RFE Received during interview!

[zenith 0]

Hello VJ Members!

i really need some good suggestion. Please help! i am new to this site. first of all let me tell you guys about myself. i applied for greencard through marriage. Came here to US as a student 7 yrs ago. Bad news is i have a hx of shoplifting here in US back in 2003. i was not arrested and was fined $371.00. To send my court records to USCIS.

I went to my local court house and the only thing they gave me was CERTIFIED "COURT ACTION SUMMARY" and a paper which showed my criminal background check. i applied for adjustment of status on August 2010. i got my work permit last month. With god's help, everything was going really well and super fast. i had an interview recently in atlanta. wow! it was a different experience. the lady did not even smiled one time! not even when we said hello. she asked several questions to my husband. then she started asking me questions. She pretty much asked me everything from the form I-485. Then she looked over the papers i gave her from the court and said "WHAT IS THIS"? I told her that this is the only thing my court can give me. Then she ended up giving me a RFE FOR COURT RECORDS. She highlighted pretty much everything in that piece of paper with a a yellow envelope and told me to that i have 30 days to submit whatever is highlighted or else my application will be denied. She did not even gave me a chance to read over that paper! She stood up (pretty much indicating us that this interview is over for now).So we left! what a horrible experience!

The paper she gave me is asking for so many things which my court cannot provide!it is a municipal court and my case is a misdemanor!

Here is list of things this paper is asking for: ("i am writing exactly what this paper says")

1)charging documents which could be a (warrant, a uniform citation, a summons, a complaint, etc)The charging doc. must show the date of arrest, the law enforcement agency making the arrest, and the specific charges

2)Judgement, commitment, sentencing, dismissal order- this is the document which reflects the final charges, the plea u entered, the cout verdict, and the court's sentence.it is the official doc. which reflects the court determination and case outcome. if the case is dismissed, provide a copy of dismissal order. This document must show the minimun and maximum sentence allowed.

3) Diversionary, rehabilitation, plea agreement order- if the court allowed you to enter a diversionary or rehabilitative program of successful completion. if assigned community service, the record must show the type and length of the community service and proof of successful completion. if u were assessed a fine, you must show that the fine was paid.

"ALL DOC. MUST BE CERTIFIED COPIES.SEALED BY THE CLERK OF THE COURT. NO COPIES, NO FAXES. IF A PARTICULAR DOC. IS NOT AVAILABLE, U MUST PROVIDE OFFICIAL OR CERTIFIED EVIDENCE FROM THE COURT CONFIRMING THE UNAVAILABILITY OF THE DOCUMENTS"

Okay! that's what that paper says! The paper which was given by my court is called " CASE ACTION SUMMARY" It shows- all my infos (My name, DOB,sex,address), Trial Date, arrest date, Complainant name, shows, what date i appeared in the court, shows i plead guilty, jail time suspended, fine of $371.00. judge signature, Judge also wrote "banned from walmart". There is a stamp which says-" Jail sentence suspended, Defendant placed on probation,pending good behavior for a period of 2 yrs".At the bottom of the sheet it shows the date i paid the fine, receipt number.

So i went back to the court house yesterday with that piece of paper (Immigration officer gave me). The court clerk said that she cannot give me anything else according to the state law. as the case action summary pretty much shows everything.i also asked her if she can give me a letter stating that i finished my 2 yrs probation with a good behavior. she said that "i was placed on unsupervised probation, so they cannot really give me anything for that". I also asked the court clerk if she can write me stating that she cannot give me anything else except the case action summary. She said " Maam we don't do that either." Infact she said " if immigration wants to call us, they can. i will tell them." That clerk was kind a rude!

So now i don't know what to do! Right now i am going through some of the most miserable days of my life! USCIS have the case action summary. but for that IO that is not sufficient! please VJ MEMBERS HELP ME! TELL ME WHAT SHOULD I DO. PLEASE..... REPLY ME ASAP. LOTS OF REPLIES PLZZZZZZZ. THX

Edited October 30, 2010 by zenith

[VanessaTony 3,567]

** moved from "Adjustment of Status (Green Card) from Family Based Visas" to "Adjustment of Status from Work, Student, & Tourist Visas" as you are adjusting from a visa other than a K1, K2, K3 & K4 which the prior forum is for **

[2annie 2]

Looks pretty clear what they want.

