Withdrawn Retail Theft charges

[pranjal123]

I was charged with Retail Theft (Summary offense) in 2012 in Pennsylvania but no arrest was made.

 

I am not sure if arrest was made or not. Cop did came to the mall, but I was not handcuffed and was allowed to go. 

 

Later the case was withdrawn. I did not even go for fingerprinting as I was out of country. 

 

Somehow my criminal lawyer forgot to file for expungement so case details still show up on court website but nothing shows up on police website. 

 

So, How shall I answer this question on DS-160 - "Have you ever been arrested or convicted for any offense or crime, even though subject of a pardon, amnesty, or other similar action? "

 

Yes or NO ? 

 

I also have doubts if I shall ask my existing employer to wait for few months before filing my L1 untill expungement is done or it does not matter as case was withdrawn and no fingerprinting was done. But as SSN and date of birth of birth is there on Private Criminal Complaint, can it be an issue in background check. 

[sam3215]

You have to answer yes

[budo]

 

I was charged with Retail Theft (Summary offense) in 2012 in Pennsylvania but no arrest was made.

 

I am not sure if arrest was made or not. Cop did came to the mall, but I was not handcuffed and was allowed to go. 

 

Later the case was withdrawn. I did not even go for fingerprinting as I was out of country. 

 

Somehow my criminal lawyer forgot to file for expungement so case details still show up on court website but nothing shows up on police website. 

 

So, How shall I answer this question on DS-160 - "Have you ever been arrested or convicted for any offense or crime, even though subject of a pardon, amnesty, or other similar action? "

 

Yes or NO ? 

 

I also have doubts if I shall ask my existing employer to wait for few months before filing my L1 untill expungement is done or it does not matter as case was withdrawn and no fingerprinting was done. But as SSN and date of birth of birth is there on Private Criminal Complaint, can it be an issue in background check. 

 

You should address the issue with your lawyer. Even in case of expungement you still may still have to answer yes because not being handcuffed and taken to jail does not mean there was no arrest. If the police did not give you any citation at all, then there was no arrest. In that case you can answer "no."

[sam3215]

Did you go for the visa interview?

[Yhm]

I have few doubts here.

1.How come you got to know you are charged ?

2.If anyone formally get charged will they get to know before dismissal of a case ?

3.And before going to court how come your case got dismissed ?

4. If there were no finger prints given to police or court how come your details can be seen in court records ?