Does my fiance need a court record?

[nicole&efe 0]

Hi Everyone-

I'm a little confused as to whether or not my fiance needs an official court record (I'm leaning towards 'yes'). I'll include some of the story (even though it's not necessary) because maybe some of you can relate.

Last summer Efe was in the US on a J1 temporary work visa. He was riding his bicycle one day, and a car ran a red light, hit him, and knocked him unconscious off his bike. While he was in the ambulance, the driver of the car lied to the police and told them that Efe was the one that ran the red light. The driver only talked to the police for 2 minutes and then quickly sped off. When Efe stepped out of the ambulance the police handed him a ticket for 'failure to obey traffic signal.' I was there with Efe, and we tried to explain to the police that what the driver told them was incorrect, but they refused to reconsider. Efe was assigned a court date, but he opted to just pre-pay the fine and not go to court. I wish he would have fought it, but he objected because he just didn't have the time/energy to worry about it (he was working 2 full time jobs at the time, etc.). Sorry for the long winded explanation, but I'm still a little bothered by how rude the police were to my fiance (they completely disregarded his credibility because he was not 100% fluent in English, but he could still clearly explain himself), when HE was the one that had half of his face skinned off. Yes I know, if he really wanted to fight it, he could have.

Below is the info from the Turkey Packet 3. Court records are needed if he was convicted of a crime. In this situation, was he convicted of a crime? I've done some googling and I haven't found a clear answer. Also, he never went to court, only prepaid a fine. Also, I know that Efe doesn't need a police certificate from the US, but will this minor traffic violation come up when they run his info in the system? Thanks for taking the time to read this and please let me know if you have any input!

"5. COURT AND PRISON RECORDS: Persons convicted of a crime must obtain a certified copy of each court record and any prison record, even if the beneficiary has been pardoned or granted amnesty.

6. POLICE CERTIFICATE REQUIRED FOR APPLICANTS 16 YEARS AND OLDER: Applicants are required to submit a police certificate from each locality of the country of the applicant’s nationality or current residence where the applicant has resided for at least six months. Police certificates are also required from all other countries where the applicant has resided for at least one year. Regardless of the length of residence, a police certificate must also be obtained from the police authorities of any place where the applicant has been arrested for any reason. Police certificates from certain countries are considered unobtainable. The consular office will advise you about particular countries to which the police certificate requirement does not apply. Additional details regarding Police Certificates are provided separately in this packet.

Present and former residents of the United States should NOT obtain police certificates covering their residence in the U.S."

[VanessaTony 3,567]

Easy answer is, as it occurred in the US, no. They will run any US checks before approving the petition. You will of course need a police check from any place he has lived for more than 6 months OTHER than the US.

p.s. yes that treatment was bullshit. It's more likely that as the driver disappeared they didn't get his info in time (the drivers) that they chose the person they could get all the details from

Edited January 11, 2010 by Vanessa&Tony

[nicole&efe 0]

Easy answer is, as it occurred in the US, no. They will run any US checks before approving the petition. You will of course need a police check from any place he has lived for more than 6 months OTHER than the US.

p.s. yes that treatment was bullshit. It's more likely that as the driver disappeared they didn't get his info in time (the drivers) that they chose the person they could get all the details from

Thanks for the reply. One thing though, maybe I'm reading too much into this (which is easy to do), but aren't the court records and police certificate two completely separate entities? Meaning, no he definitely doesn't need a police certificate from the US (because this is clearly stated), but does he need a court record because it doesn't state anywhere that he doesn't need US court records? Does that make sense?