Recently fined for possession, how will this affect my K1 visa process?

[meys 0]

I really hope someone can help me out here, as I'm damn near panicking over this issue..

 

So, my fiance and i met in 2013, and have since then been in a relationship. He is from Fountain Valley, CA, born and raised there, and I am from Aalborg, Denmark, born and raised here. He's 25 and I'm 27. We got engaged this summer, and are currently preparing to send in the I-129F petition. The issue here is that about a week ago, I received a call from the Danish police, stating that a phone number in my name was found to have purchased marijuana (less than 30g) recently (not sure of the exact date, but probably less than a year ago), which I would then be charged for. What really happened was that the phone number belonged to my boyfriend, but was registered in my name since I paid those bills. He was also the one who purchased it, but since the number was in my name, and it was purchased for my address, I didn't see a reason to even attempt to explain it in court, possibly also getting him into trouble, so I decided to admit to it and to pay a fine instead. No arrest, no court presence, "just" a fine. I of course plan on paying the fine as soon as I receive it by mail, however, I'm really worried about how all this will affect my eligibility for a K1 visa, since I know it definitely will, and since it's so recent. So now I'm here, hoping you guys can help me..

 

A few questions:

Will the I-129F petition get denied immediately, or will we still be able to move on to the NOA1/2 phases?

Will I most likely get denied at the NVC phase when they're doing the background/name checks?

 

IF I do make it to the interview phase, and show up with the required forms and documents, a clean medical exam, and documents proving I've paid the fine, it's my understanding that I will still initially get denied, but may be eligible for a waiver. Is this true, or should I just forget about it then, since, again, the offense is so recent?

 

I'm really scared about what will happen.. every similar thread I've looked at are about offenses that happened 5/10/15+ years ago, where mine is as of recent, so reading these doesn't really help me 😕

[Boiler 46,162]

Likely to be a medical rather than criminal issue, now what will then happen seems to vary, might be effectively ignored or otherwise delay visa issuance for a year.

[midwinterrose 277]

10 hours ago, meys said:

I really hope someone can help me out here, as I'm damn near panicking over this issue..

 

So, my fiance and i met in 2013, and have since then been in a relationship. He is from Fountain Valley, CA, born and raised there, and I am from Aalborg, Denmark, born and raised here. He's 25 and I'm 27. We got engaged this summer, and are currently preparing to send in the I-129F petition. The issue here is that about a week ago, I received a call from the Danish police, stating that a phone number in my name was found to have purchased marijuana (less than 30g) recently (not sure of the exact date, but probably less than a year ago), which I would then be charged for. What really happened was that the phone number belonged to my boyfriend, but was registered in my name since I paid those bills. He was also the one who purchased it, but since the number was in my name, and it was purchased for my address, I didn't see a reason to even attempt to explain it in court, possibly also getting him into trouble, so I decided to admit to it and to pay a fine instead. No arrest, no court presence, "just" a fine. I of course plan on paying the fine as soon as I receive it by mail, however, I'm really worried about how all this will affect my eligibility for a K1 visa, since I know it definitely will, and since it's so recent. So now I'm here, hoping you guys can help me..

 

A few questions:

Will the I-129F petition get denied immediately, or will we still be able to move on to the NOA1/2 phases?

Will I most likely get denied at the NVC phase when they're doing the background/name checks?

 

IF I do make it to the interview phase, and show up with the required forms and documents, a clean medical exam, and documents proving I've paid the fine, it's my understanding that I will still initially get denied, but may be eligible for a waiver. Is this true, or should I just forget about it then, since, again, the offense is so recent?

 

I'm really scared about what will happen.. every similar thread I've looked at are about offenses that happened 5/10/15+ years ago, where mine is as of recent, so reading these doesn't really help me 😕

It's taken many painful experiences to learn, but one of the most important lessons I've learned in my life is that it's not your responsibility to protect others from the consequences of their own actions.  If the weed was truly purchased by your ex boyfriend without any knowledge or involvement on your part, you SHOULD NOT take the blame!  I'm sure you can look up the location information for the phone to show that the phone spends all its time at your ex's house/work and easily prove that it is effectively his phone despite being registered in your name.  If he were a decent person he would accept the responsibility for it.  Why is he still using a phone in your name six plus years after your relationship presumably ended?

 

This rant may be too little too late since it sounds like you already admitted to it, but you should learn from this experience!  People earn the consequences of their actions, both good and bad, and you have no obligation to shield them from consequences that they've earned for themselves, nor should you feel badly about respecting yourself and refusing to suffer in their stead.  Cancel that phone number immediately!  Don't allow your ex to continue using a phone in your name.

