Hello, I am new to this forum.
I was wondering if anyone had any advice from their experiences.

I have 2 Assault convictions 6 years ago, the total sentence I could have recived was 4 years but I was only
given a fine $3000.
Since then, I have served in the Military Police and with the United Nations as a peace keeper. Will my convictions get me denied at the Sydney office.

My USC Fiance is pregnant and living in Australia with me until I have my visa, however she will have to go home soon after the baby is born. Her mother and her insist I go with her. lol

I am being optimistic about it. If I needed a waiver would I even get it?

Thanks for reading my post and looking falward to your replies

Hi nathmc31.

You will definately need a waiver. Give this a read http://travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/ineligib...ities_1364.html there is a section about multiple convictions and that will apply to you. You will need a very strong hardship letter but it is possible.
There is also another very good site that might give you more information. There are several examples of hardship letters. It's called immigrate2us.net. Have a look there and look in the I-601 waiver section. Read through the sticky's at the top.


Good luck,
Baileyj

Hi nathmc31,

ditto Vicky's comments.


I don't see why you would be denied getting a visa, but as Vicky said you should be thinking about preparing a good waiver, as cases with multiple convictions (more than one) need one (mine did and I had two).

Lots of things are taken into account with the hardship letters in the waiver application. What the crimes were, how long ago where they, you would certainly need to express that you are a "reformed" character in your letter, and being a UN peacekeeper since then will certainly help.

also that fact that your USC girlfriend is having your child is another important thing that will be a plus for you in the application. The US immigration services don't like to break up families, and there's plenty of waivers that play on the importance of "family unity" etc... and you should do this aswell

also the pass rate for waivers that are processed in the embassy in Sydney may be an important factor.

In summary though I don't see why you can't submit a very good waiver!

regards

Paul

Thanks for the advice.
So you think I will get the waiver. Can you submit a waiver without a Hardship letter? I am extremly worried that I wont get my visa.
Do you know how long it will take to have a waiver approved?
Thanks heaps.

I have seen some amazing "hardship letters" on immigrate2us. I thought we would need one (still might) but my fiance's arrests were for drunk & disorderly conduct. I may still have a few letters saved if you want to take a look at them-let me know & I will send them to you.

Good luck

You have to do a hardship letter. That is what the approval is decided upon, although our case was a bit different. After deciding that we were eligible to file the waiver petition, taking our money, letting us pour all our energy into our hardship letters (in London you each have to do one) and making us wait with false hope for 13 weeks, we were ultimately denied on the basis that the charge was unwaiverable and therefore they were not going to even bother considering any hardship to the usa citizen. Whew... thats a long sentence...hope it made sense. We were so worried that we had not included enough in our hardship letters or that our hardships were not great enough and in the end it didn't matter.

Whatever you do write something really strong about what a good person you are now. We wish we had written pages and pages about the circumstances of the arrest, how he wasnt guilty to begin with, how the court lawyer intimidated him into wrongly pleading guilty and how the court was no help to us when we tried to find out more details about what happened that day in court. We wish we had gotten character references. We could have gotten plenty. Everyone respects Tom. We wish we had stressed that he wouldn't be a trusted government employee if he was not a trustworthy person. We wrongly thought that part was all sorted when they let us file the waiver after spending hours checking with supervisors.

Approach every point from more than one angle and hammer it home. Do not let them tell you as they told Tom in his denial letter that he was a "threat to the safety, security and well being of the usa." My God. Anyone who knows Tom knows how absurd that statement is. All he did when he was in the USA visiting was to enjoy my company and pump a bit of money into the USA economy.

This has made me not even want to live in the USA anymore except for the fact that now we cannot be a part of my kids and grandkids lives. They all really loved Tom and were happy for me. That's my hardest hardship, although I am also worried about medical and especially dental care.

For anyone who might wonder what we have been doing since the denial, we found a house to rent about 25 miles east of London Bridge. The two room flat in Brixton just wouldn't have been enough! We moved in at the end of March and I had to return to Michigan on May 10th. Tom broke his toe in a motorscooter accident on his way home from work 10 days before I left and has been off work ever since. That has made the separation unbearable at this time... me knowing he is there in OUR home all day and I can't spend this time with him. Meanwhile I am trying to sort things out here. Somehow I have to liquidate almost everything in this huge house that I have lived in for 30 years. I am exhausted and overwhelmed at this time. I am also more than a little terrified about me having to apply for a fiancee visa now to be allowed to go back to him. Having that denial come after having been given false hope has damaged my normally positive outlook.

