Received Jury Summons

[onbeachtime 0]

Hi everyone!

Thanks for all the help everyone has provided even though I've only been a lurker 

I have a bit of an urgent question, and thus far a morning spent on the phone has yielded no real answers in terms of what I should do. Hopefully I've put this in the correct section.

I am currently married to my US citizen husband, who asked me to marry him and stay when I was here in the US to visit him. We intended to file all the proper paperwork right away, but financial issues prevented this from happening and I have ended up overstaying (I am Canadian, and entered normally as a visitor). As I understand it, this isn't likely to cause a huge issue now that we're finally prepared to send everything in - although it sure has been nerve wracking.

In the meantime, I took advantage of California allowing non-legal residents to get a driver's license. However, I'm assuming because of that, I've just received a Jury Summons. I called to tell them I'm not a citizen and hopefully get disqualified, but they informed me that I MUST fill out the online questionnaire in order to accomplish this. One of the required questions on the form is asking how long I have been a resident of the US, and I don't know what I should put or what is at risk now that I need to answer this. Obviously I have only a limited amount of time to respond to the summons.

 

I've tried calling several lawyers, and they have thus far been of no help at all ("Just tell them you're not a citizen" or "You shouldn't have received that"... gee thanks). I was hoping that perhaps some people here would be willing to take a stab at guessing what I should do. I don't know if putting "zero" amount of time is best, since as I understand it, technically none of my time here has been legal, if I should say how long I've been here in total... or if I'm going to end up flagging myself for trouble no matter what I do. We're just about to file the entire AOS package (thanks to all of the fantastic information on here), and I'm really hoping that it's not all going to be put into jeopardy at the last second.

 

Thank you!

[f f 725]

the card you get in the mail should have an option to check that you are not qualified to be a juror. I would also check that you are not on any voter rolls since that can really get bad quick, just google while not a citizen to see how badly that can mess up your life.  I would recommend fixing your status ASAP since any traffic incident with law enforcement can get bad with the executive orders now in effect.

 

good luck

[broppy 204]

25 minutes ago, onbeachtime said:

In the meantime, I took advantage of California allowing non-legal residents to get a driver's license. However, I'm assuming because of that, I've just received a Jury Summons. I called to tell them I'm not a citizen and hopefully get disqualified, but they informed me that I MUST fill out the online questionnaire in order to accomplish this. One of the required questions on the form is asking how long I have been a resident of the US, and I don't know what I should put or what is at risk now that I need to answer this. Obviously I have only a limited amount of time to respond to the summons.

Yeah, everyone in CA with a driver's license is considered a potential juror. There should be a section somewhere on the summons where you can check a box to state that you're not qualified as you're not a citizen and then just mail it back to them. If you do it online - just fill it in as if you've been a resident since you got your license - even with overstay, you've been effectively resident since at least that date. The court doesn't really care - the fact you're not a citizen is all that matters.

[onbeachtime 0]

1 minute ago, f f said:

the card you get in the mail should have an option to check that you are not qualified to be a juror. I would also check that you are not on any voter rolls since that can really get bad quick, just google while not a citizen to see how badly that can mess up your life.  I would recommend fixing your status ASAP since any traffic incident with law enforcement can get bad with the executive orders now in effect.

 

good luck

Thanks for the response.

 

It looks like Orange County has changed things - they no longer have options on the card or any provisions for mailing it back. They have moved everything online and won't even let you do anything over the phone (I tried). Unfortunately, that includes making you fill out a form with various bits of personal information - including the length of residency - before they even let you get to the page where you can select "not a citizen" and get disqualified. 

I hadn't even thought of voter rolls... I have no idea how I would have ended up on there, since I've been careful to do everything exactly how I was "supposed to" given my situation. But yeah, since I got the jury summons, I suppose I should check! I do understand how any impression of falsifying status etc can be devastating and have been trying to be extremely careful. 

Everything is 99% ready to send; we're just in the final stages of checking it all over again and again, lol. I just have to figure out how to handle the jury summons thing now so that I don't run afoul of the "failure to respond" laws.

