Some advice please
 

Goof morning guys,

I have been reading a post on the forum that was relating to criminal records and visa’s.

The poster in question has admitted to some crimes that in my opinion constitute to CIMT.

my question is of a similar nature, l am immigrating, I-130 approved back in 2011, PD of March 13 2009.

I have travelled many times in ESTA and ticked NO to CIMT and also drug related.

That said I do have a criminal record, the were when I was much younger and were breech if the peace, Assualt, offensive weapon, all separate charges, all dealt with by nothing more than a fine. The dates were 2003-2007

All the research I have done suggests that given the time that has passed and also the nature of the charges, l should not have an issue, they will of course see my ACRO record and l have to my knowledge not lied on an immigration form.

Can anyone comment if my thinking is correct..?

ps. Feel free to judge as l know some will, made mistakes, paid the fine, grew up and kept my nose clean since

thanks
Brendan

Re: Some advice please
 

The assault is interesting. The ESTA question is “have you ever been arrested for a crime that resulted in serious harm to another person?”. “Serious” is obviously subjective. Did the assault victim suffer injuries?

Re: Some advice please
 

Hi,

it’s common Assualt, nothing more than a silly fight.

From what I have read, is aggravated Assualt, felony Assualt etc... that would raise eyebrows...?

The offensive weapon was a stick to stop 3 other people from causing me aggravated assault.

thanks for replying

brendan

Re: Some advice please
 

You need the transcripts/court papers of those crimes which hopefully details the nature of the charges, i.e. stick, common assault with fists, etc.

Re: Some advice please
 

I guess it depends on how the US authorities deal with it. I know in Canada there are different kinds of assault and the US uses degrees of assault in some states and you really have to distinguish where it falls. Just looking at your posts you state that it was a silly fight and no more than common assault and the offensive weapon was a stick to stop others. Did they charge and convict you of common assault or assault with a weapon?
I am not sure if the US uses what conviction you actually received or uses the maximum penalty available when equating it to US law as this could make a huge difference as it certainly would in Canada regardless of what you think.
Now without seeing the actual conviction and what the court documents say then here is an example of what I meanAssault (AKA common assault in Canada)

266 Every one who commits an assault is guilty of

• (a) an indictable offence and is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years;
  then you have
  
  Assault with a weapon or causing bodily harm
  
  267 Every person is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than 10 years or is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction who, in committing an assault,
  
• (a) carries, uses or threatens to use a weapon or an imitation thereof,
  
  The 1st one is less serious when looking at the maximum punishment whereas the 2nd one is more severe and actually because of the maximum punishment is classified as a serious offence. Both offences would make you inadmissible into Canada and each has its own remedy of being overcome via rehabilitation be it passage of time or needing to apply.
  
  Not as simple as some may think even if it happened years ago.
  

Re: Some advice please
 

Hi Rete,

I am planning on emailing them to try and obtain these, however I was researching today actually and because so much time has passed, that may not be possible...

I do have an ACRO subject access report tho, it does not go into very much detail etc...

I have a funny feeling that when l do apply for the ACRO cert, it will come back with no live trace because it will be nearly 14 years.

Brendan

Re: Some advice please
 

You have come to the wrong place if you want people to judge.

Impossible to say, you will only really find out at the interview, the details may well matter.

Emailing who? A LAwyer can give you an opinion.

Re: Some advice please
 

Hi Lancastrian,

The offensive weapon charge was paired with the breech of the peace, basically l picked up a stick and was making a lot of noise to try and get the 3 attackers away from me.

The assault charge was singular and was a fist fight, no serious injury’s and nothing more than a small fine

I understand if they were paired together it would be more serious...

I also would like to know if time is a factor..?

I also read that you can still get a visa if you have served time, so I don’t think these petty immature charges should be that bad

Brendan

Re: Some advice please
 

Hi boiler,

just thought l would ask as there seems to be a lot of knowledgeable people on here....

I would be emailing the court

thanks
Brendan

Re: Some advice please
 

I only work with the Canadian system so cant really help you with how the US actually deals with persons with criminal convictions as their system is a lot different to ours.

Re: Some advice please
 

No problem, thanks for taking the time

Re: Some advice please
 

Just noting here that the US will look at the maximum penalty he could have received... not what was actually received.

Rene

Re: Some advice please
 

Take a look at this thread which appears as a sticky at the top of this forum. Although it is now 12 years old, it is essentially still a valid discussion.

[Note: I participated in this thread under my prior persona of “folinskyinla.” I used to be a lot more active n my participation. However, I experienced much in the way of rudeness and hostility. Since I have rejoined BE, my way of dealing with forum’s predilection of hostility to lawyers was to limit my participation. The only truly specific advice I will give these days is “get a lawyer” when I believe it would border on stupid not to. I am not giving any advice here.]

Re: Some advice please
 

Hi Folinsky,

thanks for your reply and if I’m reading you correctly, I guess I’m on the right track. I will read your thread ty

Brendan