Court disposition not available

[drd1170]

Hi everyone,
My husband is a French citizen and was arrested (actually, he's not sure if he technically was, he was called in by the police station to come in) 7-8 years ago for theft (was at an acquaintance's party, an altercation started, his friends stole some of the homeowner's belongings and he ran with them) when he was 20-21 years old. After they called him in, they kept him in jail until all parties involved were contacted (does this count as arrest)? Anyway, he was sent home the next day and went to court a few months later. He had to pay a fee of a few hundred euros and was told his record would be cleared in 3 years. It was long ago enough that he really doesn't remember much, not even what he was charged with.

Fast forward to now, and we need a court disposition...which, in France, does not exist. Everyone in France has a criminal record- whether or not there is anything listed is what makes the difference. The criminal/police record available to the public is called "casier judiciare no. 3), and his is clear. Now, the French government, and only the French government has access to a different criminal record, casier judiciare no. 1, which lists every offense in one's lifetime...but you can not even get your own record of this, as again, it is for the French governments/courts ONLY. The casier no. 2 lists slightly more serious counts and it is meant for employers and such...ONLY.

We are at a loss as how to provide a court disposition as it seems his criminal record isn't good enough. A little FYI, he is an f1 student and I am a U.S. citizen. He's had zero offenses in the US or overseas (not even traffic violations).

Thanks.

[rayb]

It is possible that no such disposition information is needed (or even available) for your husband. U.S. immigration requirements state that dispositions should be provided for offenses that resulted in convictions. It seems to me, based on what you are saying, that U.S requirements will be satisfied by you obtaining the standard police record, as described by our State Department in its reciprocity website , as follows:

"...Police Records
Available. Extraits de Casier Judiciaire may be obtained by any person, regardless of nationality, who has resided in France at any time, provided such residence occurred after the age of 15 years. Persons born in France may obtain the certificates from the Greffe du Tribunal de Grande Instance at their place of birth. Persons born outside of France may obtain them from the Ministere de la Justice, Casier Judiciaire National, 107, rue du Landreau 44079 Nantes Cedex 1.

The applicant should furnish his/her full name, and any other names (including maiden), by which known, date and place of birth, father's full name, mother's maiden and married names, and place of residence...."

Hi everyone,
My husband is a French citizen and was arrested (actually, he's not sure if he technically was, he was called in by the police station to come in) 7-8 years ago for theft (was at an acquaintance's party, an altercation started, his friends stole some of the homeowner's belongings and he ran with them) when he was 20-21 years old. After they called him in, they kept him in jail until all parties involved were contacted (does this count as arrest)? Anyway, he was sent home the next day and went to court a few months later. He had to pay a fee of a few hundred euros and was told his record would be cleared in 3 years. It was long ago enough that he really doesn't remember much, not even what he was charged with.

Fast forward to now, and we need a court disposition...which, in France, does not exist. Everyone in France has a criminal record- whether or not there is anything listed is what makes the difference. The criminal/police record available to the public is called "casier judiciare no. 3), and his is clear. Now, the French government, and only the French government has access to a different criminal record, casier judiciare no. 1, which lists every offense in one's lifetime...but you can not even get your own record of this, as again, it is for the French governments/courts ONLY. The casier no. 2 lists slightly more serious counts and it is meant for employers and such...ONLY.

We are at a loss as how to provide a court disposition as it seems his criminal record isn't good enough. A little FYI, he is an f1 student and I am a U.S. citizen. He's had zero offenses in the US or overseas (not even traffic violations).

Thanks.

[drd1170]

Thank you. Would you happen to have a direct link of where you got that from?

[rayb]

Go to the following State Department link and citation:

http://travel.state.gov/contenthttps://www.immihelp.com/usa-visas/english/fees/reciprocity-by-country/FR.html

--Ray B

drd1170
Thank you. Would you happen to have a direct link of where you got that from?

It is possible that no such disposition information is needed (or even available) for your husband. U.S. immigration requirements state that dispositions should be provided for offenses that resulted in convictions. It seems to me, based on what you are saying, that U.S requirements will be satisfied by you obtaining the standard police record, as described by our State Department in its reciprocity website , as follows:

"...Police Records
Available. Extraits de Casier Judiciaire may be obtained by any person, regardless of nationality, who has resided in France at any time, provided such residence occurred after the age of 15 years. Persons born in France may obtain the certificates from the Greffe du Tribunal de Grande Instance at their place of birth. Persons born outside of France may obtain them from the Ministere de la Justice, Casier Judiciaire National, 107, rue du Landreau 44079 Nantes Cedex 1.

The applicant should furnish his/her full name, and any other names (including maiden), by which known, date and place of birth, father's full name, mother's maiden and married names, and place of residence...."

[drd1170]

I'm bumping up this thread because we still haven't had any luck. Since I've posted, we have not been able to get in contact with the courts or lawyer...France clearly is much more lax than the U.S. because no one answers their phone or bothers to return calls!!!! I will update and take back what I said before; my husbadn DID have a conviction (petty theft), but had no prison time, just a couple hundred-euro fine. We do have an attorney, that was going to file the work and travel authorization forms, but then recently said she could not until we had a certified disposition, although his criminal record is clear.

What are the chanceso f this hurting our I-485?? Really starting to panic as I can not believe how hard it is to get a hold of someone to help us overseas!