Conditionally Accepted K1 Visa (london Interview today)

[Steph&Jack 1]

HI everyone,

Hoping for a little help and reassurance

My fiancé had his interview today at the UK embassy for our K1 visa and he had a bit of an issue with his police report. The guy that interviewed him wasn't very friendly and when he was asking him questions about his police report he told him that they were going to conditionally approve him until they did more of a police background check from the Dorset police.

My fiancé's police report stated "No Live Trace". When he was 17 or 18 years old (he is 99.9% sure he was 17 however he was so nervous at the interview he said erm, I was either 17 or 18 and I think that is why the interviewer was harder on him) he was arrested from his place of employment for theft (he took a bike lamp for 10 pounds on a dare from the other stupid kids that dared him to do it) and spent the night in Jail. The next morning he was given a caution or warning (he isn't sure on which one) and was sent on his way. He never went to court, he never did any community service, or even paid a fine.

He also was given a caution on the street at the age of 17 for carrying a swiss army knife on his keychain.

So he doesn't have anything else on his record, never done anything since. He was a stupid 17 year old kid and because of that we both thought it wasn't that big of an issue, especially because his police report did not have anything and he told the Medical Examiner the story when he produced his police report and she just laughed at him for being so worried about it.

Now at the interview today my fiancé told the same thing to the interviewer as I told him he shouldn't lie and the interviewer said, "well, I can't believe you didn't go to court for that" and he is now requesting a full background from the Dorset police dept. and they have no clue how long it will take.

My fiancé asked several people when he left the embassy about the process now and how long it would take and they just said, we will text you when we process your visa after we see the police report.

Does anybody have any ideas on what we should do or if there is anything we can do? We have been waiting forever on this visa and to see each other again. I think this case falls under the petty Moral Turpitude clause where he was a minor and/or never sentenced but now I am so stressed out and unsure of where we go from here.

Thank you all for you support

[Nich-Nick 3,353]

Normally, if a police certificate says "No Live Trace", you order a Subject Access Report from ACPO to get a description of the charge and how it was handled for the interview. No Live Trace means there is a conviction on file somewhere. No Trace means no crimes. He's going to need all that on paper down the line if he applies for US citizenship, so might as well get it and save it. See post #2 in our London K1 thread http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/350185-london-2012-k1s-from-noa2-to-interview-thread/

[TBoneTX 43,434]

*** Unanswered duplicate thread removed from another forum. ***

[Steph&Jack 1]

Thanks for the response

It makes sense that we should have got a subject access form before the interview.. oh if we could turn back time.

The weird thing is that the interviewer at the embassy told my fiancé that they would get the subject access form on his behalf and then contact him when they processed the visa.. on the condition that what he stated in the interview is correct, which it is.. Have you ever heard of the embassy doing this?

I see it costs 10 pounds and you need some other paperwork to submit to get this subject access report.. I am assuming that the embassy knows this and they think they can do it themselves.. ??? Have you ever heard of this? They did keep his passport at the embassy.

So confused.

Thanks

[Nich-Nick 3,353]

I can't think of anybody off hand. But most of the K1s that use the UK forum are always warned to get. If somebody never posts in the UK forum or starts a thread elsewhere, then I may not read their stories. There could be others that I haven't run across.

Maybe the embassy has some special hotline to ACRO or local police headquarters. I would have thought they would have said send a subject access report to us. Keeping your passport is a good sign because they don't do that unless they think it will be a very short delay. You might as well order one because they can take over a month. Then if you haven't heard from London, you could send a photocopy in and nudge them a little by providing the record.

[Steph&Jack 1]

Thank you so much for your response Makes me feel a lot better. I just wish we would have triple checked about this before the interview. Good to know that we need to get one now for the green card process, so thank you! We honestly didn't think too much of it as he was never charged with anything... Just being a stupid 17 year old kid dared to do it by some other stupid 17 year old boys... but lesson learned!

