Previous detainments despite never committing a crime?

[angelic4444 3]

Hello all! I am currently in the process of filing my i-485 and am just wondering what to include as far as part 8 question 25 goes.

I have previously been detained during a traffic stop here in the US, I was a passenger and was cuffed and questioned, then let go.

As a minor I did have a more complex situation, where I did not commit any crime but was detained by the FBI for my own safety due to suspicions of human trafficking.

I have never been arrested or jailed or convicted of any kind of crime. Should I include these two past detainments? Or should I only include the traffic stop because the other detainment happened when I was a minor? Or do I not include the traffic stop because of how common that type of interaction with law enforcement is?

I have a lawyer consult tomorrow and will absolutely ask, but would love to hear from someone who has been in any kind of similar situation.

[EatBulaga 314]

25 minutes ago, angelic4444 said:

Hello all! I am currently in the process of filing my i-485 and am just wondering what to include as far as part 8 question 25 goes.

I have previously been detained during a traffic stop here in the US, I was a passenger and was cuffed and questioned, then let go.

As a minor I did have a more complex situation, where I did not commit any crime but was detained by the FBI for my own safety due to suspicions of human trafficking.

I have never been arrested or jailed or convicted of any kind of crime. Should I include these two past detainments? Or should I only include the traffic stop because the other detainment happened when I was a minor? Or do I not include the traffic stop because of how common that type of interaction with law enforcement is?

I have a lawyer consult tomorrow and will absolutely ask, but would love to hear from someone who has been in any kind of similar situation.

 

Answer 25 and 26 truthfully, and include explanations in Part 14, Additional Information.

 

 

Edited July 23 by EatBulaga

[angelic4444 3]

32 minutes ago, EatBulaga said:

 

Answer 25 and 26 truthfully, and include explanations in Part 14, Additional Information.

 

 

Thank you! Should I do a separate box for both incidents or include them both in the same one?

[EatBulaga 314]

7 minutes ago, angelic4444 said:

Thank you! Should I do a separate box for both incidents or include them both in the same one?
 

It's up to you how to organize your response and how much you need to explain to be truthful.

You may be surprised at how much information the DHS/USCIS/CBP/etc. can access.

The interviewer may ask you something they may already know just to see if you will answer correctly?

Edited July 23 by EatBulaga

[angelic4444 3]

3 minutes ago, EatBulaga said:

It's up to you how to organize your response and how much you need to explain to be truthful.

You may be surprised at how much information the DHS/USCIS/CBP/etc. can access.

The interviewer may ask you something they may already know just to see if you will answer correctly?

Thank you I really appreciate it, I'll do my best to format everything in the most easily understandable way possible. I'm assuming it will probably all be brought up when I am interviewed eventually and I will be able to explain things more clearly. Just afraid to answer yes and receive a denial because I didn't explain things properly.

[OldUser 6,456]

10 minutes ago, angelic4444 said:

Thank you I really appreciate it, I'll do my best to format everything in the most easily understandable way possible. I'm assuming it will probably all be brought up when I am interviewed eventually and I will be able to explain things more clearly. Just afraid to answer yes and receive a denial because I didn't explain things properly.

The answer "no" may result you being accused of misrepresentation and cause inadmissability

Edited July 23 by OldUser

[EatBulaga 314]

13 minutes ago, angelic4444 said:

Thank you I really appreciate it, I'll do my best to format everything in the most easily understandable way possible. I'm assuming it will probably all be brought up when I am interviewed eventually and I will be able to explain things more clearly. Just afraid to answer yes and receive a denial because I didn't explain things properly.

In one of the forms, we had to mark "Yes" to something similar to #25, and mentioned in the additional information about a dozen traffic and parking tickets over a period of 20+ years, many of which were cleared with defensive driving courses. We were never questioned about them.

Sometimes just listing any citations however trivial give the reviewer some sense of truthfulness/credibility to the rest of your answers like from 25-86, of which we don't know what access they may have.

Edited July 23 by EatBulaga

[Nous Eb 86]

Always answer truthfully and then explain in part 14 or even separate if it's a long explanation.

[hmwtx 9]

I also advise absolute honesty.

My husband had an issue with the woman he was dating right before we met - when she realized she couldn't get him back, she went a little nuts and ended up charging him with assault.  He didn't do anything to her - and he had several witnesses who were present to submit sworn statements to that effect.  She had him arrested on Christmas Eve (he bonded out the next morning, and he's not a Christian anyway so it didn't matter to him what day it was), and eventually the grand jury no-billed him and the DA dropped the case.  When we did our paperwork, he had not yet been no-billed and the case was still pending with the grand jury.  He filled in information about his arrest, and it does not seem to have slowed things down.  He got his EAD and Advance Parole card three weeks ago, and we just got notified that our interview has been scheduled, so his AOS is still chugging along.  If they ask him about the overnight jail stay during interview, he'll just tell the truth - even though now, with an expunction order pending, it would not appear on a standard background check.  Never know what USCIS can dig up out of the depths of the internet.