False Restraining orders

[Erik and Glydyl 26]

     An attorney once told me that the first thing that usually happens in any divorce or child custody case is that the man is accused of domestic violence, and that is what happened to me in my past. I am 51 years old now and during a lengthy custody battle in my early 20s, my ex girlfriend made accusations against me in court during our custody case and I cant remember if she actually tried to file a restraining order or not. Luckily for me, I had seasoned judge who didn't entertain her accusations and I don't remember ever actually attending any sort of PFA hearing or being arrested or anything like that, but I am afraid there might be a record of something out there that I cant find. This also happened to me again about 10 years ago during a divorce. My wife wanted me out of our home and I refused to leave because I wanted to save our marriage so she went to the police and made them come force me to leave by making false accusations against me. Again, she later admitted to my family that she made it all up because it was the only way to get me out and I don't remember ever being charged with anything or being arrested or going to any kind of hearing, but I am afraid there may be records out there. I checked the counties where these two accusations took place and even paid an online background check company to try and find records but I cant find any records anywhere about these things and now I am paranoid.

     Its humiliating and embarrassing for me to tell people about these accusations because I always fear someone might think they were true and I am still friends with almost every one of my ex girlfriends who would laugh at the idea of me being a violent person, because Its the total opposite of who I am as a person. I put these accusations in my 129-F application just in case there's a record I cant find because I was afraid there might be one and they might think I was trying to hide it but I explained the situation as I am now and I hope being open about everything didn't create a situation where I am going to be bogged down with RFE's for records that I cant find. I cant afford a lawyer or attorney and I am terrified of what I may have done to myself in my application. Has anyone else had to deal with these kinds of accusations in your past? 

[African Zealot 1,454]

36 minutes ago, Erik and Glydyl said:

person. I put these accusations in my 129-F application just in case there's a record I cant find because I was afraid there might be one and they might think I was trying to hide it but I explained the situation

You might just have opened yourself up to a lot of delays, ie being asked to provide disposition documents for cases that may not even exist.

[beloved_dingo 1,975]

So just to be clear, did you already send off the I-129F? 

 

As far as the issue with these incidents that occurred, first step is to contact the court that handled your custody case with the ex-girlfriend (personally, I would go in person). Talk to the clerk, and ask to get copies of all motions and orders in that case. Then, ask her if there are any records of a separate Protection from Abuse action under your name. If there is not record of a restraining order or a PFA in the custody case or as a separate action, then she was never granted one. (Doesn't matter if she did in fact ask for it - it's irrelevant if a judge didn't sign off on it.) 

 

For the 2nd issue, get in touch with someone from the police station/police district that escorted you from the home. From your story, you were not arrested or charged, they simply got you to leave and likely wrote up an incident report. You need to get a copy of that incident report. If you give them the address, approximate date, and your name, they should have no issue at all getting that to you. The incident report is all you will need for this because nothing else occurred, based on your account - no arrest, no charges, etc. 

 

If you have already sent off the I-129F, here are the potential issues you may run into:

1. You cannot prove a negative. If you told USCIS that there "might" have been a PFA/Restraining order filed against you, and they request a copy of the PFA, you won't be able to do that if one does not exist. However...a PFA or restraining order entered in a civil case (e.g. custody case, divorce case, etc.) does not involve an arrest or charge of a crime. The bar for obtaining a PFA is generally very low, as it is a precaution. Personally, I am not sure that USCIS would even expect a civil restraining order to be disclosed. PAGING OTHER VJ MEMBERS WHO MAY KNOW MORE! If there is no PFA and USCIS happens to issue an RFE, I would provide them with documents from the custody case, provide an explanation that your ex-girlfriend threatened filing a PFA, but after reviewing the custody case files, it shows she never did. Doesn't really prove that one doesn't exist, but it bolsters your statements. As a side note, did you maintain joint custody of the child, pay child support etc.? It could also bolster your perspective if you ended up with a joint custody agreement with no restrictions placed on you. 
2. The content of the police report/incident report from the 2nd incident needs to be consistent with what you told USCIS in the I-129F. If you get an RFE to provide it, be prepared to adequately explain anything that might not match up with what you disclosed. However, again, you were not arrested, so I am not sure if you even needed to disclose this to begin with. 

I worked in family law for years and saw incidents like what you describe all the time. Sometimes it was justified (getting a PFA, calling police), but almost 100% of the time it did not involve an arrest or any kind of criminal charge. 

[Erik and Glydyl 26]

I filed my 129-F allready. I just disclosed my stories in case their background check showed something that the one I paid for to do on myself didnt. I did send a copy of my cleared background check to show I tried to find anything about it. 

