Filing i-751, wife detained by ICE prior to AOS

[NachoDog 0]

Hi everyone - I've been a "lurker" on this forum for a while, but have never made an account until now.

I'll spare everyone our story (I will post it to the intro section, tho!) and will cut to the chase: My wife and I had our i-751 all ready to go, then I re-read it and focused on section 3 question 7. I was told by a lawyer that this criminal history question pertained to "Criminal offenses only not immigration offenses" which we were of course relieved to hear, as my wife was detained by ICE and placed in removal proceedings back in 2010, before we were married. (She was on an F-1 visa, and she was accused of not attending enough hours.)But after checking up on his response (and going with my gut, that this needs to be checked "yes" and explained) I think we need to correct this before sending it out. (Right?) After that, we married, proceedings against her were terminated, and we were granted AOS. The interviewing IO knew right away we were legit, and only asked about the detention/proceedings in passing, to which we presented the termination order and we were approved. She got her CPR Card, good for 2 years, and we've since bought a house together -both on deed- (and adopted a dog!) gave TONS of photos on vacations, at friends weddings, all the holiday parties with my family, all our finances are co-mingled, we're beneficiaries on each others plans, co-ownership of cars... basically EVERYTHING you can use as evidence, we've got except for a child.

Now, the last time we dealt with the proceedings, detention, court dates... it was one of the most stressful times in my life. I got very thin and sickly looking... not a fun time. So whenever it comes time to deal with USCIS again, I start to get that worried feeling in my stomach, can't sleep, loss of appetite... and having to check "yes" and explain it, and having the possibility of an interview is causing this to start up again. I know we'll probably be fine, but just the fact that there's a chance - however slim - that she could just be "taken" from me? It's unbelievable and surreal.

So my questions are,

1. We should re-do that page and check "yes", and explain on a separate sheet with NTA and Termination order attached, right? Should I also include a page explaining what happened?

2. Do you think this will increase our chances of an interview?

3. Do you think it will even be an issue since we were already approved for AOS after this happened, or am I just stressing myself out without reason? I've heard they're interested only in seeing that we're married and a real couple unless the offense occurred in the last 2 years and its something you can get removed for...

She (and me) have been squeaky clean since the F-1 issue, she's a teacher in a public school, I'm a social worker - not even a traffic ticket between us since we met. Thanks so much for any help, I hope to remain on these forums and help others when I can.

[NachoDog 0]

I just re-read that and realize it's a bit unclear. (I ramble when I'm stressed) Please let me know if you have any questions. To clarify, she was detained years ago when we were engaged. Now we're filing for ROC and nothing negative has happened since. Thanks,

Edited March 28, 2013 by NachoDog

[Deep2009 18]

As per guidelines, you need to tell all in the form and sent all supporting documents and like you have mentioned that a letter explaining all.

It will help you a lot.... But not mentioning the incident it will only hurt...

And also, you been through AOS with the same information...

USCIS knows this and they just want you to tell all...

[NachoDog 0]

As per guidelines, you need to tell all in the form and sent all supporting documents and like you have mentioned that a letter explaining all.

It will help you a lot.... But not mentioning the incident it will only hurt...

And also, you been through AOS with the same information...

USCIS knows this and they just want you to tell all...

Thank you. I was looking at the wording and it asks for an explanation/documentation in the instructions, then on the petition it asks if you've ever been detained/arrested for breaking any law or ordinance - I wasn't sure if my wife fell into that category or not.

I am *very* happy we decided to look into this before sending it off - we almost sent it yesterday... my only concern is that a different IO will make issue of it and, but I guess it it wasn't inadmissible before, it won't be now. Thnks again for the reply.