One blemish on my record will it cause me my Green Card denial?

[Lavender7 32]

Hello dear VJ community, I want to share one unfortunate experience from my life which I'm so worried will affect my future application for Green Card. To say briefly, I am married to a U.S. citizen since 2014 , I've been to the United States two times using my B1B2 visa. Never overstayed. During my second visit though, I was stupid enough to make a bad mistake - while shopping for groccerries didn't pay for everything .. using the self checking kiosk. So it was 27$ worth we haven't payed for but still have the check for the rest. It was mainly vegetables and a magazine. I still terribly regret that and would never ever make the same mistake in my life. They called police but they just smiled at us and let us go. They told us we would have to pay a fine and no court would be involved. But after couple weeks we received a notice from the court. I got fingerprinted and at the end had to pay fine of 150%. No arrest was involved. For 2 years now,me and my husband are living in my home country but are soon planning to apply for my Green Card. We are also planning to have a baby in the meantime here. So our plan is to move to the States with the baby. I never had any sort of conviction anywhere. This is my one and only. I still feel terrible and regretful about it, it was a huge lack of judgement from my side. My question would be - Is there a big chance I will be denied Green Card due to this?

[Harpa Timsah 13,259]

Shoplifting is a CIMT.

I'll hold my tongue about the rest.

[Lavender7 32]

Shoplifting is a CIMT.

I'll hold my tongue about the rest.

What does CIMT mean?

[Transborderwife 4,666]

What does CIMT mean?

Crimes involving moral turpitude

[Boiler 47,203]

Might need a waiver.

Makes the process longer and cost more.

[aaron2020 11,651]

If you got fingerprinted, then you were arrested and released with no jail time. You may want to get your record before you answer no to having ever been arrested. If you say no and it's yes, you may be looking at a material misrepresentation that could lead to a permanent inadmissibility and make it difficult to get a visa.

[Lavender7 32]

If you got fingerprinted, then you were arrested and released with no jail time. You may want to get your record before you answer no to having ever been arrested. If you say no and it's yes, you may be looking at a material misrepresentation that could lead to a permanent inadmissibility and make it difficult to get a visa.

I have all my records with me. I believe I was not arrested, I had to go to a police office to give my fingerprints about 10 days after the incident and then leave. And I was mistaken about the fine it was actually 1$ but the court cost was 150$.

[blest.but.strest 50]

Hello dear VJ community, I want to share one unfortunate experience from my life which I'm so worried will affect my future application for Green Card. To say briefly, I am married to a U.S. citizen since 2014 , I've been to the United States two times using my B1B2 visa. Never overstayed. During my second visit though, I was stupid enough to make a bad mistake - while shopping for groccerries didn't pay for everything .. using the self checking kiosk. So it was 27$ worth we haven't payed for but still have the check for the rest. It was mainly vegetables and a magazine. I still terribly regret that and would never ever make the same mistake in my life. They called police but they just smiled at us and let us go. They told us we would have to pay a fine and no court would be involved. But after couple weeks we received a notice from the court. I got fingerprinted and at the end had to pay fine of 150%. No arrest was involved. For 2 years now,me and my husband are living in my home country but are soon planning to apply for my Green Card. We are also planning to have a baby in the meantime here. So our plan is to move to the States with the baby. I never had any sort of conviction anywhere. This is my one and only. I still feel terrible and regretful about it, it was a huge lack of judgement from my side. My question would be - Is there a big chance I will be denied Green Card due to this?

Lets make it clear, you were NEVER arrested, I believe you were charged with a crime and issued a notice to appear.

The most important question here is : DID YOU PLEAD GUILTY TO A CRIME?

if yes, then you were in fact convicted. You will need to find out what charges you plead guilty to, and you may need a waiver for your green card application.

If no, then you shouldn't have a problem. If you are ever asked about it by USCIS, just be honest and let them know that it was a simple mistake.

Edited May 12, 2016 by blest.but.strest

[Hypnos 6,579]

The petty offence exception may apply, which would negate the theft CIMT.

[LionessDeon 2,060]

The petty offence exception may apply, which would negate the theft CIMT.

Hypnos can give more detail on this or direct me to a link that does?

[EM_Vandaveer 2,427]

Generally a noncitizen who is convicted of, or formally admits committing, one CIMT is inadmissible. A noncitizen can avoid being inadmissible under the moral turpitude ground, however, by coming within the petty offense exception.

Further discussion of the exception appears in legal texts, but the basic requirements are: (1) The noncitizen must have committed only one CIMT (ever); (2) The noncitizen must not have been sentenced to a term of imprisonment in excess of six months (regardless of the extent to which the sentence was ultimately executed) and (3) The offense must have a maximum possible sentence of one year.

From:

https://www.ilrc.org/files/documents/allthoserulesaboutcimts.pdf

Edited May 13, 2016 by EM_Vandaveer

[EM_Vandaveer 2,427]

If it happened in Minnesota, you're in luck, because the maximum penalty for shoplifting (under $500 in value) is 90 days in prison in addition to a possible fine.

So it would seem all the requirements are met for petty offense exception. Keep in mind, I am NOT a lawyer, though.

Edited May 13, 2016 by EM_Vandaveer

[NancyNguyen 1,658]

Lets make it clear, you were NEVER arrested, I believe you were charged with a crime and issued a notice to appear.

The most important question here is : DID YOU PLEAD GUILTY TO A CRIME?

if yes, then you were in fact convicted. You will need to find out what charges you plead guilty to, and you may need a waiver for your green card application.

If no, then you shouldn't have a problem. If you are ever asked about it by USCIS, just be honest and let them know that it was a simple mistake.

Paying fine = pleading guilty

[Lavender7 32]

Lets make it clear, you were NEVER arrested, I believe you were charged with a crime and issued a notice to appear.

The most important question here is : DID YOU PLEAD GUILTY TO A CRIME?

if yes, then you were in fact convicted. You will need to find out what charges you plead guilty to, and you may need a waiver for your green card application.

If no, then you shouldn't have a problem. If you are ever asked about it by USCIS, just be honest and let them know that it was a simple mistake.

First of all thank you for your reply, I appreciate that and absolutely - I was issued a notice to appear. So I believed no arrest was involved whatsoever. I didn't know what else was there to be done..I have all my papers with me , I have the check of what I did pay and in the first place they told me there would be no court at all, because the amount of stolen items was less then 25$. But somehow I still received a notice after 2 weeks , while I was just waiting for a notice to simply pay my fine.

[Anitafeliz 1,133]

First of all thank you for your reply, I appreciate that and absolutely - I was issued a notice to appear. So I believed no arrest was involved whatsoever. I didn't know what else was there to be done..I have all my papers with me , I have the check of what I did pay and in the first place they told me there would be no court at all, because the amount of stolen items was less then 25$. But somehow I still received a notice after 2 weeks , while I was just waiting for a notice to simply pay my fine.

You where not arrested at the scene but you where issued a summons to appear and you paid a fine which means guilt was admitted. The fine is basically you paying for the courts time (in most states) be honest from the beginning and what ever you said to the judge state in any paperwork. Hope for the best as well... Its a misdemenor you prob plead down to...

In my state the judge wont take any money on a first offense and just continue for a few months if no further issues its wiped clean...is this the first time ?? ?

Edited May 13, 2016 by Anitafeliz