K1 Petition - Response to an Intent to Deny

[pirateradio 0]

Hello, newbie here - so I apologize on the basic level of my questions..

I submitted a K1 petition in May 2010, California resident, to the California Service Center.

On the applicaiton, I was truthful and marked yes to the criminal conviction question.

I had 3 DUI's in the late 80's, and NO convictions ever since.

I had tried to pull my records, but could not find anything on commercial criminal record searches for myself.

I explained that I could not find my records, the background of the DUI's, etc on the application.

I presumed that the next thing I would receive would be a Request for Evidence but was not sure as I thought that even though I could not find my records surely the Dept of Homeland Security would pull my records?

Anyway, yesterday i received a blue form stating I797E - Notice of Action "Return this blue processing coversheet on top of your reponse to the intent to deny" and have been given until August 19 to submit requested information. The white letter attached goes into "on part C#2" etc about the IMBRA act.

Is this processing flow normal? Wouldn't I of received a request for information, rather than an immediate Intent to Deny?

Am I correct in that my next step should be to immediately obtain certified copies of all court records pertaining to the aforementioned charges and attached those to some sort of reply? Is there a form that I reply with, or do I just make up a letter?

Are certified court records the same as arrest records?

I'm not sure where to get these - my DUI's were in San Diego and Orange County - there is no central place to obtain?

I apologize for all the questions - very confused - they certainly do not make it very clear on my next steps.

Final question - are 3 DUI's in the 80's and not even a traffic ticket since then a valid basis to deny K1's? My fiancee is well aware of what happened 20 years ago.. no violence involved. How worried should I be? Should i obtain legal representation?

Thank you..

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

I don't know if it's standard procedure to send an RFE or a NOID in these cases. Apparently, the AO thought it was serious enough that a NOID was justified. The end result is the same. Respond or your petition will be denied.

DHS might have some electronic records of your history (i.e., Joe Blo was arrested on x/y/z for DUI), but they won't have complete copies of the police and court records. The IMBRA requires copies of the records because they are required to provide these copies to your fiancee, and not just a bullet list of your criminal record.

They require both police AND court records. You should be able to get the police records at the police department that made the arrest. You should be able to get the court records at the court where you were tried. There is no central clearinghouse to obtain copies of these records. A law enforcement database would probably contain some information about the arrests and convictions, but USCIS wants copies of the actual police reports and court records.

If this is your first I-129F petition, then you should not be denied if you provide the required documents. If you've filed an I-129F previously, and had to ask for a waiver of the filing limitations, then your waiver could possibly be denied. This is up to the discretion of the AO. The IMBRA only authorizes them to deny a filing limitation waiver if there were any IMBRA covered convictions, but not to deny the petition itself if there was no waiver request.

For others who might be in a similar circumstance - don't send the petition package until you've collected ALL of the documents required for your particular case. Before you file the petition you have all the time in the world to collect these documents. If you wait until you get an RFE or NOID then you have a very short period of time to collect the documents and respond.

[pirateradio 0]

Thank you so much for the information JimVaPhuong.

I have a lot of running around to do now, since I only have 30 days and counting to obtain these things, and they are in multiple counties.

Do i use a standard format in my response, or just compose a letter along with my records - do you know?