A decision cannot be made at this time.

[NickD 203]

Her appointment was at 3:00 PM we got in the waiting room at 2:50, she was called in at 3:02:39, not bad and came out 14 minutes later. Wife and I had a bit of a problem going through that metal detector, told us to empty our pockets, but both of us forgot to remove our watches, that caused a bit of a delay.

Our key form of study for her civics test was in the drive over, daughter very busy at college, so really didn't have the time to look over it. Kept it simple, but did briefly explain our crazy selective service system. Ironically, as a woman, she was asked that question, between the ages of 18 and 26. Was also asked which state borders, Canada, names of the oceans on the east and west coast, the longest river, and the main law of the land. She got through that with no problem so was only asked six questions.

For a 4.0 GPA junior in college, they normally learn how to write at that stage, had no problem in writing Washington is on the dollar bill. Even I can do that.

While I had her bring her four years of tax transcripts, her latest W-2's, with the delays of the IRS with forms, we couldn't file yet, her grade transcripts as proof she was a student, and her state drivers' license, her IO didn't even want to see those. In reality, all she needed was her green card and interview letterl

In regards to her checked, "A decision cannot yet be made about your application", she did past the English and Civics tests. The only thing I can gather is when asked if she had any trouble with the police was a minor traffic violation.

Seen other post here where others have posted that where proof was required that the fine was paid. So maybe that is what they want, her IO never gave her the exact reason. But if that was the reason, the very fact she had her drivers' license is proof that fine was paid, was something like 50 bucks including court costs. Our town is loaded with cops for Homeland Security with nothing else to do except issue traffic violations for the most minor offenses. This was like three years ago, I even drove out to where she got a ticket for not a complete stop, the stop signed was blocked about 80% with a bush the city is responsible for cleaning up. I would have raised holy hell, she just paid the fine. Was a trap.

But all we can do now is wait, seems like the USCIS wants to make a major issue of each of anything, and may cause a major trip back. If I were present, would have demanded a complete explanation, but that is just me. See what happens.

Wife and daughter had a blast at the mall, picked up a couple hundred bucks worth of clothes they weren't so sure about when we came home. Just said, save your receipts, we may be back. Killed my time by watching the merry go round go around and a guy demoing an tiny RC helicopter, but prefer the real stuff. Learned to let the woman go and have their fun.

Weatherman lied about no snow, did get a half an inch on the way back, but thanks, God, that was all.

[aminah 6]

Interesting. I have a friend that had a moving violation and at his interview was told they couldn't make a dicision either. He's been waiting now for a year since he first filed. I'm sure it won't take that long for your stepdaughter though. I'll keep my fingers crossed that its quick.

[Sand 5]

Dont worry, That is nothing. God willing, she will receive her Oath letter. like this Kind of Ticket it's nothing. when i went to my Interview i had ticket worth of $250 and the interviewer never asked for a receipt or anything. she asked "Beside ur speeding ticket have u ever been arrested? the answer was NO. well if it was worth of $500 that is a different story" and even if they want a receipt that she paid her fine. Very easy go to the court and get it from there, or call the court where she paid the fine and let them to send to you.

But i dont know if they will ask for it.

God willing good news on the way

[NickD 203]

If any one should be concerned about a traffic violation, it would be your auto insurance company, they are the ones that are liable for you. My son was in the auto insurance rat race business for awhile, had access to a complete database, and can learn your driving record in seconds and whether you paid your fines or not. Was talking to him about this yesterday.

My own insurance agent laughed this offense off, no increase in her insurance rates, then tells me how he got caught in a trap. Can tell you from my military experience, don't dare want to get a traffic violation, the penalty in the military is ten times worse than the cost of the fine. Seems like the USCIS adopted the same policy. Can say her stepdad also adopted this policy, she was grounded from driving her car for a month. But I was he victim of that more than she was, had to take her to from school for that month in a crazy traffic jam every morning and afternoon. A part of our society where every one is forced to be at the same place at the same time.

Son also brought up the issue of checking each applicant for an FBI check, they sure in the hell don't want to accept the liability of insuring a terrorist, that also took seconds. Is just like a couple of years ago, the USCIS had a bug up their butts about a really stupid joint utility bill that is not even a mentioned form of evidence, could have told them over the phone my wife was Mrs. Bush for all they cared. They don't even care whos' name is on the bill, if not paid, go against the owner of the property and will put a lean on the property. Many landlords get struck with that bill if not paid by their renters, another good reason for not wanting to be a landlord. A friend had her application delayed over 15 months because of this, we were prepared.

