[Mcclay]

Greetings,
>
> My name is Rod, both my wife Jen and I are in the early stages of wanting to adopt a girl from china. We hope to contact others about their experiences. I am new to forums, only read them, and never had a reason to ask questions until now. A question that has been weighing on me the last week or so has to do with the criminal back ground check. Sixteen years ago if pleaded guilty to possession of stolen car stereo, which turned out being a misdemeanor. Never had any other problems before or since that time. Ten years ago, I had that incident expunged, never followed up to see if the record was sealed though. Has anyone had a similar situation? Do you think this will affect our chances to adopt? >
> Thanks Rod

[Bassette]

I don't think it will effect your chance of being approved for adoption but I would be upfront and honest with your Social Worker about this incident. Even though it was expunged it will show up on your FBI background check and if it is not addressed in the homestudy you may be denied an I17H approval to adopt. It is not so uncommon to have a blemish on the background check so don't be too terribly embarassed and trust your social worker.

If you have more questions about the adoption process consider posting them in the international adoption forum or the general adoptive parent forum where it will be highly visible to other adoptive parents who can help you.

[ndoscoptec]

I agree with the above post. Your best bet is to be honest with your social worker. Lying or trying to hide this will cause more problems than being upfront. It was 10 years ago and not a really serious offense, probobly not going to be a big deal.
MLH

[Little Goddess]

Hi! I also had a very very minor incident expunged, but when I was trying to adopt in China, I was told to tell the truth about any arrests, and I did...and I was told that China wouldn't accept me....so, we moved onto Guatemala. Now, turns out that nothing showed up after fingerprinting (for INS, for FBI)...however, simply telling them about my arrest screwed it up. This agency was Childrens' Hope International.

[kingsley5]

We are in the same situation as McClay. My wife and I are filling out paperwork for adopting a baby girl from China. I had 2 run-ins with the law in my college years: one was "Reckless endangerment" which is a misdemeanor (it was basically reduced from DUI but I wasn't legally intoxicated); the second was a bounced check a year later. These are both misdemeanors but I am losing sleep over whether this will exclude us from adoption. if McClay or anyone has any opinions, please help me sleep at night by e-mailing me at kyle_kingsley99@yahoo.com. Thank you...

[2Bulgarianbeauties]

You can do your own FBI check and local police clearance, and see what comes up, then you will know the answer.

Both are easy to deal with right now. Go to your local police station and tell them you need a local clearance for an international adoption. They should give you one right away. See what it says.

For the FBI, go to your police station and get fingerprinted. Then, submit the form as described in this link. Be sure to put "International Adoption" and a due date of 1 week after you send them on the envelope and the cover letter. Include a prepaid return FedEx envelope - and put in the cover letter to "not require signature when they return the fingerprints" The first time I did this they put signature required on the envelope - quite a pain.

Federal Bureau of Investigation - Criminal Justice Information Services Division - FBI Identification Record Request

You will get the results back in 1 week. If nothing comes up on it, you can start sleeping again.



Good luck.

[sakelley]

Originally Posted by 2Bulgarianbeauties

For the FBI, go to your police station and get fingerprinted. Then, submit the form as described in this link. Be sure to put "International Adoption" and a due date of 1 week after you send them on the envelope and the cover letter. Include a prepaid return FedEx envelope - and put in the cover letter to "not require signature when they return the fingerprints" The first time I did this they put signature required on the envelope - quite a pain.

Federal Bureau of Investigation - Criminal Justice Information Services Division - FBI Identification Record Request

You will get the results back in 1 week. If nothing comes up on it, you can start sleeping again.



Good luck.

Check with your local sheriff's office about doing the FBI prints electronically. We had our results within 15 minutes.

China's policy right now is that they will give consideration to anyone who has less than 3 criminal records with slight severeity with no serious outcomes (i.e. any jail time) and at least 10 years has passed since the last one.

My husband has an underage drinking and open container and I have a disorderly conduct from our college days. When we started our process, we had just passed the 10 year mark. Even though none of it showed on our records, we still disclosed the information and it was in our homestudy. We both had to write letter of remorse to be included in our dossier. We had no problems as we have home 10 months with our daughter from China.

