Thai Husband Going Applying for US Visa with a Criminal Record...

[teacher17]

Hi,

Hope someone can help...please no judgement's or smart comments as those won't help...just trying to get some genuine information.

We are currently in the process of applying for a IR-1 visa (spouse visa) for my Thai husband. We are on the 2nd part of the application (already been accepted by USCIS). My husband needs to get a criminal record check and this is where we are running into issues.

To make a long story short, he got arrested when he was 18 in southern Thailand for possession of marijuana. There were 10 other people there, so not only him was arrested. The amount of marijuana was very small-less than 1 gram I believe...

Anyway, he spent one night in jail and the next day went to court, paid 4,000 baht to avoid 2 months of jail time, apologized to a picture of the king, and was let go. He has not gotten in trouble since then (he is now 29).

We went to the police station in Bangkok to get his police record. We will get it, but we were both a bit shocked that he still had the marijuana possession on his record. We asked a Thai lawyer if there was a way to clear the record, but they said no...

We've considered going to the police station again and paying a "fee" to get rid of his record...but not sure that it would work or if that would be too risky.

I am working with a lawyer at the moment and they said that if it was less than 30 grams of marijuana you will not be barred entry to the US. I guess I just want to know if anyone has been in a similar situation and their husband/wife was still able to get a visa. It was over 10 years ago and such a minor crime, it seems ridiculous that this should have a huge impact on the possibility of him getting a visa.

One reason it is concerning is I am 5 months pregnant and really want him in the US for the child's sake especially. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[Thanyaburi Mac]

FYI, U.S. Immigration law has waivers available for many cases of excludability. Here's form to start with on your research:

http://www.uscis.gov/i-601 I-601, Application for Waiver of Grounds of Inadmissibility

Here's another url for viewing: http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/english/general/ineligibilities.html

And more: http://www.thailawforum.com/articles/waiver.html

Time for more Googling for: u.s immigrant visa waiver of excludability

Mac

[Thanyaburi Mac]

Here's another one to take a wander through:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/forum/113-waivers-i-601-and-i-212-and-administrative-processes-221g/

Mac

[daboyz1]

The best place to look for waivers is immigrate2us.net That is the place most from VJ go when it comes to waivers.

[Basil B]

Seems ironic that the US can turn away a person because of just one caution or small fine for possession, just wonder how many of the people elected to the House of Representative or Senate or even presidents have smoked weed?

[ProThaiExpat]

I would not assume he would be excluded. Once you get the police clearance docmument, submit it with a declaration under penalty of perjury explaing in detail the circumstances surrounding his arrest in the most favorable terms. My guess is you have included your pregnancy issue adequately in your other paperwork.

He should be prepared to respond in a positive way if he gets an interview as my guess he would be questioned about the arrest even if there is a declaration in the paperwork explaining it.

Only if he gets a rejection based on the criminal record would I go the special waiver route.

[teacher17]

Thanks for the info!

Yes, you'd think they wouldn't be so strict about it...but they are I guess...

Does anyone know if a Thai person can get their record cleared if it's been a certain amount of year since the crime? We've been in contact with someone from the police and their answer to that question was "maybe." My husband had to go to the judge to get a paper saying he had been let go and the circumstances of the arrest, etc. After he got that, he was told to go back to the bangkok police station...not sure what they will do or if it means they will clear it or not.

Anyway, I'm hoping we wouldn't have to do the waiver process as it will be expensive and time consuming...but we'll see...