If you are wondering what this horrible crime was that has caused our denial, it is the fact that he was riding in a car 9 years ago in which a bit of cannabis was found. Tom didn't even know it was there. Because a tiny amount had fallen out of the car owners bag, they decided to attribute that bit to Tom so they could chalk up two arrests instead of one. Because it happened at Swansea ferry port (they were on their way to Ireland) it got recorded as exporting. Tom never knew that until he sent for his police report for this process. Imagine his shock when he opened that report expecting it to say personal possession (which is waiverable if it is one time only and under 30 grams). Personal possession was what he had pled to in court. He didnt want to plead guilty but the court lawyer frightened him... told him that if he didnt it would go to trial at a higher court and result in a worse punishment. He said that if he pled guilty it would be a small fine and over and done with.. a slap on the wrist. Where is that guy now ?!! He paid a 100 pound fine and now all these years later a much bigger price. When we got the denial letter they seemed most concerned by the fact that no amount was ever listed on the police or court reports. It just said "an amount of cannabis." ermmm... 100 pound fine? do they really think it could have been a large amount or part of a trafficking operation? Don't expect common sense to prevail.

I know your circumstances are much different. I just share all this to warn you to take nothing for granted and do not take the hardship letter lightly. It doesn't hurt to have an alternate plan if you can. We had gone to the interview expecting a denial with no opportunity to file a waiver petition. I had come to England expecting that we would go to the interview, get denied and get on with things. We were mentally ready at that time. The time they stole from us by giving us false hope only to deny us destroyed that mental preparation. We were numb and in shock when we got the denial. It has take 3 months for me to get back to that state of being ready to live there. Practical matters are a little different though. I am totally overwhelmed now that i have returned. I look at all this stuff and do not know how or where to begin. I do not know when i can be ready to go back. I feel ripped from my home because now my home is there with him. The emotional hardships are far greater than I ever imagined when I was writing my hardship letter.

mary

Mary-heartbreaking. I remember reading about your case somewhere a few months ago. I am so sorry that the waiver did not help you guys.

I do hope things are easier for you in the future-I can't even imagine how devastated you must have been. good luck with everything

Colleen

Hey nathmc31,

As the previous posters have said you will need a waiver, and perhaps if you are lucky (like irish girl, you won't) but you MUST be prepared for the former outcome..... and so take the I-601 with the two hardship letters to your visa interview.

Don't worry yourself sick over this, you will either have to file a waiver or not, and if you speak to people on here and immigrate2us.net and like people have said look at all the examples of waivers that have PASSED and even FAILED, you will be in an extremely good position before your interview.

As far as how long it takes???? well I can't speak for Sydney but at present the London embassy estimates 12-15 weeks to process their waivers.

hang in there mate, you'll be fine

Paul



sorry Irish girl, I misread your last post, you may still need one after all..... ok

Ok thank you everyone for those comments.

So my next question is, Why 2 hardship letters?

What is the second on for?

Do you think it will be a formality doing the waiver or should I be ###### scared?

Thanks, I will wait for your responses.




Could you please send me those waiver examples?

Thanks for the response.

I guess I won't know until he goes for the interview-I was going to prepare a a harship letter but was assured by quite a few people that he probably won't need a waiver. He was arrested on paddy's day for drunk & disorderly conduct & I think there is something on his record for litter. He was arrested with 20 other people they were arrested & released. Guess it depends on what kind of mood they are in that day-I pray we won't need to file a waiver. Paul-why did you have to file the 601?(hope you don't mind me asking).
Colleen

OK this answer is for irish girl AND nathmc31,

Irish girl, I had to file a waiver because I had two previous convictions, one for drunk driving and the other I would prefer not to disclose (but it was a minor offence). I'm not quite sure of your circumstances but if your hubby has more than one previous conviction, chances are he'll need waiver. If it was just one and it was the one you are referring to, then he MAY not.

The thing is it all comes down to luck in the end (I think). I remember spending many hours researching whether two convictions meant a waiver and there's even a clause in the US embassy literature under multiple convictions that says something like "if you have two convictions but they do not constitute CIMT then you won't need a waiver". However the guy behind the screen at the embassy didn't say this, and I was hardly gonna argue with him eh????

and so if you do not want to go through the pain of being told you will need a waiver, and have to go home and prepare all of it and then send it back in to the embassy via post (which will add at least 1 month on to the time you will wait anyway which is 12-15 weeks for London) then have one prepared anyway, how can it hurt?

nathmc31, I'm not sure if you need TWO hardshipe letters mate!! London DOES require two, but as far as I know it's the only embassy that does. You may need to speak to someone who's gone through Sydney. As far as examples, like previous posters have said, go to immigrate2us.net and look through the stickies, there's loads on there from embassies all over the world, it will help.