Best you get it as perfect as you can, ASAP

wish you the best. . .

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

Hire an attorney. The court has more records than simply a "Court Action Summary". The clerk can be compelled to release those documents on the order of a judge. I suggest you act quickly. It might be difficult to get a court date before your RFE response time expires.

[zenith 0]

Hire an attorney. The court has more records than simply a "Court Action Summary". The clerk can be compelled to release those documents on the order of a judge. I suggest you act quickly. It might be difficult to get a court date before your RFE response time expires.

hi there, thanks a lot for ur response! yesterday i did talk to one of the lawyer who also handles immigration stuff. He called the local court house and they said they will see what they can give him. so i will know monday. Other thing i wanted to tell is i do have a yellow copy(our copy) of appearance bond, complaint form, order of senternce from the judge. (i am so glad that i held on to these papers, that's what the lawyer said). However, the immigration wants everything certified. the paper the immigration officer gave me states- " must be certified, and must be sealed by the court clerk". the court clerk here will not do that. the lawyer was saying if he can see if they can certify those copies i have. so even if the lawyer can certify those copies for me ,another problem is the court clerk will not seal it.It is all messed up!i have to send these docs. by nov. 27,2010 or else they will deny my application. I can't believe the incidence which happened back in 2003 is haunting me now!The lawyer said that if none of the above options work then he have to subopena my records. but he also said that the court usually get 2 weeks to respond and it will cost me some money and time. (i MIGHT NOT HAVE THESE DOCS. FOR IMMIGRATION ON TIME). Do u think the copies i have ( complaint form, appearance bond, order of sentence) will be enough for the immigration? i also have a copy of a police report but the clerk said that it cannot be certified. Another issue is as i was in a 2 yrs of unsupervised probation, the court house cannot provide me any document stating that i have finished my probation with a good behavior. please reply me soon. i also request other VJ members to give me some suggestions!

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

hi there, thanks a lot for ur response! yesterday i did talk to one of the lawyer who also handles immigration stuff. He called the local court house and they said they will see what they can give him. so i will know monday. Other thing i wanted to tell is i do have a yellow copy(our copy) of appearance bond, complaint form, order of senternce from the judge. (i am so glad that i held on to these papers, that's what the lawyer said). However, the immigration wants everything certified. the paper the immigration officer gave me states- " must be certified, and must be sealed by the court clerk". the court clerk here will not do that. the lawyer was saying if he can see if they can certify those copies i have. so even if the lawyer can certify those copies for me ,another problem is the court clerk will not seal it.It is all messed up!i have to send these docs. by nov. 27,2010 or else they will deny my application. I can't believe the incidence which happened back in 2003 is haunting me now!The lawyer said that if none of the above options work then he have to subopena my records. but he also said that the court usually get 2 weeks to respond and it will cost me some money and time. (i MIGHT NOT HAVE THESE DOCS. FOR IMMIGRATION ON TIME). Do u think the copies i have ( complaint form, appearance bond, order of sentence) will be enough for the immigration? i also have a copy of a police report but the clerk said that it cannot be certified. Another issue is as i was in a 2 yrs of unsupervised probation, the court house cannot provide me any document stating that i have finished my probation with a good behavior. please reply me soon. i also request other VJ members to give me some suggestions!

What they are asking for are certified copies of the original court records. The court clerk is in charge of those original records, and only the court clerk can issue certified copies of them. They can't certify any documents you may still have.

You have a serious problem. The court clerk is the only person who can provide the documents USCIS wants, and it appears the court clerk does not want to cooperate with you. Your immigration lawyer is probably not the most qualified person to help you with this. Frankly, I'm not sure which discipline of law this would fall under. A criminal law attorney might know how to get those records issued by the court clerk, but it would probably take a civil lawsuit to get a subpoena.

Unless you can get the court clerk to cooperate soon then I doubt you'll get what you need in time to respond to the RFE. If you don't then you'll probably be placed in removal proceedings. At some point, you'll get a summons to a master hearing in front of an immigration judge. There's a good chance that an immigration judge will issue a stay of the removal order to allow you to obtain the documents from the court. In other words, your options don't end when the RFE response time has expired.

