H1B Extension and I485 filing with a felony arrest changed to detention

[badonis]

I was arrested in CA in 2019 and was charged with one misdemeanor and a felony (DV). I was bailed out the same day in a couple of hours and got a court date of 2 months ahead. I got an email from the US Embassy (before my court date) stating my VISA (H1B) has been revoked.  DA did not file any case for the charges and my bail was exonerated and had no arraignment or court hearing.

I went to the court  later in 2020 and got a letter from the court clerk where they searched with my name and DOB and they could not find any case against me and provided me with that letter showing the name did not show up for any cases/arrests (it's a court clerk signed document but not stamped).

I asked my criminal lawyer to get a letter from the police which states that my arrest has been changed into detention only since no charges have been filed and I got that letter few weeks ago, it is a faxed letter from the police, not stamped but only signed by records supervisor.

After I got the Certificate of Detention from the police, I checked my personal history records at FBI/DOJ where I have got an update on the records saying "pros rel-det only-lack of suff evid" for both charges. 

I am currently on H1B with an approved I-140 and my employer's attorney just told me that I can now proceed to the next stage for my immigration (I-485). Also my H1B is expiring next year so I will also have to extend my H1B

I have following questions, and would be highly thankful for everyone with their replies

1) Since the arrest has been changed into detention-only, is there a way to delete/remove the arrest record from DOJ/FBI records? (not sealing of records)

2) During the H1B extension and/or while filling the DS160, there are questions like "Have you ever been arrested?, or Have you ever been 10 printed", what should be the answer to those questions, if it is "Yes" then what should be the supporting documents I should be attaching along with my case to avoid any RFE, same for filing I-485.. for anything related to arrest, how should I answer it and what supporting documents are needed? mainly because arrest is now changed into detention.

3) Is there a way I can have my I485 be filed by an immigration attorney outside of my employer's attorney?

4) I have heard there is a way I can get the arrest records sealed since no case was filed, is that of any benefit for immigration? and should I get that done before my H1B extension and/or immigration? Or is it anyways a good idea to get it done before telling about this incident to my current employer so that nothing comes out in the background checks, if they plan to do one after I tell them the situation.

5) Should I expect RFE in H1B extension and/or during visa stamping?, and how should I inform my employer, this was a big misunderstanding.

6) Is their any way to reinstate my visa?

[pontevecchio]

1. You want to look into the possibility of expungement if available in CA.

2. An arrest is a fact. You have to mention it in government documents.

3. You can file it yourself.

4. No benefit of sealing records or expunging records as far as Federal Authorities are concerned except anecdotal evidence in a few states, not CA where expungement means deletion of records as if they never existed.

5. Domestic violence is always taken very seriously.

6. As an aside, I would urge you to discuss the whole matter with an Immigration Lawyer and not a forum

[soe]

could you share your exp? what was the outcome?

[Distresse]

Can you please share your experience? I am going through a similar situation.