Yesterday I was so upset overthinking that now they are going to say this is a crime of moral turpitude or something like that, which rationally I think (and hope!) is just silly as he was a minor and never sentenced but as you read horror stories about this process, and we have been delayed so long in getting the NOA2, I think I am on a worst case scenario mindset.

Thanks again!

[Nich-Nick 3,353]

Thank you so much for your response Makes me feel a lot better. I just wish we would have triple checked about this before the interview. Good to know that we need to get one now for the green card process, so thank you! We honestly didn't think too much of it as he was never charged with anything... Just being a stupid 17 year old kid dared to do it by some other stupid 17 year old boys... but lesson learned!

Yesterday I was so upset overthinking that now they are going to say this is a crime of moral turpitude or something like that, which rationally I think (and hope!) is just silly as he was a minor and never sentenced but as you read horror stories about this process, and we have been delayed so long in getting the NOA2, I think I am on a worst case scenario mindset.

Thanks again!

I think people don't understand that a "caution" can be given in the UK on minor crimes and settled without going to court, just to free up the courts. Accepting a caution is admitting guilt to a charge. It's still a conviction despite if a fine was assessed.

The reason I say go ahead and get paperwork--a couple from the UK filed I-129F same day as us. Our timelines stayed fairly close through the processes and we applied for citizenship within a month of each other. He had to get some paperwork from the UK on a delinquency thing from when he was 12 years old or so, even though it had never come up before. So easier to get right now while in the UK and file away with important papers in case it ever pops up again.

[virgo2012 12]

I think people don't understand that a "caution" can be given in the UK on minor crimes and settled without going to court, just to free up the courts. Accepting a caution is admitting guilt to a charge. It's still a conviction despite if a fine was assessed.

The reason I say go ahead and get paperwork--a couple from the UK filed I-129F same day as us. Our timelines stayed fairly close through the processes and we applied for citizenship within a month of each other. He had to get some paperwork from the UK on a delinquency thing from when he was 12 years old or so, even though it had never come up before. So easier to get right now while in the UK and file away with important papers in case it ever pops up again.

hello Nich-Nick,i need some help from your side please,as i have caution from west midland police in 2009 and it appears on ACRO police certificate,for a safe side i wanted the subject access report if embassy may ask for caution detail,when i contacted the west midland police through email that i need my subject access report for immigration purpose as i have caution on my police certificate,they replied me that you dont need subject access report for immigration purpose the acro police certificate is enogh,as my case is in AP in pakistan,i just wanted to keep it for a safe side.please help me in this situation what should i do?do i need to contact ACRO for subject access or do i need to get any other report to get my caution detail.waiting for kind reply...thanks

[Nich-Nick 3,353]

hello Nich-Nick,i need some help from your side please,as i have caution from west midland police in 2009 and it appears on ACRO police certificate,for a safe side i wanted the subject access report if embassy may ask for caution detail,when i contacted the west midland police through email that i need my subject access report for immigration purpose as i have caution on my police certificate,they replied me that you dont need subject access report for immigration purpose the acro police certificate is enogh,as my case is in AP in pakistan,i just wanted to keep it for a safe side.please help me in this situation what should i do?do i need to contact ACRO for subject access or do i need to get any other report to get my caution detail.waiting for kind reply...thanks

I can't really answer for what the embassy in Pakistan requires. An ACPO certificate will not list the charge, dates, etc if the caution had expired or been "expunged" from the general records. There is still a record that is not routinely divulged on the ACPO certificate. London doesn't want to hear the applicant's retelling of the story without some actual documentation from the law's side. Normally a court record would be required, but cautions skip a court date. A subject access report reveals the details of the "hidden from most" charge. So if you have nothing but your memory of the incident, it might be good to get some documentation of it. No LIVE trace on ACPO means there is more.

West Midlands Police are hardly immigration specialists so may not be the advice to take. Before ACPO centralized records around 2007/8, the local station did police certificates. Maybe they are just thinking an ACPO certificate is the only way to go now.

