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How to answer section D of N-400 application

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Sounds like her case was dismissed completely. So, probation might have a few meangs in law. Even if not all charges were dismissed-she can apply for citizenship and I bet would not have any problems. Shoplifting is not a felony and I am sure that interviewing officer would not have any grounds not to pass her for citizenship based on this criminal record. They would prob ask her to bring court papers and you should ask lawer to prepare a doc from law which would state that according by this-that-paragraph (don't know if this crime goes under state or federal law-but lawers should know) the max charge for this crime is less or equival of 2 years of inprisonment. People commited felony are getting citizenship ofter USCIS establishes some probation time.

The final disposition letter says that she was charged. It didn't say that she was convicted.

The clerk told me was not convicted.

Here is her final disposition letter of her case:

=============================================================

MOTION TO DISMISS

Defendant

The People of the State of Colorado move to dismiss the charge(s) of 10.24.080 Theft, as alleged in the Summons and Complaint in this case for the following reason(s):

Completed terms of deferred sentence.

The Court grants the preceding motion to dismiss the charge(s) identified above.

=============================================================

Karina and Tomy

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Sorry to say it, but as of now, your wife's moral turpitude is questionable. Although the infraction is very small, if your wife files now for citizenship, an Immigration Officer does have the authority to deny her application - if they deem it necessary.

On page 25 it states: Examples of Things That Might Demonstrate a Lack of Good Moral Character

• Any crime against property or the Government that involves “fraud†or evil intent...which is what shoplifting is.

You see, how not professionals could be wrong (I am not a lawer but always go to professionals for important answers-because even when educated people do analysis in the area of not their expertise, the outcome is guessable). What I know for sure that crimes of moral turpitude are prostitution, nazy crimes (world war II), terrorism and, if not mistaken, drug trafficking. (the list, as I remember, of this type of crimes is very short; I might miss one or max two types, not more. But even murder is not a moral turpitude crime. For moral turpitude crimes-no citizenship ever (or could be revocked). For everything else-some possibilities. Small crimes for which the max punishment is less than two years (by state or federal law-that is why it could be tough to get citzship with DUI lets say from N Carolina where DUI is treated like man slauter) should not be a problem. But I believe that such cases must handle a professional-immigration lawer.

Karina and Tomy

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The final disposition letter says that she was charged. It didn't say that she was convicted.

The clerk told me was not convicted.

Here is her final disposition letter of her case:

=============================================================

MOTION TO DISMISS

Defendant

The People of the State of Colorado move to dismiss the charge(s) of 10.24.080 Theft, as alleged in the Summons and Complaint in this case for the following reason(s):

Completed terms of deferred sentence.

The Court grants the preceding motion to dismiss the charge(s) identified above.

=============================================================

Aha. If you're going to ask for advice about this kinds of things here, you need to let everything out instead of letting it out in dribs and drabs.

I do not know Colorado law -- I practice in Florida -- but whether your wife's deferred sentence is a conviction for the purposes of the N-400 is not necessarily a simple question. It could be that a deferred sentence is not considered a conviction under Colorado law, or is only considered a conviction for certain purposes -- I do not know. You need to ask a Colorado criminal lawyer.

From what I can see, your wife entered into a deferred sentencing agreement with the DA. The terms of such agreements are usually that the defendant pleads guilty but sentence is deferred for a period of time during which the defendant is to abide by certain conditions. When the deferred sentence is completed (i.e., the defendant complies with the conditions for the period of time), the guilty plea is withdrawn and the court dismisses the case.

However, there is U.S. Supreme Court case law which holds that a plea of guilty is in itself a conviction. Given that CIS is a federal agency, it might not care a whit what Colorado says about whether a deferred sentence is or is not a conviction. I don't know. Nor does anyone else here, unless they are a Colorado immigration (or perhaps criminal) attorney.

Meh

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Sorry to say it, but as of now, your wife's moral turpitude is questionable. Although the infraction is very small, if your wife files now for citizenship, an Immigration Officer does have the authority to deny her application - if they deem it necessary.

On page 25 it states: Examples of Things That Might Demonstrate a Lack of Good Moral Character

• Any crime against property or the Government that involves “fraud†or evil intent...which is what shoplifting is.