Paul

Thanks paul

I didn't prepare for a waiver becasue I wasn't sure what he would need one for(2 day overstay or the drunk & disorderly). I guess I could try to prepare one just in case I spoke to a bunch of people here & a few attorneys & they thought he wouldn't need one, but if it comes down to luck..................we haven't had much so I guess I should start typing. I was told the drunk & disorderly wasn't a big deal.

I found some good letters on immigrate2us-but again, I wasn't sure where to begin. I don't have children, I don't have any medical disorders, I don't know what kind of letter to write. It has to be about how I can't live in Ireland-right?

Ah well-let me start investigating


thanks for your post
Colleen

update!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!-my man went for his interview on 7/14-he was asked to get a transcript from the local courthouse. The man who interviewed him said everything looked great-but they need to make sure the drunk& disordely charge was just taken care of with a fine. I also read that if his convictions don't equal a five year penalty-he doesn't need a waiver! I think he is going to get the visa & from what the embassy told him-I don't think he will need a waiver. My question.....................has anyone had to furnish copies of court transcripts? if so-how did you go about getting them? Just hope it won't take too long




thanks

I am pretty sure it is requested if you have a conviction against you. He needs to write to the courthouse that dealt with the court case and request the info....I don't know if they will make a charge or not.

Irishgirl,

I think by "transcripts" you mean a memorandum of conviction??

Your partner should have applied to the court for a memorandum of conviction before the interview and took them with him....

They should be relatively easy to get, I think they cost about 10 pounds....

good luck

Paul

I didn't know that or I would have told him to do it more delays

actually I spoke with a woman from his local garda station & she said he may be able to get them the same day???? I don't believe that but ya never know.

thanks guys!!!!

damn I wish he had ordered this report ages ago I should have done more research and I would have known he needed it!!!

he is going to have a hard time getting off work to go & request the forms-but he will do what he has to do(unless he wants me to kill him )

fingers crossed again-maybe it will only be a few more weeks

Tom ordered his court report by mail after he found out what was on the police report (you have to have the case number and other information from that). I think he phoned the court first to find out what they needed. The court was in Wales and Tom lives in London so going there was not an option. I know he received it within two weeks.

mary

Paul and anyone else --- London is not the only Consulate that requires two letters --- I know that the Vancouver and the Montreal Consulate also require two hardship letters as well as, many others consulates as evidenced in posts I have read on immigrate2us.com --- So, my advice is contact which ever consualte you will need to process through and they should have the specific information you need posted on thier website. http://sydney.usconsulate.gov/consular/iv.html this should be a good start for Australia --

thanks for the info ...............I think that the embassy kept his police record Gavin is going to try & go to the court this week.

2 weeks would be wonderful-fingers crossed for that

Oh I do hope he kept a copy.. you really need to keep copies of everything. maybe if he can tell the court the date they will still be able to find it. If he goes to the court I would imagine they would find it and copy it at that time... I would hope so anyway. Tom just could not take a trip to Wales.

It's a shame he didnt realize that the court report is required by the embassy for any charge that appears on the police report. I thought it was on the checklist but maybe we only knew about it from the forums here. Last summer is a bit of a blur now.... and I hope that soon this one will be as well.

mary

he told me it wasn't on the paperwork but he must have missed it. I am so mad that I didn't ask anyone-God knows I have asked about everything else i read about those reports but I figured he had his police cert so he didn't need anything else.

they DID keep his police cert at the embassy & he doesn't have a copy , he is going to call the court to see exactly what it is he will need-if he does need a conviction number(code)-he will just have to get another report from the garda station.

I swear it is always something

thanks so much for your help

update-I called the summons office in Dublin(the place he needs to go to get these "transcripts") anyway I told the man that the convictions were in 2003-he pulled up Gavin's record-there is only one listing & it shows that he paid a fine. He also told me that there was another for drunk & disorderly but it was removed/dismissed.


Is this going to be what the embassy wants? should I maybe call the embassy to be sure? I hate to see him go back & not have exactly what they want.

thanks guys-sorry to be a pain about this-just want to get it right!

any help is greatly appreciated as always

well first, I assume this one charge was in fact on his police report? all I know that for each offence that appears on the police report they require the matching court record. in toms case this was the magistrate court in swansea. is this "summons office" a court or the place where he had to appear after the incident? the place where he paid the fine? if so then I would think that the embassy needs their official record. it should have the charge on it and if he pled guilty or innocent and how it was adjudicated.

i can't imagine him needed the one that was dismissed but then I am not sure...

i am really surprised that you were able to call and get information from them! if i had known they would talk to the usa citizen I might have taken care of some of those calls for tom at the time.

