Minor criminal history, did I screw up?

[John & Rose 7,239]

25 minutes ago, Rocio0010 said:

I have been reading your posts today. Binging on them. Oh boy, what a story! But you persevered and in the end, what seemed to be a problem (denial) worked out for the better because the CR1 took almost the same time if not less. Kudos to you and your spouse for being warriors!

It was very difficult at first. The kids had already said their good byes and they didn’t register for school the next semester. We never once thought of quitting. A month later I was there to get our marriage license. It was a 2 day trip. Then 3 weeks later I went back to get married. I was able to give my wife a wedding with her family there. That wouldn’t have happened here either. All in all, it was all an amazing experience but it was a rollercoaster. 

[Cheesehead22 86]

On 4/30/2022 at 5:59 PM, Family said:

Assuming that you are the NOA 1 ( your Receipt for Filing Fee..and case is still pending approval, referred to here on VJ as NOA2), just write a Letter titled

“ Supplemental Filing to I-129 F case #xyz / Request for Record Update / Correction” 

Please note I am requesting to amend the I-129 F as follows: page x, part y, item z should be YES. 
My one and only contact with Law Enforcement was in High School on or about day/month/ year ( or approximate date). After an altercation with another student, I was given approximately 2 days of community service which I completed. I was never arrested and never required to appear court or for any procedures and the incident does not appear on my record. 
 

I am uncertain if the incident was handled through the School Disciplinary System or it was ever referred to Juvenile Courts and therefore my initial confusion and I have always believed that I have no criminal record.
Enclosed please find 

1. FBI Records ( it will show u squeaky clean…it’s easy and inexpensive to get , call in your area for places that do Livescan / Prints )

2. Juvenile Court Request for Records ( Google info on getting Juvenile Records in the state u went to school…usually online info is very clear…and will more than like show NO RECORD but no matter what it shows , it will be enough) .”   

 

YOU will be fine, no need to start from zero. 

****Some schools have a student body led “ court” , complete w a supervising/ Judge and deal with disciplinary issues WITHOUT sending the students to Juvenile Court…My 16 year old is a member of just such a body and has handled a few cases ***

 

 

This is huge, thank you for the detailed example of how to request an amendment. 

[Sartre 123]

On 4/30/2022 at 5:40 PM, Rachel & Khairy said:

I agree do not listen to anyone they are giving you bad advise. You said it was in high-school so I'm assuming you are under 18 at the time? 1. If you were a minor it's not going to be on any permanent record. 2. You are a US Citizen and the petitioner so it doesn't make a difference.

This is the best advice so far. Leave it alone. Go on with your life. Whatever occurred to you or did will not pop-up and surprise you.  Get it out of your mind and relax and concentrate on your petition. Everything is going to be fine.  There is nothing there for you to confess to or own up to. 

[PBoland 7]

Whoaaaaa pump the brakes on gloom and doom!

 

So 2019 I was the Petitioner and I know I have two DUIs on my record.  I put both of them and ‘approx’ date and punishment (they were 28/30 years ago).  Of course we get a RFE.

 

No problem right?  Call up courthouse 1 for copy and they send certified copy of conviction and we are good.  Courthouse 2 (the older conviction) is in a new building, new record system, all records before 1995 or so are basically gone.  So I contact the State Police - they have nothing and send a copy of my driving record which is 12 years since I lived in that state; the record is CLEAN no nothing at all (because too old I guess).  However, now that I voluntarily opened Pandora’s Box I have to PROVE there is no record of the latter conviction by getting certified letters from everyone I spoke to.  Try proving a negative lol ugh.  This all took about 10 weeks.  My fiancée had her Medical and Intrviews lined up for late March 2020….you guessed it: COVID pandemic shuts the world down.  So instead of my fiancée (now wife) being together with me since early 2020, we had to wait 18 months as politics and medical science and the airline industry sorted it all out.  All because I volunteered info that, had I looked, no one was going to find.  Those 10 weeks that I cost us compounded into 18 months which is critical for people in their 50s.  
Anyone telling you spooky government secret file nonsense you may freely ignore.
 

I’m not saying a pandemic will interfere, what I’m saying is your situation was when you were a minor (so, irrelevant) and longgggg ago and you already did due diligence and you said it appears silent on your record.  I would let sleeping dogs lie. 

Just speaking from experience.

PB

Edited May 2, 2022 by PBoland

[John & Rose 7,239]

47 minutes ago, PBoland said:

Whoaaaaa pump the brakes on gloom and doom!

