B2 Visitor Visa with Nolle Prosequi

[Hypnos 6,576]

Agreed. I don't think any of what you stated is a genuine tie to Cyprus.

Given your legal issues + married to an American + previous B-2 denials, I think your chances of receiving a B-2 are slim at best.

I suspect only time is going to make a difference here, so would suggest applying in 2-3 years and seeing how that goes.

Edited April 14, 2016 by Hypnos

[Cathi 5,747]

Your ties to Cyprus are weak at best. A lease can be broken, cats can be re-homed, cars can be sold, money can be moved. Your father and grandparent can't be considered a strong tie as you are willing to leave them to immigrate to the US, and having a US citizen wife works against you. Whatever your legal problems are/were I am sure will be an issue 2nd degree felony isn't a small charge. Arrested or not it is still in at least your immigration records.

[zach21uk 3]

Many thanks for all of your replies. I do indeed see now how the "ties" I mentioned could be interpreted as "flimsy" and not ties at all, so it seems as though this will be the biggest hurdle.

I have done further research since last night with regard to my legal status and have found that in situations where cases / charges are dropped, immigration will look at the case and then determine whether there was any "moral turpitude" or bad character involved. Its hard to find an accurate definition to moral turpitude, but the general definition seems to be anything that can be considered morally wrong or a crime or action done with the specific intent of breaking the law. I'm sure its far more complicated than this. That said, after speaking with my lawyer in the US last night, she is absolutely confident that there can be no interpretation of moral wrongdoing or moral turpitude on my part and she says the fact that the case was dropped at the stage it was dropped shows that the state agreed. Bluntly put, they are looking to prosecute genuine criminals or people that have genuine criminal intent and/or bad character and that was simply not the case in this situation. If the state had disagreed, then the case would not have been dropped and we would have instead been issued a letter from the state to present to immigration showing why my presence in the US was required in order to progress the case.

So while there is certainty that they will more than likely run an extended background check (aka administrative processing), it seems as though the biggest hurdle will be showing that I have no immigrant intent at this time, which is true.

This brings me to my next question - is there a type of visa that DOES provide for immigrant intent, allows you to change status at a later date, but also allows you to enter/exit the US multiple times as a visitor in the interim?

As I have explained, my wife and I would like to relocate to the US in the long term, but not right now. So is there a visa that would be better suited than a B2? A visa where you do not have to overcome the presumption of immigrant intent because you are declaring that you intend to immigrate at some future point?

Theoretically, we COULD file I-130 paperwork right away, today in theory and go through that entire process, overcome any moral concerns or character concerns and then eventually get issued a green card, but that does not allow us to visit in the interim and we desperately want to visit my wife's family, especially her grandpa who is in his eighties now and may not have much longer.

As a variation on that question - is there a type of visa we can apply for after submitting I-130 that would allow multiple entries/exits from the U.S whilst the I-130 is being processed?

Thanks again to all who have provided insight thus far.

Zach

[Hypnos 6,576]

No, there isn't.

Dual-intent nonimmigrant visas are generally considered to be H-1B, H-4, L, V, O, P, K, and E visas.

Since you don't wish to give details of your legal issue (and that's entirely your prerogative) then it's not possible to definitively state you won't have any CIMT-related problems. Given that the case was dropped and there is no conviction then it's unlikely, but there are categories of CIMTs which require no conviction to generate your inadmissibility (prostitution, for example).

Edited April 14, 2016 by Hypnos

[zach21uk 3]

Thank you for your reply Hypnos.

CIMT means crimes of moral turpitude yes? Both my lawyer and I have reviewed lists of what immigration considers moral turpitude, for example here: http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/what-s-crime-moral-turpitude-according-us-immigration-law.html and assuming these lists are correct, then there should not be a CIMT issue. I do apologize that I am reluctant to provide further detail as to what the charge was - I am conscious of the fact that this is a public forum and indexed by search engines and after a two year struggle to get the matter dropped, my wife and I are both reluctant to put details out into the public eye. Furthermore, guilty or innocent, dropped or not dropped, people DO inevitably judge and honestly, we are not here to be judged.

Regarding possible visas - my wife was just doing some further research and wonders would a K3 be applicable at all? I note that a K3 can be requested after an I-130 is filed and that once approved, it allows the non-immigrant to enter the US whilst the I-130 is being processed. But its not clear whether this could be used to enter/exit the US multiple times.