You see, how not professionals could be wrong (I am not a lawer but always go to professionals for important answers-because even when educated people do analysis in the area of not their expertise, the outcome is guessable). What I know for sure that crimes of moral turpitude are prostitution, nazy crimes (world war II), terrorism and, if not mistaken, drug trafficking. (the list, as I remember, of this type of crimes is very short; I might miss one or max two types, not more. But even murder is not a moral turpitude crime. For moral turpitude crimes-no citizenship ever (or could be revocked). For everything else-some possibilities. Small crimes for which the max punishment is less than two years (by state or federal law-that is why it could be tough to get citzship with DUI lets say from N Carolina where DUI is treated like man slauter) should not be a problem. But I believe that such cases must handle a professional-immigration lawer.

Actually, Russian_Armenian, when you look up moral turpitude on Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_turpitude, it is prefaced for immigration standards...so here you go. It also states that a definition of moral turpitude is available for immigration purposes on the United States Department of State website. For offenses (or arrests on suspicion of such offenses) occurring outside the U.S., the locally defined offense must be considered against the U.S. definitions, and in such cases it is the definition of the offense (as defined in the appropriate country) which is considered for immigration purposes, and not the circumstances of the individual's actual case.

Furthermore, the list of crimes involving moral turpitude is HUGE!

Here is a little tidbit of the crimes, for which there are four different areas: Crimes Against Property; Crimes Committed Against Governmental Authority; Crimes Committed Against Person, Family Relationship, and Sexual Morality; and Attempts, Aiding and Abetting, Accessories and Conspiracy.

These fall under the Crimes Against Property:

Evil intent:

Arson

Blackmail

Burglary

Embezzlement

Extortion

False pretenses

Forgery

Fraud

Larceny (grand or petty)

Malicious destruction of property

Receiving stolen goods (with guilty knowledge)

Robbery

Theft (when it involves the intention of permanent taking)

Transporting stolen property (with guilty knowledge)

Damaging private property (where intent to damage not required)

Breaking and entering (requiring no specific or implicit intent to commit a crime involving moral turpitude)

Passing bad checks (where intent to defraud not required)

Possessing stolen property (if guilty knowledge is not essential)

Joy riding (where the intention to take permanently not required)

Juvenile delinquency

I'm not trying to get into a pissing match with you, but shoplifting is theft - it is a crime...can be a petty one, like stealing a candy bar, or it could be like Winona Ryder, and commit grand theft by stealing $5,000+ worth of merchandise putting it in a shopping bag. It still is a crime, and it goes against one's moral character or can be the definer of one's moral character. That is why this comes into play during the citizenship application. They want to make sure that anyone applying for citizenship is of good moral character...and someone may be a gem, but they still committed a crime, and their moral character, with the supporting documentation that one has to provide, will be suspect to an IO...which they have the right to take into account when they approve or deny an application.

Edited by Staashi
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Staashi, I personally agree with you-for me, any crime has greater or smaller but still lack of good moral character (but could be a medical condition like with many shoplifters; accidents happen to good people and they get convicted, etc).

But long time ago, I have read (what I believe was INS guidlines for immigration officers about categories of crimes and if there is a relief (I belive that was a term used) for a particular crime. The doc was published on website of some law school (don't remember, but think it was Columbia; and somebody has defended PhD based on this official doc). The doc was like 300 pages-mostly tables with classes of crimes; so, I have not really read it (since no use for me). But remember that no relief for crimes of moral turpitude and list of these crimes (I don't remember definition of moral turpitude crimes for INS purposes (but it was quite different from Wikipedia) but the list was short (about 5 classes-prostitution, nazy, terrorism, for sure; drag traficking and slavery are two more listed (but not sure).

I know that people with convictions less than 2 years don't get any problems with immigration. Friend of mine was convicted-fight with property damage and broken limbs. He was fined and spent month in jail. His lawer showed to immigration lawer NY state law which state that the max punishment for his crime in NY was 1 year. Immigration officer told them that there is no problem with his criminal record because how NY state law treats it (less than 2 years). Nobody has questioned his moral character: the man spent 40 years of his life (he is Canadian) without having any problems with law. And on one particular day, see that other man and woman get into verbal fight and jumps on woman defence (breaks ribs and arm of other man and damages other people's property nearby), get arrested and convicted. I would not call it lack of moral character. There is many situations like this. But I believe that every situaiton like this needs a professional/lawer to prepare appropriate defence strategy. I just know that I the person is not a convicted prostitute, nazist, terrorist-there is some legal strategies to get GC/citizenship. I would not feel too stressed out due to shoplifting record, but would hire a lawer.

