lola123

I was on F1 visa in 2001 and handed a beer to a underage (around 20) while helping a friend at their pizza place. A VA(virginia) ABC enforcement officer gave me a citation ( I WAS NOT TAKEN TO JAIL ) and I appeared in the court a month later and the case was dismissed. On the day of the hearing, I stood way behind the podium where the hearing takes place, among all the people who had their cases for that day. The officer and the underaged person both came in and my lawyer who was sitting up front went in when my name was called. I started walking towards the podium when my name was called, but both the lawyer & officer were coming back from the podium. I asked the lawyer about what happened up there.

He told me that the case was dismissed as the officer did not preserve the evidence. I did not pay any fines, no jail time, no probation, no community service.

I moved on to H1, got my H1 stamping done in 04 in ottawa,CA and never had any issues. I even got my 2nd H1 extension recently. I understand that there is no security check involved with H1. I traveled in and out of the US 4 or 5 times with out any issues. What system do the Immigration officials at the airports authenticate/match our finger print against? Is every charge (NOT CONVICTION/ARREST) entered into the database?

I forgot this whole thing when I filed my 485/AOS application on 6/30 amidst of the VB fiasco. I did not hire a lawyer,just went ahead and filed my self in one day.

I answered NO for the Part 3, 1b Q, where it asks for citation issues. It was not intentional as I did not read the whole thing properly.

Will I have problems with my AOS application as I answered NO for the citation? Is there any way I can update the application? What is your suggestion?

I don't remember being finger printed. Where does finger printing happen? Courts/Police stations when people get locked up. I am assuming its in police station.

I do not even have a drivers license at that time and I put my school ID for identification purposes. I believe my SSN was there. Is it going to be an issue.

In 2003, I wanted to file for my canadian GC and got CLEAN police certificate from the same county office. In the end I chose not to apply for Canadian PR/GC.

I am going to track down the lawyer I had (he moved) and also go to the County court and find out. Is there any particular office in the county courts I need to talk to regarding this issue and find out if they have me on their files?

How do I know if this has been transmitted into FBI records?

Please advice, I started reviewing my application around 12th Aug for possible mistakes on my AOS application as I did not get my receipts yet. Thats when I discovered the word "cited" clearly and the whole episode flashed to my mind.

Elvira

You need to consult an IMMIGRATION lawyer.

www.ailalawyer.com

lola123

Elvira,

I am aware of the necessity of a lawyer and I am going to see one in a day or two.

How ever, Can some one who has knowledge of the judicial system works can answer some Q's like

1) Where is the finger printing done? Court/police station?

2) Will charges get populated into FBI databases? ( NOT CONVICTIONS/ARRESTS)

3) Which systems authenitcate/match our finger prints at the airport immigration? I travelled out of the country 4 times with out any issue

4) I do not even have the CLEAN police cert I got in 2003. I can request it again. But Does that mean that no one has a trace of this record?

5) How long will FBI has charges in their databases, if they record citations?

augigi

I would not trust this kind of information to a stranger online, I would just write down the questions and take it to the lawyer.

Piero Giorgi

On Aug 20, 9:09 am, lola123 <[email protected]>
wrote:

> How do I know if this has been transmitted into FBI records?

Call a background check company!

www.abso.com for example, but there are many.

P

lola123

I have been done background check by different companies in 2004/5. It never came up. In fact, It did not come up in the county recrods when I made a criminal history record check. I dont know if the check you are referring to verify's the FBI records or not? Can yoyu please confirm?

I am talking with 2 attorneys to find out what I can do.

Sapphyre

On Aug 20, 12:56 pm, lola123 <[email protected]>
wrote:
> How ever, Can some one who has knowledge of the judicial system works
> can answer some Q's like

I'm going to give this my best shot, but I don't live in the US, I'm
only going by information gleaned from what I've learnt over many
visits.

> 1) Where is the finger printing done? Court/police station?

I've never heard of fingerprinting being done in any court anywhere...
In California, the fingerprinting is done at the police precinct where
the person arrested is brought to at the time of arrest. In Canada,
they give notice that someone charged (not including tickets/
citations) must appear at the station for printing relating to
charges.

However, I have heard (don't know 100%) of people being arrested and
charged (or detained and charged if you want to look at it this way),
and not being told to go for printing, and given a court date. I don't
have experience as a criminal, so I can't give you 100% information.

> 2) Will charges get populated into FBI databases? ( NOT
> CONVICTIONS/ARRESTS)

As far as I know, to be charged, you have to be arrested (or detained
at very least). A security check I had to pass for the US required me
to disclose all detainers for any reason where the police "needed to
talk to me", but I was not "placed under arrest". If they want those
disclosed, they have to be recorded somewhere, whether they're
transmitted to the NCIC, I can't answer. I pressume if you're charged,
then the NCIC has record of this. Being charged is worse than being
arrested, at least if you're placed under arrest, you can be released
if they can't make a case at the scene, being charged means you go to
court and a judge or jury decides.

