Deferred Inspection

[rmg]

Green card holder since 1973.

Two charges in 1991, possession of cocaine--dropped because it was found in a public area of the hotel that I managed, Grand theft Auto in 3rd degree. The GTA was the result of a dispute over money owed and not 'stealing' per se. The other party knew that I had the car and did not report it stolen. When inventory was done, the dealer reported it stolen with the managers denying any knowledge. (They were later fired) I plead 'nolo contendere" paid a $1,000 restitution and Adjudication was withheld.

Married to U.S. Citizen by birth, with 2 USC children by birth.

Returned from a business trip in Dec. 2007, record showed up. I went to secondary and then was placed in Deferred with appt. set for 30 days later. I hired a 'lawyer'. I had a family emergency and went to Canada. I Fedex'd my I-94 to Kentucky with a letter of explanation and also Fedex'd a letter to the Deferred Inspections Unit at JFK. Needless to say I missed the Deferred Inspection.

Returned to the U.S. 2 1/2 weeks later (early 2008) by car without incident. Lawyer told me he had "taken care of everything" as judged by my re-entry without incident. Turns out that he was a fraud, was arrested for practicing Immigration Law with a license and jailed.

Based upon my own research, I was deportable and/or inadmissible.

I hired a real lawyer. No documents/disposition information was available on the cocaine possession charge other than a computer entry and it turns out that the GTA even with a withhold of Adjudication could get me thrown out of the country.

My lawyer had both charges/pleas vacated and then they were then nolle prossed by the ADA 2 months ago. I have a certified copy of the dispositions.

I want to apply for citizenship. Do I still need to go to Deferred Inspection or can I just apply for citizenship? Someone recently told me that I have not been legally admitted into the country, but was I not admitted in late January 2008 when I returned to the U.S. at a border crossing?

I was supposed to go to JFK. If I have to go can I go to a different, closer location instead?

What will happen in Deferred Inspection? I know for a fact that the Nolle Prossed dispositions on Constitutional grounds mean that I am admissible and not deportable.

Thank you in advance.

[rmg]

Green card holder since 1973.

Two charges in 1991, possession of cocaine--dropped because it was found in a public area of the hotel that I managed, Grand theft Auto in 3rd degree. The GTA was the result of a dispute over money owed and not 'stealing' per se. The other party knew that I had the car and did not report it stolen. When inventory was done, the dealer reported it stolen with the managers denying any knowledge. (They were later fired) I plead 'nolo contendere" paid a $1,000 restitution and Adjudication was withheld.

Married to U.S. Citizen by birth, with 2 USC children by birth.

Returned from a business trip in Dec. 2007, record showed up. I went to secondary and then was placed in Deferred with appt. set for 30 days later. I hired a 'lawyer'. I had a family emergency and went to Canada. I Fedex'd my I-94 to Kentucky with a letter of explanation and also Fedex'd a letter to the Deferred Inspections Unit at JFK. Needless to say I missed the Deferred Inspection.

Returned to the U.S. 2 1/2 weeks later (early 2008) by car without incident. Lawyer told me he had "taken care of everything" as judged by my re-entry without incident. Turns out that he was a fraud, was arrested for practicing Immigration Law with a license and jailed.

Based upon my own research, I was deportable and/or inadmissible.

I hired a real lawyer. No documents/disposition information was available on the cocaine possession charge other than a computer entry and it turns out that the GTA even with a withhold of Adjudication could get me thrown out of the country.

My lawyer had both charges/pleas vacated and then they were then nolle prossed by the ADA 2 months ago. I have a certified copy of the dispositions.

I want to apply for citizenship. Do I still need to go to Deferred Inspection or can I just apply for citizenship? Someone recently told me that I have not been legally admitted into the country, but was I not admitted in late January 2008 when I returned to the U.S. at a border crossing?

I was supposed to go to JFK. If I have to go can I go to a different, closer location instead?

