Radius

I would like to request some help with the following issue:

My visa-interview for immigrant visa, marriaged-based, is coming up
very soon, and I may have come across some very troubling issues. I
have done direct Consular filing through the Amsterdam Consulate, and
now had to fill in the DS-230 part II. This contained the following
question:

"Have you ever been charged, arrested or convicted of any offense or
crime?" Well, when I was 14 or 15, I unlawfully broke into and entered
a grade school building (first and last occurence!). I was caught in
the act, and eventually brought before a so-called 'children's judge',
and it was settled with my parents having to pay some money.

First of all, do I need to mention this on the DS-230 II, even though
I was under-aged?

But there is another, perhaps more serious issue: when reading on this
visa-post and other sites, I came across mention of a certain question
on the i-94 visa waiver, concerning "crimes of moral turpitude".
Since, frankly, the under-aged crime did not even come to my mind,
though I also wouldn't have known of this fell under that anyway, I
filled in "NO" on the i-94.

Now I read that there have been cases where people filled in "NO" for
some reason on the i-94, but then later did have some crime to which
they admitted either on the DS-230 II or at the consulate itself. And
that this has been seen as "fraud" by either the Consulate or the INS.
Does any of this apply to me now, even though I was under-aged and it
was over 15 years ago?

Please, if anyone knows anything about this, please let me know soon.
I have very little time, and feel very distraught. What can I do?

Thank you very much...

Dhart

Oh, look. I'm not any kind of visa expert whatsoever, in fact my husband
and I have pretty much hosed our visa process (by moving to England) and
have to start over, but I AM good at searching on the web, and I've found
something that may at least give you some encouragement, and I know that's
what you need most!!!

You will have to verify the correctness of this information on your own, but
it looks promising.

http://k1.exit.com/crimeslaw.html

Paragraph 2 on the page says "An alien shall not be ineligible to receive a
visa under INA 212(a)(2)(A)(i)(I) by reason of any offense committed prior
to the alien's fifteenth birthday."

Also this page:

http://www.danjoyceimmigrationlaw.com/waivers.html

That all looks promising, doesn't it.

Regarding the I-94, I couldn't find out anything about whether you SHOULD
have answered "yes" or "no" to that question. I, a native American and
English speaker had a hard time even finding out what "moral turpitude"
might be. Common sense would suggest that a juvenile crime which will be
excused anyway, like breaking into an elementary school for the purpose of
being a dumb, destructive little jerk (that is, a fairly typical kid *lol*),
would NOT count. I meen sheesh. But then laws don't always follow common
sense.

The only thing I can say is, try phoning the consulate and asking! The
worse they will say is you should've answered "yes," which will give you a
good opportunity to ask how you can correct your mistake!

From everything I've read on this group when I was applying for our K-1,
I've come to the conclusion that honesty is *always* the best policy. Don't
EVER try to cover anything up. If they find you made an honest mistake,
they will probably excuse you, but if they find you tried to cover something
up, they can turn into total hard-asses!

Good luck and for what it's worth I think you'll be fine as long as you're
honest and polite.

~Deb

"Radius" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > I would like to request some help with the following issue:
    > My visa-interview for immigrant visa, marriaged-based, is coming up
    > very soon, and I may have come across some very troubling issues. I
    > have done direct Consular filing through the Amsterdam Consulate, and
    > now had to fill in the DS-230 part II. This contained the following
    > question:
    > "Have you ever been charged, arrested or convicted of any offense or
    > crime?" Well, when I was 14 or 15, I unlawfully broke into and entered
    > a grade school building (first and last occurence!). I was caught in
    > the act, and eventually brought before a so-called 'children's judge',
    > and it was settled with my parents having to pay some money.
    > First of all, do I need to mention this on the DS-230 II, even though
    > I was under-aged?
    > But there is another, perhaps more serious issue: when reading on this
    > visa-post and other sites, I came across mention of a certain question
    > on the i-94 visa waiver, concerning "crimes of moral turpitude".
    > Since, frankly, the under-aged crime did not even come to my mind,
    > though I also wouldn't have known of this fell under that anyway, I
    > filled in "NO" on the i-94.
    > Now I read that there have been cases where people filled in "NO" for
    > some reason on the i-94, but then later did have some crime to which
    > they admitted either on the DS-230 II or at the consulate itself. And
    > that this has been seen as "fraud" by either the Consulate or the INS.
    > Does any of this apply to me now, even though I was under-aged and it
    > was over 15 years ago?
    > Please, if anyone knows anything about this, please let me know soon.
    > I have very little time, and feel very distraught. What can I do?
    > Thank you very much...

Radius

Thank you Deb for the help.

Yes, honesty is the only policy I believe, and I'm less worried about
what the Consulate would do, than what the INS might do. Is that even
a legitimate worry? I mean, can the INS confront me with it at POE
(port of entry) that I didn't answer "yes" to the moral turpitude
question, even though the Consulate would have given me my visa, and I
told the Consulate about the juvenile crime? I do have to fill in the
230 form you know, and answer that crime or offense question. Will
this be in the Brown Envelope that I need to give to INS at POE? And
will the INS then compare it to former I-94's?

Questions... millin' around...

A once in a lifetime "dumb, destructive little jerk"...