Need advice

I think being completely honest is the only way to go here. In addition to providing the requested info on your request, it will be important to show that there has been no repeat behaviour of the kind that led to the request. This will have to be discussed with your social worker, and your home study report will have to be amended. If your home study provider won't do it, I'm sure you could find someone else to update your home study. It's not the end of the world, but will probably delay your adoption a bit. Good luck.

Thank-you Jenny

1. I hate to tell you this, but failure to disclose can be cause for automatic denial by the USCIS. There is a perception that "if she failed to disclose that, what else is she hiding?" If you are denied, you will NOT be able to have a new homestudy or do a new I-600A. 2. As a result, it is ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL that you work with your social worker to address the USCIS concerns immediately, if you want to bring home the child who has been referred to you. In general, the USCIS will rely on your social worker's professional judgment, in making the final decision on denial. The social worker needs to be convinced, and to convince the USCIS, that you honestly did not know that you were arrested, that the incident was a total aberration and not indicative of criminal tendencies, that all charges were dropped or that you fulfilled any requirements of the court, that you are remorseful about the incident and the failure to disclose, and that you have lived an exemplary life otherwise. 3. To accomplish this, you are simply going to have to make peace with your homestudy provider. Most homestudy providers will be willing to help out in this sort of situation, IF they truly are convinced that you should not be denied. I presume that you have paid for all the addenda you have requested before, and will pay for any addendum required this time. If not, then I can see why they might not be happy to do another addendum. But if so, then the only reason they might not want to help you would be a judgment that, in some way, you are not a good candidate for adoption. You will have to talk with them about why they are reluctant to help you, and overcome their objections. Perhaps they feel that you didn't really think through all the issues very well, which is why you have needed addenda. Perhaps they will say that they were very clear that both misdemeanor and felony arrests needed to be disclosed, and that your failure to disclose the misdemeanor arrest can't be passed off as, "I didn't know". Or perhaps they will be very willing to help you with your situation. These sorts of things DO happen, and some people do NOT get denied for failure to disclose. 3. The first thing you will have to do is take time off and get any documents that the USCIS is requesting. Be very sure that you are clear on what is needed. Your social worker should be able to tell you exactly where to go to get the documents. There may be things you need to get at the police station, and there may be things you need to get at the courthouse. 4. You should also take the time to write a clear and compelling account of what happened. Most social workers request this sort of thing -- but usually DURING the homestudy, when the person discloses something. Make the first part a simple, factual account of what happened. As an example, suppose you walked out of a store carrying some merchandise that you hadn't paid for, and you got arrested for shoplifting. In the first part of your statement, indicate exactly what happened, without editorializing. On such and such date, you were arrested for shoplifting at such and such store. You were taken to the police station and fingerprinted. You were told to appear in court on a certain date, and you did so. The judge dismissed the case, because there was no evidence that you meant to walk out with the item. In the second part, you can present a brief commentary, but don't spend a lot of time excusing yourself. Admit fault, although you can make a brief description of any circumstances that are important in understanding what happened. Don't attempt to paint yourself as blameless. Maybe you'll say, "I walked out of the store carrying the box of shoes. I was planning to go back and pay for them, after I put money in the parking meter. However, I suddenly realized that I was late to pick up my husband at work -- his car was being repaired -- and forgot all about the shoes. I started to drive off, when a police car arrived and I was arrested." Then state very clearly that you know you did the wrong thing. "I know that it was wrong of me to take the shoes out of the store without paying for them. I should have given the shoes to the clerk at the register, and asked her to hold them for me. And I know that there was no excuse for the fact that I drove off." Do not try to make excuses, like, "I thought I would be gone for only a minute". Then talk about the fact that you never had any history of stealing, and never had any legal trouble of any kind after that, about stealing or anything else (if that is the case). And mention that you certainly learned some lessons about the importance of thinking before you act. You can then finish up by apologizing for failing to disclose. Make sure that you indicate that, since the case was dismissed, you thought that you didn't need to mention this event, which had happened many years ago, but that in hindsight, you should have mentioned it, recognizing that you were charged with a misdemeanor, which is a crime. 5. If you are able to convince your homestudy worker to help you, and if you provide everything that is requested and the social worker prepares an addendum in a timely manner, you stand a very good chance of being approved. People HAVE managed to overcome USCIS objections before, especially under conditions like these. But delaying or failing to do what the USCIS asks, getting into an adversarial situation with your social worker, or trying to withdraw your application and reapply, will have disastrous results. The last thing you want is a denial, because it can jeopardize not only this adoption, but any adoption you try to do in the future. I wish you the best in your efforts to bring home your child. Sharon

Oh Sharon, THANK-YOU so very much for this reply. I forwarded it to my hs agency and hopefully they will help me. I am terrified of losing my baby over something so stupid. The paralegal that handled my case told me there is no reason to mention it since it was dismissed. I didn't go to jail or anything so I HONESTLY didn't think it was considered an arrest. Wow, I can't believe this is happening. Again, Thanks. It feels good to know there is a glimmer of hope.

I was just wondering, didn't your home study ask if you were ever charged with a crime, even if that charge did not result in a conviction. I know that is the standard phraseology for home studies from my state. Also, be sure to include evidence of rehabilitation.Its also important to note that if USCIS has sent you a request for information concerning this incident or if they have sent you a notice of intent to deny, you will not be able to withdraw this petition. If you try to withdraw they will simply adjudicate it based on the information that they have and deny the application. That will prevent you from reapplying for a period of time. Also, it would make your life a lot harder in obtaining a new home study.

Don't get excited, this happened to us. Contact USCIS and ask what they will require to be sure you include everything. All we needed to do was write a letter explaining the arrest to USCIS. In the letter accept responsibility and explain why you thought this arrest was dismissed and not a matter of record. You'll need a letter from the police office that arrested you stating the arrest was dismissed and resulted with no charges, they will need to send this to you notarized. We actually never had to have our home study updated as USCIS did not require it, only the letter from us and the police both notarized.Relax, give USCIS a call, and good luck!

Thanks guys! USCIS is requiring an addendum from the homestudy agent. We just finished a new homestudy b/c ours expired. We are now waiting on a decision. It is such a scary position to be in! I'll post the outcome.

I know somebody else that happened to -- they got a disposition of the arrest & explained the situation in an addendum to the homestudy. The USCIS did approve them despite the fact that they hadn't mentioned it in the original homestudy (it was a 30 year old misdemeanor arrest & it hadn't even shown up in the local background checks just the federal one).

Hey guys, Wanted to let you all know that it all worked out and we have our baby girl home. It was a very difficult and lengthy process because of the omission. Urge everyone to list every infraction they have ever had when doing the homestudy because they don't want to go through what we did. Thanks to you all.

So happy all worked out and your little girl is home!!! CONGRATS!!!!

I'd be honest about it with both your agency & USCIS. I know somebody else this happened to and once they were able to get a copy of the disposition to show USCIS it wasn't a problem & they were approved for the I-600. They did have to go down to wherever the courth records were kept to get the piece of paper which was a bit of a hassle but the disposition DID prove that this was a "nothing" case & that it was something that could easily have slipped their minds (in my friend's case it was a 30+ year old misdemeanor her husband had gotten for being caught with a can of spray paint as a teenager).