I 485 filing with Class C misdemeanor

[Jura]

I am a F1 student who has applied for I-485 as part of my father's Employment based category.  2 years ago I got a citation for a Class C misdemeanor for possession of drug (Marijuana) paraphernalia in my University campus area.  My plea at the local municipal court was 'no contest' and I payed the fine and completed the required course and submitted my statement of compliance and request for dismissal of the  charge/citation. I was represented by a lawyer, who confirmed that all the papers had been submitted to the municipal court and that the case was dismissed. Now, with my immigration interview coming up, I checked with the local court to get  a copy of my court disposition papers. To my horror I saw that the disposition shows that it has "failed" (i.e. court order has not been complied with).  I then checked with my lawyer and only then realized that they had not sent in my course completion papers to the court and that the case has not been closed or dismissed. I was also advised to say 'NO' to the questions about the citation etc in the I-485, which I did. 

I am now trying to rectify the situation by requesting the Court to amend the records as I had met the court orders. 

Now even if the case is dismissed or not, what should I say at the interview? Which databases does USCIS check ? Would a class C misdemeanor show up in my background check? One database that I checked myself does not show anything against my name, but could it show up in the USCIS search?

 

[natan111]

Sorry but that doesn't sound great at all. If you pleaded "no contest" that's a conviction for immigration purposes. Any drug related crime is considered extremely seriously by USCIS and the fact that you pleaded "no contest" makes it worse. Yet even worse than that is that you answered NO to the I-485 question pertaining to exactly this type of a crime.  This may be considered material misrepresentation and may consequently result in life bar from the US. 

Of course, I may be wrong and everything could turn out fine. If the court dismisses the case AND you convince USCIS that your pleading no contest was not serious AND if you convince them that you didn't lie on the I-485, then there's a chance. You should definitely hire another attorney from the looks of it. 

I'm not a lawyer and the above is just an opinion from a guy on the internet. 

Edited May 6, 2020 by natan111