I am the US petitioner who will be petitioning for my husband. We got married July 2019 and I am getting ready to send off our petition. A friend advised me that I should disclose my criminal record from 20+ years ago.
At that time I had a charge of retail theft (misdemeanor), obstruction of justice/resisting a peace officer. I did not do any time in jail and was given probation. I have served probation, have been in no other legal trouble, and currently have a steady job requiring yearly background investigations for several years.
I do not see anywhere in the USCIS instructions that it is necessary to disclose a previous criminal record during the 130 petition. I want to be transparent so if it could cause a delay or look like I am hiding something, I can get the court records. The only reason I hesitate is because they are not easy to get as I am no longer in that area and we would like to send our petition off soon (but of course do not want a delay at a later time).
Yes, my husband will have full knowledge of all this information during this interview.
Is this important for the initial petition?