 

Good luck, I hope this ends up being a minimal issue and your immigration goes smoothly hereafter.

[Boiler 46,162]

OP did not say ex.

[meys 0]

2 minutes ago, radharose said:

It's taken many painful experiences to learn, but one of the most important lessons I've learned in my life is that it's not your responsibility to protect others from the consequences of their own actions.  If the weed was truly purchased by your ex boyfriend without any knowledge or involvement on your part, you SHOULD NOT take the blame!  I'm sure you can look up the location information for the phone to show that the phone spends all its time at your ex's house/work and easily prove that it is effectively his phone despite being registered in your name.  If he were a decent person he would accept the responsibility for it.  Why is he still using a phone in your name six plus years after your relationship presumably ended?

 

This rant may be too little too late since it sounds like you already admitted to it, but you should learn from this experience!  People earn the consequences of their actions, both good and bad, and you have no obligation to shield them from consequences that they've earned for themselves, nor should you feel badly about respecting yourself and refusing to suffer in their stead.  Cancel that phone number immediately!  Don't allow your ex to continue using a phone in your name.

 

Good luck, I hope this ends up being a minimal issue and your immigration goes smoothly hereafter.

Hi, thank you for your reply!

 

I realize I messed up part of my explanation - by ‘boyfriend’ I meant current fiancé, as in the guy I’m about to marry. I wrote boyfriend since I’m not used to calling him my fiancé yet.. but yes, he’s the one who owned that number and purchased the marijuana. I wholeheartedly understand your point, and actually agree. And no, it’s not entirely too late, in fact, I have not signed or paid the fine yet and actually still have the chance to take it to court where I’d probably bring a lawyer. I’ve since my original post spoken to my fiancé and asked what to do, and he actually told me the same; take it to court. I have emails proving that the phone number was created exactly by the time he came to Denmark, emails showing it was “paused” (so I wouldn’t have to pay for it during) exactly during the period he went abroad for an internship, and emails showing I unpaused it around the time he came back, and emails showing I cancelled it a month ago when he moved back to the us. I can even ask him for flights tickets proving this too. I have text conversations between me and that phone number which obviously show he’s my boyfriend and the user of that number. I have call history between me and the number. He even told me he would make a statement about him being the owner of the number, and the purchaser of the marijuana. Do you think this would hold up in court? Would they believe me? Because if so, then I AM more than ready to not accept the fine and thereby take it to court.

[Boiler 46,162]

Sounds like you need competent legal advice.

[midwinterrose 277]

5 minutes ago, meys said:

Hi, thank you for your reply!

 

I realize I messed up part of my explanation - by ‘boyfriend’ I meant current fiancé, as in the guy I’m about to marry. I wrote boyfriend since I’m not used to calling him my fiancé yet.. but yes, he’s the one who owned that number and purchased the marijuana. I wholeheartedly understand your point, and actually agree. And no, it’s not entirely too late, in fact, I have not signed or paid the fine yet and actually still have the chance to take it to court where I’d probably bring a lawyer. I’ve since my original post spoken to my fiancé and asked what to do, and he actually told me the same; take it to court. I have emails proving that the phone number was created exactly by the time he came to Denmark, emails showing it was “paused” (so I wouldn’t have to pay for it during) exactly during the period he went abroad for an internship, and emails showing I unpaused it around the time he came back, and emails showing I cancelled it a month ago when he moved back to the us. I can even ask him for flights tickets proving this too. I have text conversations between me and that phone number which obviously show he’s my boyfriend and the user of that number. I have call history between me and the number. He even told me he would make a statement about him being the owner of the number, and the purchaser of the marijuana. Do you think this would hold up in court? Would they believe me? Because if so, then I AM more than ready to not accept the fine and thereby take it to court.

Ah, I see.  I think the charge may have less impact on U.S. immigration if the petitioner is at fault, rather than the intending immigrant.  Court is about putting together a convincing argument, and convincing a judge that you're telling the truth.  I think you have a pretty convincing argument considering you have text messages from your number to him at that number, I'm sure over the course of many months or years.  I think it's at least worth a shot, but I'm no lawyer.  I would recommend researching further the consequence of such a charge on immigration for the intending immigrant versus for the petitioner before deciding which should take the blame.  Also research the consequences it could have on his immigration/visitation possibilities in Denmark too.

