Criminal record and obtaining a US visa

[katejenno]

Hi Sammyt

did your husband still have to fill out the form on entry to the USA
I think it asks on there if you have a criminal record.
i would imagine as soon as you answer yes you are already a target
and they would take you aside.
i think if you can enter the USA on the visa waiver program you don't need to fill it out.
I'm really not looking forward to my husband being taken aside.

 

[katejenno]

Hi Dazzlebaby
sorry to hear that it came too late.
please let me know how he goes entering the states.
we are up to week 13 and i have emailed them asking if they have received all the paper work
and they told me i could ask after the 12th December. (interview was on the 11th July )
but it looks like we won't see anything until towards the end of Jan
we are looking at going in the 28th March which is school holidays which should be plenty of time.
But it is just so annoying not being able to book anything when you see cheap flights.
there are 5 of us going so cheap flights will help.

 

[dbale]

Hi,

Another visa question.

I have been arrested once in 2007, I can't remember all the details. I think it was for assault causing grevious bodily harm and for malicious damage.

I have bipolar disorder and did not know at the time, I drank too much was being abused at a party so I lashed out. I have no recollection of the event at all. anyway it resulted in me being arrested, finger printed and having to go to court. It was dismissed under section 32 of the mental health act.

Ufotunately, I did not receive proper treatment and I had an episode in 2009. Tried to kill myself and refused to go to hospital in the ambulance. Police were called and I had an altercation with them as I refused to go into the hospital. I wasn't arrested but was charged with assaulting a police officer. Once again the case was dismissed under section 32 of the mental health act.

I have been an upright, law abiding citizen ever since. I am on proper medication and receive therapy. I am 32 years old with a baby and a fiance and I am not that confused angry person anymore.

I understand these charges would fall under moral turpitude. I am heart broken as all I have ever wanted to do in my life is visit Hawaii and we were planning on doing this fo our honey moon.

Has anyone had their visa granted with charges like these? or should I wait until at least 5 years from the last charge in 2009? any advice appreciated as this has really saddened me that because I was so ill and didn't have help, I will continue to be punished for the rest of my life.

Thanks

 

[traveldreamz]

Hi Dazzlebaby,
Could you please let me know how your husband was able to change his flight? Did you have a refundable ticket? I have been told by our travel agent if we want to change flights we need to know a new travel date when we cancel existing flights. Is this what happened to your husband. Thanks

 

[traveldreamz]

Hi katejenno,
Could you please let me know who you emailed. I have emailed the consulate on the ustraveldocs website, only to be told wait time is around 26 weeks. Our interview was around the same time. Thanks

 

[Dazzlebaby]

Hi Dazzlebaby,
Could you please let me know how your husband was able to change his flight? Did you have a refundable ticket? I have been told by our travel agent if we want to change flights we need to know a new travel date when we cancel existing flights. Is this what happened to your husband. Thanks

We originally booked a flight and then had to change the date but we had to buy a more expensive fare due to the time of year. When we had to change the second flight as it was a more expensive flight we didn't have to pick a date but we did have to pay a $250 re-issue fee.

 

[katejenno]

Hi katejenno,
Could you please let me know who you emailed. I have emailed the consulate on the ustraveldocs website, only to be told wait time is around 26 weeks. Our interview was around the same time. Thanks

Hi
i emailed the usa consulate in melbourne
it was on their web page for nonimigrant visas
each state has a different email address.

 

[flymetothemoon]

Hi,

Another visa question.

I have been arrested once in 2007, I can't remember all the details. I think it was for assault causing grevious bodily harm and for malicious damage.

I have bipolar disorder and did not know at the time, I drank too much was being abused at a party so I lashed out. I have no recollection of the event at all. anyway it resulted in me being arrested, finger printed and having to go to court. It was dismissed under section 32 of the mental health act.

Ufotunately, I did not receive proper treatment and I had an episode in 2009. Tried to kill myself and refused to go to hospital in the ambulance. Police were called and I had an altercation with them as I refused to go into the hospital. I wasn't arrested but was charged with assaulting a police officer. Once again the case was dismissed under section 32 of the mental health act.

I have been an upright, law abiding citizen ever since. I am on proper medication and receive therapy. I am 32 years old with a baby and a fiance and I am not that confused angry person anymore.

I understand these charges would fall under moral turpitude. I am heart broken as all I have ever wanted to do in my life is visit Hawaii and we were planning on doing this fo our honey moon.

Has anyone had their visa granted with charges like these? or should I wait until at least 5 years from the last charge in 2009? any advice appreciated as this has really saddened me that because I was so ill and didn't have help, I will continue to be punished for the rest of my life.

Thanks

If the case was dismissed in 2009 then I would try applying once the 5 years is up from 2007, which means you can apply around this time or early next year (depending on when the completion of the sentence was) eg. if you had to complete any tasks of any sort - it's 5 years from the date of completing these.

 

[Sammyt]

Hi katejenno, yes you still have to fill in a card it's different to the card that gets filled in when you are on the visa waiver program. It was scary the first time we went because we were not expecting to be held up as we thought the original application would have covered everything. Good luck keep us posted on when your visa comes through.

We went just before you in June and where told 5 months, we had booked to leave this week because we didn't see anything on the Internet about the delays and have had two prior with no delays at all. We have transferred our booking to the end of January so that will be 7 months so I hope it doesn't blow out any further.

 

[dbale]

Hi sorry another question. I didn't think of this before.

Do you need to tell them about all charges even one where there was no arrest?

