Will our dads criminal histories affect the visa approval?

[Bailey&Carlos 0]

So, my fiance is Mexican and his father was sent to prison for doing some pretty corrupt things as a federal police officer. My own father has restraining orders against him and has been arrested a few times. Can our fathers criminal histories be a "red flag" or used against us when trying to get the visa approved?

[payxibka 10,047]

2 minutes ago, Bailey&Carlos said:

So, my fiance is Mexican and his father was sent to prison for doing some pretty corrupt things as a federal police officer. My own father has restraining orders against him and has been arrested a few times. Can our fathers criminal histories be a "red flag" or used against us when trying to get the visa approved?

The sins of the father's have no affect

[Villanelle 4,122]

I agree with the above but do feel its worth mentioning that if any of the issues are drug/human trafficking or gang related then you may want to speak to an attny (if not hire one at least get a consult). There is a broad provision in immigration policy about drug trafficking (corrupt cop in Mexico can likely be drug trafficking or gang related) and it is possible to be denied based on suspicion of having been involved even if there is no charge or conviction. It is usually overcome by showing the immigrant was NOT AT ALL involved, did not support it, did not participate in it., etc. You may want to proactively be prepared to answer questions about such and provide evidence of the father not being involved in your life or show GMC type evidences supporting how the immigrant was unrelated to the events. Mexico also tends to be an embassy where people are denied the first time and either have to appeal or refile or require waivers. They also look hard at tattoos there and evaluate them for possible gang association. The K can not be appealed so if you are not too far into the process you may want to consider marrying (if possible) and doing a spousal visa. 

 

If not I would suggest writing out a timeline of the fathers offenses and what your fiancé was doing at the time of it. Was he a child? Was he in school far from home? Does he have school/extracurricular records showing he was not involved in any of this? If so its probably not an issue. But if he has various tattoos that can be viewed as gang related or somehow participated in the corrupt actions thats another story. In the background check (which can be a longer delay then normal for your case due to the issues) USCIS will look at any and all records in which your name appears- so thats not only files where your name is listed as the person of interest but files in which your name is even mentioned for any reason. So I would expect since there are records to sort through that you are going to have a longer wait for the background check then normal. Perhaps you are able to obtain some type of records about the corruption conviction where it will show the case was against the father and the father alone (or with other adults) and there was no mention in any of it of his family participating or otherwise being involved. 

 

My intention here is not to scare you or cause you unnecessary worry- its just not as black and white as the above statement of 'parents sins wont be held against you'. Yes, they wont be held against you- but the immigrant may need extra documentation showing their non involvement.