Admission of Guilt during naturalisation interview. What happens Next?

[marseille1344 1]

I was granted permanent residency in 2006. I was arrested in 2008 for grandtheft . I pleaded not guilty and the case got dismissed.

3 month ago I had a first interview at USCIS for naturalization.

showed the final disposition to officer when asked about my criminal history, officer said my application needed to be reviewed before a decision could be made.

Second interview ( yesterday morning).

Different officer. He put me under oath and asked me about my arrest. I said that the case got dismissed. He proceded to ask me detailed questions about my arrest ( how did I steal the merchandise ect...) At that point I asked him " if I answer these questions am I putting my application in jeopardy? He told me "Dont worry". I answered all of his questions. Signed statement. I'm I in trouble now??

[Shakil 4]

If you didn't lie.. i don't think you will be in trouble..

[Boiler 43,462]

What did you say when you answered the questions?

[Shakil 4]

If you lied.. that is going to be a problem.. I just saw someones post that they were fined (not arrested) for $15 shoplifting charge.. case was dismissed.. but OP failed to mention it on the application and got his/her application denied.. so if you lied thinking they wouldn't know, you are or will be in big trouble.. if not.. don't worry about it..

[Jessica24 3]

If you had mentioned it in your application and then given a detailed explanation to the Immigration officer, then I don't think there will be any problem with your naturalization application. USCIS may do further background checks to ascertain your explanation of the crime and if it matches with your statement, the your application will be processed. Since you have been very frank with the USCIS, do not worry about your application. It will get cleared. Good Luck!!

[Used to be broken 143]

I was granted permanent residency in 2006. I was arrested in 2008 for grandtheft . I pleaded not guilty and the case got dismissed.

3 month ago I had a first interview at USCIS for naturalization.

showed the final disposition to officer when asked about my criminal history, officer said my application needed to be reviewed before a decision could be made.

Second interview ( yesterday morning).

Different officer. He put me under oath and asked me about my arrest. I said that the case got dismissed. He proceded to ask me detailed questions about my arrest ( how did I steal the merchandise ect...) At that point I asked him " if I answer these questions am I putting my application in jeopardy? He told me "Dont worry". I answered all of his questions. Signed statement. I'm I in trouble now??

If you admitted to the elements of the crime and signed a statement to that effect, more than likely there will be problems with Immigration folks, regardless of the charges being dropped.

If you stuck to your "not guilty" , it wasn't me defense and signed a statement to that effect and the charges were dropped for lack of evidence, then there should not be a problem with Immigration.

[marseille1344 1]

What did you say when you answered the questions?

I answered all the officers questions. He asked me what did i steal, how many items did i Take, How did I take them, what antishoplifting device did i use, did i know my actions were illegal, was it my intention to steal before i entered the store.

Basically i admmited my guilt in front of the officer.

I dont know if that was a mistake on my part because i had a certified disposition that said not guilty case dissmissed. Maybe i should of not answered his questions that admited my guilt and just gave him the certified disposition instead.

I'm worried that immigration is going to use my admission of guilt to deny my application and maybe put me in removal proceedings.

What do you think?

[Sergi9 110]

I answered all the officers questions. He asked me what did i steal, how many items did i Take, How did I take them, what antishoplifting device did i use, did i know my actions were illegal, was it my intention to steal before i entered the store.

Basically i admmited my guilt in front of the officer.

I dont know if that was a mistake on my part because i had a certified disposition that said not guilty case dissmissed. Maybe i should of not answered his questions that admited my guilt and just gave him the certified disposition instead.

I'm worried that immigration is going to use my admission of guilt to deny my application and maybe put me in removal proceedings.

What do you think?

Maybe you should have gone about your business and stayed a Legal Permanent Resident and not had to have any worries of this nature assuming you didn' commit any more grandtheft.

Now you have to worry. Going forward do not talk to USCIS without having an attorney present. This may come back to bite you, doubt you will naturalize now, but not sure on them actively going after deportation without conviction.

For naturalization purposes and certain grounds of inadmissibility, certain admissions by a defendant will trigger adverse consequences without a conviction. If an individual applies for naturalization after a deferral and in the process admits to the charged conduct to an immigration officer, the individual may be denied naturalization.

