Criminal Record - do we have hope?

[JAPrincess 27]

Sam?

[^KK^ 3]

any word? Interview date?

[Sam & Rasta 0]

Hello all,

First, I must apologize for my long absence. Right or wrong, it was one of my coping mechanisms during these past months waiting for my husband's expungement. I hope all are doing well and I'll be doing some catchup on the board this weekend. Thanks to those who have kept in touch. I'm very pleased to have an update on my husband's case; his expungement was finally processed last week and he received his police certificate today! Our packet will finally go out next week.

For those who expressed interest in the process, I'll briefly share our experience...

I'll say right off that we followed the process of the Jamaican government and paid no one off (perhaps it may have gone faster if we had, but we had concerns that would only bring trouble). We originally applied in March and in July his eligibility was approved by the Ministry of Justice. He then had to provide reference letters and apply for a police certificate and fingerprints. For some reason this background check took a long time. After both of us calling persistently, we finally got the name of a woman in charge of the expungement department and she was incredibly helpful in getting his paperwork tracked down and presented to the justices for approval. The justices approved it on 10/22, we were notified on 10/23, told the expungement letter was ready on 10/26, and my husband picked up the letter on 10/27; he needed to take the letter with him when he applied for his police certificate. The rest from here was standard procedure and he picked up the certificate today. Apparently that area of Kingston was, in his words, a "gun war", so he opted not to fedex from there as we planned. Of course this is Jamaica and there's not a Kinko's on every corner, so I told him just to wait until Monday and go to Ochi, he'd been running around enough.

So that's my story. Hoping the worse is over and that maybe he'll be able to come home around our anniversary in January. I haven't been checking timelines or anything, guess that'll be one of my first catchup items!

Sam

Yardies,

My excitement about our recent NOA2 is quickly being deflated. We've had a potential issue looming over our heads regarding a 1999 marijuana conviction my husband had in Jamaica; we was over 18. He served 3 months in prison and has had no other criminal issues. When we first researched what we needed to do for immigration, I naturally was concerned about this. Two immigration attorneys I spoke with both said a 10-year-old, 3 month conviction wouldn't be a problem.

Now as I'm reading the ineligibility requirements (for the upteenth time!) I'm really getting worried. It seems this could flat out make him ineligible, no hope! We're looking into getting the conviction expunged, but the Jamaican ministry site says this could take 6 months, and the immigration site seems to indicated that even an expunged record will still show up for immigration purposes.

Are we totally screwed??? Any thoughts or suggestions would be much appreciated!

Sam

[MsSheka 0]

Hello all,

First, I must apologize for my long absence. Right or wrong, it was one of my coping mechanisms during these past months waiting for my husband's expungement. I hope all are doing well and I'll be doing some catchup on the board this weekend. Thanks to those who have kept in touch. I'm very pleased to have an update on my husband's case; his expungement was finally processed last week and he received his police certificate today! Our packet will finally go out next week.

For those who expressed interest in the process, I'll briefly share our experience...

I'll say right off that we followed the process of the Jamaican government and paid no one off (perhaps it may have gone faster if we had, but we had concerns that would only bring trouble). We originally applied in March and in July his eligibility was approved by the Ministry of Justice. He then had to provide reference letters and apply for a police certificate and fingerprints. For some reason this background check took a long time. After both of us calling persistently, we finally got the name of a woman in charge of the expungement department and she was incredibly helpful in getting his paperwork tracked down and presented to the justices for approval. The justices approved it on 10/22, we were notified on 10/23, told the expungement letter was ready on 10/26, and my husband picked up the letter on 10/27; he needed to take the letter with him when he applied for his police certificate. The rest from here was standard procedure and he picked up the certificate today. Apparently that area of Kingston was, in his words, a "gun war", so he opted not to fedex from there as we planned. Of course this is Jamaica and there's not a Kinko's on every corner, so I told him just to wait until Monday and go to Ochi, he'd been running around enough.

So that's my story. Hoping the worse is over and that maybe he'll be able to come home around our anniversary in January. I haven't been checking timelines or anything, guess that'll be one of my first catchup items!

Sam

Yardies,

My excitement about our recent NOA2 is quickly being deflated. We've had a potential issue looming over our heads regarding a 1999 marijuana conviction my husband had in Jamaica; we was over 18. He served 3 months in prison and has had no other criminal issues. When we first researched what we needed to do for immigration, I naturally was concerned about this. Two immigration attorneys I spoke with both said a 10-year-old, 3 month conviction wouldn't be a problem.

