picard

Hello Expats. I am in a REAL dilema here and pretty distressed about what I have recently found out about the K! process. My fiancee in the USA and I want to marry, we have been 'dating' a couple of years now and are VERY in love. I have told her that I have a past criminal record but not in detail as I cant remember MYSELF what the exact wording of the offence was.
Basically I have been reading all the K1 sites and have discovered that my offence falls into the 'moral turpitude' group..... My offence is classed as SPENT in the UK and was nearly 8 years ago. Before this unfortunate event and after I have been an upright and law abiding citizen. The problem is this....I have been entering the USA on a visa waiver on the FIRST occasion ONLY I have found that my offence was not fully 'spent'. Also I now see that the USA dont allow ANY crimes to pass from your records (very unfair I would say and doesnt help rehab!). So have I been entering the USA illgally?? Furthermore I realise that when time come to fill in a K1 form I will, literally, be hanging myself by my admission of entering on a waiver. I DARENT tell my fiancee about this as she has gone thru hell this past year with health and other problems. But is this going to mean the END for me...............banned from entering or from ever getting a K1.........and the end of seeing my beautiful lady? SOMEONE PLEASE HELP???

207lonsdale

Sorry, but you need to be a little more specific! Where are you from, at what age was your crime committed and what was the nature of your crime? At the time of using the VWP were you aware that you were not eligible?

Julie

picard

sorry Im new to this. I am from the UK I was 35 when the offence was comitted. I was told at the time that the offence was assault but apparently this got reworded later to something else! It was a first (and last) offence. The judge examined my ex-military record which is exemplary and my standing in the community. I got probation only. It upsets me now that I have rebuilt my life and found someone I truly love and this stupid act is going to mess up the rest of my life now. Will a top lawyer be able to get me thru this and help?

picard

Sorry I forgot to add that I was NOT aware that I was not eligible to use the VWP UNTIL returning to the UK and was told of this!

207lonsdale

I have a juvenile conviction and used the VWP on four occasions. Although, one juvenile conviction generally would not result in being denied a K1 Visa, the fact that I had used the VWP when not eligible could have resulted in a denial.

At the time I submitted the forms to the London Embassy I was still unaware that I had not been eligible to use the VWP. I had enclosed a Statement of Fact in respect of my conviction and one of the forms had asked for details of any trips to the US and the type of visa used, I listed all four trips and confirmed that I had used the VWP.

Sometime after opening my provisional file with the London Embassy I was advised of the fact that I had not been eligible to use the VWP!! I assumed that this issue would be raised at my interview and I was hoping that I would be able to convince the officer that I had not committed visa fraud (albeit that ignorance is not generally an acceptable defence) ...... however, my interview was completed in less than 5 minutes and not one mention of my conviction or my use of the VWP was made!

Obviously, I have no idea whether your use of the VWP will be disregarded as mine was. However, knowing I did not have a problem in that respect must be of some comfort, in that it proves that using the VWP when not eligible does not *always* result in a denial!!

I really do not know whether your particular circumstances warrant hiring a lawyer at this stage. My partner and I had it in mind that we might consider hiring a lawyer should our petition be denied, but that was with the knowledge that my crime was committed as a juvenile and 24 years had since passed.

Julie

207lonsdale

Sorry, but I really can't comment on your offence ...... you really need to find out exactly what the offence is officially recorded as! Have you applied for your Police Record and Court Record yet?

I also think you will find that the maximum possible sentence for a crime is more relevant than the punishment actually received.

You might find the following site helpful!

http://www.imminfo.com/Knowledgebase/FAM/FAM_CMIT.html

Julie