 

So 2019 I was the Petitioner and I know I have two DUIs on my record.  I put both of them and ‘approx’ date and punishment (they were 28/30 years ago).  Of course we get a RFE.

 

No problem right?  Call up courthouse 1 for copy and they send certified copy of conviction and we are good.  Courthouse 2 (the older conviction) is in a new building, new record system, all records before 1995 or so are basically gone.  So I contact the State Police - they have nothing and send a copy of my driving record which is 12 years since I lived in that state; the record is CLEAN no nothing at all (because too old I guess).  However, now that I voluntarily opened Pandora’s Box I have to PROVE there is no record of the latter conviction by getting certified letters from everyone I spoke to.  Try proving a negative lol ugh.  This all took about 10 weeks.  My fiancée had her Medical and Intrviews lined up for late March 2020….you guessed it: COVID pandemic shuts the world down.  So instead of my fiancée (now wife) being together with me since early 2020, we had to wait 18 months as politics and medical science and the airline industry sorted it all out.  All because I volunteered info that, had I looked, no one was going to find.  Those 10 weeks that I cost us compounded into 18 months which is critical for people in their 50s.  
Anyone telling you spooky government secret file nonsense you may freely ignore.
 

I’m not saying a pandemic will interfere, what I’m saying is your situation was when you were a minor (so, irrelevant) and longgggg ago and you already did due diligence and you said it appears silent on your record.  I would let sleeping dogs lie. 

Just speaking from experience.

PB

DUI is not assault. The reason they have this requirement is because of AWA.  They are trying to protect the beneficiary from a potentially abusive relationship.  You disclosed the DUI's and the OP did not disclose the assault arrest and conviction.  Why do you feel your cases are the same?

[Crazy Cat 41,985]

3 hours ago, Sartre said:

This is the best advice so far. Leave it alone. Go on with your life. Whatever occurred to you or did will not pop-up and surprise you.  Get it out of your mind and relax and concentrate on your petition. Everything is going to be fine.  There is nothing there for you to confess to or own up to. 

🤣  Based on what?  There is an active member who went through this very thing saying the EXACT opposite.......

[Sartre 123]

26 minutes ago, Crazy Cat said:

🤣  Based on what?  There is an active member who went through this very thing saying the EXACT opposite.......

There is absolutely no record of whatever the event was.  He was a minor and most likely it was handled by a juvenile court (I doubt it was even that severe).  I think it's just a little worse than being sent to "time out".  Also, he is a petitioner, not an applicant for naturalization. My strong advice is to leave it alone.  Nothing will come of it...

[Crazy Cat 41,985]

6 minutes ago, Sartre said:

 Also, he is a petitioner,

Actually, you have no idea if a record exits exits or not.  Expunged records are visible to immigration authorities.  Perhaps you should read the I-129f instructions as explained above by @John & Rose, the VJ member who actually had a K-1 denied after the interview for omitting a 30 year old, expunged arrest.

Edited May 2, 2022 by Crazy Cat

[Sartre 123]

18 minutes ago, Crazy Cat said:

Actually, you have no idea if a record exits exits or not.  Expunged records are visible to immigration authorities.  Perhaps you should read the I-129f instructions as explained above by @John & Rose, the VJ member who actually had a K-1 denied after the interview for omitting a 30 year old, expunged arrest.

The big difference is that there isn’t a record available and there isn’t a charge. There is nothing expunged. I think people are trying to make something out of nothing. USCIS and anybody else will find nothing in this case. I think the advice this poster is getting it’s based on the assumption that a real criminal event having occurred. Sorry, argument that he should admit to something that he can’t even verify is not even illogical, it’s alogical and absurd. 

Edited May 2, 2022 by Sartre
word separated

[Family 4,075]

1 hour ago, Sartre said:

There is absolutely no record of whatever the event was.  He was a minor and most likely it was handled by a juvenile court (I doubt it was even that severe).  I think it's just a little worse than being sent to "time out".  Also, he is a petitioner, not an applicant for naturalization. My strong advice is to leave it alone.  Nothing will come of it...

I agree that OP has nothing to worry about AND in his original post , he indicated there was NO arrest…but once you respond “  yes “ , then you are better off providing proof of No Record to avoid delays RFE…and saves you from being at the mercy of Consular Officer  deciding you failed to disclose . 
 