[zenith 0]

What they are asking for are certified copies of the original court records. The court clerk is in charge of those original records, and only the court clerk can issue certified copies of them. They can't certify any documents you may still have.

You have a serious problem. The court clerk is the only person who can provide the documents USCIS wants, and it appears the court clerk does not want to cooperate with you. Your immigration lawyer is probably not the most qualified person to help you with this. Frankly, I'm not sure which discipline of law this would fall under. A criminal law attorney might know how to get those records issued by the court clerk, but it would probably take a civil lawsuit to get a subpoena.

Unless you can get the court clerk to cooperate soon then I doubt you'll get what you need in time to respond to the RFE. If you don't then you'll probably be placed in removal proceedings. At some point, you'll get a summons to a master hearing in front of an immigration judge. There's a good chance that an immigration judge will issue a stay of the removal order to allow you to obtain the documents from the court. In other words, your options don't end when the RFE response time has expired.

hi there

wow! u know a lot about these stuff! thx buddy! so what do u think i should do? what is removal proceeding? will i ever get a greencard? please give me a suggestion what should i do! plzzzz.. help!!

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

hi there

wow! u know a lot about these stuff! thx buddy! so what do u think i should do? what is removal proceeding? will i ever get a greencard? please give me a suggestion what should i do! plzzzz.. help!!

Removal proceedings is the formal process of deporting someone. You may receive a notice of intent to begin removal proceedings, or you may just receive a notice that you've been placed in removal proceedings. Eventually, you'll get a summons for a master hearing at an immigration court. A master hearing is where a bunch of people show up, each with their own case, and the judge calls them up one at a time and listens to their motions. The purpose of the master hearing is to determine whether to dismiss the case, send it back to USCIS for adjudication, stay the proceeding to give the alien time to complete some related process (like obtaining evidence requested by USCIS), or go ahead with the deportation. If they decide to go ahead then they'll set a trial date. You would be asking for a stay of the proceedings so that you can get the court records that USCIS wants. The judge will probably approve the stay, and give you a specific date to return to court. If you return on that date with the documents then he'll probably send the case back to USCIS for adjudication.

Your biggest problem right now is that you're caught between a hard headed immigration officer who is demanding specific court documents, and a hard headed court clerk who doesn't want to give up those documents. You can't make the IO back down, but you should be able to make the court clerk give in and provide the documents.

I can't tell you for certain whether you'll get a green card. Theft can be classified as a crime involving moral turpitude. Anyone who commits a crime involving moral turpitude is inadmissible to the US without a waiver. Any alien who commits a crime involving moral turpitude while inside the US can be deported. I suspect this is why the IO wants all of the relevant court documents. They want to know precisely what you were convicted of, and whether it's a deportable crime. If they determine that it is then you likely will not be getting a green card. Your attorney should be able to advise you regarding this.

[zenith 0]

Removal proceedings is the formal process of deporting someone. You may receive a notice of intent to begin removal proceedings, or you may just receive a notice that you've been placed in removal proceedings. Eventually, you'll get a summons for a master hearing at an immigration court. A master hearing is where a bunch of people show up, each with their own case, and the judge calls them up one at a time and listens to their motions. The purpose of the master hearing is to determine whether to dismiss the case, send it back to USCIS for adjudication, stay the proceeding to give the alien time to complete some related process (like obtaining evidence requested by USCIS), or go ahead with the deportation. If they decide to go ahead then they'll set a trial date. You would be asking for a stay of the proceedings so that you can get the court records that USCIS wants. The judge will probably approve the stay, and give you a specific date to return to court. If you return on that date with the documents then he'll probably send the case back to USCIS for adjudication.

Your biggest problem right now is that you're caught between a hard headed immigration officer who is demanding specific court documents, and a hard headed court clerk who doesn't want to give up those documents. You can't make the IO back down, but you should be able to make the court clerk give in and provide the documents.

