Preconceived Intent to marry and adjust status

[Avery Cates 1,141]

Remove any sort of adjustment/status from anything that's not a K-1/Cr1.

Solved.

[christeen 966]

Remove any sort of adjustment/status from anything that's not a K-1/Cr1.

Solved.

+1

[Hypnos 6,576]

A CR-1 is an immigrant visa, you already don't adjust from it.

[Cathi 5,748]

what happens to a beneficiary who after trying to adjust status is found to have a criminal record in their home country? Do they have to provide police clearance certificates? Are the deported? My husband came with a cr1, so I'm not sure how the AOS process works.

[Hypnos 6,576]

Such criminal history needs to have been declared by the prospective immigrant at the embassy stage. If they said they had no criminal history, obtained their K-1, entered, filed to adjust status and declared a criminal history on that, they might be open to a material misrepresentation charge, which would render them inadmissible to the US and would likely lead to their deportation.

Edited January 18, 2014 by Hypnos

[Cathi 5,748]

Such criminal history needs to have been declared by the prospective immigrant at the embassy stage. If they said they had no criminal history, obtained their K-1, entered, filed to adjust status and declared a criminal history on that, they might be open to a material misrepresentation charge, which would render them inadmissible to the US and would likely lead to their deportation.

Im talking about people who come on the VWP and adjust status, is there a criminal background check for beneficiaries who are from VWP countries?

[Hypnos 6,576]

Ah, I thought you were talking about a K-1.

There is no background check to be able to use the VWP, however you must declare whether you have ever been convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude. Lying about it (saying you haven't when in fact you have) can lead to the same misrepresentation issues as I alluded to above.

When you adjust in-country you must declare any criminal convictions (in any country) and your name and fingerprints are run through the FBI to obtain your US criminal history.

Edited January 18, 2014 by Hypnos

[Boiler 45,486]

It depends whether the history is material, a couple of speeding tickets is no biggie.

[Cathi 5,748]

Ah, I thought you were talking about a K-1.

There is no background check to be able to use the VWP, however you must declare whether you have ever been convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude. Lying about it (saying you haven't when in fact you have) can lead to the same misrepresentation issues as I alluded to above.

Ok then let's say someone does have a criminal record, and they declare they don't, How would they be caught? Do they have to provide police clearance certificates during AOS from their home countries, and any other countries they may have lived in?

[Hypnos 6,576]

Only a K-1 has to provide police certificates, I believe.

If they had a criminal history and didn't declare it, any immigration benefit they receive (a green card, even citizenship) can be revoked if USCIS become aware of it.

[Cathi 5,748]

Only a K-1 has to provide police certificates, I believe.

If they had a criminal history and didn't declare it, any immigration benefit they receive (a green card, even citizenship) can be revoked if USCIS become aware of it.

well that just doesn't seem right to me. Kind of scary to think that someone can merely lie about it and never be caught...cr1 has to provide them as well.

[NikLR 13,227]

The system makes it easy to commit fraud. It needs serious changes.

[Laure&Colin 558]

Im talking about people who come on the VWP and adjust status, is there a criminal background check for beneficiaries who are from VWP countries?

I agree that this is a very big flaw in the current system that allows people who entered on VWP to adjust status. At no point are they going to show their criminal records from their home country. A beneficiary with a criminal past could lie about past convictions and the USCIS would never know. Systems are not inter-connected and an FBI check would probably not uncover the fraud (except for records entered in Interpol databases but that's only for international/very high-profile crime).

I find it scary, and also a bit annoying since I had to put a lot of time and effort getting police clearances for 2 different countries when applying for my CR1...

The AoS loophole makes K1 visas completely useless in VWP countries in my opinion. Since we're talking taxpayer money here: why waste staff time and resources at the USCIS and embassies to adjudicate K1 applications and proceed to interview these people when they can just enter the US without a visa and adjust status the exact same way? It makes no sense.

The IR1/CR1 visa has the major benefit of giving the beneficiary LPR status upon entry, so it's another story, although I'm not convinced today that choosing this standard route was actually the best decision for us.

[Boiler 45,486]

There are quite a few countries where Police Reports are not needed anyway, the obvious one being Mexico.

[del-2-5-2014 1,339]

A CR-1 is an immigrant visa, you already don't adjust from it.

Yeah baby yeah.

I agree that this is a very big flaw in the current system that allows people who entered on VWP to adjust status. At no point are they going to show their criminal records from their home country. A beneficiary with a criminal past could lie about past convictions and the USCIS would never know. Systems are not inter-connected and an FBI check would probably not uncover the fraud (except for records entered in Interpol databases but that's only for international/very high-profile crime).

I find it scary, and also a bit annoying since I had to put a lot of time and effort getting police clearances for 2 different countries when applying for my CR1...

The AoS loophole makes K1 visas completely useless in VWP countries in my opinion. Since we're talking taxpayer money here: why waste staff time and resources at the USCIS and embassies to adjudicate K1 applications and proceed to interview these people when they can just enter the US without a visa and adjust status the exact same way? It makes no sense.

The IR1/CR1 visa has the major benefit of giving the beneficiary LPR status upon entry, so it's another story, although I'm not convinced today that choosing this standard route was actually the best decision for us.

K1 is a nonsensical visa class that should be abolished.