RFE regarding expunged marijuana possession

[mdterp703 14]

I received an RFE yesterday regarding a marijuana possession charge I had in 1998 that was expunged around 2001.

 

The RFE states:

 

"If the court disposition is not available, you must obtain a certified letter from the court stating that there is no record."

 

So I called the Court and they of course do not have record of it as it was expunged.  The Court also flat out refused to provide a certified letter stating such (it's against their policy, so they say).  I do not have the original expungement records (it was expunged about 17 years ago).  I called USCIS and they gave me 2 options.  The first was to visit the local field office (which has no appointments available at all because they are booked and apparently won't allow bookings until July 15).  The other is to see an immigration lawyer.  What fantastic service.

 

The best part is, I work for a certain federal agency and currently hold a Top Secret clearance, so I have been vetted repeatedly.

 

Anyone got any advice on this scenario?

[Just Paul 4,595]

I had something similar come up with DHS when I renewed my Global Entry.  I was for a case that was dropped.  I sent in and paid for the records/ letter of no case found and was told by the jurisdiction they wouldn't send anything official.   I got a copy of my FBI background check, made a personal appearance at the jurisdiction, 3 hours away, and left with an official embossed letter.  That did the trick.  I think is was the FBI background that forced their hand.  Hopefully you can try something similar.

[geowrian 22,337]

You're going to need a record of what happened either way.

There's no need for a letter showing it was expunged...a certified letter with your history / no history should suffice.

 

29 minutes ago, mdterp301 said:

The best part is, I work for a certain federal agency and currently hold a Top Secret clearance, so I have been vetted repeatedly.

The issue isn't about your crime being a disqualification for the petition. It's about the IMBRA requirements so that your fiance/fiancee is made aware of your history.

Edited June 26, 2018 by geowrian

[mdterp703 14]

3 minutes ago, geowrian said:

You're going to need a record of what happened wither way.

There's no need for a letter showing it was expunged...a certified letter with your history / no history should suffice.

 

The issue isn't about your crime being a disqualification for the petition. It's about the IMBRA requirements so that your fiance/fiancee is made aware of your history.

The Court will not provide a certified letter of no record for me.  I can write a letter and have it notarized but not sure that would suffice.

[Ontarkie 14,190]

Call the court house or go down there. They won't give you a letter because they know full well there is a record of it. They just don't want to be bothered to look for it. Being old they most likely have to dig through their books. By doing that you need to know the day you went to court or as close to it as you can so they can look you up. Then they send away to get it dug out of whatever warehouse it's stored in. 

[mdterp703 14]

Actually, when they expunge a record they generally shred it.  Regardless, I got lucky and my Dad had the original order for expungement signed by the Judge and the Circuit Court clerk in a an old filing cabinet at his home.  That original record along with a notarized statement of the surrounding events of the charge are sufficient.

[jsbgirl 0]

On 7/17/2018 at 1:52 PM, mdterp703 said:

Actually, when they expunge a record they generally shred it.  Regardless, I got lucky and my Dad had the original order for expungement signed by the Judge and the Circuit Court clerk in a an old filing cabinet at his home.  That original record along with a notarized statement of the surrounding events of the charge are sufficient.

Have it worked for you? I’m in the same situation of you… Case expunged, Court won’t  give a letter stating no records exist. Luckily I still have a  paper from the police report and expungement letter. 

[TBoneTX 45,014]

Thread from 2018 is locked because of its age and because the original poster closed his account.  The most recent poster is welcome to start her own thread.