Both her mom and I told our daughter, if asked that question, to answer it honestly, but according to the USCIS instructions, should have never been asked. Or asked in a manner where the offense was in excess of $500.00 or if she was intoxicated at the time. Now, this seems to be an issue with them, and if you don't pay your fine, the DMV would be all over your can.

In a similar fashion, if you don't pay your taxes, the IRS will be all over your back and even auction off your property, take everything and kick you out of your home. So why is the USCIS also making an issue out of this. We did prepare our daughter for this, but never even wanted to see her tax returns. Caught off guard again. With Homeland Security, even in our small town, can go to the courthouse and see over 200 people in line to pay traffic violation fines. Police don't have anything else to do except to set up traps, but yet not a major cry on this subject. On talking about people getting killed, drunken driving, just minor traffic violations. Like driving 26 in a 25, yes its getting that bad.

Admittingly, did have problems with her, a child with an abusive father and a broken home, but took a lot of patience to make her a good hard working person. She apologizes frequently for the hard time she gave her mom and me. But proud of her now, but really don't have a say in this matter. Just too damned many different agencies to deal with, like 1,525, that alone is criminal.

[almostthere2010 0]

Good Luck to your stepdaughter Nick. Sometimes I've read that USCIS uses that option to do a little more research. I'm sure everything will be fine and soon you will receive the Oath Letter.

[NickD 203]

Not sure how to deal with this, received a letter today requesting these court records, date of stepdaughters birth is 08/24/1989.

On 01/26/1991 when she was one years old was charged with battery.

On 05/04/1994 when she was four years was charged with assault.

On 07/21/2006 when she was 16 years, had her drivers license suspended, this was the only time she was in the country, but she never had her drivers' license suspended.

We have 30 days to respond or will lose everything. Does say traffic violations should be excluded, but also says if no court records can be found, we need a certified letter from the court stating so. What court.

Doesn't say where these charges were filed, have no idea what to do.

Did a criminal record search on her, came up with zero. But did find one traffic violation, fine paid, case is closed.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Wow - just wow!

Now 2 possibilities come to mind. 1) could the charges for the first two items be a case of mistaken identity for someone else with the same name? Quite honestly, one year olds and four year olds are NOT charged with assault! 2) Could it be an error in reading documentation where she is listed as the victim in an assault case against her father who you say was abusive and some one has read the reports incorrectly or is reading a bad translation?

For the Driver's License, you can always do a check with your DMV if the license was issued locally and ask for a transcript of what is on her record with them. There is usually a small fee but it will list everything that has been recorded on her record from charges and losing points and definitely if there is a suspension. If it is not listed on their record of her license then it didn't happen to her and again it could be a case of mistaken identity. If the suspension does shows up then you can ask for more information and get the particulars. When did she get her license? Was she even driving when it said the license was suspended?

Where was she living when she was 1 and 4 years old? See if you can get a court for that town or village to send a statement that there are no charges against her. Then, submit everything along with a notarized copy of her birth certificate showing her actual age at the time of these offenses. I would even attack yellow stickies stating that the first charge is listed against a 1 year old child and the 2nd charge is listed against a 4 year old child. Surely someone will see how ridiculous this all is.

You may wish to make an Infopass appointment and take the Birth Certificate with you and the letter with the requests for information and talk with an immigration officer. Ask him or her how a one year old or four year old child is charged with assault and battery? Children are NOT CHARGED with these offenses - let alone found guilty or appear in court. (Ok, I can just see it - Judge: 'How do you plead? ' One year old: "goo -ahg -ga -ma-ma cook-ey have?")

Now, the other thing you might want to do since everything here is so absolutely ridiculous is to go and see your Senator and your Congressman and get their assistance in this matter. I am sure there must be someone at USCIS who is going to realize how ridiculous these charges of assault and battery are for a 1 and 4 year old child. At the very least your elected representatives might be able to find out why they suspect her of these nefarious crimes and where these charges were laid.

Good luck - and if all else fails, you may even want to consider bringing her plight to the local news media and then sending a copy to the Director of your USCIS.

[NickD 203]

Wow - just wow!

Now 2 possibilities come to mind. 1) could the charges for the first two items be a case of mistaken identity for someone else with the same name? Quite honestly, one year olds and four year olds are NOT charged with assault! 2) Could it be an error in reading documentation where she is listed as the victim in an assault case against her father who you say was abusive and some one has read the reports incorrectly or is reading a bad translation?