I can't tell you for certain whether you'll get a green card. Theft can be classified as a crime involving moral turpitude. Anyone who commits a crime involving moral turpitude is inadmissible to the US without a waiver. Any alien who commits a crime involving moral turpitude while inside the US can be deported. I suspect this is why the IO wants all of the relevant court documents. They want to know precisely what you were convicted of, and whether it's a deportable crime. If they determine that it is then you likely will not be getting a green card. Your attorney should be able to advise you regarding this.

hi there

thanks a lot for the informations. My lawyer is suppose to go to the court house tomm. and lets see what all papers i can get!i have another question. In that paper, at the end, the instruction states- " ALL DOCUMENTS MUST BE CERTIFIED COPIES,SEALED BY THE CLERK OF THE COURT. NO COPIES, NO FAXES. What i did not understand is does it need to be sealed in the envelope by the court clerk or is it asking for a seal (stamp) from the court house? The IO also gave me a yellow envelope.so i know i am suppose to put all those papers in that yellow envelope and mail it to the atlanta office.

What my other plan is i am planning to make an infopass before my RFE deadline and take whatever papers i can get from the court house to the immigration. This way it will give me a chance to explain the situation to the IO. I do have a copy of the police report(i was not arrested, just went to the court and got fined). However, it is not certified. does the police report also needs to certified?

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

hi there

thanks a lot for the informations. My lawyer is suppose to go to the court house tomm. and lets see what all papers i can get!i have another question. In that paper, at the end, the instruction states- " ALL DOCUMENTS MUST BE CERTIFIED COPIES,SEALED BY THE CLERK OF THE COURT. NO COPIES, NO FAXES. What i did not understand is does it need to be sealed in the envelope by the court clerk or is it asking for a seal (stamp) from the court house? The IO also gave me a yellow envelope.so i know i am suppose to put all those papers in that yellow envelope and mail it to the atlanta office.

What my other plan is i am planning to make an infopass before my RFE deadline and take whatever papers i can get from the court house to the immigration. This way it will give me a chance to explain the situation to the IO. I do have a copy of the police report(i was not arrested, just went to the court and got fined). However, it is not certified. does the police report also needs to certified?

Frankly, I'm not sure about that. My impression is that they want the court clerk's stamp or seal on each document, certifying it as an authentic copy of the original document. However, since you're making an infopass appointment you should be able to get them to clarify this.

The police report is not of much use to you. You could be picked up by the police and accused of loitering, which is what the police report would show, and then the district attorney could charge you with manslaughter when you get to court. What matters is what you were convicted of, and the police report isn't going to show this. Only the court documents are going to tell USCIS what they want to know.

[zenith 0]

Frankly, I'm not sure about that. My impression is that they want the court clerk's stamp or seal on each document, certifying it as an authentic copy of the original document. However, since you're making an infopass appointment you should be able to get them to clarify this.

The police report is not of much use to you. You could be picked up by the police and accused of loitering, which is what the police report would show, and then the district attorney could charge you with manslaughter when you get to court. What matters is what you were convicted of, and the police report isn't going to show this. Only the court documents are going to tell USCIS what they want to know.

hi there

yeah even i am not sure what they are asking for. either sealed in the envelope or seal from the court house! huh! The reason i want to make an infopass is because i am planning to take whatever new certified documents i can get from the court house tomm. instead of mailing it to USCIS in that yellow envelope. This way i will have a chance to explain it to the IO. I will also need a police report b'coz i remember the IO asking for it. Now i've got it but it is not certified. they said they cannot certify it! i am pissed as none of these ppl in the court house are cooperating with me! I also remember the IO asking me if i have finished my probation. That time i was thinking " common this incidence happened back in 2003. so surely i have finished my 2 yrs of probation." The bad thing is i was on 2 yrs of unsupervised probation, so i cannot really get some kind of docs. saying i finished it with good behavior unless it was a supervised probation. u know what i mean?

i am just praying for tomm. Hopefully something will work out. plz pray for me. guess i am gonna have to call the USCIS customer service to ask them about the " SEAL" deal tomm.

May i ask u one question if u don't mind plz? How do u know all these things abt the immigration process? Where r u in US?

Thx for respoding my emails. i hope u don't mind.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

May i ask u one question if u don't mind plz? How do u know all these things abt the immigration process? Where r u in US?

People ask questions. If I don't know the answer then I look for it. The answers for most questions can be found on the internet, if you're willing to spend some time looking for it. For example, all of the immigration laws are posted on the internet. Every time I find the answer to a question I learn something. When I've learned enough about a subject then I can answer most questions about it without having to look. All it takes is time, patience, and a willingness to learn.

I'm in California.