Warrants?

[Cztz 0]

Hi there, this is my first post and I am in the beginning steps of assembling and petitioning for a K-1 Visa for my fiance.

My fiance is a Canadian citizen and she has a warrant for her arrest. As far as I know it was issued when she failed to appear for a follow up hearing. From what she has told me, she was arrested when she was 15 for trespassing and possession of break-in tools. She showed up for her initial hearing but failed to show up to the next scheduled one so a warrant was issued. I wanted to find out if this will effect our chances of getting a visa and how to proceed from here. She contacted a legal aid service in Canada and they advised her to turn herself in in order to take care of the warrants.

Would something she did when she was 15 effect our chances of being approved for a visa? How would you guys reccomend we proceed from here? Does anyone else have any similar experiences? I did my best to search for a similar topic but I was unable to find a case quite like ours.

[batallion9 50]

She will probably not be allowed into the US with outstanding warrents. She does need to get this taken care of first. Especially before you marry. What happens if there is more to it and she got a long prison term? Things might turn out that she only pay a fine, who knows?

[Cztz 0]

We plan on taking care of the warrants but my question was would the original charges prevent her from being eligible for a K-1 visa? The original charges are from 7 years ago and she was 15 years old when she committed them. Alot has changed since then and would the system in place give her a second chance?

[Merrytooth 5,748]

It depends on whether the crime is considered a Crime Involving Moral Turpitude (CIMT) or not:

http://www.uscis.gov/policymanual/HTML/PolicyManual-Volume12-PartF-Chapter5.html#S-A-1

9 FAM 40.21(a) N7.1 Provisions of INA 212(a)(2)(A)(ii)
(CT:VISA-1318; 09-24-2009)
As amended, a conviction or admission of the commission of a crime of moral turpitude will not serve as the basis of ineligibility under INA 212(a)(2)(A)(i), if the following conditions have been met:
(1) The applicant has been convicted of or has admitted to the commission of only one crime;
(2) The maximum penalty possible for the crime of which the alien was convicted or for which the alien legally admitted to did not exceed imprisonment for one year and, if the alien was convicted and the alien was not sentenced to a term of imprisonment in excess of six months; or
(3) The crime was committed when the alien was under 18 years of age and the crime was committed (and the alien was released from confinement if applicable) more than 5 years before the date of the visa application. (See 9 FAM 40.21(a) N8, below.)

http://www.state.gov...ation/86942.pdf

[Cztz 0]

So if I'm reading this correctly she won't be held as ineligible because she was under the age of 18 at the time of her arrest?

[belinda63 3,039]

Would be possible, if she receives the visa, that she will be detained when she enters. Depends if the warrants are active, were placed into NCIS (or whatever that computerized system is called), and if they check it when she is admitted. Just be prepared for this.

[ricky and elaine 8]

In applying for a US Visa we should be aware of the limitations. Clearly they have problems with criminal issues. Not showing up for a scheduled court appearance seems to me to be a negation of your legal responsibilty. OK maybe I am old fashioned but ....one must deal with the ramifications of their actions. Its not like she said she didn't do anything.

Why try to make a hard route harder? Or impossible?

I have heard over and over about VJers and the things that happened many moons ago.. All comes to haunt us. It's sad really. I wish you guys the best and that that the time and also (being a minor) will play in your favour.

[Cztz 0]

Just to clarify I didn't say we were going to try to circumvent the warrants or anything. In fact before we even begin the application process we're going to make sure she goes down to the police station and turns herself in with a friend who has cash to bail her out. This has been something that has been looming over her head for years and I agree that it should be taken care of. I was just curious if these warrants were going to be something that was going to end up keeping us apart. In my above post I was just asking if I had read the law right in that since she was under 18 her mistakes won't be held against her.

I did not mean to give you guys the impression that we were going to try to do something underhanded like have her try to just sneak on over with warrants. I'm sure everyone that has gone through this process knows how nerve wracking it can be going over all of the requirements and wondering "will this make us ineligible?"

Thank you all for the peace of mind and I wish everyone luck in their respective visa endeavours, this is truly a great website.

[canadian_wife 1,823]

Just to clarify I didn't say we were going to try to circumvent the warrants or anything. In fact before we even begin the application process we're going to make sure she goes down to the police station and turns herself in with a friend who has cash to bail her out. This has been something that has been looming over her head for years and I agree that it should be taken care of. I was just curious if these warrants were going to be something that was going to end up keeping us apart. In my above post I was just asking if I had read the law right in that since she was under 18 her mistakes won't be held against her.

I did not mean to give you guys the impression that we were going to try to do something underhanded like have her try to just sneak on over with warrants. I'm sure everyone that has gone through this process knows how nerve wracking it can be going over all of the requirements and wondering "will this make us ineligible?"

Thank you all for the peace of mind and I wish everyone luck in their respective visa endeavours, this is truly a great website.

Obviously, make sure each arrest is correctly documented on the forms, does she have the court records that will be necessary?

good luck

[bigdog 376]

I think she shoud get all over this and get it expunged or sealed. Hopefully this is not a sign of things to come, with lifes problems.

Edited June 9, 2013 by bigdog

[Tim/Mav 305]

I think she shoud get all over this and get it expunged or sealed. Hopefully this is not a sign of things to come, with lifes problems.

Sorry BigDog.. I'll go with Canadian_wife.. USCIS does not expunge or seal records.