For the Driver's License, you can always do a check with your DMV if the license was issued locally and ask for a transcript of what is on her record with them. There is usually a small fee but it will list everything that has been recorded on her record from charges and losing points and definitely if there is a suspension. If it is not listed on their record of her license then it didn't happen to her and again it could be a case of mistaken identity. If the suspension does shows up then you can ask for more information and get the particulars. When did she get her license? Was she even driving when it said the license was suspended?

Where was she living when she was 1 and 4 years old? See if you can get a court for that town or village to send a statement that there are no charges against her. Then, submit everything along with a notarized copy of her birth certificate showing her actual age at the time of these offenses. I would even attack yellow stickies stating that the first charge is listed against a 1 year old child and the 2nd charge is listed against a 4 year old child. Surely someone will see how ridiculous this all is.

You may wish to make an Infopass appointment and take the Birth Certificate with you and the letter with the requests for information and talk with an immigration officer. Ask him or her how a one year old or four year old child is charged with assault and battery? Children are NOT CHARGED with these offenses - let alone found guilty or appear in court. (Ok, I can just see it - Judge: 'How do you plead? ' One year old: "goo -ahg -ga -ma-ma cook-ey have?")

Now, the other thing you might want to do since everything here is so absolutely ridiculous is to go and see your Senator and your Congressman and get their assistance in this matter. I am sure there must be someone at USCIS who is going to realize how ridiculous these charges of assault and battery are for a 1 and 4 year old child. At the very least your elected representatives might be able to find out why they suspect her of these nefarious crimes and where these charges were laid.

Good luck - and if all else fails, you may even want to consider bringing her plight to the local news media and then sending a copy to the Director of your USCIS.

Certainly an inconvenience, can even post her last name without revealing her identity, "Tellez" with over 3 million listed on the web. DOB really narrows it down. Mom says no charges of abuse against her father, and living in Venezuela at the time. If you want to go to a country with screwed up court records, that is the place to go. Does the USCIS have court records in Venezuela? Can't tell you the problems we had with them on even finding a registered copy of her birth certificate.

She did get a speeding ticket on 03/09/2010, is on the internet, fine of $186.00 was paid and case is closed, but her letter states not to include traffic violations. This information is available to anyone as Wisconsin has an open court records on the internet, wonder if the USCIS would accept that if provided with a complete discloser of her case and the link it came from?

She received her driver's license on 09/05/2005, the date of her alleged drivers suspension is on 07/26/2005, less than one year from the date of her license. Wonder Wisconsin State Law, she is not permitted to drive unless she is with a over 21 years of age licensed driver for that year. Since it was my car, that licensed driver was either her mom or myself. But even if she did sneak out, we would have known about her license being suspended. Also with minors in Wisconsin, her parents have to show up in court, even with a minor traffic violation. Can we be witnesses to this effect?

Her letter states this:

"Specifically, you must provided the above for your January 26, 1991 Battery Charge, April 5, 1994 Assault Charge, and July 21, 2006 Driving License suspended charge, and any other arrest, Citations, and Detentions."

Nothing about where this crimes were committed and certainly a broad base on any any other arrest, Citations, and Detentions. Nor not even the country where these crimes may have been committed.

Also, she is an adult now, not even sure if her mom or myself have a say in this matter, and unfortunately we have a brand new senator and congressman that don't even know where the restrooms are, let alone how to deal with the USCIS. And that letter just had to come in on a weekend, to ruin it for us.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Well it is obviously a case of mistaken identity, then. Someone should teach the USCIS adjudicator or whoever reviewed the report how to cross reference or at the very least, 'how to subtract" . It is a very easy thing to subtract the dates of the offenses with her birth date to come up with how ridiciulous this all is. The FBI security check was obviously not cross-referenced with birth date and probably not with SSN when they ran the name check.

