Filing ROC I-751 with pending (soon dismissed) misdemeanor domestic battery

[BerlinerAngelino 0]

Hello All,

 

My husband and I have gotten ourselves in a terrible situation as you can see by the title. I’ve scoured the Internet for months looking for answers, personal stories or any bit of solid information. I feel like I have a pretty decent understanding but I guess what I’m really looking for are people who have been in our situation and gotten approved. Or if the reality is denial then let me know. 
 

Here’s the story:

 

My husband has his conditional greencard, we had been living in California where I am from. We moved for one year to Las Vegas to be close to my mom during pregnancy and infant time and because in Nevada we could afford for me to take a year off of work with the baby.

 

We are happily married but of course have gone through struggles and arguments. We had our worst fight ever about 7 months ago and I stupidly (so freaking stupid) called police. I found some messages I didn’t like, flipped out, got in his face, he got in my face, I called Police, it was a very emotionally charged event and I thought the police would come and help to deescalate the situation and ask one of us to leave for a while. That’s what happened to friends who had been in similar situations. But what I didn’t know was that in Nevada if police get called for a potential DV situation someone HAS to go to jail. So my husband was arrested. They asked me to give a statement and I basically said what I’m telling you. Never said he was the aggressor, said I initiated the fight, etc. he was held for a day until he could appear before the judge (I think it was Sunday that’s why it took so long). I submitted an updated statement emphasizing my previous statement that he was not the aggressor, that he is not violent and that I am not in any danger. 
 

The judge gave him a standard first time offense pre-trial intervention with no contest plea for misdemeanor domestic battery. He paid a fee of $300 and does online classes. Once he’s done the case will be dismissed. We will get certified court copies of everything and then seal the case. 
 

We have to file I-751 by the end of February which is before the classes will be done and the dismissal complete. I know that we still have to file on time and that the case will be pending until we can submit the certified case info with final ruling.
 

I’m just terrified that he will be denied because of this. We are very happy together despite having had this low point. We own businesses here, we are planning for a second child, we’re saving to buy a house next year. It would be absolutely devastating.
 

Has anyone had a similar situation and been approved? Or been denied and sent to immigration court and won there? How long does it take to get a court date for immigration court? Has anyone been denied at immigration court and then successfully won by filing a financial hardship waiver? 
 

Some other info:

- we are back living in California

- no contest and the dismissal will still be considered conviction in the eyes of immigration as far as I understand 

- the max penalty for his charge is 6 months in jail (not that he was given that). I mention this because I’ve read that deportable crimes are ones with a max penalty of 1+ years. 
 

Anyone gone through this? Thanks in advance. 
 

 

[databit 328]

If you haven't already, you should also go alone to separate anger management counseling (not online), which shows both your support and further acknowledgement of your role in the incident. Also add for the two of you together some in-person marriage counseling. You could thus have two people, your personal therapist and the marital therapist (should never be the same person!) in your corner.

 

Take the money you're saving for a house and secure the services of a good immigration attorney now, to be on retainer in case a sudden problem arises. Wouldn't even think about getting pregnant until this is all over.

Edited January 4, 2020 by databit

[JefLyn4ever 4]

2 hours ago, BerlinerAngelino said:

Hello All,

 

My husband and I have gotten ourselves in a terrible situation as you can see by the title. I’ve scoured the Internet for months looking for answers, personal stories or any bit of solid information. I feel like I have a pretty decent understanding but I guess what I’m really looking for are people who have been in our situation and gotten approved. Or if the reality is denial then let me know. 
 

Here’s the story:

 

My husband has his conditional greencard, we had been living in California where I am from. We moved for one year to Las Vegas to be close to my mom during pregnancy and infant time and because in Nevada we could afford for me to take a year off of work with the baby.

