ExPat45

Hi all,

Spanish citizen living in the UK for a while now, been offered to move to a role in the US with my current company and when filling D-160 came the criminal record question.

My embarrassing record is a DUI when I bas at uni in Spain, about 19 years ago. It was a one year ban for driving, but no jail time. It was still an offence and I was taken to court. Classic stupid mistake of young dumb ass that now is haunting me. Since then, I have not had any convictions whatsoever. Moved to the UK 9 years ago and no convictions either.

The criminal record has been cleared, and now my certificate comes with no records at all, as it was 19 years ago and no offences. I had completely forgot about this issue until the moment I started to fill the D-160, and this is why I have a big dilema.

According to the Spanish law, I have no criminal record, I have a certified document saying so, it would be even difficult for me to prove that I was convicted due to this record.

I've been through a number of threads and my understanding is that, if there is no criminal record, due to its expiry, there is no need to declare it. Please, could you comment on that? Should I just leave it as it is as it has been deleted from my record or should I declare it putting myself in a difficult situation with my employer and jeopardising the process?

I genuinely not know what to do, haven't discussed with the immigration lawyer as he works for my company, classic case.

Any comment/feedback would be much appreciated.

scrubbedexpat099

US does not do expiry and the form does not say you can avoid declaring expired convictions.

Rete

I rather doubt that you have seen this advice on these forums. That advice has never been given to my knowledge and participation of over 21 years. All arrests and/or convictions are to be declared. As mentioned there is no such thing as an expired conviction. Declare it and if you can't get court records or driving records, then you can only do your best in explaining the circumstances at the time of your interview. It is very doubtful that a drunken driving conviction from decades ago is going to jeopardize your visa unless there was property or personal injuries involved.

ExPat45

Ok, it is clear to me now, thanks to the replies above and further reading that I need to disclose this. Also I see from some other cases they this is unlikely to be a major problem as per the response above and other cases in this very same forum.

Will disclose, it is the only reasonable and responsible option, and can only hope for the best.

Thanks for the info provided.

shiversaint

Agreed, declare it and gather what evidence you can. Drink driving convictions are not a CIMT so you will not even require a waiver of inadmissibility. You should be fine and there should be no adverse effect on your visa application.

In the interview, obviously, be on your best behavior, and do not be tempted to run your mouth to try and explain it all away. People who do this invariably say something silly and invariably get denied. Answer the questions you are asked concisely and clearly, and that's it.

Sometimes officers want to see that you are remorseful so ascribing it to being "young and dumb" isn't always the best choice - be honest in that you made a mistake and you regret it. End of story.

ExPat45

Thanks all for your input.

Gathered all the documentation and ACRO (No trace) obtained. Interview is in a couple of weeks. Laywer, US based, advises that 3 out of 3 cases with DUI have been delayed for a few weeks, but never a denial.

Hopefully I will be lucky and I will be enquired but responses and backing documentation should suffice. I will provide updates for future users in the same situation.

I found the below article:
9. Attend an official medical exam. If you have had one DUI conviction in the past five years or two in the past ten years, you will be directed to a US government certified “panel physician” for a medical examination and interview. If a DUI conviction or caution event occurred within the past 12 months, it is likely that the London panel physician will find alcohol abuse. If it has been over a year, you may be able to pass the short (MAST). If so, the doctor will not find alcohol abuse or a likely recurrence of harmful behaviour and instead remission.

Any recent experience in the forum with the above? Although there is a high level of discretion by the interviewer, one might expect that they would follow this guidance.

Pulaski

For a one-off event 19 years ago I don't believe you have any cause for concern. I will pretty much guarantee that you will not be referred for a medical exam under the circumstance you have described.

ExPat45

I wanted to give an update, as I had my interview earlier today and I want to give back to the forum. Will keep it short.

Appointment at 8, arrived at 7:30, we were out by 10.

I was asked about the team I am going to manage, how many layers are between me and the CEO of the company. All done and good for the professional part of the interview.

Then the lady asked about my DUI, where I was, where I wanted to go, was any damage to people or property, etc. I asked briefly and she seemed happy with the responses.

Suddenly, I see she was reaching out a 221g form and I start to sweat. She tells me I need to present my ACRO certificate. I take it out of the folder, with he VCU-1, and she smiles and accepts it, scrapping the 221g. Big relief.

She goes inside, I guess to talk to a supervisor, and she is back after a couple of minutes saying they are happy to process my visa. I ask, to confirm, if the visa has been approved and she said yes. So all in all, not too bad and now looking backwards I wish I had not lost as much sleep as I have for this DUI.

My only concern is that now, back home, I check the status and it says Administrative Processing, and I am surprised as I was not expecting that. I've read that all the visas go through that AP status for a few days and later are issued in the expected time? Is that right? Or should I wait for a letter requiring further info/documentation?

Thanks!

Noorah101

Correct, all visas go through an AP process. Whether yours is the short or long kind remains to be seen.

Rene

ExPat45

Aaaand my wife just checked and the status of the visa is issued! Not bad, considering we had the interview yesterday!

Thanks all for your inputs through this painful journey!

Pulaski

Congratulations!

shiversaint

Good job. Thank you for reporting back - it will be useful for other users.