usa em

Hi all,
I am a new user but have read many threads for advice and help. I am a USC and my husband of 5 years a UKC. We live in England and have travelled to the states many times visiting my family. This past Feb. we were in my home town with sisters and my Dad, we came across the perfect home for us and have now bought it! Being back home here in the UK I thought, stupidly, that he would easily get a visa to live in the states as easy as mine was for here.

Not the case as I have been devastated to find out the process. We have hired an attorney to speed up the process. Now the problem is that he was arrested 14 years ago for possession of cannabis. His police check came back as ' no live files' but our attorney thinks the 14--- not 15 year gap in time will stop us from getting a greencard and possibly not at all b/c it was a drug charge.
Moving back home around my family meant the world to me. Our huge historical house will be handed to us end of June and we can't even seem to begin to dream about moving in for a year or forever! This whole thing makes me so angry that my country would deny a wonderful, honest, loving man because of a mistake when he was 19.
PS. he has no other arrests or charges.
Any help or similar situations would be much appreciated.
Thanks
Emily

Rete

Technically your husband is going for an Immediate Relative Visa not a green card. Unforunately, your attorney is correct. Drug charges are taken very seriously by the US government. Even though it is spent in the UK it must be declared. A lot will depend on the age and the amount of pot he had on him, but still it is a serious violation. Not even sure if a waiver would be successful in this case or even allowable.


I'm sorry that your dreams might not reach fulfillment. Honestly if you were to be angry with anyone be angry with your husband for his stupidity not the US government.

I can see another area that you didn't mention that might be a large stumbling block to his application for a visa. Did he enter the US under the VWP and not declare his prior arrest? If so, that was a no-no.

Curious why you hired an attorney. Did you filed at the US Consulate in London or did you go the long way around and file stateside?

ian-mstm

While an attorney can certainly help to avoid common mistakes, he can not speed up the process at all. It will take as long as it takes... with or without an attorney.


With respect, I agree with Rete. While your husband might not have foreseen the long-term ramifications of his youth, the US government should not be the recipient of your anger.

I also agree that if he entered the US using the VWP and did not declare his prior drug-related arrest, he has set himself up for both grief and disappointment.

Ian

fatbrit

Any other drug offense apart from the possession of a small amount of mj would have been a full bar to permanent residency. As it's presumably under 30g, all is not lost but expect a long-winded and expensive process. One point you don't cover is that your husband had presumably been a little economical with the truth on his I-94W entry to the US -- this might be an additional complication. But you have a lawyer and should follow his advice. Don't be afraid to get a second opinion off another lawyer if you want additional reassurance. You need a lawyer who has direct experience in immigrant visas with this complication out of London -- ask them before you hire them.

On the morality of it all, US immigration law and its practice combine that pervading streak of puritanical hypocrisy with Kafkaesque bureaucracy. It makes it a daunting task for those in your position. Good luck!

Elvira

Very succinct summing up, David - I must remember this...

meauxna

Emily, there is a discussion group that specializes in this kind of issue at www.immigrate2us.net (look in the I-601 forum for starters). There are a couple of attorneys who help answer questions like yours, and I think from reading over there for awhile, you'll start to get an idea of what you two will need to do.

You will want to have a knowledge base separate from your attorney so that you can keep things on track from now on.

usa em

Thanks to all who wrote, its good advice. Our attorney is an immigration specialist, and yes expensive too.
I am sorry if I said I was angry about the gov. I am just sad mostly that this has come back from his past and stopping us. We are super happy, in love and have all good intentions. I know now how complex it is.
To answer any questions, he was conditionally discharged and so didn't really think twice about declaring when traveling.
I will get second opinion, and look at the discussion group from Meauxna-- thanks.
Em

usa em

Thanks to everyone who wrote in today. I am sorry if I came across angry towards the US Gov. I am not really, I just can't get my head around that you'll get no forgiveness from them even if you are a good person with all the right intentions and love for family.
My husband had a conditional discharge with 3 grams of pot on him. He didn't really think about ticking the box tourist visa, b/c it wasn't a conviction.
We see now that its a problem, or could be. It wasn't his intention to hide it, b/c he didn't think it was a problem on the tourist visa.
I will look into more advice from another attorney. I think ours is good, and yes very expensive. He specializes in immigration to the US. We have a meeting with him in London next week. And I guess just hear bad news.
I am sad more then anything that we can't move to the states and that I will have to continue to live away from my family. We are happy here and have good friends and family. I just wanted to be around my father more as he lives alone and getting older. Plus my sister who is my best friend, and just moved back to home to PA from California and my other family all on the east coast.
Its a sob story but thats my reasons for maybe being upset about it.
I shall see what takes place, either way I wish the best anyone who falls in love with a Londoner and married---if he or she ever had a mishap as a youth you may not be able to move back home to the US as easily as you think!
Thanks again to all,
Em

Noorah101

Don't give up all hope yet, see what the lawyers say and recommend. If a waiver is applicable, and you present a good case, it mght be overcome. I wish you all the luck and hope it works out for you.

Best Wishes,
Rene

usa em

I'm sorry that your dreams might not reach fulfillment. Honestly if you were to be angry with anyone be angry with your husband for his stupidity not the US government.


Rete-
I am sorry you feel so harsh against my anger. And to be honest I don't know if this mail works. I seemed to post earlier but its not on the sight, like I said I am a new member.
I have to say, my husband I will never be angry at as you suggested. He was not stupid, he was a teenager! Many people miss or get caught. I don't know where you are from the US or the UK but in the both countries I have lived-- College/ Uni kids have a past they don't look the highest of.
He is a high standing person, well educated and from a good background. So if I seem disappointed it comes from the fact he is not excepted b/c he was caught one day out as a kid, not for who he is now!
I apologize if I came across 'angry' I am not, just bewildered that such a good man can be judged from a mishap in the past.
Em

Folinskyinla

Emily:

Your posting is extremely confusing and rambles all over the place.

You say he was "arrested" -- was he "convicted"?? How old was he? How much cannabis was invovled? And sale involved. Where does the 15 year thing come in -- this is not a prostitution arrest from what you say.

BTW, in cases like your husband's, it pays to remember that it was him, not you that possessed marijuana and got arrested.

Folinskyinla

What do you mean by "teenager?" Was he under 16 at the time?

Ray

She seems to says 19 then ..and it happened 14/15
years ago ....I think ...

Folinskyinla

Hi:

Re-read the OP -- you are right, it was 19. However, was he "convicted?" I know there is a debate on the whether a British "caution" is a "conviction" for US purposes. All we know it was an "arrest", an unspecified amount of "cannibis" was involved, was "distribution" involved, etc. etc.

As for being 19, the US classifies crimes by level of seriousness -- if he had robbed a bank or killed someone -- a waiver would be available. However, he was in possession of cannibis and with a very narrow exception, that is an extremely serious offense.

Ray

In England and Wales, a conditional discharge is a sentence in which the offender receives no punishment provided that, in a period set by the court (not more than three years), no further offence is committed. If an offence is committed in that time, then the offender may also be sentenced for the offence for which a conditional discharge was given. In English conditional discharges, a conviction and record of the discharge becomes part of the offender's criminal record, but does not count as a conviction except for certain purposes within the criminal justice system (unless the offender is resentenced for reoffending).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conditional_discharge