I also wholeheartedly agree that Juvenile Conviction are NOT convictions and do not count for immigration purposes.. so if anyone had a conviction as a Juvenile, they would still disclose it ( mark yes on I-129 F ) : and pretty much show the same thing I recommended for OP ( FBI and Request For Juvenile Records , no matter what is on it) .

 

AND  argue that IT IS NOT a conviction and absolutely refuse to give them police reports ( just say records are sealed) 

 

https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/eoir/legacy/2014/07/25/3435.pdf

https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-12-part-f-chapter-2 

2. Juvenile Convictions

In general, a guilty verdict, ruling, or judgment in a juvenile court does not constitute a conviction for immigration purposes.[11] A conviction for a person who is under 18 years of age and who was charged as an adult constitutes a conviction for immigration purposes.

 

******Even though above link is related to Good Moral Character, do remember that is what you are proving up as a Petitioning Fiancé ( that u are a good guy) ****

 

 

 

 

 

[Family 4,075]

Of course lots of rules for non US Citizens with Juvenile Records, that do not apply to OP , https://www.ilrc.org/sites/default/files/resources/imm_consequences_of_delinq_3.30.20.pdf

[Sartre 123]

29 minutes ago, Family said:

Of course lots of rules for non US Citizens with Juvenile Records, that do not apply to OP , https://www.ilrc.org/sites/default/files/resources/imm_consequences_of_delinq_3.30.20.pdf

 

30 minutes ago, Family said:

Of course lots of rules for non US Citizens with Juvenile Records, that do not apply to OP , https://www.ilrc.org/sites/default/files/resources/imm_consequences_of_delinq_3.30.20.pdf

Thank you for your thoughtful and astute response.  I agree completely!  So far the petitioner has not amended his application in which he would respond "yes" to an issue that is at best ethereal and from all evidence undocumented. My concern is if he amends his application there will be unnecessary delays and worse he would be unable to document whatever so called "crime" he states occurred.  It will, potentially, send USCIS on a wild goose chase or badger the petitioner for more information over and over again. 

[Family 4,075]

3 minutes ago, Sartre said:

Thank you for your thoughtful and astute response.  I agree completely!  So far the petitioner has not amended his application in which he would respond "yes" to an issue that is at best ethereal and from all evidence undocumented. My concern is if he amends his application there will be unnecessary delays and worse he would be unable to document whatever so called "crime" he states occurred.  It will, potentially, send USCIS on a wild goose chase or badger the petitioner for more information over and over again. 

Well, he  ( and anyone else) really HAS TO ANSWER with a YES  and just show the “ no record “  , give a short explanation ( notice I did not call it a crime, I did made no mention of other kid’s bruised knee or that OP thought it was some sort of assault… in my recommended explanation.. ) and be done …without any worries .
Not disclosing is risky  in that even though it PASSES through USCIS hands ( gets approved) , he could end up getting to Consulate , where they MAY or MAY NOT see “ something “ and get royally HOSED as one member likes to say..( denied for failure to disclose). 
 

USCIS won’t cause big delays, honestly, even dealing with a pesky RFE is way quicker than starting from zero . 
 

 

[Cheesehead22 86]

My fiance and myself are reading all the responses, we are wholeheartedly grateful for the time and effort from everybody here. So far it has been suggested:

 

- Cancel the petition, resubmit everything and spend 500$ again with documentation that I may or may not find. Expensive and time consuming.

- Amend the petition, add why I did not add the information the first time, and send documentation that I may or may not find. Risk delaying the petition or getting hammered for more RFE's that may or may not exist.

- Cancel everything and file a for a CR1, as it does not check extensively check background of the petitioner. (Its easier but takes longer?)

- Do nothing, relax. but risk a denial due to not disclosing minor history that they may or may not find.

 

We really dont know which one to choose. It seems amending or CR1 might be the best option. Looking at CR1 timelines, it shows currently 750 days approximate, and everything is likely to get longer with the border, refugee and covid situation. and starting over is not desirable. 

 

Again, my fiancés relative knows somebody in government, but i dont know what department or anything beyond that. She said she knows everything about me and who my family and relatives are, where i live and what my criminal background is. Nothing came up. I also searched the washington state online criminal records database and "no results found" came back. 

 

She has done this for somebody else my fiancé was interested in in the past. Drug and other charges came up, along with the fact he was still married. So whatever agency this person works in, it has a lot of information.

[Cheesehead22 86]

just spoke with my father and he will be searching tonight for any documents that might be saved from the incident. Maybe he has the exact files that i need.