TLDR; Wife was denied green card in 2013 for CIMT, filed a 601 waiver in 2014, USCIS determined the green card was wrongfully denied, a waiver was not needed, and then approved the original green card application. Beginning the naturalization process and we're worried the CIMT will become an issue again.
Greetings Everyone!
My wife has been in the States with a green card for 6 years and we are now looking to start the naturalization process. It was a bit of a fiasco getting her green card initially due to needing a 601 waiver, but she did end up getting it approved with the help of an attorney. We will be using an attorney to help us file for naturalization but are not sure if we should bring the attorney with us (major difference in cost to have the attorney attend, to the tune of an extra $6K for our attorney to be present).
I'll give a few cliff notes on what happened with the green card:
- Filed for the green card in 2013. My wife was denied due to crimes involving moral turpitude.
- The CIMT was from when my wife was 15 years old. She was arrested for spray painting buildings and destruction of public property. I won't get into all the details, but her mother was actually the one that caused the whole situation. My wife did not directly engage in the vandalism but was present (charged basically as an accomplice, her mother had more serious charges for actually doing the vandalism). We ignorantly filed without the help of a lawyer because we assumed these actions were a non-issue since she was a minor when they happened. The immigration officer kindly informed us that they don't care what age it happened, it's all treated the same, and denied the green card.
- In 2014, we hired an attorney and filed for a 601 waiver. We built a strong case with all sorts of written statements from members of my wife's community that told what a great person she had become.
- We received a ruling on the waiver in 2015. The waiver was reviewed and USCIS determined that my wife was wrongfully denied the green card in the first place. The letter stated that she should not have been denied based on crimes that happened when she was a minor. They denied the 601 waiver but immediately approved the original green card application. Our attorney has been doing immigration cases for 15 years and even she was confused at this ruling (happy that it was favorable though!).
As we get ready for the naturalization process, we are a bit worried that this CIMT issue will come up again. My wife has been gainfully employed and started 2 businesses since being in the States. She has completed a Masters Degree and regularly volunteers in our local community. The only issue she had was a moving violation in 2016 (minor offense, 2 points on her license and a $70 ticket). Overall, she has been putting a lot of effort into being a "model citizen".
For any of you with knowledge surrounding the naturalization process, do you think the CIMT issue will present a problem? Do you think that we should bring an attorney with us to the interview, or will we be good to go with just having the attorney help us file?
Thank you in advance for reading my novel and for any advice you may provide.
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source https://www.reddit.com/r/immigration/comments/p7gmxa/naturalization_should_we_bring_a_lawyer/