What will happen in Deferred Inspection? I know for a fact that the Nolle Prossed dispositions on Constitutional grounds mean that I am admissible and not deportable.

Thank you in advance.

[federale86]

You cannot apply for citizenship while in parole status. You need to complete your inspection and be admitted. If the charges were vacated as you claim, you have nothing to fear at deferred inspection.

[rmg]

Thank you for your response. I'll make my appointment tomorrow.

Based upon three bad experiences with immigration attorneys in a row (two real ones and one fake attorney), I'm going to go to Deferred Inspection on my own with all of the certified copies of the documents.

I went overboard and ordered certified copies of the plea being vacated in addition to a certified copy of the disposition just to be sure.

I hope the nightmare is over after this and I can apply for citizenship.

[federale86]

You don't make an appointment at deferred inspection, you appear at the date and place in your deferred notice.

[rmg]

The appointment was three years ago. the "lawyer" who was later arrested, told me that everything was taken care of when I left and the fact that I came back in two and a half weeks later without incident 'proved' that he had taken care of it.

I recently found out from someone at USCIS that I have to take care of this before sending in my N-400.

I was going to call the deferred inspection area at Newark Airport tomorrow, explain the situation and then show up with the documentation.

[OldE]

Sounds like math problems we had to solve in second grade. Jack had 5 apples, Nicky had 3 more, John had more than Jack and Nikki together and Tim , after eating some of his apples, had half of what John would have if he didn't eat 4 of his own apples. Before Nicky and Jack took one apple each from John , John had 12 apples. How many apples did Tim eat?


Anywho, if you can reiterate your own case so well then you must have good enough reading comprehension to understand governing INA. To find relevant INA look into 1996 IRIR , Sections(subsections) 237 and 212 along with BIA case rulings , your District, FA court rulings and CFR as amended and adjusted over years of practical implementation of INA.
See also requirements of proof or ineffective counsel (steps you must have taken in timely manner to substantiate your claim of same , etc).

If you don't want to (or can't do it) on your own then hire a good, competent immigration attorney who had dealt with your type of cases.

Some good Samaritans here may offer you advise but if you are for real you won't fix a legal case based on hearsay on a public forum.

Good luck.

[rmg]

Thank you for your response.

The legal aspects have been taken care of. I am admissible and I am not deportable.

Apparently, until I hired a competent attorney, errors and lack of documentation to prove the disposition were missing on one charge and the Adjudication Withheld would have been an issue on the second charge. We successfully proved ineffective counsel, had the plea vacated (actually we had two pleas vacated when only one plea was originally entered into because with the original charge dropped, the records were not retained beyond 10 years--go figure) and then both charges were nolle prossed. As a result, I can now prove the (favorable) disposition of both charges.

I'm still trying to figure out the Deferred Inspection issue from three years ago.

The first Immigration Attorney that I paid and spoke with 3 years ago charged me a lot of money to tell me that I would be placed into removal proceedings and eventually deported. He wanted me to pay him more money to go to the Deferred Inspection with me.

The second guy told me that I'd be fine, that he handled things like this all of the time and that everything would work out in my favor. Of course he was later arrested and sent to jail for among other things, practicing law without a license.

The third guy is also a real immigration attorney but he hasn't responded to calls and emails in two months. I'm batting 1,000 with the criminal guy and 0.00 with immigration attorneys.

[OldE]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by rmg:
The third guy is also a real immigration attorney but he hasn't responded to calls and emails in two months. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Attorney who doesn't return calls in two months -for all practical purposes- is not an attorney, regardless of number of papers framed and hanging on his or her office wall.

There are very proficient ones here in US, with very high standards of performance who will , on top of it, treat you with respect and take your case seriously.

Fire immediately the useless wallpaper hanger and find one who knows what he is doing.

Good luck.

[federale86]

Failure to appear at a deferred inspection can result in your removal. You are currently an illegal alien. You may be placed in custody at the deferred inspection.