Please help me - AP Question

[Sweetcheeksss 91]

I need some knowledgeable people to weigh in on my problem:

Brief background - on Aug 4 of this year, I had my visa interview in Montreal. I have a criminal record (which I fully disclosed). It involves ONE charge of theft under 5k in Canada. I got a summary conviction (equal to a misdemeanor in the US), the MAX I could have been sentenced to was under a year (I served no jail time), I got a conditional discharge and 15 months of probation. I never got into any trouble since then.

Here's my issue (and what I need help with):

At my interview, the interviewer thought that maybe my probation sentence would count towards the whole "sentenced over 1 year", which, of course if it DID count, I wouldn't be eligible for the petty theft clause and I'd have to get a waiver. He (the interviewer) mentioned he was "going to have to check with the lawyers in Washington". I have spoken to three different immigration lawyers (one being Laurel Scott during her internet chat on a Wed) and ALL three have assured me that probation does NOT count. In fact, here's a portion of what one of the lawyers told me:

"Thank you for your message below. The petty offense exception applies to offenses for which the maximum possible penalty for the crime does not exceed imprisonment for one year. So the length of time you were sentenced to probation is really irrelevant for purposes of a petty offense analysis. Instead, I would need to review the statute of the CCC under which you were convicted in order to determine whether you qualify for the petty offense exception. "

Well this morning my hubby's senator liason contacted the Montreal consulate on my behalf and she just emailed me back with the following:

"Good morning Kathy,

I spoke with our liaison at the US Embassy in Montreal this morning regarding your case. It appears that the embassy has not received the documents (I-407’s, etc.) you submitted earlier this month. He advised that you email montreal-iv-div@state.gov and inform them of when you sent them and of any routing numbers, if available. He also indicated that there are some outstanding issues regarding a criminal history that will need to be resolved before they can issue a visa. This may involve certain a waiver(s) from the Department of Homeland Security.

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Claire Gallagher

Constituent Services"

How can I address this to make sure that it's taken care of so I don't have to wait forever because my hubby is fixin to deploy soonish and I would like to get home...

[DaveyOntario 1]

I need some knowledgeable people to weigh in on my problem:

Brief background - on Aug 4 of this year, I had my visa interview in Montreal. I have a criminal record (which I fully disclosed). It involves ONE charge of theft under 5k in Canada. I got a summary conviction (equal to a misdemeanor in the US), the MAX I could have been sentenced to was under a year (I served no jail time), I got a conditional discharge and 15 months of probation. I never got into any trouble since then.

Here's my issue (and what I need help with):

At my interview, the interviewer thought that maybe my probation sentence would count towards the whole "sentenced over 1 year", which, of course if it DID count, I wouldn't be eligible for the petty theft clause and I'd have to get a waiver. He (the interviewer) mentioned he was "going to have to check with the lawyers in Washington". I have spoken to three different immigration lawyers (one being Laurel Scott during her internet chat on a Wed) and ALL three have assured me that probation does NOT count. In fact, here's a portion of what one of the lawyers told me:

"Thank you for your message below. The petty offense exception applies to offenses for which the maximum possible penalty for the crime does not exceed imprisonment for one year. So the length of time you were sentenced to probation is really irrelevant for purposes of a petty offense analysis. Instead, I would need to review the statute of the CCC under which you were convicted in order to determine whether you qualify for the petty offense exception. "

Well this morning my hubby's senator liason contacted the Montreal consulate on my behalf and she just emailed me back with the following:

"Good morning Kathy,

I spoke with our liaison at the US Embassy in Montreal this morning regarding your case. It appears that the embassy has not received the documents (I-407’s, etc.) you submitted earlier this month. He advised that you email montreal-iv-div@state.gov and inform them of when you sent them and of any routing numbers, if available. He also indicated that there are some outstanding issues regarding a criminal history that will need to be resolved before they can issue a visa. This may involve certain a waiver(s) from the Department of Homeland Security.

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Claire Gallagher

Constituent Services"

How can I address this to make sure that it's taken care of so I don't have to wait forever because my hubby is fixin to deploy soonish and I would like to get home...

Sweet, for what it's worth my situation is close to the same. Had a petty offence, forced to get an I-192 waiver years ago, my lawyer made note in my I-130 application about this, had interview in Nov. 2009, had I-601 prepared in case I needed it, was not requested however i was put in AP because the CO wanted a 2008 IT return from my wife plus he needed to review my charge. He said he this would take 2 weeks. Got a call from him and he said my visa was approved in December and to submit my passport which I did immediately. Two months later I get my passport back with no visa and a request to file an I-601. This was done and received by USCIS Vermont in May 2010. I have heard nothing yet.

