USCIS right? Are you currently registered as a sex offender?

Ya, that's what popped into my mind as well.

Disclosed it how? I've reviewed the I-130 Petition repeatedly and there is no place to report the petitioner's criminal history.

My requirement to register expired 13 years ago.

It is my understanding that USCIS is supposed to request a background check on the petitioner from the FBI, as a simple records check at the state police will reveal my history (I know this from personal experience) I doubt the conviction didn't show-up on the FBI check.

I have never hidden my past, in fact I was once a very out-spoken advocate for Sex Offender Recovery. I even made National TV & Radio Appearances on the subject.

The Department of Child Protective Services in my state is aware of my past and the fact that I've had sole custody of my daughters as a single dad for a decade.

[daboyz 36]

hmm.... Something is fishy. No timeline etc.

Edited December 15, 2009 by daboyz

[You Don't Know Me 6]

hmm.... Something is fishy. No timeline etc.

Nothing fishy, just being cautious. If you'd prefer then I can post a fake timeline but honestly I prefer to either put the truth out there of not post what I'm not currently comfortable posting.

I've posting an outline of our times here in this thread and even stated which country my wife is from. Why would I come here a lie about this?

My wife is a member of VJ so I'll do what I can to protect her privacy as I try to be helpful to others. If you can't respect that then I will just go away quietly.

[A and T 82]

hmm.... Something is fishy. No timeline etc.

Nothing fishy, just being cautious. If you'd prefer then I can post a fake timeline but honestly I prefer to either put the truth out there of not post what I'm not currently comfortable posting.

I've posting an outline of our times here in this thread and even stated which country my wife is from. Why would I come here a lie about this?

My wife is a member of VJ so I'll do what I can to protect her privacy as I try to be helpful to others. If you can't respect that then I will just go away quietly.

My I-130 papers asked if I had been convicted of a felony or crime, Of Course anything thats a public record shows up when they check your background. But yours was long ago and maybe its gone by now. So very lucky for you I would say.

[You Don't Know Me 6]

My I-130 papers asked if I had been convicted of a felony or crime, Of Course anything thats a public record shows up when they check your background. But yours was long ago and maybe its gone by now. So very lucky for you I would say.

I-130 Rev 05/27/08 does not ask about prior criminal record of either the petitioner or beneficiary.

Class X Felony Convictions are only removed via expungement which requires petitioning the State Prisoner Review Board who then makes a recommendation to the Governer. If the Governer doesn't sign then nothing happens. I have not petitioned for expungement so I know it's still there.

[eagerly 2]

I-130 Rev 05/27/08 does not ask about prior criminal record of either the petitioner or beneficiary.

Class X Felony Convictions are only removed via expungement which requires petitioning the State Prisoner Review Board who then makes a recommendation to the Governer. If the Governer doesn't sign then nothing happens. I have not petitioned for expungement so I know it's still there.

You are correct...I-130 form of 2008 does not ask about criminal record of petitioner. Had it been asked, I would have answered "yes" and brought along with me evidence to support I am not a risk to my wife. Not having it with us during the interview, we received from them the NOID after two weeks. We are still waiting for the decision after we replied on the RFE.

You Dont Know Me, do u have an idea if you can have your background check sealed from public as a result of good conduct?

[You Don't Know Me 6]

You Dont Know Me, do u have an idea if you can have your background check sealed from public as a result of good conduct?

I know for a fact that a simple check with the State Police does show my conviction. About 6 years ago the father of my then girlfriend had a Private Investigator "check me out" and it showed on the criminal records check.

I highly doubt someone would have "sealed" the record since without a specific request to do so.

[You Don't Know Me 6]

Guys,

I have to apologize to all of the AWA Filers here. After much discussion with my wife and input from a few AWA Filers on VJ we have decided to let sleeping dogs lay where they are.

If we file the FOIA Request USCIS might be compelled to review our case with a fine toothed comb and if a new set of eyes thinks that the original adjudication was in error they could revolk the Approvals.

In light of this we will just sit tight and wait until ROC to have further contact with USCIS.