Criminal record (split)

[Ask Away 0]

On 3/16/2019 at 3:50 AM, Going through said:

During my N400 interview, there were a few questions regarding my past criminal history but it was more of a fact-checking exercise at that point. 

Hi. did they ask you to explain why you did the crimes ? and did you plead guilty to less charges on your cases or did you get convicted of your initial charges ?

 

i have 1 arrest record for possession of 2 forged Credit Cards in January 2013 . and i pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct which is violation and spent 20 days in jail.

 

if you can give me some advice on what to say or share your experience at your interview i'd really appreciate it.

 

Thank You.

Edited March 28, 2019 by Ask Away

[Ask Away 0]

On 3/23/2019 at 6:17 AM, ARAO said:

I say go for it now. Your offense was no bid deal. I had an offense too including jail and I was hesitant when I applied for my citizenship but all went well. 

Hi. at your interview did they ask you to explain why you did the crimes ? and did you plead guilty to less charges on your cases or did you get convicted of your initial charges ?

 

i have 1 arrest record for possession of 2 forged Credit Cards in January 2013 . and i pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct which is violation and spent 20 days in jail but i am really worried for it to affect my citizenship now, i didn't know pleading guilty was bad in the eyes of USCIS.

 

if you can give me some advice on what to say or share your experience at your interview i'd really appreciate it.

 

[Going through 5,671]

11 hours ago, Ask Away said:

Hi. did they ask you to explain why you did the crimes ? and did you plead guilty to less charges on your cases or did you get convicted of your initial charges ?

 

i have 1 arrest record for possession of 2 forged Credit Cards in January 2013 . and i pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct which is violation and spent 20 days in jail.

 

if you can give me some advice on what to say or share your experience at your interview i'd really appreciate it.

 

Thank You.

I entered in no plea, did not plead down to less charges.  I was convicted of the initial charges (rightfully so, because I did it).

 

My charges fell under the CIMTs---which are taken a bit more "seriously" by USCIS, hence also why I waited a good ten years and kept myself clean of any criminal behaviour before applying for the N400.  Well, I also kept myself clean of any criminal actions because I'd also learnt my lesson back then and regretted what I did.

 

The good news, is that several years have passed since your arrest date, and the other good news is that you (presumably) have no open probation at this point, and (presumably) this is your first and only misdemeanor and therefore eligible under the Petty Offense Exception, should your charges be deemed a CIMT.

 

I was not asked in my interview why I did the crimes, I was just asked to explain what happened in terms of official court date/disposition, and fact-checking information the IO already had infront of her.  I answered honestly.  You can read how my interview played out here: 

 

 

 

[Going through 5,671]

Forgot to add:

 

The bad news, is that your ROC was only less than 3 years ago.  Your N400 will be held under scrutiny for fulfilling the good moral character requirement over the past 3/5 years still if you apply now.  My advice, again, is to wait at least another year or so before applying for Naturalization.

[Ontarkie 14,225]

~~Post and related replies split off to its own thread.~~

[ARAO 5]

On 3/27/2019 at 7:39 PM, Ask Away said:

Hi. at your interview did they ask you to explain why you did the crimes ? and did you plead guilty to less charges on your cases or did you get convicted of your initial charges ?

 

i have 1 arrest record for possession of 2 forged Credit Cards in January 2013 . and i pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct which is violation and spent 20 days in jail but i am really worried for it to affect my citizenship now, i didn't know pleading guilty was bad in the eyes of USCIS.

 

if you can give me some advice on what to say or share your experience at your interview i'd really appreciate it.

 

Mine was so long ago but I was driving a car without any registration which they though was stolen no ins and my license was revoked. I had a warrant as I missed court. Long story short, I got all my records meaning the certified dispositions and sent my app. At the interview from what I remember they just asked if everything was completed meaning case closed or what not they had the documentation in front of them just wanted to confirm... not sure if yours are misdemeanors I would think so but what you can also do is schedule an apt with an immigration lawyer usually those 1st apts are free or a small fee of around $60 just to get your questions answered.  I'm pretty  sure you will be okay 😊

[robhostein 57]

My crime happened over 10 years ago. I plead guilty to trespassing and spent a week in jail. All the immigration lawyers I talked to told me that my conviction was not a CIMT and that I would be fine waiting 5 years after the end of my suspended sentence to apply for citizenship.

 

Fast forward to last month, my interview. The question came up about my criminal record, and I was asked to explain what happened. I did. The interviewer didn't really ask me much of anything about it. Which was almost disappointing (but also a relief...) because I was very prepared with what I was going to say. 

 

What the interviewer WAS interested in, however, was my request to change my name. Tons of questions about that. I was interrogated like as if I was a suspect in a homicide. I was asked why I wanted to change my name. I was asked what each name means. They did not accept vague answers, they wanted detailed info on what each name means. Saying it's personal was not good enough. I was asked asked of the history of the name. I was asked why I chose the spelling. The final question, was the most interesting of all. I was asked if my request for a name change had anything to do with my criminal record.

 

After all that, the interviewer approved my interview.

[Going through 5,671]

12 hours ago, robhostein said:

My crime happened over 10 years ago. I plead guilty to trespassing and spent a week in jail. All the immigration lawyers I talked to told me that my conviction was not a CIMT and that I would be fine waiting 5 years after the end of my suspended sentence to apply for citizenship.

 

Fast forward to last month, my interview. The question came up about my criminal record, and I was asked to explain what happened. I did. The interviewer didn't really ask me much of anything about it. Which was almost disappointing (but also a relief...) because I was very prepared with what I was going to say. 

Me too!  I had it all in my head rehearsed how I would best "explain" my crimes and my reasoning at the time...my charges happened 23 years ago.

The IO was actually surprisingly sympathetic that I'd committed them less than a week after my 18th birthday and was subsequently charged as an adult, instead of a juvenile.

 

12 hours ago, robhostein said:

What the interviewer WAS interested in, however, was my request to change my name. Tons of questions about that. I was interrogated like as if I was a suspect in a homicide. I was asked why I wanted to change my name. I was asked what each name means. They did not accept vague answers, they wanted detailed info on what each name means. Saying it's personal was not good enough. I was asked asked of the history of the name. I was asked why I chose the spelling.

Insanely curious about what your name is now, but of course won't ask  

[robhostein 57]

12 hours ago, Going through said:

Insanely curious about what your name is now, but of course won't ask

Yea, it's interesting how these IOs work, you were expecting a grilling, but you got sympathy. They're tricky.

 

Now as for my name, I guess it is suspicious, but hey, I'm doing it legally and without the intent to commit fraud or some #######. I requested to change my full name, first, middle and last. It really is a spiritual thing. I was named after something that I do not believe in. I promised my girlfriend, at the time, that I would change my name. That was around 10 or 13 years ago. I promised myself that when I become a citizen, I deserve a new name.

 

This is something I had to tell the IO, that I had plans to change my name waaaay before my crime. The two were not related.

 

EDIT: Wow, the C-word for excrement is censored... go figure...

Edited April 1, 2019 by robhostein