We started this CR/1 Visa process in Nov. 2007, so we are anxiously waiting. You may be requested to file an I-601 also. If this is required who knows how long it will take. Please PM me if you would like some more detail.

Good Luck

[Sweetcheeksss 91]

Well, I have never had to have any waiver to enter the US to visit, and I've crossed many times by both air and land.

The CO at the interview said to me " I don't know if the probation counts towards your sentence (which would make me ineligible and thus need a I-601) so I will check with the lawyers in Washington DC.

But now that I've kinda calmed down a bit, I am thinking that BECAUSE Montreal said they haven't received my additional documents (which, btw, is incorrect because I sent them via Xpresspost and on canadapost.ca it says they were delivered and signed for on Sept 15) he's just regurgitating what he said to me at the interview. I had to get additional docs from the court (a letter of conviction actually) that clearly states what part of the CCC I was charged under, that it was handled summarily and that I had a conditional discharge. Since he hasn't seen these yet, I'm thinking that maybe, it'll be a different outcome once he DOES get to eyeball them.

If that makes sense?

[Brother Hesekiel 2,235]

Laurel Scott is top notch, really out-of-this-world competent in what she does. She knows more about waivers than 100 average immigration attorneys combined.

If I were to walk in your shoes, I'd retain her and consider the $1K a cheap price for having her setting them immigration folks straight.

She'll slap so many paragraphs into the I.O.s faces that their bleeding gets serious and they'll beg her to stop. Best of all, and that makes her really special, she does it in a very polite way, dwarfs them with her almost omnipotent knowledge while keeping on smiling. She's one in a million, worth every penny.

Edited September 29, 2010 by Just Bob

[Sweetcheeksss 91]

Thanks Bob. Upon further reflection, I think what happened is that the liason called her contact at the consulate, he input our MTL case number and saw the same information that I get from DoS (my common sense tells me it's the same info that was input at the end of my interview) whenever I call. Because MTL is soooo far behind I think I read more into that email than I should have.

[Sweetcheeksss 91]

Oh and let me add, I will def retain her services if and when I'm informed by the consulate that a waiver is needed.

[canadianboy 1]

I need some knowledgeable people to weigh in on my problem:

Brief background - on Aug 4 of this year, I had my visa interview in Montreal. I have a criminal record (which I fully disclosed). It involves ONE charge of theft under 5k in Canada. I got a summary conviction (equal to a misdemeanor in the US), the MAX I could have been sentenced to was under a year (I served no jail time), I got a conditional discharge and 15 months of probation. I never got into any trouble since then.

Here's my issue (and what I need help with):

At my interview, the interviewer thought that maybe my probation sentence would count towards the whole "sentenced over 1 year", which, of course if it DID count, I wouldn't be eligible for the petty theft clause and I'd have to get a waiver. He (the interviewer) mentioned he was "going to have to check with the lawyers in Washington". I have spoken to three different immigration lawyers (one being Laurel Scott during her internet chat on a Wed) and ALL three have assured me that probation does NOT count. In fact, here's a portion of what one of the lawyers told me:

"Thank you for your message below. The petty offense exception applies to offenses for which the maximum possible penalty for the crime does not exceed imprisonment for one year. So the length of time you were sentenced to probation is really irrelevant for purposes of a petty offense analysis. Instead, I would need to review the statute of the CCC under which you were convicted in order to determine whether you qualify for the petty offense exception. "

Well this morning my hubby's senator liason contacted the Montreal consulate on my behalf and she just emailed me back with the following:

"Good morning Kathy,

I spoke with our liaison at the US Embassy in Montreal this morning regarding your case. It appears that the embassy has not received the documents (I-407’s, etc.) you submitted earlier this month. He advised that you email montreal-iv-div@state.gov and inform them of when you sent them and of any routing numbers, if available. He also indicated that there are some outstanding issues regarding a criminal history that will need to be resolved before they can issue a visa. This may involve certain a waiver(s) from the Department of Homeland Security.

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Claire Gallagher

Constituent Services"

How can I address this to make sure that it's taken care of so I don't have to wait forever because my hubby is fixin to deploy soonish and I would like to get home...

sweetcheeeks,, just a quick question have you done the fingerprint criminal records check as well prior to your interview and how long did you wait to get them from RCMP?

[Sweetcheeksss 91]

Yes, I submitted a fingerprint record check from the RCMP. It took me approx. 3 months to get the results back. FYI, when it did come back from the RCMP it came back with no record associated with my fingerprints.

[canadianboy 1]

Yes, I submitted a fingerprint record check from the RCMP. It took me approx. 3 months to get the results back. FYI, when it did come back from the RCMP it came back with no record associated with my fingerprints.

i heard the one in sherwood park alberta RCMP is the fastest they said 7 days? i am just curious which branch of RCMP did you make the req.. coz i am not going there?