K1 denied at interview over caution on police certificate. Now what?

[cdenise88 2]

Having a hard time finding anyone else that has had a similar experience as we've had...

My fiance had a 6 year old caution (never arrested never had to goto court) on his police report for possession of one gram of marijuana. We expected they would do a drug test at the medical and he passed, no problem. At the interview however he was denied the visa because of section 212(a)(2)(A)(i)(II). We were told before filing the petition less than 30 grams for a caution should not render him inadmissible otherwise we would have gone about this much differently. I have a consultation with a reputable immigration attorney on wednesday but going insane in the mean time trying to figure out what we should do next. Has anyone had a similar experience? Should we get married in the UK and go the CR-1 route? The person conducting the interview had suggested to him to get married outside of the US. Is he banned for a year from even attempting to file again? Feeling hopeless as moving to the UK is not possible with their income minimum requirement.

[Ash.1101 1,755]

You may want to request this thread be moved either to the K1 section or to the waivers section. http://www.visajourney.com/forums/forum/113-waivers-i-601-and-i-212-and-administrative-processes-221g/


There's a chance he most likely needs a waiver, since he didn't just answer "Yes I smoked once in my life" (which still usually leads to denial) but he has an actual note on his police record for admitting to a marijuana related crime.


As for getting married, I don't know how much that'll change anything. Most people get married to get around the CO at the interview not feeling their relationship was strict enough. I don't think I've seen marriage change anything for someone who has a mark on their police record.

And INA rules and regulations don't specify how many grams will cause there to be a denial. Simply having broken ANY law based around controlled substance can make you inadmissable. Since he has a police caution, it also means that he admitted to the drug use as that's what a police caution is. Basically he admitted to the crime, they gave him a ticket, and it was put on his record. They didn't even need to ask him if he smoked weed, the proof is on his police cert.


I'm going to assume that he answered "yes" to the "Have you ever smoked Marijuana" question. That right there can cause a lot of people grief. Obviously don't lie, but there have been people here who have been blind sided by how serious a "yes" to that question is taken.

Generally, your fiance should have a one year ban at the moment.


This thread might help a little bit, and here's a snippet from it. It's an older thread but still seems pretty relevant. http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/468921-psa-marijuana-is-still-illegal-in-the-usa/

Fourth, if you do smoke, you can go get tested first to see if it will come back positive before you submit yourself to the official medical test, maybe there are home tests?. During the official test I think you will be asked if you have ever smoked marijuana. Answering yes seems to be leading to a denial with an automatic one year ban which used to be a 3 year ban. How you answer is critical since lying may lead to a lifetime ban due to misrepresentation. I am happy that I do not have this predicament but you need to be prepared for this. A member suggested answering the Physician "I do not remember if I have ever smoked marijuana, let's do the test to find out". Not sure how this would play out, really not sure.

Remember, Weed is still illegal on the federal level, and immigration is federal. By him saying that he has smoked weed AND having a record that is weed related, he's at a higher risk because if he's willing to break his own countries laws around weed, he'll most likely be willing to break the US laws on weed, according to USCIS. It becomes a character flaw that they don't want in the US.

Edited October 10, 2016 by Ash.1101

[JFH 12,189]

*~*~*moved from United Kingdom regional discussion to waivers as question is not country-specific*~*~*

I've moved this to "waivers" where hopefully people with more experience in this matter can advise.

In the meantime, have you thought about moving to an EU country (such as Ireland) so that you can be together? We are in a similar but different situation in that my husband has a lifetime ban from the UK (which was our first choice of where we wanted to live together) so we have had to change course and I will be moving to Seattle. Our third option was to move to either Ireland or Germany. I'd go anywhere just to be with him.

A move to the UK might be worth considering. He just needs to find a job that pays more than £18,600 (assuming you have no children or other dependents).

Agree with the above that getting married and applying for CR-1 won't solve the problem of the weed issue. The same rule for weed applies to spouses. He would find himself in the same situation.