Again I don't know Pakistan procedures. If it was London, the criminal charges would have been discussed and documented at the interview or the applicant would have been told as the OP experienced. London AP means all the basics are done and approved, but security checks more related to terrorism are being done, not local cautions for juvenile crimes. In Pakistan they may think the words "no live trace" in the UK means all is fine and the record is spotless. Lucky you.

Not a very good answer, but maybe some information to consider.

[virgo2012 12]

I can't really answer for what the embassy in Pakistan requires. An ACPO certificate will not list the charge, dates, etc if the caution had expired or been "expunged" from the general records. There is still a record that is not routinely divulged on the ACPO certificate. London doesn't want to hear the applicant's retelling of the story without some actual documentation from the law's side. Normally a court record would be required, but cautions skip a court date. A subject access report reveals the details of the "hidden from most" charge. So if you have nothing but your memory of the incident, it might be good to get some documentation of it. No LIVE trace on ACPO means there is more.

West Midlands Police are hardly immigration specialists so may not be the advice to take. Before ACPO centralized records around 2007/8, the local station did police certificates. Maybe they are just thinking an ACPO certificate is the only way to go now.

Again I don't know Pakistan procedures. If it was London, the criminal charges would have been discussed and documented at the interview or the applicant would have been told as the OP experienced. London AP means all the basics are done and approved, but security checks more related to terrorism are being done, not local cautions for juvenile crimes. In Pakistan they may think the words "no live trace" in the UK means all is fine and the record is spotless. Lucky you.

Not a very good answer, but maybe some information to consider.

Nich-Nach. thanks for your time to reply me with precious information,on my ACPO police certificate its clearly mention "caution",but at the time of interview in pakistan embassy the CO asked me that what is this caution for?i explained him all the scenario and than he consulted with the senior immigration officer about that "caution",then he said ok have you got any other caution or warning or trouble with the police i replied no that is every thing mentioned on this ACPO certificate.after that he carried on further with other question,at the end of interview he gave me 221g denial for further ADMINISTRATIVE PROCESSING(common in pakistan with no time limit goes upto 7 years)its been 10 month in AP but so far they never asked for everything when ever i call them or email them the answer is its in AP,we will contact you when your AP is complete.

the reason i am asking you because they might ask for the detail of that caution,so i wanted to get it from police as iam in pakistan now but when i contacted the west midland police i gave them all the information that by law i can get my subject access than they asked my why do you need it,i replied i have caution on my police certificate i need to keep it for record,if embassy may ask,than police replied you donot need subject access report for immigration purpose.i am worried now i dont know who do i need to contact?because by the law of data protection i am allowed to get my subject access report.i was about to post the form with fee from here but i have there email if embassy ask me for subject access i will forward them the email...please i need your kind advice and thanks for your precious time.

Edited July 4, 2013 by virgo2012

[ivanturner 0]

Hi

Exactly the same happened to me. I was told that they need a subject access report. I was not aware that this would be needed. Just one caution was on my record. I had to send away for this myself.

Oh if only I knew I would need this!!!!!

Its not mentioned anywhere as far as I am aware. I thought the police certificate was all that was needed.

The CO said it would be a short delay of 10 days . But it takes 40 days to obtain this from acro...

So fustrated!!!

Has this happened to anyone else.? And how long did it take for final issue?

Ivan and julie

[Bridget ~ Steven 3]

Ivanturner,

I'm curious -- how did yours turn out? My fiance is waiting for this. he has the receipt already and was told the subject access report usually comes quickly.

[ivanturner 0]

Hi At the inerview I was told that they would obtain the subject access report, but a week later I got a letter saying please send this in myself. So 1 week wasted.

as soon as I got my subject report I sent it in . I phoned emailed acro and told them that I needed this urgently. They were helpful and I got it sent out to me my within a few days.I know it takes about a month otherwise. I guess I was lucky. it took 15 working days in AP untill my status changed to "ready" Today my status changed to issued. My interview was on the 2nd of October it delayed things greatly. All the months spent waiting for my interview I could have easily got the SAR. Just annoying i didnt know I would need it. Best of luck with yours. All I can say is hang in there.