Edited September 15, 2011 by Sergi9

[Boiler 43,462]

Interesting situation.

Certainly Naturalisation seems an issue.

It may be that you could not be deported but would have a major issue getting back in if you left.

But certainly well beyond any advice we could give you, Lawyer time.

[Used to be broken 143]

Interesting situation.

Certainly Naturalisation seems an issue.

It may be that you could not be deported but would have a major issue getting back in if you left.

But certainly well beyond any advice we could give you, Lawyer time.

Excellent point !

If I recall correctly there is also a 5 year rule on crimes committed after entry so that may be an issue as well. Boiler is right, Lawyer up and don't leave the country.

Edited September 16, 2011 by Used to be broken

[marseille1344 1]

Excellent point !

If I recall correctly there is also a 5 year rule on crimes committed after entry so that may be an issue as well. Boiler is right, Lawyer up and don't leave the country.

Thanks for all the feedbacks, I really appreciate it.

Is there a way to retract my sworn statement due to incompetence?

I take prescription medication. Antidepressants (one pill at nightime) and anti anxiety medecine (8 pills a day).The night before the interview i was so nervous about the interview that I made a mistake I took 4 antidepressant pills instead of the 4 anti anxiety medecine that I usually take at bed time.

The following morning I did not feel like myself and I dont actually recall many of the events that took place that day and night.

I was so incoherent that morning according to my mother.

If I had not accidentally overdosed on that mind altelring prescription medication I would of not answered any of the officers questions and would of handed him the certified disposition of my not guilty verdict instead like i had planned all along.

Edited September 16, 2011 by marseille1344

[marseille1344 1]

The worst part about this is that I hired a lawyer for my naturalization but he could not be present at the interview with me. We met 2 days before the interview so that he could prepare me for it. Unfortunately he did not correctly prepare me as he did not mention how I should handle that problem in case it came up during the interview

[Boiler 43,462]

That would be something to discuss with you Lawyer.

Sounds a big stretch.

I guess you would need now to prove the drug effects were linked to an event you can prove did not happen.

[Brother Hesekiel 2,235]

Your case is so unusual that I could not find any case law that would give me a clue. Frankly, I'm clueless as well in how far the I.O. can use the information you submitted under oath against you, and I would rather not guess based on my gut feeling.

Had I been with you at the interview, I would have asked for a recess and told you to stop talking about particulars of this case. Since you could not be charged again, I'm not sure if you could outright tell the I.O. that you will not answer questions based on the instructions of your lawyer or if you would simply answer in a way that makes it unmistakably clear that you have worked hard on erasing this unfortunate and traumatic event from your memory bank.

But that's water under the bridge now. Now you do nothing but wait and see what's coming your way. It's possible that you will be approved without a hiccup; it's possible that you will be denied. But if the latter is the case, I'd love to see the explanation of this as you were forthcoming about the incident itself, and you were answering questions under oath that were asked of you

Don't go gagga just yet, even if it's hard. Do nothing now, 'cause that's the only way to avoid that you'd be doing something stupid.

[marseille1344 1]

Your case is so unusual that I could not find any case law that would give me a clue. Frankly, I'm clueless as well in how far the I.O. can use the information you submitted under oath against you, and I would rather not guess based on my gut feeling.

Had I been with you at the interview, I would have asked for a recess and told you to stop talking about particulars of this case. Since you could not be charged again, I'm not sure if you could outright tell the I.O. that you will not answer questions based on the instructions of your lawyer or if you would simply answer in a way that makes it unmistakably clear that you have worked hard on erasing this unfortunate and traumatic event from your memory bank.

But that's water under the bridge now. Now you do nothing but wait and see what's coming your way. It's possible that you will be approved without a hiccup; it's possible that you will be denied. But if the latter is the case, I'd love to see the explanation of this as you were forthcoming about the incident itself, and you were answering questions under oath that were asked of you

Don't go gagga just yet, even if it's hard. Do nothing now, 'cause that's the only way to avoid that you'd be doing something stupid.

I went to the doctor today and i explained what happened to me the day of my interview and my accidental overdose of anti depressant.

He wrote me a medical certificate saying that I was not competent to answer questions coherently the day of my interview due to my overdose.

Is there a way to retract my sworn statement now that I have a medical certificate?