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Q: Applying for a J1 visa for the US ( Answered,   0 Comments )
Question  
Subject: Applying for a J1 visa for the US
Category: Relationships and Society > Government
Asked by: barakonda-ga
List Price: $100.00
Posted: 25 Aug 2006 11:13 PDT
Expires: 24 Sep 2006 11:13 PDT
Question ID: 759490
Hello,
I am from Turkey and I have been issued J1 visa 3 times during my
college period for work and travel program. On my last stay I was
arrested because of drunk driving. I have been living with that guilt
for the whole year. Right now I am done with school and I am planning
to get another J1 visa for training program. I will get my DS2019 form
in 2-3 weeks.
My quetion is, how will my incident(drunk driving) affect me when I
apply for J1 visa at the Consulate? Plus is there any place for me to
check the police records?
I will really appreciate if you can get me some formal documents or
similar problems. Even though I will learn the result in 2-3 weeks, I
cannot wait with an uncertainity. At least some information will help.
Thanks in advance.
Best regards.

Request for Question Clarification by politicalguru-ga on 25 Aug 2006 11:47 PDT
Dear Barakonda,

You say you've been arrested. Were any charges brought against you?
Have you been indicted in a court (or plead guilty, paid a fine, or
something similar)? What State did it happen in? Was it campus police,
which arrested you, or "regular" police?

Clarification of Question by barakonda-ga on 25 Aug 2006 12:40 PDT
I had been indicated in a court and plead guilty. I got a ticket and
paid 692$ before I left the country. It was a regular police and
happened in Wisconsin.
Answer  
Subject: Re: Applying for a J1 visa for the US
Answered By: keystroke-ga on 25 Aug 2006 17:47 PDT
 
Hi barakonda,

Thank you for your question. Google Answers cannot provide definitive
legal advice, but I can give you my best interpretation of the laws
regarding this from the information available. Overall, the news for
you is good, and the drunk driving conviction, if your record is clear
otherwise, should not prevent you from obtaining a visa.

------------------------------------------

"My quetion is, how will my incident(drunk driving) affect me when I
apply for J1 visa at the Consulate?"

The drunk driving incident, while not a help to your application for
the J-1 visa, might not affect it negatively, either. Here is a page
from the US government detailing what criminal events can affect visa
status:

http://foia.state.gov/masterdocs/09fam/0940021aN.pdf

According to this page, the main guideline governing the revocation of
visas is that the offense must be a "crime involving moral terpitude"
or CIMT. Here are the four guidelines:

1. The offense was purely political
2. The offense committed involves moral turpitude
3. The applicant has been convicted
4. The applicant has admitted or may admit that he or she has
committed acts which constitute the essential elements of a crime

--Your offense was not political.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_crime
--Drunk driving does not constitute an act involving moral turpitude.
--You have been convicted.
--You have admitted to a crime.


You have admitted to (by pleading guilty) and been convicted of a
crime that is not political, but does that crime involve moral
turpitude?

The above page states:
"To render an alien ineligible...the conviction must be for a
statutory offense, which involves moral turpitude."

Moral turpitude is defined as "fraud, larceny and intent to harm a
person or thing."

In addition, "the following list assumes that the statutes involved do
not require the showing of an intent to defraud, or commit other evil:

(5) disorderly conduct
(6) drunk or reckless driving
(7) drunkenness
(14) liquor violations" 

So,  drunk driving by itself is not usually deemed as a crime
involving moral turpitude. However, it can be seen as a CIMT if there
are any aggravating factors.

Here is a good page on the subject:

Heller Immigration Law Group, LLC
http://www.hilglaw.com/articles/articles36.htm

"When do drunken driving convictions fall under the CIMT category?
Generally, in order to involve ?moral turpitude?, a crime must have an
intent requirement. Clear examples are murder and theft. In contrast,
certain other crimes do not have an intent requirement. For example,
as defined in most State laws, DWI (driving while intoxicated) and DUI
(driving under the influence) mean that a person was driving with a
certain blood level of alcohol or other intoxicating substance above
that legally permissible under law. Usually, there is no reference to
intent. That means, one does not have to have intended to get the car
and drive drunk (and cause an accident). The mere fact of being drunk
is enough."

According to Heller, "an ordinary DUI conviction is not considered a
CIMT unless it is combined with an aggravating factor. For example, an
alien?s DUI conviction was decided to involve moral turpitude because
the alien was found to have the aggravating factor of operating the
vehicle following the suspension of his license. The aggravating
factor was that the offender knowingly drove with a suspended
license."

You also should definitely tell the authorities about your conviction
on your visa application. Lying about it could result in dire
consequences.

"Another inquiry we get related to DUI and/or other criminal conduct
or convictions is whether the applicant should state an arrest,
citation or conviction on the immigration/visa forms, even if minor
ones. The applicant must be truthful in all these applications because
lying in writing on BCIS forms, to immigration on entry or to a U.S.
consulate officer can have even bigger consequences than what one is
lying about! Remember a simple DUI conviction by itself would not
result in a denial of an immigration benefit, but lying about it on
one?s application can and would bring up a fraud or misrepresentation
charge and can create a permanent bar to reentry, often without waiver
possibilities."