My charges in 2007 there was an actual arrest as such. I was finger printed. The one in 2009 I was just handed a charge sheet and told to go to court.

I have asked a US immigration lawyer and she said :

"Under a Section 32. A defendant does not have to enter a plea to make a section 32 application, andcannot be required to incriminate him/herself (eg. by admitting to allegations made bypolice).A section 32 order does not amount to a finding of guilt, but nor is it equivalent to afinding of not guilty. It does not count as a conviction and therefore does not formpart of a person’s criminal record.
Generally if you did not plead guilty, if you were not found guilty and you did notadmit to any guilt you have no conviction and do not require a waiver for a visa.
You would make the B2 visa application and take with you to the interview a certifiedcopy of the court disposition. It would also be advisable to print out that link onSection 32 and take that with you.
According to what I read you are not inadmissible as a visitor to the US because you​

were only arrested but not convicted. You most likely will be given the visa to visit."


But I am wondering if I need to tell them about the 2009 case as there was no actual arrest.

Does anyone have any experience with this? If it is the case then I will. Just don't want to give too much information if it is not absolutely necessary.

 

[Maca44]

Posters on this forum will offer an opinion, but if you have already sought advice from a US Immigration Lawyer, then use it...
You don't go to a butcher to get your car serviced.

 

[The Rok]

Posters on this forum will offer an opinion, but if you have already sought advice from a US Immigration Lawyer, then use it...
You don't go to a butcher to get your car serviced.

Depends on how much your butcher knows about cars?

 

[dbale]

Posters on this forum will offer an opinion, but if you have already sought advice from a US Immigration Lawyer, then use it...
You don't go to a butcher to get your car serviced.

Thanks for that. I did ask another question with which I was asking only opinions on. Not hard hitting facts.

Don't really understand why you felt the need to reply in such an arrogant manner.

Cheers

 

[Oxyriffs]

17 weeks for me today! Still waiting and by the sounds of it I will be waiting a bit longer!!

 

[Sammyt]

19 weeks tomorrow for us, I am now a little worried that the holidays they will be having in the states soon, thanksgiving and Christmas will slow it down even further.

 

[Dazzlebaby]

I've never heard of anything like that happening before if you've been issued a visa. I'd be surprised if he is taken away for questioning. Yes, definitely let us know Cheers!

Thought I would give a quick update as we are currently travelling in the USA. Arrived in LA and hubby and I went to the immigration officer, my passport checked and everything fine. Then they asked us to go and wait further down the room on some chairs. We waited about 15 minutes on the seats and during that time two other young girls were also asked to wait. They told us it required further processing and my husband would be asked further questions. Basically they waited for the plane load queue of people to be processed and then the immigration officer came to my hubby and handed him back his passport and said " have a nice trip, sir." That was it and off we went. Oh yeah meant to mention they asked us what our luggage looked like so they could put it aside or something. By the time we got to the baggage claim it was just being removed. Gathered the bags and went through the final checkpoint like everyone else. To the couple going on their honeymoon have a great time and if going to Vegas don't fall for the "free show tickets - just a timeshare scam you don't need to be bothered with. Good luck to anyone else waiting for the visa. Next trip to the USA we will be getting the visa before making plans.

 

[flymetothemoon]

Thought I would give a quick update as we are currently travelling in the USA. Arrived in LA and hubby and I went to the immigration officer, my passport checked and everything fine. Then they asked us to go and wait further down the room on some chairs. We waited about 15 minutes on the seats and during that time two other young girls were also asked to wait. They told us it required further processing and my husband would be asked further questions. Basically they waited for the plane load queue of people to be processed and then the immigration officer came to my hubby and handed him back his passport and said " have a nice trip, sir." That was it and off we went. Oh yeah meant to mention they asked us what our luggage looked like so they could put it aside or something. By the time we got to the baggage claim it was just being removed. Gathered the bags and went through the final checkpoint like everyone else. To the couple going on their honeymoon have a great time and if going to Vegas don't fall for the "free show tickets - just a timeshare scam you don't need to be bothered with. Good luck to anyone else waiting for the visa. Next trip to the USA we will be getting the visa before making plans.

So he was taken away for questioning but never asked any questions - that makes sense LOL. Thanks for the update though!

 

[dfcatch]

So he was taken away for questioning but never asked any questions - that makes sense LOL. Thanks for the update though!

IME - that's pretty standard with "Secondary".

Common other things are for them to ask for a copy of your full itinerary, or perhaps a bag inspection. Generally it just involves Officer Martinez spending some extra quality time with your passport and his computer screen.

Of course YMMV.

 

[flymetothemoon]

IME - that's pretty standard with "Secondary".

Common other things are for them to ask for a copy of your full itinerary, or perhaps a bag inspection. Generally it just involves Officer Martinez spending some extra quality time with your passport and his computer screen.

Of course YMMV.

But it's still scary to think you go through the rigorous process of getting your visa approved only to be questioned again and have to go through it again. What happens if you get there and they decide that your visa shouldn't have been approved just because they are having a bad day and for no apparent reason and send you back home?? I have no doubt that's probably happened before!

 

[cove]

That happened to one of our ex staff members who went to the US for a holiday. He answered a question about the length of his stay as 6 months when he had money that would last about 6 weeks. It was determined that he intended to make it a working holiday so 3 days later he had a trip back to Australia after getting to pay for 3 days of hotel charges at an airport hotel and the air fare.
He did not have a record but merely answered questions poorly to attempt to stay longer.
We chose not to take him back as you cannot fix stupid.