 

In my custody battle, I eventually won full custody of my daughters after child protection services came to court on my behalf multiple times. I was the first man in my county to ever win custody of his children, according to my attorney. It took 2 years and the support of child protective services and court assigned psychologists who spoke on my behalf. I was blessed to have the help of all of the people who stood by me from the state.

 

Everyone I know said I shouldn't even mention anything in my application, but I felt if I didn't they would think I was hiding something and if I did, I would be trapped in RFE hell. Lose/ Lose situation. I also told them about a driving on an expired license fine when I was in my teens and accidentally bouncing a check while in the military because of a delay in my routine payday. I wasnt arrested but I went to the judge and showed him the evidence of when my paydays are normally and he understood the mistake and let me pay the check and he let it go.

 

I feel really foolish now, lol. This process is allready FAR too long without the imminent RFEs I expect I will get now.

BTW, niether the fine or the bounced check situation showed up in my criminal background check either.

 

[Erik and Glydyl 26]

Do they do their own background check and will they accept my explanations if they cant find anything about these things in their check?

 

[Crazy Cat 41,430]

1 hour ago, Erik and Glydyl said:

I filed my 129-F allready. I just disclosed my stories in case their background check showed something that the one I paid for to do on myself didnt. I did send a copy of my cleared background check to show I tried to find anything about it. 

 

In my custody battle, I eventually won full custody of my daughters after child protection services came to court on my behalf multiple times. I was the first man in my county to ever win custody of his children, according to my attorney. It took 2 years and the support of child protective services and court assigned psychologists who spoke on my behalf. I was blessed to have the help of all of the people who stood by me from the state.

 

Everyone I know said I shouldn't even mention anything in my application, but I felt if I didn't they would think I was hiding something and if I did, I would be trapped in RFE hell. Lose/ Lose situation. I also told them about a driving on an expired license fine when I was in my teens and accidentally bouncing a check while in the military because of a delay in my routine payday. I wasnt arrested but I went to the judge and showed him the evidence of when my paydays are normally and he understood the mistake and let me pay the check and he let it go.

 

I feel really foolish now, lol. This process is allready FAR too long without the imminent RFEs I expect I will get now.

BTW, niether the fine or the bounced check situation showed up in my criminal background check either.

 

If you disclosed arrests or detentions, you will likely get an RFE if USCIS or DOS wants more documentation.  However, if you failed disclose an arrest and/or detention, you could face a flat denial after the interview.  The Department of State can see more than what you can see. 

Edited October 27, 2022 by Crazy Cat

[Kanja 201]

2 hours ago, Erik and Glydyl said:

I filed my 129-F allready. I just disclosed my stories in case their background check showed something that the one I paid for to do on myself didnt. I did send a copy of my cleared background check to show I tried to find anything about it. 

 

In my custody battle, I eventually won full custody of my daughters after child protection services came to court on my behalf multiple times. I was the first man in my county to ever win custody of his children, according to my attorney. It took 2 years and the support of child protective services and court assigned psychologists who spoke on my behalf. I was blessed to have the help of all of the people who stood by me from the state.

 

Everyone I know said I shouldn't even mention anything in my application, but I felt if I didn't they would think I was hiding something and if I did, I would be trapped in RFE hell. Lose/ Lose situation. I also told them about a driving on an expired license fine when I was in my teens and accidentally bouncing a check while in the military because of a delay in my routine payday. I wasnt arrested but I went to the judge and showed him the evidence of when my paydays are normally and he understood the mistake and let me pay the check and he let it go.

 

I feel really foolish now, lol. This process is allready FAR too long without the imminent RFEs I expect I will get now.

BTW, niether the fine or the bounced check situation showed up in my criminal background check either.

 

You seem like a very honest and sweet person. I think everyone has given you good advice. Prepare all the documents you can in advance and you will be fine. I think especially in the case where you were granted full custody there must be tons of court records and possibly even court transcripts? 

[Lemonslice 4,758]

No matter the circumstances, those were still real restraining orders.  Best of luck in your visa journey.

[Rocio0010 5,579]

14 hours ago, Erik and Glydyl said:

I filed my 129-F allready. I just disclosed my stories in case their background check showed something that the one I paid for to do on myself didnt. I did send a copy of my cleared background check to show I tried to find anything about it. 

 

In my custody battle, I eventually won full custody of my daughters after child protection services came to court on my behalf multiple times. I was the first man in my county to ever win custody of his children, according to my attorney. It took 2 years and the support of child protective services and court assigned psychologists who spoke on my behalf. I was blessed to have the help of all of the people who stood by me from the state.