 

We are happily married but of course have gone through struggles and arguments. We had our worst fight ever about 7 months ago and I stupidly (so freaking stupid) called police. I found some messages I didn’t like, flipped out, got in his face, he got in my face, I called Police, it was a very emotionally charged event and I thought the police would come and help to deescalate the situation and ask one of us to leave for a while. That’s what happened to friends who had been in similar situations. But what I didn’t know was that in Nevada if police get called for a potential DV situation someone HAS to go to jail. So my husband was arrested. They asked me to give a statement and I basically said what I’m telling you. Never said he was the aggressor, said I initiated the fight, etc. he was held for a day until he could appear before the judge (I think it was Sunday that’s why it took so long). I submitted an updated statement emphasizing my previous statement that he was not the aggressor, that he is not violent and that I am not in any danger. 
 

The judge gave him a standard first time offense pre-trial intervention with no contest plea for misdemeanor domestic battery. He paid a fee of $300 and does online classes. Once he’s done the case will be dismissed. We will get certified court copies of everything and then seal the case. 
 

We have to file I-751 by the end of February which is before the classes will be done and the dismissal complete. I know that we still have to file on time and that the case will be pending until we can submit the certified case info with final ruling.
 

I’m just terrified that he will be denied because of this. We are very happy together despite having had this low point. We own businesses here, we are planning for a second child, we’re saving to buy a house next year. It would be absolutely devastating.
 

Has anyone had a similar situation and been approved? Or been denied and sent to immigration court and won there? How long does it take to get a court date for immigration court? Has anyone been denied at immigration court and then successfully won by filing a financial hardship waiver? 
 

Some other info:

- we are back living in California

- no contest and the dismissal will still be considered conviction in the eyes of immigration as far as I understand 

- the max penalty for his charge is 6 months in jail (not that he was given that). I mention this because I’ve read that deportable crimes are ones with a max penalty of 1+ years. 
 

Anyone gone through this? Thanks in advance. 
 

 

My friend had a similar situation but she was the victim and her husband , US Citizen, was the perpetrator. There was still an open case against him. They went to the interview with their four children. Th officer first talked to their lawyer and without even initiating an interview, they were told to go home. They didn’t know what their status was and the lawyer said she needs find a way to drop the charges. She tried but it couldn’t be reversed. While waiting months, she finally got a her 10 year green card in the mail. Having children together is big proof that your marriage is bona fide. My other friend, he was awaiting Naturalization and with a criminal record of theft and he is now a US Citizen. I really advise you to hire a lawyer since your situation is complex.

Edited January 5, 2020 by JefLyn4ever

[mindthegap 2,521]

A criminal conviction is not the end of the world - it just depends what it is.

You will have to provide details of the conviction (showing the offence code) and sentence. Put as much as you can up front - you will probably get RFE'd for the rest, or just send it in as soon as you have it.

You will have to do it again with the N-400 at a later date.

 

Without delving into the details of Nevada penal code, as it is a misdemanour and not a felony (or worse, an aggravated felony) you *should* be ok.

However, pleading no-contest was imho not a wise thing to do, especially with another party (ie, you) who is not in any way a co-operating witness, and is claiming there was no issue in the first place.

If pleading no-contest was on legal advice, it was poor legal advice, but it is what it is. Unless you can somehow backtrack on that plea, have them re-open the case and plead not guilty, it isn't going anywhere and you have to deal with the consequences.

Just be honest, that is all you can do.

 

Edited January 5, 2020 by mindthegap

[BerlinerAngelino 0]

1 hour ago, mindthegap said:

A criminal conviction is not the end of the world - it just depends what it is.

You will have to provide details of the conviction (showing the offence code) and sentence. Put as much as you can up front - you will probably get RFE'd for the rest, or just send it in as soon as you have it.

You will have to do it again with the N-400 at a later date.

 

Without delving into the details of Nevada penal code, as it is a misdemanour and not a felony (or worse, an aggravated felony) you *should* be ok.

However, pleading no-contest was imho not a wise thing to do, especially with another party (ie, you) who is not in any way a co-operating witness, and is claiming there was no issue in the first place.

