I130 and Dismissed crimes that fall under AWA

[Cirkul 15]

Hello everyone,

 

I am very concerned. I am one year into the I130 process for my foreign spouse. 12 years ago I was falsely charged with sex crimes involving a minor. The allegations were horrible. Prior to trial, all charges were dismissed. I did not take any type of deal, the prosecutor literally chose to dismiss the charges against me. I knew that the dismissed court case might be a problem, so I hired an Immigration Attorney to assist me with the petition. Everything has been going fine until I received a letter from USCIS stating I need to in for biometrics on Friday. My lawyer speculates this is due to my dismissed charges causing red flags at USCIS due to AWA. My lawyer said he does not have much experience dealing with AWA related NOIDS. I would like to think that USCIS will submit my fingerprints to FBI and see no convictions and let my petition proceed. I talked to another attorney today and was told basically, "charges were dismissed, no conviction. Nothing to worry about". Reading posts on this forum has made me choose to worry. I would also like to mention that I ran a background check on myself at my states crime lab, which indicated "no record".  I was fingerprinted and the results of the fingerprint analysis and name search yielded no criminal history. Yet, much of what I see is that USCIS will send a NOID just due to the charges, not taking into consideration that all charges are dropped/dismissed. Am I overthinking this?? I have no problem obtaining copies of the dismissal or anything else that might be asked of me by USCIS.

Edited May 31, 2023 by Cirkul
edited to say I have no problem submitting dismissal docs to uscis

[Redro 4,611]

You'll probably receive an RFE for criminal records. copies of dismissal. Wait until they've requested them... 

Also, you'll need to tell your partner the entire story as she might be questioned at interview. 

I've seen people able to argue they are not a danger to their spouse and manage to overcome AWA. 

IIRC, the NOID is not just a straight up denial it is a chance for you to argue your case.... You might want to consider hiring a lawyer better versed in AWA. Your current lawyer doesn't appear to be very helpful. 

Paging @Family who always gives stellar advice.

[Cirkul 15]

49 minutes ago, Redro said:

You'll probably receive an RFE for criminal records. copies of dismissal. Wait until they've requested them... 

Also, you'll need to tell your partner the entire story as she might be questioned at interview. 

I've seen people able to argue they are not a danger to their spouse and manage to overcome AWA. 

IIRC, the NOID is not just a straight up denial it is a chance for you to argue your case.... You might want to consider hiring a lawyer better versed in AWA. Your current lawyer doesn't appear to be very helpful. 

Paging @Family who always gives stellar advice.

Thank you, Redro. My spouse does know of the old charges . I really appreciate your reply. Hiring a more experienced attorney is definitely a priority.

[Vickys_Mom 225]

10 hours ago, Cirkul said:

Everything has been going fine until I received a letter from USCIS stating I need to in for biometrics on Friday. My lawyer speculates this is due to my dismissed charges causing red flags at USCIS due to AWA. 

USCIS wants everyone's fingerprints during this process.  If that's all they said, your lawyer is making a leap of judgment.  (Does the lawyer want more money?)

 

Go do your fingerprints.  Don't worry about other things until they come up.  Continue to be honest about what happened in the past.

 

Regards,
Vicky's Mom

[Redro 4,611]

59 minutes ago, Vickys_Mom said:

USCIS wants everyone's fingerprints during this process.  If that's all they said, your lawyer is making a leap of judgment.  (Does the lawyer want more money?)

 

Go do your fingerprints.  Don't worry about other things until they come up.  Continue to be honest about what happened in the past.

 

Regards,
Vicky's Mom

@Cirkul is the petitioner. Generally they only require the USC's fingerprints if there is an issue. 

[Crazy Cat 41,842]

7 hours ago, Vickys_Mom said:

USCIS wants everyone's fingerprints during this process.

That is not accurate.  This is rare for a petitioner to be fingerprinted.   

Edited June 1, 2023 by Crazy Cat

[carmel34 3,624]

14 hours ago, Cirkul said:

I would like to think that USCIS will submit my fingerprints to FBI and see no convictions and let my petition proceed.

Maybe, or maybe not, it is difficult to predict at this point.  USCIS does a thorough background check on petitioners and can see criminal records for dismissed charges that you can't, this is the most likely reason for the request for your fingerprints, as it is very unusual for petitioners to have to go in for biometrics.  Be prepared to hire a good immigration attorney with experience in AWA issues for the petitioner, and have all the documents from the dismissed charges ready to submit if asked.  Good luck!

