Criminal Record

[loosegee 3]

Hello all. Some advice and or opinions please.

My wife is American and i live in Northern Ireland. We recently got married and have just started the I-130 to get me to the States.

FIRST INCIDENT

12 years ago when i was a silly 24 year old, my brother called to my place one evening and we ended up having a few beers each.

Because of this he decided to stay over but didn't wanna leave his car where he had parked it at the rear of the house.

He decided to drive it around the front of the house which basically involved driving up the street turning and driving down the street at the front of my house.

I stupidly ask if i could do it and he stupidly said yes.

As was often the case back then in Northern Ireland, there was a random police check point just around the corner.

I turned the corner and because i was driving rather slowly the police stopped me because it looked suspicious.

They asked if i had a licence and insurance, which at the time i had neither.

They breathalysed me and i was over the limit so i was arrested and taken to the local nick for a blood test.

Long story short it all went to court many months later and i was charged with drunk in charge of a vehicle, driving with out a licence or insurance.

I got a fine and a 24 month driving ban.

SECOND INDICENT

Back in 2004 after having some problems with a motorcycle store over a bike they sold me, the store gave me a courtesy scooter while my own bike was being fixed.

The store assured me that i was covered under their demo insurance.

A few days later i was pulled over and asked if the bike was mine and if i had insurance. I explained the situation with the bike store and the cop asked me to produce my insurance and licence at my local police station.

I turned up at the local station with my licence and my own insurance and the officer that my own insurance didn't cover the scooter and i'd need to get something from the bike store to show their insurance covered me.

So i went back to the bike store only to be told they made a mistake and their demo insurance didn't cover me. Immediatly i rang my insurance company and got covered for the remainder of the time i had the scooter.

Long story short again.

Both the bike store and i were taken to court. They got off with it under some business technicality and i was again fined and charged with driving without insurance and given 6 penalty points.

THIRD INCIDENT

2006 riding to work on my motorcycle the police pulled me over for a small licence plate.

After looking at my licence they asked why i wasn't displaying R plates not he bike. For those outside Northern Ireland, R plates are like Learner L plates only they must be displayed for 12 months after you pass your driving test. The R stands for restricted because for 12 months after your test in Northern Ireland you are restricted to 45mph (don't ask me why).

Anyway, went to court months later and i was fined and given a 2 month ban.

The last 2 incidents are now off my licence but the first one doesn't come off until the end of this year.

The above is the extent of my criminal record. Only been arrested once.

My question is, with regard to my petition, do i have to disclose all 3 of these incidents or only the first one i got arrested for?

Secondly. Are any or all of these incidents enough to cause a problem for my petition or actually just put a stop to my petition altogether?

I have heard stories or people being denied various kinds of visas over the years due to driving incidents. Some even similar to my first incident a long time ago.

I'd appreciate hearing from people with experience of these kinds of things as i'm getting a little worried that this may be a oral deal breaker for me.

Thanks in advance

[loosegee 3]

At the end that should be TOTAL deal breaker. Not ORAL deal breaker.lol

[JoannaV 174]

I don't know, but dang you're unlucky!

You're right that the non-drinking driving offences probably don't need to be mentioned as they are just traffic offences. But someone else should be able to confirm that.

You were arrested so obviously that means you answer "yes" to the question asking if you were arrested etcetc. I don't think it's a "total deal breaker". Get hold of the police and court records for the first incident.

[loosegee 3]

Unlucky is an understatement.lol

The reason i ask is that a guy at work yesterday mentioned that a friend of his was denied a visa a couple of years ago so he could go on tour with his band.

They denied him the visa because of a driving offence he had been convicted of 10 years previous. Not sure what the offence was though.

I read last night on a few other sites that apparently you're not even supposed to use the Visa Wavier program if you have any kind of criminal conviction.

Apparently you have to contact the embassy and arrange an interview to be assessed for a visitors visa.

[JoannaV 174]

Unlucky is an understatement.lol

The reason i ask is that a guy at work yesterday mentioned that a friend of his was denied a visa a couple of years ago so he could go on tour with his band.

They denied him the visa because of a driving offence he had been convicted of 10 years previous. Not sure what the offence was though.

I read last night on a few other sites that apparently you're not even supposed to use the Visa Wavier program if you have any kind of criminal conviction.

Apparently you have to contact the embassy and arrange an interview to be assessed for a visitors visa.

Tourist visas are different from immigrant visas, so you can't deduce too much from that.

As for the Visa Waiver Program, the relevant question is, "Have you ever been arrested or convicted for an offense or crime involving moral turpitude or a violation related to a controlled substance?" I saw someone link to a DOS statement that said one episode of drunk driving was not considered to fall in this category. If it did fall into this category then it would cause a few problems if you had travelled on VWP and answered no to that question.

Actually, I think a lot of the time it is up to the consular officer to decide if something consists of moral turpitude or not. Which is why they need records from any convictions. Drunk driving could mean all kinds of things after all....in your case it really is pretty clear that it was not a crime of moral turpitude. So my gut instinct would be that you will be ok. But I wish some other people would reply to this thread lol. (Examples of why someone might get denied for drunk driving: if the conviction for DUI was based on a more serious offence which they pled down or something, and the details of the case showed it to be bad. Like, err, a hit and run which somehow ended with just a conviction for DUI.)

[loosegee 3]

Tourist visas are different from immigrant visas, so you can't deduce too much from that.

As for the Visa Waiver Program, the relevant question is, "Have you ever been arrested or convicted for an offense or crime involving moral turpitude or a violation related to a controlled substance?" I saw someone link to a DOS statement that said one episode of drunk driving was not considered to fall in this category. If it did fall into this category then it would cause a few problems if you had travelled on VWP and answered no to that question.

Actually, I think a lot of the time it is up to the consular officer to decide if something consists of moral turpitude or not. Which is why they need records from any convictions. Drunk driving could mean all kinds of things after all....in your case it really is pretty clear that it was not a crime of moral turpitude. So my gut instinct would be that you will be ok. But I wish some other people would reply to this thread lol. (Examples of why someone might get denied for drunk driving: if the conviction for DUI was based on a more serious offence which they pled down or something, and the details of the case showed it to be bad. Like, err, a hit and run which somehow ended with just a conviction for DUI.)

Thanks for that joanna. On wikipeida drunk driving is not considered a crime of moral turpitude under US law but on the US travel information site with regard to the VWP they state you must tell them about ANY criminal conviction.

Yes i wish people with actual experience of this would reply.lol

[loosegee 3]

Wow. Apparently everyone on here is a saint.lol.