Answering quetions in I-751 form.

[ao_cons 1]

Regarding question Question 7, Part 3: "Have you ever been arrested, detained, charged, indicted, fined..." What if the applicant paid a fine for overstaying a visa for a day in a foreign country? I went on a Thai visa run with other tourists and paid a small fine for overstaying one day. Do I answer "yes" or "no" to this question? I wasn't arrested or detained or anything. How do I do this?

[Ning 619]

Regarding question Question 7, Part 3: "Have you ever been arrested, detained, charged, indicted, fined..." What if the applicant paid a fine for overstaying a visa for a day in a foreign country? I went on a Thai visa run with other tourists and paid a small fine for overstaying one day. Do I answer "yes" or "no" to this question? I wasn't arrested or detained or anything. How do I do this?

Answer No.

[Abhay 15]

Your answer is no! Since they are asking about being fined in the US.

[ao_cons 1]

Your answer is no! Since they are asking about being fined in the US.

Thank you, Abhay and Ning. I would like to think so but the text says "in the US or abroad," doesn't it?

Form I-751:

"Have you ever been arrested, detained, charged, indicted, fined or imprisoned for breaking or violating any law or ordinance (excluding traffic regulations), or committed any crime which you were not arrested in the United States or abroad?"

Instructions for I-751 say:

"If you have ever been arrested or detained by any law enforcement officer for any reason, and no charges were filed, submit an original official statement by the arresting agency or applicable court order confirming that no charges were filed....

"Unless a traffic incident was alcohol or drug related, you do not need to submit documentation for traffic fines and incidents that did not involve an actual arrest if the only penalty was a fine of less than $500 and/or points on your driver's license."

I am willing to ask an immigration attorney what this means. But if anyone has been in a similar situation, I would like to know what was done and how it turned out. I'm not sure how this fits in. I went on a visa run and paid a fine at the immigration police station. It was a 1-day fine worth about $15. So was that detention with no charges filed? Do you think it would cause a problem?

[Ning 619]

Thank you, Abhay and Ning. I would like to think so but the text says "in the US or abroad," doesn't it?

Form I-751:

"Have you ever been arrested, detained, charged, indicted, fined or imprisoned for breaking or violating any law or ordinance (excluding traffic regulations), or committed any crime which you were not arrested in the United States or abroad?"

Instructions for I-751 say:

"If you have ever been arrested or detained by any law enforcement officer for any reason, and no charges were filed, submit an original official statement by the arresting agency or applicable court order confirming that no charges were filed....

"Unless a traffic incident was alcohol or drug related, you do not need to submit documentation for traffic fines and incidents that did not involve an actual arrest if the only penalty was a fine of less than $500 and/or points on your driver's license."

I am willing to ask an immigration attorney what this means. But if anyone has been in a similar situation, I would like to know what was done and how it turned out. I'm not sure how this fits in. I went on a visa run and paid a fine at the immigration police station. It was a 1-day fine worth about $15. So was that detention with no charges filed? Do you think it would cause a problem?

If you feel you were detained for commiting a crime the answer is then yes. All you have to do is answer yes & then explain what took place. You also need to contact Thai immigration to get a statement explaining if charges were filed or not. Just follow the instructions for the I-751 as you wish.

Edited November 15, 2010 by Ning

[v333k 59]

Whether you answer yes or no, I don't see it such a bid deal to cause problems in your application.

Did you get any documentation stating that you have been fined or is it something that you just paid while leaving the airport? If it is not documented, then answer no so that in case USCIS asks for evidence, you do not end up in a mess...

[v333k 59]

I have friends who live(d) in countries that are based on bribery. Once you display a US GC, their eyes widen and they start salivating since they see you as a cash resource. They come up with all sorts of excuses to why your paper work is not going to work until you slip them a $20 or a $50 bill, then miraculously, your paperwork is fine... I would call that corruption but if we follow the text word by word, they basically "paid a fee" abroad.....

It is up to you...

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

Okay, I never told anybody about this, but I'm a real alien. With that means I've been born on a planet in a different solar system. Once I got fined for not killing a Dhuuog, which is law on our planet as they eat Ghhhouls, which is really mean. I also didn't mention this to any immigration official as I figured it may only confuse them.

Hope that helps.

[ao_cons 1]

Whether you answer yes or no, I don't see it such a bid deal to cause problems in your application.

Did you get any documentation stating that you have been fined or is it something that you just paid while leaving the airport? If it is not documented, then answer no so that in case USCIS asks for evidence, you do not end up in a mess...

I have a fine receipt from the police station. It mentions a case settlement number so I think this is saying no charges were filed? It's not all English so I'll need to have it translated to be sure. But the receipt seems pretty clear it was a fine with no charges filed due to a settlement. I volunteered and was not caught, by the way. So does this mean I should answer "yes" and explain?

[v333k 59]

One question I do have, and you do not need to answer this question - but I am just curious! You are Thai, correct? How can you overstay your visit in Thailand? I made the assumption since you have the Thai flag as your country of origin.

Ok - to answer your question, it is really up to you. I do not see that it will cause such a huge problem with your naturalization application. If you wish to disclose it, then go ahead, but I also do not see the dire need to do so...

It really comes down to you deciding what is most comfortable for you.

[Kang Lang 7]

always always tell the truth, if you lie and are caught the consequences are insurrmountable, if you tell the truth you can at least attempt to overcome the difficulty.

with all that said, in the case of your i-751, it sounds like you are the usc, if so then the question does not apply to you. the background checks on the usc are completed at the time of petition, prior to visa application and issuance. upon u.s. arrival most of the forms are wanting information on the immigrant national with cursory information collected about the petitioner as the usc because that is the basis for immigration benefit.

good luck!

[ao_cons 1]

I'm not the USC (yet! LOL) and I have to apply for removal of conditions on my green card. And yes, I did overstay my visa in Thailand! I was living there for a while.

I would rather tell the truth. My husband thinks it's just a fine and doesn't need to be mentioned. But maybe I will just go ask an attorney to be sure. I wish I could just kick myself for this because I didn't even intentionally overstay my visa. I left at night and didn't make it to the border before midnight! Hence overstaying! arrrgghhh!

[Kang Lang 7]

tell the truth!!! your post was confusing you are the gc holder, with a thai flag and needed a thai visa? so you are not thai? just trying to be clear but the fact remains you should ALWAYS tell the truth please don't risk/jeopardise your status by misrepresenting yourself.

best of luck!

[ao_cons 1]

I am not Thai. I was staying in Thailand and that's where we had my interview. That's why I show the Thai flag so people who read will know when I went to the US embassy, it was in Thailand. This never raised a question. I showed my passport at every step of the immigration process. As for my RoC, I will tell the truth. It just confuses me what to put in the form.

[Kang Lang 7]

oic...well at any rate it should not be confusing it says "have you ever been arrested, detained, charged, indicted, fined..." you have so the answer would be yes, i would recommend attaching a brief note outlining what you were fined for and copy of any documentation relative to it. it is probably not a big deal since it occured outside the u.s. and you should be able to prove it was just a "few days".

best of luck!