Minor Offense and No Appearance in court in B1/B2 visa

[b1b2visitor 0]

I have a relative who visited the U.S recently in B1/B2 visa and he is still in the U.S. He was living in a hotel for his medical conference in New Orleans, Louisiana. He takes heavy dose of medication due to his sickness happened few years back. His mood and talk will swing bit after taking the medicine.

One incident (verbal argument) happened with the hotel reception just after the medicine intake. They called the cops and he got arrested and charged the below sections - 54-403 and 54-405 (http://library.municode.com/HTML/10040/level4/PTIICO_CH54CRCO_ARTVIOFAFPUGE_DIV4OFAGGEPEOR.html). He took self bail ($300) and got out of the police station, but he had to appear in the court next day. He didn't do that. Now he is going back to his country, after the visit.

His questions:

1) Will it be an issue leaving the U.S airport?

2) Will he be able to visit the U.S in future?

3) Will he be able to visit any other countries like U.K, Europe etc. in future?

Again, he is not ready to appear in the court and go through all the hassles (because now he is in different state and is not intersted to pay to the attorney and hire one). He's leaving the U.S in few days time. His B1/B2 visa is valid for many more years.

Thanks and appreciate your responses!

[Operator 1,927]

He likely already has an arrest warrant for failure to appear.

Answers to his questions: My opinion

1) Very possible

2) Very possible

3) Doubtful

Ignoring the legal system of the country you are visiting is a stupid plan.

[Harsh_77 718]

All I can say is if he did not show up in court as he had promised to do so – he is in contempt of court which means he has a warrant out for him.

With minor offence he might not be reported immigration to be on lookout for him, but if he gets in trouble either in Louisiana or any other state which has a relation with Louisiana where they exchange warrant information he will be arrested and put in jail.

[M&Pooh 12]

3) Doubtful

Why?

How does the fact of arrest and jumping the bail in the US matter if a person tries to enter, say, EU?

[Operator 1,927]

Why?

How does the fact of arrest and jumping the bail in the US matter if a person tries to enter, say, EU?

You are absolutely right, I read the question wrong. It's doubtful to me that he would have any trouble at all

[b1b2visitor 0]

Thanks everybody for the responses!

He is NOT thinking to come back to the U.S.

But, he wants to leave the U.S soon. Will the airport (international) stop him from boarding the plane since it is a minor offense?

Thanks!

[Operator 1,927]

Here is my amateur opinion. When he was arrested he must have shown identification. NOPD knows he is in the country on a B1/B2 visa. I would think that police departments have to notify DHS when a crime (minor or not) is commited by a foreign national in our post 9/11 country.

I may be wrong and the severity of the offense wouldn't warrant any notification. If it were me I would face the music. He doubled his problems by being a no-show in court.

[b1b2visitor 0]

Thanks again to all!

Here is the latest update from my side, I just thought it might be useful to share with others.

He had absolutely no issue flying out of the U.S. It looks like since it was minor offense, non-appearance of the court didn't issue arrest warrant. We checked the online database for arrest warrant and didn't even find one under his name.

Having said this, it is just our own situation. Yours may be different than this one.

I have one last question. Will this record be expunged after a period of time, so that he can visit the U.S some time in future?

We'll check it with an attorney as well, but I though anybody who knows this can answer.

Thanks!

[Boiler 45,813]

There is nothing to expunge, he did not turn up.

He should assume that he will be detained if he seeks to re-enter.

[LiveLaughLove 2]

According to Wikipedia: "In the common law legal system, an expungement proceeding is a type of lawsuit in which a first time offender of a prior criminal conviction seeks that the records of that earlier process be sealed, thereby making the records unavailable through the state or Federal repositories. If successful, the records are said to be "expunged". Black's Law Dictionary defines "expungement of record" as the "Process by which record of criminal conviction is destroyed or sealed from the state or Federal repository."[1] While expungement deals with an underlying criminal record, it is a civil action in which the subject is the petitioner or plaintiff asking a court to declare that the records be expunged."

Not appearing for his court date does not entitle him to expungement. An arrest warrant is more likely or possibly ban from re-entry or visa revocation.

[b1b2visitor 0]

Thanks everybody again!

[Harsh_77 718]

Online database does not have all the warrant, then most gangster would know well in advance the cops are coming after them.

But for not showing up in the court, as I said earlier it is contempt of the court and a warrant is issued out, he has jumped his bail so there will be a warrant for him no matter what.

If they stopped issuing the warrants and let them go then bounty hunters will have to close their shops and sit at home.