Minor Criminal Record + other queries

[Marie77 0]

Hello

I am a UKC who has been living in the USA for 8 years. I have been living with my USC fiance for two years - we are due to be married this Summer.

I have been living here on several I-Visa's which is a media visa for members of the foreign press (magazine editor), and have 3 years left on my current visa.

I have a couple of questions I am unsure of relating to the GC process and was hoping for some advice.

1) My USC fiance was arrested 10 years ago when he was a student (age 21) for possession of a very small amount of cannabis. This happened in Indiana State which means it will stay on his record forever. He is now a private tutor with a masters degree and no other arrests since. I'm wondering if his record could pose any problems for us in the greencard process? Should he get a copy of the police records to bring with him to our interview etc?

2) I have been in the US for 7 years on 3 consecutive I-Visas. My most recent visa relates to my role as Magazine Editor for a UK publication. I've since become one of the directors of the UK company and so earn shares (am paid in the UK in pounds but file both US + UK tax).

When I file my US tax return it shows I earn both salary and dividends. When I attained my most recent visa I tried to find out if there could be any issue with me part owning the company that I work for as it seemed like a grey area. Most lawyers I spoke to seemed to think it was okay so I haven't thought about it much since then. (I was worried it could in theory look like I have essentially sponsored my own visa).

Now I am about to embark on the greencard process I'm wondering if this is something I should be worried about, or if the immigration officials are mostly focused on the Greencard and AOS, rather than the intricacies of my current/past visa?

3) Finally, we plan to be married in a small civil ceremony this Summer and then have more formal ceremonies with friends and family in both London + Indiana next year. This means our initial wedding photos will not have friends and family in them, could this be a problem? (we have many photos of us with our families in both UK and US together from past two years - Christmas, birthdays etc).

Thank you in advance for your thoughts on this.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

US citizen petitioner's criminal record is, for the most part, irrelevant. The only exception I'm aware of is if they were convicted of a crime that would fall under the Adam Walsh Act, which is mostly sexual crimes against minors. A US citizen with an AWA conviction is not eligible to submit any sort of family visa petition. They might also be ineligible to submit any sort of petition with USCIS if they were ever convicted of a violation of immigration law. It would depend on which law they were convicted of violating. Drug convictions are generally only an issue with K1 visa petitions because of the requirement that these convictions be disclosed to the foreign fiancee.

Your previous visas and periods of stay in the US will be examined during the AOS adjudication process. They would affect your AOS application only if it's determined that you violated the terms of a previous visa, and were therefore inadmissible to the United States. The exceptions would be if you were currently in overstay or had worked illegally in the US - these factors aren't relevant for someone adjusting on the basis of being an immediate relative of a US citizen.

As long as the marriage is legally recognized in the US then it's valid for adjustment of status. The IO will understand if you plan a larger ceremony abroad, provided you have sufficient evidence of a marital relationship.