[onbeachtime 0]

2 minutes ago, broppy said:

Yeah, everyone in CA with a driver's license is considered a potential juror. There should be a section somewhere on the summons where you can check a box to state that you're not qualified as you're not a citizen and then just mail it back to them. If you do it online - just fill it in as if you've been a resident since you got your license - even with overstay, you've been effectively resident since at least that date. The court doesn't really care - the fact you're not a citizen is all that matters.

Thank you!

 

I would have thought they would have created a system to automatically disqualify certain people, but I suppose that's probably giving them too much credit. 

 

Orange County seems to have moved away from paper methods and require everything to be done online, unfortunately. I've been leaning toward doing what you've suggested, so hopefully that'll be good enough. I've been told that it's unlikely that the court will "report" me to anyone, especially being in California, but I figure that I can't be too careful. Seems like one seemingly innocent mistake can really mess things up.

 

But yes, what you've said makes sense. Thanks so much!

 

I'll fill in my timeline and everything once I've got the package submitted, so hopefully I can be of help to others as well.

[talile 6]

Did you get your driving license through the special permissions for undocumented aliens?

I think you should start by going to the DMV because something is wrong with your records there. You would have not received that jury duty if they had you under the special license.

 

As for the jury, were you asked about residency in the US or in CA ?

 

[onbeachtime 0]

7 minutes ago, talile said:

Did you get your driving license through the special permissions for undocumented aliens?

I think you should start by going to the DMV because something is wrong with your records there. You would have not received that jury duty if they had you under the special license.

 

As for the jury, were you asked about residency in the US or in CA ?

 

Yes, I got it under the AB 60 bill, which allows people without proof of legal US residency to get a California driver's license. I had to show them my marriage certificate, passport, and a copy of our lease showing that I reside in California. They spent quite a bit of time at the DMV going over everything, but ultimately it went through without any issue. I then had to take the written exam and a road test last year, which I passed and have had the license since.

 

I don't have nor have I ever tried to apply for a SSN or made any claims about having been here "legally" - all I have are the driver's license through AB 60, and an ITIN which I applied for and received on the basis of being the spouse of a US citizen (so that he could file taxes as married per the advice of our tax preparer, and so that I could be added to his bank accounts and get a debit card).

 

That's part of what has me extra stressed - I don't understand why I even received the summons. In looking around online, it seems like it has happened to other people as well.. so maybe the CA DMV has just been lazy? But you're right that I should probably check in with them, since I don't want to get scr*wed because someone else did the data entry wrong or something.

 

I double checked just now, and they've asked for the US, not CA as I had thought. My fault for not being sure before asking about it on here; my apologies. So that means that I can't just claim as of when I got my driver's license or something similar.

 

The question on the form is as follows: "Years of residency in the US: __" I get to enter in a number of my choosing; it is not a drop-down menu. It's a required question in order to be able to click through to the next page, where per the person I spoke to on the phone, I'll get to click on an option to say I am not a citizen, and then enter in the country I am a citizen of. If it is a "commonly known" country (which I assume Canada would be), they will automatically allow the disqualification to be processed.

 

I'm not sure that reporting me will be a huge priority for the OC court, but I don't want to inadvertently lie or claim something that isn't technically true and that could cause problems down the line. For example: since they're asking about US residency, technically do I say when I entered, when we decided that I'd stay (and I guess "decided" that I'd be a resident), or can I not say any time at all since I've never *legally* been a resident? I have no idea how to honestly answer the question without making what could be tantamount to false claims.

 

I'm waiting on a call back from one of the few lawyers that seemed to be more helpful, so hopefully they'll have some guidance to offer; I'll update here if they do. We are about to submit the AOS package by the end of the month, and I don't want to somehow mess it up.

 

Thanks for the input, everyone. I really appreciate it. My stress levels have skyrocketed because of this.

[f f 725]

just file the aos before you fill out the form so if they do go after you.you will have status while the aos is pending. and student visa and work visa people get liscenses without being lpr so there are cases where they are legally here but not residents but still get liscenses. also the resident since question is asking how long you have lived there not how long you have legally been there.

[onbeachtime 0]

15 minutes ago, f f said:

just file the aos before you fill out the form so if they do go after you.you will have status while the aos is pending. and student visa and work visa people get liscenses without being lpr so there are cases where they are legally here but not residents but still get liscenses. also the resident since question is asking how long you have lived there not how long you have legally been there.