 

Everyone I know said I shouldn't even mention anything in my application, but I felt if I didn't they would think I was hiding something and if I did, I would be trapped in RFE hell. Lose/ Lose situation. I also told them about a driving on an expired license fine when I was in my teens and accidentally bouncing a check while in the military because of a delay in my routine payday. I wasnt arrested but I went to the judge and showed him the evidence of when my paydays are normally and he understood the mistake and let me pay the check and he let it go.

 

I feel really foolish now, lol. This process is allready FAR too long without the imminent RFEs I expect I will get now.

BTW, niether the fine or the bounced check situation showed up in my criminal background check either.

 

Just to piggy back what @Crazy Cat has just said, if you don't disclose an arrest, the case can very well be denied. A living proof of that is @John & Rose. This is the post they shared after they found out they were denied because of an expunged arrest that happened in 1990 that he had forgotten all about

I also found this which was posted by @Family 

 

SEALED OR EXPUNGED CRIMINAL RECORDS

For the most part, sealing or expunging an applicant’s criminal history has little effect with respect to immigration. Exactly how a criminal history is sealed or expunged may depend on the state where it takes place. Most of the time, it allows an individual’s criminal history to show up as clean for simple background checks that an employer or landlord might run. But the USCIS will often be able to see a conviction even if it’s been expunged or sealed. And if they see this after the applicant denied having a conviction, this can make the applicant look dishonest to the USCIS or other immigration official. It should be abundantly clear that a misrepresentation such as this can doom your immigration application

 

 

SEALED OR EXPUNGED CRIMINAL RECORDS

For the most part, sealing or expunging an applicant’s criminal history has little effect with respect to immigration. Exactly how a criminal history is sealed or expunged may depend on the state where it takes place. Most of the time, it allows an individual’s criminal history to show up as clean for simple background checks that an employer or landlord might run. But the USCIS will often be able to see a conviction even if it’s been expunged or sealed. And if they see this after the applicant denied having a conviction, this can make the applicant look dishonest to the USCIS or other immigration official. It should be abundantly clear that a misrepresentation such as this can doom your immigration application

 

As you can see, not disclosing an arrest or a conviction can get you in a world of hurt because of misrepresentation, so you did the right thing by disclosing it. The thing is, now you need to figure out a way to prove that those records never existed, and as @beloved_dingo has rightfully said, proving a negative can be challenging. But since you're from the Philippines, I am tagging @Adventine to see if they can help.

[beloved_dingo 1,975]

7 hours ago, Lemonslice said:

No matter the circumstances, those were still real restraining orders.  Best of luck in your visa journey.

Not if they never existed. OP isn't sure if one was ever entered during his custody battle. 

 

[Adventine 3,189]

Sorry, this isn't my area of expertise. I think OP has already received a lot of good advice. 

[Erik and Glydyl 26]

Thank you all so much. I wish I knew for sure if these things ever existed in the first place, but filling out the 129_F application was intimidating and the fear of making mistakes is overwhelming to say the least that it had me second guessing myself every step of the way. I filed in Jul22 so I guess it will be a long time before I know what harm I caused myself with my application, but I will keep my fingers crossed. I thought maybe I can pay to have the FBi do a background check on myself as well? Its quite possible, I over think TOO much, lol.

[Family 3,886]

There is nothing to worry about even if there is an RFE . 

Simply put , an FBI print background check will show any arrests …IF any. None took place, based on post. 

 

OP find a place that does them ( unless your online background included them). They are inexpensive and exactly what USCIS would be looking and covers all 50 states. 
 

As for any court cases , a written request for records will result in a Written Verification from “ Custodian of Records “ of “ No Record” or “ Record not available “. 
 

Not applicable to OP, but anyone with an arrest should decline to offer or provide copy of such even at RFE and argue only the record of conviction is relevant and USCIS / DOS cannot go behind that record. 

OP you did a fine job, saved yourself $$ in legal fees, don’t doubt yourself. ..

 

[Gary Rich 253]

20 minutes ago, Family said:

There is nothing to worry about even if there is an RFE . 

Simply put , an FBI print background check will show any arrests …IF any. None took place, based on post. 

 

OP find a place that does them ( unless your online background included them). They are inexpensive and exactly what USCIS would be looking and covers all 50 states. 
 

As for any court cases , a written request for records will result in a Written Verification from “ Custodian of Records “ of “ No Record” or “ Record not available “. 
 

Not applicable to OP, but anyone with an arrest should decline to offer or provide copy of such even at RFE and argue only the record of conviction is relevant and USCIS / DOS cannot go behind that record. 

OP you did a fine job, saved yourself $$ in legal fees, don’t doubt yourself. ..

 

you are precisely right! in getting a FBI background check.. because i had one done on myself.. I went to the police station and got my prints done for like $10.00 and then send those with my application i fill out from the FBI, and paid like $35 or $40 dollars and had my prints back within a week