Fiancé was arrested years ago

[rollitup 1]

Hello, we are in the process of completing the K-1 visa. The next step is the medical exam then the interview. My Fiancé has already got her police clearances from all the time living in the Philippines. But when she was working abroad for one year she overstayed her visa. Her employer kept her passport and would not let her go because she said she spent too much money for her visa and she did not finish her contract.  The Embassy gave her advice to go in jail then the labor office would then get involved.  While in jail for two months the labor office forced them to surrender her passport and she was allowed to go home. She is blacklisted from going back to Oman. 

Do we need a police clearance from Oman given the situation? If so how? Would that effect her chances of passing that interview to come to the US? or would it be better not to say anything about Oman? Thank you

[Loren Y 2,732]

If she was there over 6 months, you need to get a police clearance certificate according to the rules. 

That being said, I find it hard to believe that an embassy would tell you to go to jail. I've been in many countries and I have never heard of one where you can walk up to the jail and say let me in for a few months to get my passport back. I've been in some really backwards 3rd world countries but you usually have to commit a crime of some sort to go to jail. I know a few people that have done contract work and it is true that the employer will hold the passport as sort of collateral to make sure you complete your contract, but push came to shove you could go to your embassy and say I lost my passport, and they would replace it without sending you to jail. I have heard of companies basically holding people hostage, but when push comes to shove they will give your passport back. They may come after you in court for money owed, but this seems extreme.

 But, bottom line there is a good chance that they can pull up your travel history, and they will know more than 6 months was spent somewhere. Granted some countries aren't as sharing with entry and exit data with the United States, but you never know.

 Plus depending on how recently this happened won't it show a gap between your fiancee residence history. This is a tough one, but covering it up is probably the last thing you want to do, or trying to hide it can be an issue. My fiancee had an overstay of over a year in South Korea when we applied for the K1, and had no issues with them knowing that. She left when. They were doing a amnesty thing where you could leave without severe penalty. She still got the overstay marked in her passport, but noone seems to care thru the whole process.

[dray 20]

if she was in a country at least 6 months then she needs a police clearance from that country . sounds like a civil dispute , so if you're lucky the police clearance won't have it listed as a criminal matter , or even if it does the c.o. might consider that there is no equivalent crime in the united states and just look at it as a civil matter . the issue of the  visa overstay , and the fact that oman is a muslim country are complications that may require extensive administrative processing . but it still sounds workable . good luck .

[Bayman 65]

she need a police certificate to make life easy at the interview. thnaks

[nullaccount234 882]

It would be way, way worse to withhold information about her time in Oman. She's asked about time spent outside of her home country and trips she's made in the DS-160. Make sure she doesn't omit anything. They're going to run a background check on her and if they find out she lied about this, her immigration journey is going to get much more complicated and for no good reason.

 

Get her records from Oman. See what's on them, and understand exactly why she was jailed. Just because she's been in jail doesn't mean she's going to be denied a visa. But lying about it is a sure way of getting into trouble now or in the future.