4 drug convictions from 2 acts- IMBRA?

[Lillyandkip 26]

Hi everyone!

I'm wondering what exactly counts for the statement below. If I've been convicted 2 times for 2 drug or alcohol related crimes each, do I have to say yes to that question? I have 4 Convictions in total but from only 2 different acts so does USCIS counts this as only 2 convictions?

Thank you so much in advance!

• Crimes relating to a controlled substance or alcohol where the petitioner has been convicted on at least three occasions and where such crimes did not arise from a single act

[Villanelle 4,122]

I believe you are the beneficiary and your fiancee is the USC correct? So Im gathering you are not all that familiar with the terms used in US criminal court. Typically you get arrested and one or more charges are brought against you. You then go to court. A conviction can be the final outcome of a criminal case. You can plead not guilty and be found guilty and hence have a conviction. Or you can plead guilty from the start and have a conviction. If you are found innocent there is no conviction. The act is referring to the incident. You can have more then one charge stemming from an incident.

Heres some examples:

Arrested Jan 1 for marijuana, cocaine and ecstasy possession. Goes to court and is convicted of all three charges. This is 3 charges in one incident. (one arrest/one date). This does not qualify under IMBRA.

Arrested Jan 1 for marijuana and cocaine. Found guilty of both. This is 2 charges one incident. Arrested again Feb1 for marijuana again. Found guilty. This is now 3 charges in 2 incidents so it qualifies.

So we are looking for 3 separate guilty or found guilty in court causing a conviction that happened on 2 or more different times.

Please remember you can not be denied for this. They just need to make sure the beneficiary is aware of everything and still wants to go forward. Getting into a relationship with someone who actively does drugs is risky. As is getting involved with someone who does not respect the laws where they live. No judgement here, just explaining the reasoning behind the law. I mean imagine if you didnt know. Your fiancee doesnt tell you hes been arrested multiple times for that and then you come and find out.

But anyway this is just general info. You would have to post the specifics or speak to an attny for more detailed advice.

[Lillyandkip 26]

I believe you are the beneficiary and your fiancee is the USC correct? So Im gathering you are not all that familiar with the terms used in US criminal court. Typically you get arrested and one or more charges are brought against you. You then go to court. A conviction can be the final outcome of a criminal case. You can plead not guilty and be found guilty and hence have a conviction. Or you can plead guilty from the start and have a conviction. If you are found innocent there is no conviction. The act is referring to the incident. You can have more then one charge stemming from an incident.

Heres some examples:

Arrested Jan 1 for marijuana, cocaine and ecstasy possession. Goes to court and is convicted of all three charges. This is 3 charges in one incident. (one arrest/one date). This does not qualify under IMBRA.

Arrested Jan 1 for marijuana and cocaine. Found guilty of both. This is 2 charges one incident. Arrested again Feb1 for marijuana again. Found guilty. This is now 3 charges in 2 incidents so it qualifies.

So we are looking for 3 separate guilty or found guilty in court causing a conviction that happened on 2 or more different times.

Please remember you can not be denied for this. They just need to make sure the beneficiary is aware of everything and still wants to go forward. Getting into a relationship with someone who actively does drugs is risky. As is getting involved with someone who does not respect the laws where they live. No judgement here, just explaining the reasoning behind the law. I mean imagine if you didnt know. Your fiancee doesnt tell you hes been arrested multiple times for that and then you come and find out.

But anyway this is just general info. You would have to post the specifics or speak to an attny for more detailed advice.

Yes I'm the foreign beneficiary asking for my fiancé. Thank you so much for your respond! We really understood the "three occasions" as three different dates. I also found this attached quote on a lawyers website which really makes it sound like it only qualifies if there have been three different occasions. This is very confusing I think!

[Villanelle 4,122]

Very nice to meet you Lily. Welcome to VJ!

So I see what you are looking at. I have mixed feelings about things found on lawyer websites. Often they are (as in this case) incomplete or misleading to get business. The quote you pasted is correct but its incomplete.

IMBRA is under VAWA act. Heres a USCIS pdf refering to the relevant part in its entirety.

https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Laws/Memoranda/Static_Files_Memoranda/Archives%201998-2008/2006/imbra072106.pdf

Page 2 "Crimes relating to a controlled substance or alcohol where the petitioner has been convicted

on at least three occasions and where such crimes did not arise from a single act. "

This is the law. What the lawyer has is a snippet.

[Lillyandkip 26]

Very nice to meet you Lily. Welcome to VJ!