> 3) Which systems authenitcate/match our finger prints at the
> airport immigration? I travelled out of the country 4 times with
> out any issue

AFAIK, they can be verified against NCIC (the FBI database).

> 4) I do not even have the CLEAN police cert I got in 2003. I can request
> it again. But Does that mean that no one has a trace of this record?

The arresting force and the court house will always keep records.
Court records, AFAIK are public, although I don't know how one goes
about requesting them. They are much easier to request in Canada while
the file is still "active" (which is why background checks require
employees to disclose five year history, in five years, you can find
out everything that person has been to court for, even speeding
tickets).

> 5) How long will FBI has charges in their databases, if they record
> citations?

That question is too US oriented for me to answer...

S.

Sapphyre

On Aug 21, 3:32 pm, lola123 <[email protected]>
wrote:
> I have been done background check by different companies in 2004/5. It
> never came up. In fact, It did not come up in the county recrods when I
> made a criminal history record check. I dont know if the check you are
> referring to verify's the FBI records or not? Can yoyu please confirm?

Do your own background check. If anyone can legally get information
about you, it's you. Find out what you can dig up on yourself. Your
likely to find out more than the background check agency, but you
don't know how far they went to check you out. They might be doing it
over the Internet and have access to only very public data (the same
stuff I can pay $40 to find out about you).

Do your own check. Find out how to get your record from NCIC with
prints, check with your local police force, get your court records.
That will reveal everything that anyone can find out about you, and
keep in mind, not everyone has access to this information, so a
background check company can't get everything. In Canada, they go by
court records, and that's what USCIS wants from any Canadian ever
arrested/charged to produce, they don't want police certificates and
notes from the arresting force because police purge reports after the
retention period has expired.

I can only imagine your arresting force has a retention period on
their report, but that could be 10 years or it could be 100 years... I
can't answer, you need to contact them and request records on yourself
and find out how long they keep it.

S.

canadian04

Why does it matter what your records say/how they are kept?

Just mention the whole story during your AOS interview, and you should be fine. No arrest, or anything, right? Case dismissed... I would think you are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law?

The officer will go down the list of question in the AOS interview, so you may just interrupt him/her and tell your story.

PS: The immigration lawyer suggestion is sound, but be careful - there are lawyers out there who know less than you do... they fill out forms incorrectly, mail them to the wrong office, etc.

lola123

Thanks to every one who has responded. I went to the archives department and got the disposition from 2001 and it states that I was arrested at that location. In essence the summons/citation I was given on that day in 2001 is an arrest?? Is that what I should construe? It also clearly shows Nolle Prosequi on the disposition which essentially confirms that I was not proven guilty of the charge or arrest and was dismissed due to lack of evidence.

The catch here is, while my finger prints are not any where (AFAIK), my charge/arrest might have been populated into the databases and the archives will have it for 10 years. They dont know for how many years the FBI will have them. Assuming more than 10 years, If the Immigration officer finds this arrest/charge and asks me for an interview, I would be issued warrant for misrepresentation (worst case) on my AOS application, which they dont care if it was intentional or unintentional. This can also result in denial of the 485/AOS petition. I dont know why I had to miss this and cause more stress now.

Sapphyre

On Aug 22, 12:12 am, lola123 <[email protected]>
wrote:
> Thanks to every one who has responded. I went to the archives department
> and got the disposition from 2001 and it states that I was arrested at
> that location. In essence the summons/citation I was given on that day
> in 2001 is an arrest?? Is that what I should construe? It also clearly
> shows Nolle Prosequi on the disposition which essentially confirms that
> I was not proven guilty of the charge or arrest and was dismissed due to
> lack of evidence.

AFAIK, you have to be arrested to be charged. The minute the police
held you, you were at least "detained". I'm surprised you hadn't been
told you were being placed under arrest (handcuffs aren't a requisite
of an arrest, if you were compliant, they might not have had the need
to handcuff you).

You aren't proven not guilty in the United States. You are not guilty
until they prove that you are guilty. However, as far as your AOS
application goes, you need to declare that arrest.

> The catch here is, while my finger prints are not any where (AFAIK), my
> charge/arrest might have been populated into the databases and the
> archives will have it for 10 years. They dont know for how many years
> the FBI will have them. Assuming more than 10 years, If the Immigration
> officer finds this arrest/charge and asks me for an interview, I would
> be issued warrant for misrepresentation (worst case) on my AOS
> application, which they dont care if it was intentional or
> unintentional. This can also result in denial of the 485/AOS petition.
> I dont know why I had to miss this and cause more stress now.

Not being fingerprinted doesn't mean there's no record of your arrest
and charge. NCIC, AFAIK, is supposed to hold all criminal information
including arrests. I'm sure the FBI has it's own records retention
time for that information, but it might expire in a lifetime.

I'm sure someone else has misrepresented unintentionally on an AOS and
can advise you what to do in this case. Your post isn't the first I
read where you forgot to declare an arrest.

Best of luck to you. My only advice is, if they miss it to, come clean
at the interview. If you let it go, consequences can be worse when it
does finally catch up with you.

S.

lola123

Thanks a lot. Please see my responses in between yours