I-485 Criminal Background - Fines

[Erica & L 50]

Hey all you lovely, helpful people, I have a question for you regarding form I-485, Part 3, #1 b.

It says on the form:

Have you ever been arrested, cited, charged, indicted, convicted, fined, or imprisoned for breaking or violating any law or ordinance, excluding traffic violations?

In the instructions it says:

Unless a traffic incident was drug or alcohol related, you do not need to submit documentation for traffic fines and incidents that did not involve an actual arrest if the only penalty was less than $500 and/or points on your licence.

My concern: I hadn't even really thought about this until a few minutes ago when I actually filled out the form and remember a ticket I got for drinking in public on October 2011 that was cancelled. Basically, I went to the ICBC to dispute the ticket a couple days after it happened, and they told me they couldn't do anything because the date on the ticket was incorrect (the officer put two different dates or something) and I had 30 days to dispute the ticket and because he had done that, it messed up the timeline and the ICBC people couldn't let me dispute it because according to the date he wrote, 30 days had already passed, however in actuality it had not been 30 days since the incident. They told me to go back to the RCMP and ask the officer what the deal was, and he told me that due to the mistake, the ticket was no longer valid and they would cancel it so it would become void. It's been over two years, and I believe a while back I got something in the mail stating the ticket had been cancelled (I don't have it anymore though) and hadn't heard anything else about it since.

My question is: because it is an alcohol-related incident, do I check yes or no even though the ticket was cancelled? do I need to provide proof that it was cancelled or would it even show up on my record? I know it's not technically a "traffic violation" because I wasn't driving under the influence, I literally got caught drinking a single beer in a residential neighborhood, but I'm just paranoid and confused regarding the instructions/what it says on the form and don't want to put the wrong answer and get a RFE when they do a BC.

P.S. The ticket/fine was for $245.

I already cent the RCMP from my old city an email but I also wanted the input from people on this site.

Thank you.

Edited January 11, 2014 by justfromerica

[Hypnos 6,576]

If the ticket was voided then you had no case to answer.

[Erica & L 50]

If the ticket was voided then you had no case to answer.

So if it was voided then it was like it didn't exist and doesn't show up anywhere?

I was just concerned cause I was reading a lot about fines and people were saying just because the ticket is cancelled doesn't mean it's gone or no action has to be taken. But the police officers basically told me within one sentence that it would be cancelled and voided and not to worry about it but I'm just hoping they didn't do it half-assed because the vibe I got when I walked in to the station was full of incompetence.

I did get confirmation mail from them though shortly after but that was 2 years ago and I'm like 90 percent sure it was to tell me it had been cancelled, I just wish I could remember exactly what the letter said or still had it for reference to ease my mind.

[Hypnos 6,576]

You could always get in touch with them again and see if any records of it remain.

[Erica & L 50]

You could always get in touch with them again and see if any records of it remain.

Yeah, I just sent them an email about an hour ago, hopefully they check their emails because I don't want to pay long distance to call. I'm not sure since it's the RCMP and they're always available if I should get a response this weekend or have to wait until Monday. Hopefully asap.

[Erica & L 50]

Does anyone else have any input in whether I should put yes or no? The RCMP haven't contacted me back yet and I'm trying to get everything else done while I wait for my co-sponsor to mail me their information.

[mngoalie 10]

you'll have to get a police check done as part of the process. If nothing shows up on that, you're good to go. That's the only way to know with 100% certainty that everything is good.

[Erica & L 50]

you'll have to get a police check done as part of the process. If nothing shows up on that, you're good to go. That's the only way to know with 100% certainty that everything is good.

How would I go about them from the US though? Is there away to do a Canadian police check online that isn't a scam? I'm skeptical of just searching "free online criminal record check" without going directly through the RCMP.

[Hypnos 6,576]

An accurate / legit check is not going to be available for free.

[Erica & L 50]

Even the ones that aren't free though seem sketchy to me, I don't know. The RCMP from my city say all their check have to be done in person so I guess online would be my only option.

[Hypnos 6,576]

It looks like the RCMP have accredited some companies to submit the fingerprints to them: http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/rtid-itr/vulner-eng.htm

Edited January 14, 2014 by Hypnos

[Erica & L 50]

Thank you!

[mngoalie 10]

It looks like the RCMP have accredited some companies to submit the fingerprints to them: http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/rtid-itr/vulner-eng.htm

This is how we did it.. We went to the local police, got fingerprints taken, then sent to one of the companies listed.

This is who we used. They were the least expensive and fast. http://www.fingerscan.ca/

Edited January 14, 2014 by mngoalie

[Erica & L 50]

I just called the RCMP and they told me that because I was only ticketed and it was voided/cancelled, a clerical error by a police officer would not show up or create a record for me because I was not actually fined, just ticketed. And even if it wasn't voided and I did have to pay the fine, parking tickets and situations like mine do not come up on a criminal record or police check, and that any record of that would have been deleted now in their files anyways because they only keep that information for 1-2 years and it happened back around October 2011.

With that being said, they suggested putting no because I would not have any record to claim.

But I don't know if I should just put yes and then write an explanation, but I don't have any records to mail in to back that up.

[Hypnos 6,576]

You may want to ask over at http://www.avvo.com where you can get a lawyer's answer for free. I suspect that No will be the correct answer.