We'll try to file before. I don't know if we'll manage it since I need to respond to the jury summons this week and we've got a few things to go over before actually mailing it off, but we'll try. Thank you.

 

Yeah, I've been wondering how that works, since like you said there are students and people here for work who have driver's licenses (and presumably automatically get put onto a list for potential jury duty) - but of course, they're not eligible for jury duty. The woman on the phone at the court seemed to think it's a very regular occurrence for non-eligible people to get a summons, but I chickened out of telling her that I'm technically out of status at the moment.

 

If we're going with how long I've lived in the US, legally or not, what date should I assume is the start date? I entered as a visitor with the intention of returning back to Canada, so there were a couple of months when I was visiting with no plans for staying. Would it be from when we decided I'd take up residence here and was added to the lease? I suppose since they say to enter it in years, a lack of specificity would be forgiven (interpreting it as asking for FULL years instead of rounding up, for example)? 

 

I'm sorry if I'm overthinking things. I just really don't want to accidentally cause myself problems!

 

I'll check in with the DMV to make sure my license was entered into the system correctly and wait on hearing back from the lawyer. I may try the court again as well, to see if I can get a bit more information out of them. Or ask my husband to do it for a bit more anonymity. I'll update here with how it goes, so the information will be available in case anyone else is faced with the same issue. 

[broppy 204]

2 hours ago, onbeachtime said:

I'm sorry if I'm overthinking things. I just really don't want to accidentally cause myself problems!

You're overthinking things! Right now, the court knows nothing about your immigration status. They just got your name and address from the DMV. Once you fill in their form and put 1 or 2 years (or whatever) and say you're Canadian, they don't know much more. They'll have no reason to be suspicious about anything and won't be reporting anything to anyone. Don't worry about it and just finish the form and be done with it.

[onbeachtime 0]

3 minutes ago, broppy said:

You're overthinking things! Right now, the court knows nothing about your immigration status. They just got your name and address from the DMV. Once you fill in their form and put 1 or 2 years (or whatever) and say you're Canadian, they don't know much more. They'll have no reason to be suspicious about anything and won't be reporting anything to anyone. Don't worry about it and just finish the form and be done with it.

 

 

Thank you for calling me out. I'm sorry for that. I do tend to obsess and stress over things, and this whole process has brought out the worst in me with regards to that type of behavior. I'm really grateful for the patience of the people here (and my poor husband!).

You're right - I'm making a bit of a leap in assuming that saying I'm not a citizen and I've been here x years means that they'll immediately assume the worst and report me. In any case, I have to respond to this or potential issues become certain issues. So I'll just answer everything truthfully and deal with whatever (if anything) comes. Hopefully if anything does come of it, it will at least be clear that I've acted in good faith.

 

Thanks again everyone! I'll update this if any issues do come up, and I'll be sure to fill out my timeline/profile and participate when I can add something meaningful.

[jjbandero 39]

Just a thought, how smart is this online form? Do you have to insert a number or will it accept letters as well? If so, could you just put "na" and let it take you to the page where you state "not a US citizen"?

[onbeachtime 0]

1 minute ago, jjbandero said:

Just a thought, how smart is this online form? Do you have to insert a number or will it accept letters as well? If so, could you just put "na" and let it take you to the page where you state "not a US citizen"?

Thanks for the suggestion! Since it's not a drop-down menu, I'll give it a go and let you know! Just waiting on my husband to get back from work so he can give his opinion as well. 

[Hypnos 6,578]

You're giving CA far too much credit. 

 

Enter how long you have considered yourself to be a resident of the US (and note that it says resident, not legal resident) so you can move on and disqualify yourself as a juror, which is the most important part of this transaction right now.

 

Right now you're trying to explain the concept of chartered accounting to an ant: there's so many intervening steps as to make it meaningless. 

 

You aren't qualified to serve on a jury, and that's all the state of California cares about. 

Edited April 11, 2017 by Hypnos

[aaa2zzz 27]

yes pretty soon you will get a sample ballot for the next election.