when i am living there I would like to find out if there is any way we can get more information that could possibly help us at least get a travel visa for him one day. as it now stands he can never enter the usa again.

mary

I know-I can't believe they gave me all Gav's info-just asked for his name & birthdate then he read me the whole report. I am going to call the embassy to ask exactly what they want-just like you said I am sure there will have to be a record for each conviction(he has 2 drunk & disorderly). I was just suprised that he had info for the one, but nothing else. He said there was only one incident in the computer under his name.

maybe he needs a different record from 2 court offices? God I drive myself crazy

the embassy has been pretty helpful-I am going to call them Thursday

they should give him something-you are right even a day would be something, you should call & make some inquiries-I have been lucky with the people in Dublin-they are always very nice when I call. Your whole situation is just bull-sh*t..................are you guys out of options?

well I don't think he would fly all the way here for a day! the horrible part is that he was off work with a broken toe all of may and june.. and it was may 10th that i had to leave the Uk.. if only he could have come here to help me during that time .. even though he wasn't at his best physically. I suppose if you are off work with sick leave though you arent meant to leave the country.. lol.


when we received the denial we also received intructions for how to appeal. It would have had to be done very quickly and we were numb and unable to think or function for a few days.. then we just got down to business arranging things so I could move there.... finding a place big enough for us. We had been together in that two room flat for over four months!!! they told us at the embassy to not move while we waited for the waiver. we actually had a bigger place lined up when we went to the interview.. we would have moved the next week. we really didnt expect them to let us file the waiver application, and as it turns out they should not have.

anyway, what would have been the point in filing the appeal. we were denied on the grounds that the charge was unwaiverable. we would have had to come up with new evidence or information and we couldn't. even if we had, I was told appeals take a year or two or even more. we couldnt drag this out any longer just to be denied again. I am alot older than most of you.. I don't want anymore of our time together to be stolen from us. We won't have 50 years together.

I just have to somehow find more energy to clear out this house... i have lived in it for 30 years! Its huge! It has been very slow going. Some days I feel like the task is impossible. I had a buyer for my house but at the moment thats not looking good.. there are problems with their financing. the morgage company is refusing to finance it unless I first do $12,000 worth of repairs!!! Well I don't have that kind of money and how long would THAT take even if i did? I need something positive to happen soon.

you are right... our situation is just bull-sh*t

back to your situation... does he need two reports? are there two things on his police report?

mary

Colleen, I see way up earlier in this thread that Paul C thought you might possibly need to file a waiver.

You've got the attention of a lot of people in this thread who are VERY knowledgeable about waivers.

How many charges are on his report? What types of charges? Any fines? Any clear simple info you can put in this thread might keep you from having any more delays.....and I know you don't want any more of those.

I sit here & bi*ch about us waiting 8 months & you are going through all this................puts things in perspective. You mention a broken toe-I broke my collarbone a few weeks ago-what I wouldn't give to have him here with me now-it is 115 degrees here & I can't even pull my hair up

moving? God bless you.............I have moved several times but 30 years? you accumulate a lot in 30 years-don't ya? You are right-don't waste any time apart-so sorry that all of this happened to you guys everything will work out soon!

I just called someone else at the court building-he needs the case numbers or the court dates-she said that the one was most likely dismissed-and that will be what the report says. If he doesn't remember the dates(somehow I don't think he will), I am going to call the embassy & see if they will read the numbers off to me- I may get someone nice. If not-it's back to the garda station for another report. I swore I told him to make a copy of that report!!!
Colleen




drunk & disorderly(2) he paid a fine for one( I think it was 150 euro)

I just called the court and apparently one of the charges was dismissed.

I looked all this up on the net & from what I have read-he shouldn't be denied b/c the convictions are not punishable by a jail sentence of 5 years(when there are multiple convictions). Paul did say he may need one but I really don't think he will. I have been wrong before-so I may be on this one as well

Irish girl,

Just a quick word of advice before I go off on my honeymoon!

"I looked all this up on the net & from what I have read-he shouldn't be denied b/c the convictions are not punishable by a jail sentence of 5 years(when there are multiple convictions)"

don't be fooled that just because his convictions didn't add up to more than 5 years in jail he won't need a waiver!! I thought the same with me, I didn't have to do one minute of "jail time", but that didn't matter to the guy behind the screen in London, he just went with the "more than one conviction = waiver"...

having said that it sounds like the person in the Embassy indicated he woulnd't need one.... as I said in a previous post.... it sounds like it depends on who interviews you??!!!

you are 100% right! It all depends on who interviews him. I had started to prepare a waiver but was having a really hard time proving hardship. I will work on it.

have a great honeymoon Paul!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!