[Hypnos 6,576]

Your decision to post details (or not) is yours alone.

K-3s are an obsolete visa; they're a holdover from when it took a couple of years for immigrant visas to be processed, so K-3s were introduced to let people remain in the US whilst the applications were in the queue. With today's (relatively) shorter processing times, they are not needed.

Almost everyone has their K-3 application administratively closed in favour of the CR-1/IR-1 they have already filed for. The chances of actually receiving a K-3 are miniscule.

Edited April 14, 2016 by Hypnos

[zach21uk 3]

OK thank you very much for that information.

[Aussielad 37]

Many thanks for all of your replies. I do indeed see now how the "ties" I mentioned could be interpreted as "flimsy" and not ties at all, so it seems as though this will be the biggest hurdle.

I

This brings me to my next question - is there a type of visa that DOES provide for immigrant intent, allows you to change status at a later date, but also allows you to enter/exit the US multiple times as a visitor in the interim?

As I have explained, my wife and I would like to relocate to the US in the long term, but not right now. So is there a visa that would be better suited than a B2? A visa where you do not have to overcome the presumption of immigrant intent because you are declaring that you intend to immigrate at some future point?

Theoretically, we COULD file I-130 paperwork right away, today in theory and go through that entire process, overcome any moral concerns or character concerns and then eventually get issued a green card, but that does not allow us to visit in the interim and we desperately want to visit my wife's family, especially her grandpa who is in his eighties now and may not have much longer.

As a variation on that question - is there a type of visa we can apply for after submitting I-130 that would allow multiple entries/exits from the U.S whilst the I-130 is being processed?

Thanks again to all who have provided insight thus far.

Zach

No. Only the B2 visa allows that. And unfortunately at this time, it appears that you are ineligible. For us to help you out a bit more, we would need to know some type of details of what occurred in your case and maybe someone here can chime in if there is anything involved with moral torpitude.

Additionally, it would be hard if there was a visa apart from the B2 visa that existed that would allow multiple entries because you have to qualify to enter each time especially when the form asks "have you ever been arrested, charged etc,etc' and its always up to the discretion of those who work at the POE to ascertain if you are permissible or not to enter.

Good luck...

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

If your wife was the victim then it sounds like domestic violence.

[zach21uk 3]

If your wife was the victim then it sounds like domestic violence.

Hi There,

No, it was not domestic violence. I would never harm my wife.

Zach

[squareleg 69]

Based on reading the posts - I would guess 75% nay and 25% yay. Let us know how it goes....best luck!

As you noted it is not a domestic violence....interesting that your wife has pursued the charges and not withdrawn the case. Why not get out of court settlement? or something like that? I am novice when it comes to criminal charges but felony sounds serious.....

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

Hi There,

No, it was not domestic violence. I would never harm my wife.

Zach

I'm glad to hear it.

[zach21uk 3]

Just in case anyone stumbles upon this, had my appointment this morning in Nicosia and as expected it was denied as being unable to overcome the presumption of immigrant intent.

I did specifically ask the lady (who was both nice AND also apologetic at denying me) if my recent case in the US was any part of the reason for the denial and she said no as she was happy with both the circumstances/specifics of the case and the final disposition I had saying it was officially dropped.

She suggested that we should just go ahead and file an I-130 application right away and go through that process - she identified herself as the officer there that handles the consular interviews for all immigrant visas and said it'll be a much easier path for us as I obviously don't need to overcome the presumption of immigrant intent hah.

After a lengthy chat with my wife, we have decided to go ahead and file this as soon as we can, even though it means we'd have to move to the US as soon as possible if/when the visa is approved. We hadn't any plans to move to the US for at least 2, 3 or 4 years but given that its now the only path available to me, we have decided to bring our plans forward.

EDIT: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/forum/134-ir-1-cr-1-spouse-visa-case-filing-and-progress-reports/ < is this the right forum section for the type of visa we are now going to be applying for?

Edited April 18, 2016 by zach21uk

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

Thanks for the update Zack. That is the progress report subforum of the correct forum for your immigration path. In that one you can join a monthly filers thread and track each other's progress. In the main forum there you can ask questions. Good luck.