So I see what you are looking at. I have mixed feelings about things found on lawyer websites. Often they are (as in this case) incomplete or misleading to get business. The quote you pasted is correct but its incomplete.

IMBRA is under VAWA act. Heres a USCIS pdf refering to the relevant part in its entirety.

https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Laws/Memoranda/Static_Files_Memoranda/Archives%201998-2008/2006/imbra072106.pdf

Page 2 "Crimes relating to a controlled substance or alcohol where the petitioner has been convicted

on at least three occasions and where such crimes did not arise from a single act. "

This is the law. What the lawyer has is a snippet.

Very nice to meet you too! Thank you for your help, it's not easy to understand all these things in a foreign language!

But me fiance hasn't been convicted on at least 3 occasions. He has only been convicted on two occasions for several offenses. So I thought it wouldn't apply for us. From my understanding it says that if you were convicted on 3 or more occasions but all the crimes arise from one single act you don't have to state anything. But since he was only convicted on 2 occasions it doesn't apply for him, right?

[Villanelle 4,122]

I dont know how to explain this really. Maybe someone else wants to jump in? I think some of the problem is language. You are translating words directly and it seems to be making a problem.

This is wrong "From my understanding it says that if you were convicted on 3 or more occasions but all the crimes arise from one single act you don't have to state anything" Its not BUT all the crimes arise from one single act --its AND where such crimes did not arise from a single act. Theres a big difference between "but" and "and".

Each conviction is considered an occasion - if you have 3 of them AND it wasnt from a single act then you must disclose it.

[Lillyandkip 26]

I dont know how to explain this really. Maybe someone else wants to jump in? I think some of the problem is language. You are translating words directly and it seems to be making a problem.

This is wrong "From my understanding it says that if you were convicted on 3 or more occasions but all the crimes arise from one single act you don't have to state anything" Its not BUT all the crimes arise from one single act --its AND where such crimes did not arise from a single act. Theres a big difference between "but" and "and".

Each conviction is considered an occasion - if you have 3 of them AND it wasnt from a single act then you must disclose it.

Oh okay, it all makes sense if each conviction is one occasion. I always thought the definition of occasion is more a particular time when something happens or a certain situation. So I thought you have to be convicted for things that happened in at least 3 different separate situations, there have to be 3 different court dates. Thats why I assumed we were fine because my fiancé only got convicted for 2 situations.

This is what I found on the USCIS website for getting a DACA (I know it's a different situation but that's how I understood the question on the i-129F petition)

‘3 or more non-significant misdemeanors’

The 3 misdemeanors must not have been committed on the same day.

They must not come from the same action.

If you were convicted of committing several misdemeanors on the same day, only one will count. If you were convicted of several misdemeanors from the same action, only one will count.

[distancebetweenus 1]

On 7/8/2016 at 3:50 AM, Damara said:

I believe you are the beneficiary and your fiancee is the USC correct? So Im gathering you are not all that familiar with the terms used in US criminal court. Typically you get arrested and one or more charges are brought against you. You then go to court. A conviction can be the final outcome of a criminal case. You can plead not guilty and be found guilty and hence have a conviction. Or you can plead guilty from the start and have a conviction. If you are found innocent there is no conviction. The act is referring to the incident. You can have more then one charge stemming from an incident.

Heres some examples:

Arrested Jan 1 for marijuana, cocaine and ecstasy possession. Goes to court and is convicted of all three charges. This is 3 charges in one incident. (one arrest/one date). This does not qualify under IMBRA.

Arrested Jan 1 for marijuana and cocaine. Found guilty of both. This is 2 charges one incident. Arrested again Feb1 for marijuana again. Found guilty. This is now 3 charges in 2 incidents so it qualifies.

So we are looking for 3 separate guilty or found guilty in court causing a conviction that happened on 2 or more different times.

Please remember you can not be denied for this. They just need to make sure the beneficiary is aware of everything and still wants to go forward. Getting into a relationship with someone who actively does drugs is risky. As is getting involved with someone who does not respect the laws where they live. No judgement here, just explaining the reasoning behind the law. I mean imagine if you didnt know. Your fiancee doesnt tell you hes been arrested multiple times for that and then you come and find out.

But anyway this is just general info. You would have to post the specifics or speak to an attny for more detailed advice.

hi damara, you are a life saver, this is what ive been looking for, thank you for explaining it so clearly...

[TBoneTX 45,654]

Thread from 2016 is now closed to further comment.