VISA APPLICATION WITH PENDING CRIMINAL CASE

[IsmoBem 1]

Good day!

I am a Filipina and married to an American few months ago. Now my husabnd is trying to get me to US and applied for a spousal visa for me. Now, i have a dilema with my visa interview. My ex bf filed a estafa case against me way back in 2009, i was not aware of the case being filed hence i was arrested for not showing up to the court or answering the complaints. Now i am just on bail. This all happened last spetember 2010 . we filed a motion to reinvestigate and it was granted but Last February 2011 i have received a Hold Departure Order for me. Do u think this will affect my visa application? and is there any legal solutions i cud do? and is it true that all HDO is only good for 60 days? Is there any possibility that i am still on the watch list and that i may not be able to leave the country.

and if by chance the US embassy have my records what legal actions i should do so i could be granted a visa despite the pending criminal case.

i would greatly appreciate if you could attend to my questions.

Thanks

[Ryan H 3,812]

The Embassy will know of your legal trouble as it will likely appear on the police certificate that has to be submitted to the NVC and that same police certificate would be reviewed by a CO. If the CO determines this legal issue makes you inadmissible to the US, then your visa application will be denied.

My suggestion is the US Citizen petitioner should consult an attorney about this.

Edited April 11, 2012 by Ryan H

[Tahoma 2,292]

What does your NBI report say?

[IsmoBem 1]

I applied for NBI clearance last week i tot i was able to get it the same day but they had to let me come back after 20 days? what does this mean? do u think they have found something on my record and they are verifying it? and do think this will automatically mean that visa will be denied?

[Tahoma 2,292]

^^^ I don't know what it means. I guess you'll have to wait and see what your NBI says.

[cerebus407 16]

If you get an NBI showing NO CRIMINAL RECORD, then the Embassy will learn about the case because they WILL ask for an NBI written explanation. Estafa probably qualifies as a Crime Involving Moral Turpitude which would make you ineligible for a visa if convicted (not sure if a waiver is available based on your marriage to USCit). If the case was dismissed, then this would not be a problem for you. In a pending case which qualifies as a Crime Involving Moral Turpitude (CIMT), they will 221g it until the court case is resolved.

You will need to resolve this case before proceeding with the visa, most likely. Good luck and get a good attorney that you can supervise. There are way too many PHL attorneys who take money and do nothing.