VAWA, Part 27

[OldUser 7,646]

7 minutes ago, lostwanderer said:

Hey everyone, I have a question. I have two misdemeanors petty theft and trespass. Will this affect my VAWA case approval? Has anyone been approved with a criminal record? i’d really appreciate any insight.

Not WAVA, but may affect adjustment of status, depending on state laws. Worst case you may be found inadmissable and deportable.

Edited yesterday at 08:19 PM by OldUser

[lostwanderer 0]

45 minutes ago, OldUser said:

Not WAVA, but may affect adjustment of status, depending on state laws. Worst case you may be found inadmissable and deportable.

I should probably apply for a waiver asap then 

[OldUser 7,646]

7 minutes ago, lostwanderer said:

I should probably apply for a waiver asap then 

I'm not 100% sure, but you can only do it if found inadmissable by officer. Others can correct me.

[Meingandu 4]

1 hour ago, lostwanderer said:

Hey everyone, I have a question. I have two misdemeanors petty theft and trespass. Will this affect my VAWA case approval? Has anyone been approved with a criminal record? i’d really appreciate any insight.

Approval of 360 would not impact. 
approval of 485 it may impact depending on severity of the charges. 
Approval of citizenship definitely it will ring all the alarms 🚨 at USCIS. 
 

you will need a good attorney to sort things out. 

[Meingandu 4]

Quick question to all fam - has anyone updated address with USCIS. For vawa online update is not possible so AR-11 is the only way. Does anybody know how long it takes to be updated and if we get any type of confirmation or receipt mailed To the new address. 

[TBoneTX 46,173]

Wednesday!  Time for our Semiofficial Semiweekly VAWA-Thread Joke:

===========================================
THE UNEXPECTED WINDFALL

 

A woman in her late 40s got out of bed, stood up, and stretched, and a penny fell out of her private parts.  She thought that it was odd, but she kept on with her morning routine.

 

She went to put on a pot of coffee, and a nickel fell out of her privates.  She was concerned, but she continued her morning routine.

 

She drank her coffee and went to brush her teeth when a dime fell out of her privates.  She became really concerned and thought to herself, "If anything else happens, I'm calling the doctor!"

 

She got dressed and started to tidy up the house, and a quarter fell out of her privates.  Concerned, she called her doctor.  She told him about the penny, nickel, dime,and quarter.

 

"No need to worry," he said.  "You're just going through the change."
 

[Demise 1,346]

16 hours ago, lostwanderer said:

Hey everyone, I have a question. I have two misdemeanors petty theft and trespass. Will this affect my VAWA case approval? Has anyone been approved with a criminal record? i’d really appreciate any insight.

 

With one petty theft and one trespass you should be fine. Like bring a lawyer to the interview if they do decide to interview you, say only as much as you need to, and you'll be fine.

 

If you want a further explanation, there's two things at play here:

1. Good moral character for VAWA: https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-3-part-d-chapter-2 (scrolldown to section G), none of the elements really apply here aside the CIMT one, and;

2. Crimes involving moral turpitude (CIMT): Now, thefts in general are CIMTs, trespasses are not. CIMTs in general make you inadmissible however one petty theft would be covered under the "petty offense exemption" - basically the maximum sentence possible is under 1 year and you've got less than 6 months for it.

 

In the unlikely event that they want an I-601 from you, well, you'll just have to file that, just wait for them to first demand it. On the bright side CIMT waiver is available for VAWA self-petitioners solely on the basis of being a VAWA self-petitioner.

[Demise 1,346]

13 hours ago, Meingandu said:

Quick question to all fam - has anyone updated address with USCIS. For vawa online update is not possible so AR-11 is the only way. Does anybody know how long it takes to be updated and if we get any type of confirmation or receipt mailed To the new address. 

 

I have previously, and this is part of the email that my senator's staffer got from VSC:

 

" Your constituent filed as an I - Self-Petitioning Spouse of Abusive U.S.C. or LPR (VAWA). Your constituent states she completed an AR-11 change of address. Unfortunately, Form AR-11 cannot be used to change the address on VAWA forms.

Given that this is a VAWA case, your constituent will need to provide a letter with an original signature that matches what we have on file. The letter will need to provide the new address, and state “this is my new Safe Address” or “I would like my new Safe Address to be ____”. You may submit a scanned copy of the signed/dated letter to the Vermont Service Center Congressional Unit. Also the letter needs to list the receipt number of the form(s) the change of safe address applies to or state all immigration matters. "

 

Now, in my case I've sent in an AR-11 and a letter with roughly the correct wording (I think I wrote something like "my new VAWA mailing address"). After my senator inquired that's when they finally found the letter and applied the change of address.

 

So what I'd recommend is to write said letter, print it out, sign it, scan it, give it and a privacy release form to your representative/senator, and have the rep/senator give it to VSC, then a few weeks later they can follow up on your behalf. Like VSC is a black hole for any kind of correspondence which is why "ask your rep/senator for help" has become common practice here because by law they have to answer congressional inquiries.

 

Also, no, they don't give any kind of acknowledgement if they accept the change of address, which once again is why having a rep/senator on the case is a good idea.