Even though she is an adult now, she is still a young adult. If I were you I would offer - both of you - to go with her to a USCIS Infopass appointment, taking the documentation about the speeding ticket, taking the notarized original birth certificate, taking her passport showing her visa proof of entry to the US, taking her original SSN card and taking her DL. What she needs to do is convince the immigration person she speaks with to pull the file and find out where the charges were made, what was the SSN of the person actually charged and what was the DL number and birthdate that was suspended. That information should have been returned with the name check. A simple cross reference with the originally returned documents should show - along with some common sense when looking at her birth certificate from Venezuela and the date that she entered the US- that she is not the person and the request for such evidence is ludicrous. Basically she needs to make it very clear, even if she has to say 'look at the dates on the charges'; 'Look at the date on my birth certificate'; 'How old was I when the charge was made?'; "Look at my passport"; "When did I first come to the US?" so that the person immediately sees what is wrong and says "Ooops, that can't be right! I'll get my supervisor and we will sort this out;". Be sure that she has and brings copies of each of the originals with her. She can allow them to make their own copies but it is better if they don't keep them. They can examine the originals and make copies instead. They need to cross reference the birth date and the SSN to the person who was charged/convicted of those three offenses.

It is also time your new representatives got their feet wet. Even though they have just taken over their predecessors' responsibilities and there is a learning curve, you are dealing with someone who wants to make a good impression on their constituents so will probably want try hard to resolve your problem. There is a support structure already in place that they can tap into - and they will be informed of these things when they first take office. It might be the first case that they have to deal with, but it is still part of their job and you should still bring it to their attention - especially if the Infopass situation isn't immediately successful.

(This was the type of case I loved sinking my teeth into when I was still in Canada and working as the Constituency Assistant to the elected Member of Parliament for where I lived. We dealt with similar errors like this all the time - although I don't recall one that was quite so blatantly ridiculous as this one. This is what your officials are elected to do regardless of their political affiliation. Make them earn their salary - it is what they were elected to do, even if you didn't vote for them.)

Good luck.

Edited February 20, 2011 by Kathryn41

[nigel 7]

Yep so lets gas up and travel 200 miles take the day off from work because of some retard can't do ther job properly..

I don't think a congressmen can do much only to be a pain in the ####...at least your lawyer would ask the right questions

[NickD 203]

Yep so lets gas up and travel 200 miles take the day off from work because of some retard can't do ther job properly..

I don't think a congressmen can do much only to be a pain in the ####...at least your lawyer would ask the right questions

Never got anywhere with the USCIS with problems. E-mailed a packet to my attorney, but had to Fax that other senator. All I am requesting is a letter from the USCIS we can respond to. If they want precise receipts the ticket was paid, we can get that. But would take years and cost thousands of dollars to contact a Venezuelan court that they have no record of a battery charge against my then one year old stepdaughter.

Also didn't help to get another snow blizzard with an extra foot of snow last night with another blizzard in the forecast. At times you feel the whole world is against you. Snow I can deal with, USCIS, I cannot.

[Nate_us 0]

Never got anywhere with the USCIS with problems. E-mailed a packet to my attorney, but had to Fax that other senator. All I am requesting is a letter from the USCIS we can respond to. If they want precise receipts the ticket was paid, we can get that. But would take years and cost thousands of dollars to contact a Venezuelan court that they have no record of a battery charge against my then one year old stepdaughter.

Also didn't help to get another snow blizzard with an extra foot of snow last night with another blizzard in the forecast. At times you feel the whole world is against you. Snow I can deal with, USCIS, I cannot.

hello dont worry so mach you will be fine just rilex you will recive a letter son ..... I hope

[NickD 203]

hello dont worry so mach you will be fine just rilex you will recive a letter son ..... I hope

We already received a letter, one that is impossible to respond to. Was hoping to hear from that other senator yesterday, but forgot it was Presidents Day, so did everyone else I know as they had to go to work. Only the government gets this important national holiday off.

Maybe not today either, need another day to recover after having a day off. Public school kids are getting a week off, all those super dedicated teachers are calling in sick.

[NickD 203]

Can't seem to get any help on those battery and assault charges. One senator didn't even set up an office yet, the other one is way too busy. Have no idea where my immigration attorney is at. So only option is to try to explain in a letter to the USCIS without inferring they made a gross error her age and her location outside of this country when these alleged charges occurred.

In supplying everything, I contacted two municipal courts and the DMV trying to help out my stepdaughter during mid terms. Mid terms already? And these professors are complaining about being overworked and underpaid. With each government agency, the courts and the DMV, only my stepdaughter can get this information, even though these are supposingly public records. So the best I could do for her is to provide her with phone numbers, addresses, and contacts to get this pubic information. Hopefully, she can do that today.

To report every incident, even how minor, these incidents all occurred when she was a minor under 18, and we, the parents had to show up in court with her. So its not exactly that we didn't know about it. Feel our leaders are insane.

[NickD 203]

Now there's talk about recalling all the elected officials, but as usual, just talk. Anyway, where do I sign?