GC through marriage to USC, had a DUI, wait three or five years?

[americano11 0]

Hi Everyone,

I am eligible for N-400 based on being married and living with a USC for three years. Three years have passed since my arrest for a DUI. Should I apply or wait more? I was arrested in 2012, did all I had to and had it expunged. I have no other convictions. Is three years good enough to claim good moral character? Are there any official statements on this?

Thanks!

[JimmyHou 613]

Hi Everyone,

I am eligible for N-400 based on being married and living with a USC for three years. Three years have passed since my arrest for a DUI. Should I apply or wait more? I was arrested in 2012, did all I had to and had it expunged. I have no other convictions. Is three years good enough to claim good moral character? Are there any official statements on this?

Thanks!

It's out of the statutory period for your application (3 years), so you should be able to apply.

However:

-Even incidents outside of the statutory period can be taken into consideration when determining if you meet the "good moral character" requirement. This is inline with USCIS guidelines.

-Some interviewers have told applicants that they have to wait 5 years. I think this is a mistake on the interviewer's part because it doesn't seem to line up with that the USCIS policy manual says. Here it says "in general" you need to wait 5 years: https://www.uscis.gov/policymanual/HTML/PolicyManual-Volume12-PartD-Chapter9.html but the 3 year rule for spouses of USCs is a special case and elsewhere in the policy manual it says that the statutory period is 3 years in your case. I think this is the source of the confusion.

So you can apply now, in my opinion, but make sure you have all documentation available. You'll still have to list the incident on the application and they'll want to see a final court disposition and hear an explanation. Having it expunged does not change this, but might actually make it harder to get a copy of the final disposition if you don't already have one.

This may be helpful:

https://www.uscis.gov/policymanual/HTML/PolicyManual-Volume12-PartF.html

[GOLFER 4]

There is no confusion it's 3 year statutory period for you as your filling as spouse of US Citizen.

Here:

https://www.uscis.gov/policymanual/HTML/PolicyManual-Volume12-PartF-Chapter2.html#S-A

However consult and hire immigration attorney in your case strongly recommended. And hope you have all court documentation and final courts transcript before expungement as would be needing that on your interview. Good Luck.