Edited 6 hours ago by Demise

[Meingandu 4]

13 minutes ago, Demise said:

 

I have previously, and this is part of the email that my senator's staffer got from VSC:

 

" Your constituent filed as an I - Self-Petitioning Spouse of Abusive U.S.C. or LPR (VAWA). Your constituent states she completed an AR-11 change of address. Unfortunately, Form AR-11 cannot be used to change the address on VAWA forms.

Given that this is a VAWA case, your constituent will need to provide a letter with an original signature that matches what we have on file. The letter will need to provide the new address, and state “this is my new Safe Address” or “I would like my new Safe Address to be ____”. You may submit a scanned copy of the signed/dated letter to the Vermont Service Center Congressional Unit. Also the letter needs to list the receipt number of the form(s) the change of safe address applies to or state all immigration matters. "

 

Now, in my case I've sent in an AR-11 and a letter with roughly the correct wording (I think I wrote something like "my new VAWA mailing address"). After my senator inquired that's when they finally found the letter and applied the change of address.

 

So what I'd recommend is to write said letter, print it out, sign it, scan it, give it and a privacy release form to your representative/senator, and have the rep/senator give it to VSC, then a few weeks later they can follow up on your behalf. Like VSC is a black hole for any kind of correspondence which is why "ask your rep/senator for help" has become common practice here because by law they have to answer congressional inquiries.

 

Also, no, they don't give any kind of acknowledgement if they accept the change of address, which once again is why having a rep/senator on the case is a good idea.

My attorney did send an extra page with AR-11 which states the name, A#, DOB, and wording of address change. The actual AR-11 form was signed by me (no digital signature but actual hand print signature). It does not say anything about VAWA. It was mailed out in Dec right before Christmas. The reason to confirm the address change is because I want to request a new EAD card to be mailed to the new address. When they approved ead they sent it to the wrong address. So before I order I want to make sure that it is indeed updated. 
 

your response makes sense. The only way to find out positively is going through Rep or a Senator. Thanks. 

[Dee88 0]

On 2/3/2025 at 4:10 PM, Demise said:

 

It's been taking like 4-6 weeks lately if memory serves me.

One thing to keep in mind that C31 is only issued subsequent to approval of I-360.

Likely instead you should be filing I-765 under category code (c)(9), as that's the one that's generally issued for 5 years and can be on a single card with AP and only requires a pending I-485.

 

Just putting that out because it's a pretty common mistake that people have been burnt on.

 

 

I'll be honest with you and say that I have no idea. Expedites in general are discretionary (short of the policies of emergency parole), ask your senator/congressman to ask for you and hope for the best. Like that's the thing about asking for anything really, worst that can happen is that you'll be told no.

Thank you for your response @Demise If a CO9 renewal for EAD has not been responded to, can I do e-filing and withdraw previous one? Don’t want to loose my job. 

[lostwanderer 0]

2 hours ago, Demise said:

 

With one petty theft and one trespass you should be fine. Like bring a lawyer to the interview if they do decide to interview you, say only as much as you need to, and you'll be fine.

 

If you want a further explanation, there's two things at play here:

1. Good moral character for VAWA: https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-3-part-d-chapter-2 (scrolldown to section G), none of the elements really apply here aside the CIMT one, and;

2. Crimes involving moral turpitude (CIMT): Now, thefts in general are CIMTs, trespasses are not. CIMTs in general make you inadmissible however one petty theft would be covered under the "petty offense exemption" - basically the maximum sentence possible is under 1 year and you've got less than 6 months for it.

 

In the unlikely event that they want an I-601 from you, well, you'll just have to file that, just wait for them to first demand it. On the bright side CIMT waiver is available for VAWA self-petitioners solely on the basis of being a VAWA self-petitioner.

That’s what i was thinking. That since trespass isn’t a cimt i’d be covered under the petty offense exception. regardless of that my lawyer said she wants to file the waiver just in case we need it but i feel like we should wait for them to ask for it first. 

[Demise 1,346]

42 minutes ago, lostwanderer said:

That’s what i was thinking. That since trespass isn’t a cimt i’d be covered under the petty offense exception. regardless of that my lawyer said she wants to file the waiver just in case we need it but i feel like we should wait for them to ask for it first. 

Yeah there's no point in filing it before they demand it. Like you can have it all ready to go if they RFE you for it, but just wait until they do RFE you for it.

 

1 hour ago, Dee88 said:

Thank you for your response @Demise If a CO9 renewal for EAD has not been responded to, can I do e-filing and withdraw previous one? Don’t want to loose my job. 

I am not sure if they do allow e-filing for VAWA C09 EADs. You can try and see what happens, regarding withdrawing the other one, honestly don't bother, they will likely close one as a duplicate.

 

Might not be the worst idea to ask your rep/senator to nudge them on your behalf.

[Dee88 0]

1 hour ago, Demise said:

Yeah there's no point in filing it before they demand it. Like you can have it all ready to go if they RFE you for it, but just wait until they do RFE you for it.

 

I am not sure if they do allow e-filing for VAWA C09 EADs. You can try and see what happens, regarding withdrawing the other one, honestly don't bother, they will likely close one as a duplicate.

 

Might not be the worst idea to ask your rep/senator to nudge them on your behalf.

Thank you so much for your response.