[Loren Y 2,756]

I've read the post a dozen times. Having a LE background here, I'm missing something obviously. You got a possession charge for buying marijuana on a phone registered on your account. The police didn't physically catch you in possession with the 30g. I know some countries are harsh, someone uses a phone to call their drug dealer and you get charged. Can you order drugs on your phone and Uber brings them to your house? Sounds like I'm going to transfer to Denmark. I won't even have to leave the office to catch criminals. 

[Loren Y 2,756]

The more I think about this I still can't figure it out. So let's say I'm cruising the strip in Denmark in my Austin Martin top down, my model girlfriend riding shotgun and the GPS on my phone shows I was doing 80KMH in a 50KMH zone for a few miles. Next week I'm getting a call from the police saying a cellphone number on my account was speeding and I am being charged with speeding and I need to come pay a fine because of my speeding conviction. If that's the case, good for them, and my hats off to the government there pulling that off.

[geowrian 22,338]

Regardless of how the criminal case is processed, immigration will look at the circumstances surrounding the issue. If they aren't convinced, it's not going to be a good time. Or more likely, the medical exam is where this will come up. A psychological exam may or may not be required. A 1 year ban may or may not occur.

[visafrompa 9]

Wow lots of bad posts here.  You cannot apply American laws and rights to other countries.   Most people here are looking through a US prism... believe me when I say we have so many more rights when accused of a crime that ANY other country.  So yeah, its 100% believable that you can be charged if they connect you to a crime with only a cell phone number.  

 

First, it won't affect the I-129 as that's just linking you to the USC.

 

When you AOS and fill out the I-485 is when things get real.

 

Part 8 questions 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 30 are all gonna be YES and need some 'splaining.

 

"If you were EVER charged for any reason (even if you were not arrested) anywhere in the world, including the
United States, you must submit:"

 

"If you were EVER convicted or placed in an alternative sentencing or rehabilitative program (such as probation,
drug treatment, deferred adjudication, or community service program) anywhere in the world, including the
United States, you must submit"

 

And the catch all:

 

"If you EVER had any arrest or conviction vacated, set aside, sealed, expunged, or otherwise removed from your
record anywhere in the world, you must submit:"

 

 

 

 

Edited July 22, 2019 by visafrompa

[meys 0]

On 7/22/2019 at 11:51 PM, visafrompa said:

Wow lots of bad posts here.  You cannot apply American laws and rights to other countries.   Most people here are looking through a US prism... believe me when I say we have so many more rights when accused of a crime that ANY other country.  So yeah, its 100% believable that you can be charged if they connect you to a crime with only a cell phone number.  

 

First, it won't affect the I-129 as that's just linking you to the USC.

 

When you AOS and fill out the I-485 is when things get real.

 

Part 8 questions 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 30 are all gonna be YES and need some 'splaining.

 

"If you were EVER charged for any reason (even if you were not arrested) anywhere in the world, including the
United States, you must submit:"

 

"If you were EVER convicted or placed in an alternative sentencing or rehabilitative program (such as probation,
drug treatment, deferred adjudication, or community service program) anywhere in the world, including the
United States, you must submit"

 

And the catch all:

 

"If you EVER had any arrest or conviction vacated, set aside, sealed, expunged, or otherwise removed from your
record anywhere in the world, you must submit:"

 

 

 

 

Thanks for your reply!

 

Alright, I see. But, as for the K1 visa process, it's my understanding that at some point, I'll have to submit a DS-160 form, and here they ask if I've ever broken the law regarding possession of illegal drugs. Obviously that's a yes for me, and from what I've read, that would be the reason I'd probably have my visa denied at the embassy interview.. because there's a waiver I technically would be able to fill out, but in that waiver it says the crime (possession of marijuana of less than 30g specifically) has to have happened over 15 years ago, which mine has not. Are they really that strict regarding this? Cause from what I understand from all that, IF i do lose the case and keep the fine in my name, my dream of moving to the US is pretty much over

 

 

[<3T&M<3 217]

Even if you go to court and get this all pinned on your fiancé and they do away with the charge,  you will still have to get ALL the records and submit them at the interview phase.  Every document that Hass to do with your name on the courts and drugs Hass to be submitted. You have to submit it all.

You will still have to convince the officer that it really was your boyfriend and "this" is what really happened.  The part where you have to explain why you didn't say it was him in the first place is going to be tricky. 

I am just saying that that could be a hard job. They probably have seen every trick in the book, not saying you're not telling the truth, but to them it may look like you guys did it to bypass laws. I would be scared as well.

Edited July 28, 2019 by <3T&M<3