[Cirkul 15]

Thanks for the replies everyone. It sounds like this can be done, however I am in a dark, dark place. It's hard to NOT worry about the prospect of my wife of whom I have been with for 3 years to not be able to come here. I mean we even started shipping her clothing/personal effects here. To top it off these were charges I was innocent of. I don't know what is better, a RFE or a NOID....since I will have to respond to both in the same way. 3 times I have gone to the Philippines to be with my wife. 2 of those times I was flagged for a secondary inspection where USCIS did a deep search of my name, but ultimately could not find anything. Each secondary inspection took about 10 minutes. My most recent visit(April/May) I had no secondary inspection. I wonder if there is miscommunication between State and Federal agencies. Again, trying to stay hopeful. But this is probably the hardest thing I've gone through and I must admit, most of it is due to my negative attitude.

Edited June 1, 2023 by Cirkul
to add a few sentences

[SalishSea 17,820]

6 hours ago, Vickys_Mom said:

USCIS wants everyone's fingerprints during this process.  If that's all they said, your lawyer is making a leap of judgment.  (Does the lawyer want more money?)

 

Go do your fingerprints.  Don't worry about other things until they come up.  Continue to be honest about what happened in the past.

 

Regards,
Vicky's Mom

Not correct.  As a petitioner myself, I have never once been fingerprinted.

 

Fingerprints for a petitioner are atypical.

[Vickys_Mom 225]

2 minutes ago, SalishSea said:

Not correct.  As a petitioner myself, I have never once been fingerprinted.

I'm just lucky, then.  I've been fingerprinted by USCIS twice...one in 1999 (first wife) and again in 2011 (second wife).  No background issues that I'm aware of.

 

Regards,
Vicky's Mom

[Cirkul 15]

6 hours ago, Vickys_Mom said:

USCIS wants everyone's fingerprints during this process.  If that's all they said, your lawyer is making a leap of judgment.  (Does the lawyer want more money?)

 

Go do your fingerprints.  Don't worry about other things until they come up.  Continue to be honest about what happened in the past.

 

Regards,
Vicky's Mom

Vicky's Mom,
 No my lawyer has not asked for more money. He is not one of those guys. He did many free consultations with me the 2 years leading up to my marriage. Only just prior to my first to trip abroad did I pay the retainer. It's just that he bluntly said he doesn't have a lot of AWA experience that frightens me. Trying not to worry. Maybe I should stop reading some of the bad stories. One foot in front of the other, right?

[Family 3,988]

18 hours ago, Cirkul said:

Prior to trial, all charges were dismissed. I did not take any type of deal, the prosecutor literally chose to dismiss the charges against me.

There are many pragmatic reasons a DA can choose not to prosecute/dismiss…

Most humans ( USCIS Officers / Consulate Officers included) will not view you in a sympathetic light..

I suppose “ Where There’s Smoke There’s Fire” might sum up the mindset .

 

You hired the wrong attorney, though he did a superb CYA for lack of AWA experience…

 

https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/252768.pdf

Child sexual abuse (CSA) cases are notoriously difficult to prosecute. Medical evidence is available in less than 5% of the reported cases of CSA and the prosecution often must rely on the testimony of a child.

Edited June 1, 2023 by Family

[Boiler 45,476]

I must admit I thought there was a requirement for a Conviction for AWA to apply, not that a dismissed charge would not attract scrutiny. 

 

Makes me also wonder how many AWA cases your average Immigration Lawyer has handled.

[Cirkul 15]

29 minutes ago, Boiler said:

I must admit I thought there was a requirement for a Conviction for AWA to apply, not that a dismissed charge would not attract scrutiny. 

 

Makes me also wonder how many AWA cases your average Immigration Lawyer has handled.

Boiler,

 

That is my understanding as well. I was not convicted of a crime. Of course it will attract scrutiny. I've read posts on this website where USCIS still sent a NOID just for seeing dismissed charges and citing the NOID for AWA. My hope is that USCIS is just taking my biometrics as part of the background check with increased scrutiny due to the dismissed charges. I already have a certified copy of the dismissal with me in my office in case it is asked for.

[Boiler 45,476]

I assume anything like AWA pops up your case is diverted out of the norm and the next step is Biometrics etc etc. Others may know a lawyer who specialises in AWA, I do not remember any.