Sorry to say it, but as of now, your wife's moral turpitude is questionable. Although the infraction is very small, if your wife files now for citizenship, an Immigration Officer does have the authority to deny her application - if they deem it necessary.

On page 25 it states: Examples of Things That Might Demonstrate a Lack of Good Moral Character

• Any crime against property or the Government that involves “fraud†or evil intent...which is what shoplifting is.

You see, how not professionals could be wrong (I am not a lawer but always go to professionals for important answers-because even when educated people do analysis in the area of not their expertise, the outcome is guessable). What I know for sure that crimes of moral turpitude are prostitution, nazy crimes (world war II), terrorism and, if not mistaken, drug trafficking. (the list, as I remember, of this type of crimes is very short; I might miss one or max two types, not more. But even murder is not a moral turpitude crime. For moral turpitude crimes-no citizenship ever (or could be revocked). For everything else-some possibilities. Small crimes for which the max punishment is less than two years (by state or federal law-that is why it could be tough to get citzship with DUI lets say from N Carolina where DUI is treated like man slauter) should not be a problem. But I believe that such cases must handle a professional-immigration lawer.

Actually, Russian_Armenian, when you look up moral turpitude on Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_turpitude, it is prefaced for immigration standards...so here you go. It also states that a definition of moral turpitude is available for immigration purposes on the United States Department of State website. For offenses (or arrests on suspicion of such offenses) occurring outside the U.S., the locally defined offense must be considered against the U.S. definitions, and in such cases it is the definition of the offense (as defined in the appropriate country) which is considered for immigration purposes, and not the circumstances of the individual's actual case.

Furthermore, the list of crimes involving moral turpitude is HUGE!

Here is a little tidbit of the crimes, for which there are four different areas: Crimes Against Property; Crimes Committed Against Governmental Authority; Crimes Committed Against Person, Family Relationship, and Sexual Morality; and Attempts, Aiding and Abetting, Accessories and Conspiracy.

These fall under the Crimes Against Property:

Evil intent:

Arson

Blackmail

Burglary

Embezzlement

Extortion

False pretenses

Forgery

Fraud

Larceny (grand or petty)

Malicious destruction of property

Receiving stolen goods (with guilty knowledge)

Robbery

Theft (when it involves the intention of permanent taking)

Transporting stolen property (with guilty knowledge)

Damaging private property (where intent to damage not required)

Breaking and entering (requiring no specific or implicit intent to commit a crime involving moral turpitude)

Passing bad checks (where intent to defraud not required)

Possessing stolen property (if guilty knowledge is not essential)

Joy riding (where the intention to take permanently not required)

Juvenile delinquency

I'm not trying to get into a pissing match with you, but shoplifting is theft - it is a crime...can be a petty one, like stealing a candy bar, or it could be like Winona Ryder, and commit grand theft by stealing $5,000+ worth of merchandise putting it in a shopping bag. It still is a crime, and it goes against one's moral character or can be the definer of one's moral character. That is why this comes into play during the citizenship application. They want to make sure that anyone applying for citizenship is of good moral character...and someone may be a gem, but they still committed a crime, and their moral character, with the supporting documentation that one has to provide, will be suspect to an IO...which they have the right to take into account when they approve or deny an application.

Karina and Tomy

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Here is the link to the information from the Field Adjudicator's Manual that discusses "Good Moral Character". You might find the information within it along with the various links contained within the text of use.

http://www.uscis.gov/propub/ProPubVAP.jsp?...8ce159d286150e2

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What kind of lawyer should I ask to prepare a document which would state the max charge for this crime in our state?

And how much would I expect to pay for the lawyer to prepare this type of document?

Thank you.

You need an immigration attorney.

A couple of things: under federal law --

The term “conviction” means, with respect to an alien, a formal judgment of guilt of the alien entered by a court
or, if adjudication of guilt has been withheld, where
--

(i) a judge or jury has found the alien guilty
or the alien has entered a plea of guilty or nolo contendere or has admitted sufficient facts to warrant a finding of guilt
, and

(ii)
the judge has ordered some form of punishment, penalty
, or restraint on the alien's liberty to be imposed.

8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(48).

Also, it is well settled that theft crimes are inherently crimes involving moral turpitude for purposes of the immigration laws. This is so even if the conviction at issue is for petty theft.

Meh

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