Criminal background

[Alex~Alan 8]

I agree that i need to provide my criminal records. And im going to do so. But, im talking about the certified copies, which are hard to get. In the instructions for I-129f it sais that i need to provide cerrtified copies according to the international marriage brokers act. But im saying we didnt meet at the broker company! Can i just provide a regular criminal record?

This is from Wikipedia:

The International Marriage Broker Regulation Act of 2005 (Subtitle D of Title VIII (Sec.831-834) of United States Public Law 109-162),[1], or IMBRA, is a United States federal statute that requires background checks for all marriage visa sponsors and limits serial visa applications. The impetus for its introduction was two high-profile cases (including the Susanna Blackwell case in 1995 and the Anastasia King case in 2000) in which foreign women had been abused and eventually murdered by men who had used a K-1 fiancee visa issued by the US State Department to bring them to the United States. In the King case, the husband had physically abused a previous foreign bride before murdering Anastasia.[2] It was intended to stop abuse of "mail order brides" by prospective husbands with criminal histories.

So, it does not matter how you met, you still must comply with IMBRA requirements for the K-1 Visa.

[az110965 252]

OP-

Hope your fiance knows about the prior convictions. She WILL be made aware of them and asked by the Consulate if she knows about them...

If you haven't shared that part of your past with her yet, it's best to do it before she goes to the interview...

[Rebecca Jo 1,962]

Can i send them my criminal record and just get my fiancee to sign it? that she is aware of it? I cannot get the certified copies. There's just no way

Why not? It's not like Clerk's have stopped doing certifications.

[Enigma11561 336]

Go to www.russianwomendiscussion.com. It's a great site devoted to only Russian (Russia,UKR, the Stans, Belarus, etc) issues. Excellent input from many experienced members.Udachi.

[Mrs.Davidson 1]

You have to have the certified charges and dispositions since you have had 3 convictions.

If it was me, I would take a drug and alcohol class or get a professional to write a letter that you are no longer drinking. That is just what I would do if it was me. I don't think they can deny you for these convictions but it can contribute to their decision. Getting the Visa depends on the totallity of your case.

Remember close only counts in hand grenades and horse shoes...

Disclaimer: Take my information as an opinion only. I'd also probably get a lawyer with experience in the Embassy in Manila.

hi! what if he/she didn't take a drug & alcohol class & the conviction happened 3 yrs ago? but he does have all the records & a letter stating that i'm aware of those. would it be possible to be denied? when can he get a letter as a proof that he no longer drinking or what so ever?

[danat 1]

it takes way longer. Up to a year. Fiancee visa takes about 4 months. There's no way to get all the certified copies from all 3 states. And again, we didnt meet through the matchmakers! I thought in the instructions it sais only about those who met trough brokers agencies. Am i not right?

we thought the cr/ir visa would take forever too so we planned for a year long ordeal but in the end it took about 4 months for my wife's ir visa to be approved from the date it was sent to the day she got the visa in hand. We actually could have done it faster because we delayed sending in one of the packets during the process. We did everything ourselves with the help of vj and the great advice here. So if you just cannot get the docs from the clerk of courts where you had the convictions, the cr/ir is not a bad way to go.

good luck!

[JimVaPhuong 4,864]

The IMBRA requirements are not a matter of discretion for the USCIS adjudicator. The law requires you to provide the court documents. If you don't, and if USCIS finds out about the convictions, then they'll send an RFE for the court documents. If you don't provide them then they'll deny the petition. It's really that simple. You can't get around this with statements from your fiancee. Read the instructions:

If you have ever been convicted of any of the following crimes,

submit certified copies of all court and police records showing the charges and dispositions for every such conviction

. This is required even if your records were sealed or otherwise cleared or if anyone, including a judge, law enforcement officer, or attorney, told you that you no longer have a record.

Bear in mind that this ONLY applies to the I-129F petition. As others have said, if you get married then you no longer need to provide these documents. There would be no point to it since the whole intention is to make this information available to your foreign fiancee so that they have the opportunity to back out before you get married. However, you're not going to make this requirement go away by trying to convince the USCIS adjudicator that you've satisfied the intent of the law by making your fiancee aware of your criminal history. These are bureaucrats you're dealing with - not judges.