Now as I'm reading the ineligibility requirements (for the upteenth time!) I'm really getting worried. It seems this could flat out make him ineligible, no hope! We're looking into getting the conviction expunged, but the Jamaican ministry site says this could take 6 months, and the immigration site seems to indicated that even an expunged record will still show up for immigration purposes.

Are we totally screwed??? Any thoughts or suggestions would be much appreciated!

Sam

Sam first of all congrats and you did the right thing now you can move on with no clouds over your head I hope you get your interview date soon

[JAPrincess 27]

Hello all,

First, I must apologize for my long absence. Right or wrong, it was one of my coping mechanisms during these past months waiting for my husband's expungement. I hope all are doing well and I'll be doing some catchup on the board this weekend. Thanks to those who have kept in touch. I'm very pleased to have an update on my husband's case; his expungement was finally processed last week and he received his police certificate today! Our packet will finally go out next week.

For those who expressed interest in the process, I'll briefly share our experience...

I'll say right off that we followed the process of the Jamaican government and paid no one off (perhaps it may have gone faster if we had, but we had concerns that would only bring trouble). We originally applied in March and in July his eligibility was approved by the Ministry of Justice. He then had to provide reference letters and apply for a police certificate and fingerprints. For some reason this background check took a long time. After both of us calling persistently, we finally got the name of a woman in charge of the expungement department and she was incredibly helpful in getting his paperwork tracked down and presented to the justices for approval. The justices approved it on 10/22, we were notified on 10/23, told the expungement letter was ready on 10/26, and my husband picked up the letter on 10/27; he needed to take the letter with him when he applied for his police certificate. The rest from here was standard procedure and he picked up the certificate today. Apparently that area of Kingston was, in his words, a "gun war", so he opted not to fedex from there as we planned. Of course this is Jamaica and there's not a Kinko's on every corner, so I told him just to wait until Monday and go to Ochi, he'd been running around enough.

So that's my story. Hoping the worse is over and that maybe he'll be able to come home around our anniversary in January. I haven't been checking timelines or anything, guess that'll be one of my first catchup items!

Sam

Wow, such a long journey

God Bless you Sam, I pray you are united with your husband soon

Thank you for sharing your story!

[DedicatedWife 4]

Hello all,

First, I must apologize for my long absence. Right or wrong, it was one of my coping mechanisms during these past months waiting for my husband's expungement. I hope all are doing well and I'll be doing some catchup on the board this weekend. Thanks to those who have kept in touch. I'm very pleased to have an update on my husband's case; his expungement was finally processed last week and he received his police certificate today! Our packet will finally go out next week.

For those who expressed interest in the process, I'll briefly share our experience...

I'll say right off that we followed the process of the Jamaican government and paid no one off (perhaps it may have gone faster if we had, but we had concerns that would only bring trouble). We originally applied in March and in July his eligibility was approved by the Ministry of Justice. He then had to provide reference letters and apply for a police certificate and fingerprints. For some reason this background check took a long time. After both of us calling persistently, we finally got the name of a woman in charge of the expungement department and she was incredibly helpful in getting his paperwork tracked down and presented to the justices for approval. The justices approved it on 10/22, we were notified on 10/23, told the expungement letter was ready on 10/26, and my husband picked up the letter on 10/27; he needed to take the letter with him when he applied for his police certificate. The rest from here was standard procedure and he picked up the certificate today. Apparently that area of Kingston was, in his words, a "gun war", so he opted not to fedex from there as we planned. Of course this is Jamaica and there's not a Kinko's on every corner, so I told him just to wait until Monday and go to Ochi, he'd been running around enough.

So that's my story. Hoping the worse is over and that maybe he'll be able to come home around our anniversary in January. I haven't been checking timelines or anything, guess that'll be one of my first catchup items!

Sam

Yardies,

My excitement about our recent NOA2 is quickly being deflated. We've had a potential issue looming over our heads regarding a 1999 marijuana conviction my husband had in Jamaica; we was over 18. He served 3 months in prison and has had no other criminal issues. When we first researched what we needed to do for immigration, I naturally was concerned about this. Two immigration attorneys I spoke with both said a 10-year-old, 3 month conviction wouldn't be a problem.

Now as I'm reading the ineligibility requirements (for the upteenth time!) I'm really getting worried. It seems this could flat out make him ineligible, no hope! We're looking into getting the conviction expunged, but the Jamaican ministry site says this could take 6 months, and the immigration site seems to indicated that even an expunged record will still show up for immigration purposes.

Are we totally screwed??? Any thoughts or suggestions would be much appreciated!

Sam

That's great news. Wish you and your husband nothing but smooth sailing from here on out.

Den's Wifey