Here are some cases of people in a similar situation to yours:
http://www.laborlawtalk.com/showthread.php?p=346747#post346747
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.visa.us/browse_frm/thread/2d64f131ffdd517c/dcf74d06aeaedb0b?lnk=st&q=dui+cimt&rnum=2#dcf74d06aeaedb0b



---------------------------------------------


"Plus is there any place for me to
check the police records?"

Since you stated that the conviction was in Wisconsin, I have looked
up how to find police records in that state.

Did the police take fingerprints of you upon your arrest? If so, your
police records can be found in the Wisconsin Open Records Database.

http://www.doj.state.wi.us/DLES/CIB/crimback
"Wisconsin is an "open records" state. Wisconsin statute 19.35(3)
provides that most records maintained by state and local government
agencies are open to the general public for inspection. All adult
criminal records in the CIB database are included in the open record
rule."

Internet requests for searches cost $13; fax or mail searches cost $18.

If the police did not take fingerprints of you, you could contact the
local police department that arrested you and they will have the
records available.

If you want the court records, those should also be available to the
public under the Freedom of Information Act and can be accessed at a
few different sites. Here are some state government pages that give
access to different courts' records:

http://www.wicourts.gov/casesearch.htm
http://wcca.wicourts.gov/index.xsl


Search terms:
drunk driving visa
drunk driving visa application
dui cimt
wisconsin police records
wisconsin court records

Again, thank you for your question, and if you need any more help or
clarification, please let me know and I'll be glad to assist. In
addition, I'm glad that you will always drive safely from now on!

Cheers,
--keystroke-ga

Request for Answer Clarification by barakonda-ga on 26 Aug 2006 07:38 PDT
Thank you so much for your detailed research but I want to make clear
something. When I apply for the visa, which documents should I have
with me related to this incident? Should I inquire the police records
from the website?

Last question, do I have to wait to get my visa after I applied for
the security clearance process or do the consulates have access the
records online? I am asking this because in the following link I saw

http://istanbul.usconsulate.gov/security_clearance_status3.html

"If your number is not listed, please check back in one week. Visa
application processing takes a minimum of four weeks and can take up
to six months. Please do not call or email to inquire about your
case."

Thanks again.
barakonda

Request for Answer Clarification by barakonda-ga on 28 Aug 2006 05:09 PDT
Thank you so much for your detailed research but I want to make clear
something. When I apply for the visa, which documents should I have
with me related to this incident? Should I inquire the police records
from the website?

Last question, do I have to wait to get my visa after I applied for
the security clearance process or do the consulates have access the
records online? I am asking this because in the following link I saw

http://istanbul.usconsulate.gov/security_clearance_status3.html

"If your number is not listed, please check back in one week. Visa
application processing takes a minimum of four weeks and can take up
to six months. Please do not call or email to inquire about your
case."

Thanks again.
barakonda

Clarification of Answer by keystroke-ga on 28 Aug 2006 21:04 PDT
Hi barakonda,

I'm glad that my research helped you. 

As far as your question, here is what I can ascertain:

You may or may not have a criminal background check conducted on you
after applying for the J1 visa. Sometimes a lengthy check can cause
visa delays. The consulate might know already about your arrest, or
they may not. You will have to disclose it to them either way. In my
estimate, it is not a bad idea to ask for the court, (not the police)
records from the website I gave and bring them with you. (You would
want the court records instead of the police records because the
police records wouldn't confirm exactly what the charges are against
you as much as the court records.)

You would not be required to have these documents with you, but it
never hurts to be on the safe side.

"Last question, do I have to wait to get my visa after I applied for
the security clearance process or do the consulates have access the
records online?"

I'm not sure exactly what it is you're asking right here. Are you
asking if you will see your visa online on that site? Or whether they
will just mail the visa to you? From that site, it seems that your
visa number will be posted online when it's ready and you have to mail
in your passport to them and then go get your visa in person.

Let me know if I'm misinterpreting your question. 

Thanks,
--keystroke-ga

Request for Answer Clarification by barakonda-ga on 29 Aug 2006 23:42 PDT
Hello again,

I meant that I will apply to the visa on the 14th of September and my
training program starts on the 1st of October. I need to be in the
states on that date if I get the visa. Under normal conditions I got
my visa in 2 days after I applied but will there be a delay based on
the security clearance program. if there will be how long do you think
it will be? Since there is a citation

"If your number is not listed, please check back in one week. Visa
application processing takes a minimum of four weeks and can take up
to six months. Please do not call or email to inquire about your
case." in the following web page:


http://istanbul.usconsulate.gov/security_clearance_status3.html

Thanks

Clarification of Answer by keystroke-ga on 19 Sep 2006 11:53 PDT
Hello barakonda,

I'm sorry that I didn't see your request for clarification sooner! The
notification system is broken right now.

It seems that your date has passed for when you should have gotten the
visa. So this advice may not matter.

I honestly have no idea how long a Turkish visa application takes, but
I can imagine from other cases that I'm familiar with that it could be
a long process and be full of "red tape." The website may say that
there is such a long wait because there may in some cases be a very
long wait and they generalize that for everyone. They'd rather tell
everyone that it takes months and surprise them in a few days than
everyone thinking they'll get their visa right away and get upset when
they don't. You really will have to just call the Istanbul consulate
about this to confirm. I'm sorry that I'm not more of an expert on
these matters! I'm sorry again that I didn't see your question
earlier.

--keystroke-ga
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