[Love_A_Brit 33]

I'm sorry that your result was a denial. I'm interested to see how your situation progresses. My fiance also has a caution (not drug related) and we are very nervous how his interview will go next week. Best wishes, and please keep us updated with what you learn on Wednesday.

[cdenise88 2]

We thought we were hopeless until his caution was 15 years old as its a controlled substance charge but today we received an email saying they are now going to process the K1 and requested that he sends his passport in.

[Love_A_Brit 33]

That is excellent news! Congrats!

[LionessDeon 2,060]

WOW! You got very lucky! If they marked you waiver eligible you could've filed an I-601 but it would've taken almost one year! You just shaved off a huge waitng period. Congrats! Food Luck!

[chrisoxford91 0]

Hi Denise, myself and my fiance are in the EXACT same position, I was actually denied at interview just yesterday for a caution for possession of cannabis - just one.

Wondering if you actually contacted the Embassy after the denial or appealed the decision after?

Or did they just contact you out of the blue? Praying for some similar fortune 

 

Chris 

[LionessDeon 2,060]

22 hours ago, chrisoxford91 said:

Hi Denise, myself and my fiance are in the EXACT same position, I was actually denied at interview just yesterday for a caution for possession of cannabis - just one.

Wondering if you actually contacted the Embassy after the denial or appealed the decision after?

Or did they just contact you out of the blue? Praying for some similar fortune 

 

Chris 

It would be very helpful if you completed your profile information to include your filing country.  Embassy processes and procedures can vary greatly between consulates.  

Were your given a ban or found waiver eligible?  A K1 appeal will do you no good, as they will just leave the K1 visa application to expire.  What options did they give you at interview.  Did they give you a 221G?

[chrisoxford91 0]

Hi Deon, it was at the Embassy in London - I was never told I had been given a ban - I was just told I had been denied and the consulate officer told me I was ineligible to apply for a waiver for my caution , even though I checked on the waiver and with my criteria I can apply! Very confusing 

 

Chris 

[cdenise88 2]

On 5/11/2017 at 10:00 AM, chrisoxford91 said:

Hi Denise, myself and my fiance are in the EXACT same position, I was actually denied at interview just yesterday for a caution for possession of cannabis - just one.

Wondering if you actually contacted the Embassy after the denial or appealed the decision after?

Or did they just contact you out of the blue? Praying for some similar fortune 

 

Chris 

Chris,

 

Basically you are ineligible for a waiver because the k-1 is a nonimmigrant visa, had you applied for the spouse visa it would be a different story. We contacted my husbands local MP and they wrote the embassy requesting our case to be re reviewed. We can only assume that's what helped us as they didn't tell us anything except they had decided to approve it a month after the interview. It's worth a shot, I know how devastating that denial is. We were considering the surrinder singh route to move to the UK as my fiance didn't meet the income requirement to bring me over there, something else to look into. Good luck to you and youre fiance

Edited May 12, 2017 by cdenise88

[chrisoxford91 0]

Ok wow thanks Denise! I was wondering can you remember if you called or wrote to the MP and did you specifically ask the MP to contact the embassy to advice a re-review? 

 

Thanks 

 

Chris 

[cdenise88 2]

11 minutes ago, chrisoxford91 said:

Ok wow thanks Denise! I was wondering can you remember if you called or wrote to the MP and did you specifically ask the MP to contact the embassy to advice a re-review? 

 

Thanks 

 

Chris 

I believe he emailed the MP and explained the situation we were in and asked if there was anything they could do to help. I'd even have your fiance write her state representative. 

[chrisoxford91 0]

Ok thanks for the insight! It's nice to see that someone in the same position as us had it all worked out! Did you get confirmation that the MP and/or congressman actually contacted the embassy? Thanks 

[chrisoxford91 0]

Hi Denise, I've contacted my MP and she has just got back to me..do you remember the name of the MP who wrote the letter for you? 

 

Thanks