Which documents are required to disclose a felony background? (i129f sponsor)

[FamilyGuyUSA 0]

Hello, I am a USA citizen sponsoring a Brazilian fiancé for a K1 visa. Unfortunately I have some convictions from 13 years ago for selling a drug. What should I include with my i-129f to avoid denial or RFE?

 

I found this requirement on the IMBRA:

 

“If the petitioner indicates that he or she has been convicted by a court or by a military tribunal for one of the specified crimes by checking one or more of the boxes in Part C., question 2 of Form I-129F, or USCIS ascertains through relevant background checks that the petitioner has been convicted, the petitioner will be required to submit certified copies of all court and police records showing the charges and dispositions for every such conviction.”

 

I’m having a hard time determining exactly what is required in documentation. I have court stamped paperwork showing I was initially charged with several counts of Trafficking that were dismissed: “VD District Dismissals w/o Leave by DA – No Plea Agreement”

 

Would it be important to include that the reason for dismissal was the drug I was in possession of had been misidentified? The court had the drug tested in a lab, once properly identified as 4-MEC my charges were reduced to “PWISD Schedule 1” and “Delivery of Schedule 1”

 

I was sentenced to 1 year of probation, which I violated on the 10^th month with a “Defrauding Drug Screen/Test” misdemeanor. This charge was dismissed as well, but my probation was extended by 1 more year and was then completed successfully. 

 

I understand I will need a document verifying that the probation was successfully completed? Is this true? I reached out to the probation office, and they provided me with a document stating the times of my probation, but it doesn’t specifically state that it was completed without further issue.

 

I also have letters from a drug counselor and psychologist confirming that I was in treatment with them at the time. Would it be appropriate to include these letters as well?

 

If anyone has successfully been able to sponsor a K1 visa with a felony background, please comment and share what documentation was needed. I would love to avoid a denial or RFE 😊

[Edward and Jaycel 790]

I had one charge that was a felony from 30+ years ago - I misunderstood the instructions on the I-129F and on the application, I disclosed the charge and the court disposition but did NOT include any documentation. As you can imagine I got an RFE requesting the documentation. In response to the RFE, I sent a certified copy of the court disposition (signed, stamped and sealed by the court clerk) and a letter from the police agency, in response to my request for my arrest records, stating that since they were 30+ years old, they met their criteria for document destruction and thus no longer existed. USCIS approved my application 4 days after receiving the RFE response. Hope this helps.

[Boiler 46,277]

One of the benefits of going the Spouse route

[FamilyGuyUSA 0]

1 hour ago, Edward and Jaycel said:

I had one charge that was a felony from 30+ years ago - I misunderstood the instructions on the I-129F and on the application, I disclosed the charge and the court disposition but did NOT include any documentation. As you can imagine I got an RFE requesting the documentation. In response to the RFE, I sent a certified copy of the court disposition (signed, stamped and sealed by the court clerk) and a letter from the police agency, in response to my request for my arrest records, stating that since they were 30+ years old, they met their criteria for document destruction and thus no longer existed. USCIS approved my application 4 days after receiving the RFE response. Hope this helps.

So they only wanted the court disposition and the letter from the police? There was no requirement for needing evidence of your punishment being completed or anything else?

1 hour ago, Boiler said:

One of the benefits of going the Spouse route

I’m sorry, can you elaborate on the spouse route? What is different and which visa are you talking about?

[Edward and Jaycel 790]

1 hour ago, FamilyGuyUSA said:

So they only wanted the court disposition and the letter from the police? There was no requirement for needing evidence of your punishment being completed or anything else?

I only sent those documents and they accepted them as resolving my RFE. I had probation too but I did not have any documentation available regarding completing it so I didn’t send anything about it.

[FamilyGuyUSA 0]

On 2/9/2025 at 5:45 PM, Boiler said:

One of the benefits of going the Spouse route

Boiler, what exactly is the spousal route? Which visa is this specifically, the K3? And how would this make the process easier?

[MalloryCat 332]

they are referring to the CR1/IR1 visa, also called the spousal visa

it is different than the K1 visa as in order to file for it, you have to marry your partner first

you can read about it here

https://www.visajourney.com/ir1-spouse-visa-overview/

 

*criminal history of the USC is usually irrelevant for the spousal visa unless the conviction/charge falls under the Adam Walsh Act (aka sex crime against a child).  There is no requirement that the petitioner disclose their criminal history as any part of a CR1 case

 

Edited February 14 by MalloryCat

[top_secret 2,550]

On 2/9/2025 at 2:45 PM, Boiler said:

One of the benefits of going the Spouse route

 

3 hours ago, FamilyGuyUSA said:

Boiler, what exactly is the spousal route? Which visa is this specifically, the K3? And how would this make the process easier?

 

If you get married and are petitioning your wife rather than your fiancée, then there is no requirement to declare or disclose any type of arrests or convictions.  Unless a petitioner had a record of specific immigration related crimes, sex crimes, crimes against children or extremely serious relationship violence, any other type of "ordinary" criminal record is very unlikely to be raised at all during any point of the entire immigration process. There is no requirement to disclose it and they are very unlikely to even mention it.

 

We initially pursued the K1 route and I have several 30-year-old convictions that I would have had to disclose.  I had started digging up old court cases and arrest reports but the process was becoming a little daunting.  Based mostly on the other benefits of a CR1 spousal visa vs a K1 fiancée visa, but also in part due the hassles of digging up old criminal records, we decided it was best to get married and pursue the CR1 visa instead of a K1 visa. For us it was one of the better decisions I ever made.

 

I imagine @Crazy Cat will be along here shortly with a better comparison of the two options.

[Crazy Cat 42,563]

5 minutes ago, top_secret said:

I imagine @Crazy Cat will be along here shortly with a better comparison of the two options.

 

 

Every couple has their own priorities, and each couple must decide which visa is better for their situation.

K-1 
  More expensive than CR-1
  Requires Adjustment of Status after marriage (expensive and requires a lot of paperwork)
  Spouse can not leave the US until she/he receives approved Advance Parole (approx 3-6 months) 
  Spouse can not work until she/he receives EAD (approx 3-6 months) 
  Some people have had problems with driver licenses, Social Security cards, leases, bank account during this period 
  Spouse will not receive Green Card for many months after Adjustment of Status is filed.
  A K-1 might be a better choice when 18-21 year old children are immigrating also
  In some situations, marriage can affect certain Home country benefits, making a K-1 a better choice 
  A denied K-1 is sent back to USCIS to expire
  K-1 entrant cannot file for citizenship until after having Green Card for 3 years.
  Once an I-129F has been approved, delaying the case is difficult to impossible if the need arises.

CR-1/IR-1
  Less expensive than K-1 
  No Adjustment of Status(I-485, I-131, I-765) required. 
  Spouse can immediately travel outside the US 
  Spouse is authorized to work immediately upon arrival. 
  Spouse receives Social Security Card and Green Card within 2 or 3 weeks after entering the US 
  Opening a bank account, getting a driver's license, etc. are very easily accomplished with GC, SS card, and passport.
  Spouse has legal permanent Resident status IMMEDIATELY upon entry to US.
  The clock for citizenship filing starts immediately upon entry to the US.
  A CR-1/IR-1 case can be delayed indefinitely at NVC if the need arises.