If pleading no-contest was on legal advice, it was poor legal advice, but it is what it is. Unless you can somehow backtrack on that plea, have them re-open the case and plead not guilty, it isn't going anywhere and you have to deal with the consequences.

Just be honest, that is all you can do.

 

Totally agree about no contest being a poor choice. My husband actually paid a lawyer to give him that advice. Simply googling can tell you that he should have pled not guilty, but he was pissed about the situation and wasn’t really into hearing me out. But like you said, it is what it is at this point. Just trying to clean it up the best we can and learn from our mistakes. Ugh, just don’t want to be worried sick for the 6-12+ months that it takes to go through this process. I’m trying to get to the point of accepting that we could very well be denied and that we may have to move back to Germany, which isn’t terrible, but definitely isn’t what we want. Thanks for the reply

[mindthegap 2,521]

Hmmm

You need a lawyer - in fact you really need two: a criminal lawyer, to see if there is anything that can be done about the no contest plea conviction, and an immigration lawyer - as a domestic violence conviction is specifically listed in sec 237 as rendering an alien deportable regardless of whether misdemeanor or felony level:

https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid%3AUSC-prelim-title8-section1227&num=0&edition=prelim#0-0-0-246

 

Quote

(E) Crimes of domestic violence, stalking, or violation of protection order, crimes against children and

(i) Domestic violence, stalking, and child abuse

Any alien who at any time after admission is convicted of a crime of domestic violence, a crime of stalking, or a crime of child abuse, child neglect, or child abandonment is deportable. For purposes of this clause, the term "crime of domestic violence" means any crime of violence (as defined in section 16 of title 18) against a person committed by a current or former spouse of the person, by an individual with whom the person shares a child in common, by an individual who is cohabiting with or has cohabited with the person as a spouse, by an individual similarly situated to a spouse of the person under the domestic or family violence laws of the jurisdiction where the offense occurs, or by any other individual against a person who is protected from that individual's acts under the domestic or family violence laws of the United States or any State, Indian tribal government, or unit of local government.

 

Sec 16 defines it:

Quote

The term "crime of violence" means-

(a) an offense that has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person or property of another, or

(b) any other offense that is a felony and that, by its nature, involves a substantial risk that physical force against the person or property of another may be used in the course of committing the offense

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

 

Some further reading and case law that may help, but it seems of all the states to get collared for this in, NV was not the one......

https://www.shouselaw.com/nevada/immigration/deportable-offenses#two.4

https://www.shouselaw.com/nevada/battery

https://www.shouselaw.com/nevada/battery-domestic-violence.html

https://www.ilrc.org/sites/default/files/resources/case_update_dv_deport_ground-20180627.pdf

 

 

 

 

 

 

[PolarPear 8]

This happened in my case. I was arrested for battery because of false charges from my us citizen wife. The case was completely dropped, I never even had a court date. The prosecutor denied the case. 

 

I visited a immigration lawyer before the prosecutor dropped it. The fact that he had to take classes is a conviction on its own. This is really bad because think about it...why would he have to take any classes or anything in that matter if nothing happened? Will he be able to get this expunged? I divorced my wife for this reason...It's a really messy situation and it was the hardest thing I went through in my life. 

 

My lawyer said the same thing I mentioned above. I would visit a lawyer 500%. Being convicted of battery is a deportable offense.

[DelilahBrz 48]

Call a lawyer before the case is closed

 

https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/immigration-risks-pleading-guilty-no-contest.html

[Needinfopls 0]

Hello! I’m also in a similar mess. I was wondering what happened to your husband’s ROC I-751? Was his case approved? 

[milimelo 4,199]

2 hours ago, Needinfopls said:

Hello! I’m also in a similar mess. I was wondering what happened to your husband’s ROC I-751? Was his case approved? 

The OP hasn’t logged back in since Feb 2020 so you probably won’t get an answer from them.