[sak9645]

Never assume that expunging a record means that it won't show up on your USCIS clearance. There's a good chance that it will show up, no matter what you did.

HOWEVER, the good news is that, if you disclose the episode to your homestudy worker BEFORE you have your I-600A reviewed, it will generally not be grounds for rejection by either your homestudy worker or the USCIS, unless the episode pertained to something very serious, such as child molestation.

The social worker will usually require you to obtain a document from the court showing the disposition of the case. He/she will usually require you, as well, to write a letter explaining the event. It is in your best interests NOT to try to excuse yourself by saying something like, "Everyone smoked marijuana back then," or "My buddy said it wasn't stolen." Instead, it is best to admit fault, indicate that you feel bad about doing something so stupid, and mention that you never committed any other crimes in your life.

Most foreign countries won't have a problem with something minor that occurred a decade or more ago. I think there's an understanding that, especially when people are in high school and college, they sometimes do dumb things that they later come to regret.

As long as the crime did not involve violence or children, was not committed as the result of dependency on drugs or alcohol, was not classed as a felony, and wasn't part of an ongoing tendency to criminal behavior, the foreign government will usually be OK with it, as long as it was not repeated and as long as you showed that you understood it was wrong and were remorseful.

Certain countries may have a problem with convictions involving drugs or alcohol, but even there, if you had just one arrest and no indication of an ongoing substance abuse problem, you can often be excused. As an example, many people have managed to adopt internationally despite a DUI arrest ten or more years previously.

Sharon

[kingsley5]

Thanks to those of you who responded to my question! We turned in our application and passed the initial screening, anyway. I disclosed my incident in detail, but I am sure more questions will follow, which is fine. I am still a bit worried but I will follow everyone's suggestions. If anyone else out there has advice, please let me know. Thanks again!!!

[Hamrondk2]

Hi, we just completed our fingerprints for the I-600A form...and the issue around background is making me nervous. When I was about 19 or 20 (~18 years ago) I was arrested for "breach of peace", basically interrupting a policeman’s dinner. My friend and I had been drinking and were some what obnoxious. The court dropped it and 24 hours later I was on my way back to CA from CT (where the incident occurred). Honestly I didn't even thing much about it until now and reading other people's postings... I had a wild side wile I was between 16 - 21 but nothing more then what was described above… Would this come up?? or am I being paranoid, as my husband would say ? We are going through Children Hope International.

[sak9645]

When in doubt, disclose. If it doesn't come up, great. If it does, it sounds very minor and should not be a problem, as long as you were honest about it. You may be asked to get a court "disposition" of the case and to write a brief note explaining what happened. The note can simply state the facts and indicate that you did a dumb thing, are truly regretful, and never repeated it.

Sharon

[whichchildisthis]

What about issues that don't have a criminal record? If something happened but there was never a police report or arrest?

[Carlee1boy]

My husband had two arrests in the early 90's--one of which was a DUI. We disclosed EVERYTHING to both our agency and our social worker. While we did have to provide extra documentation to INS, we did manage to adopt two children (our son from Guatemala and our daughter from South Korea).

I think some countries are much stricter about having a clean record, even from years ago.

Good luck!!!
Carolyn

[tryingtoadopt]

What is the difference between a USCIS clearance and the state and FBI criminal background checks? What shows up on the USCIS check that wouldn't show up on the state, FBI, and child abuse registry? Why not bypass the state and FBI checks and just do a USCIS clearance since this is the end all for the background checks?


Does anyone know for sure what information is involved with the USCIS clearance? Does this involve state, federal criminal background checks as well as driver's records, etc. I've spent some time looking up information on what it takes to clear this USCIS check but there's nothing definitive on it. It almost seems like it's kept completely confidential.

It seems like a conspiracy to pay for a home study and then not pass the clearance. I doubt any of us have done anything terrible or we wouldn't be trying to adopt. It's stressful...

[wait4]

Does anyone know for sure what information is involved with the USCIS clearance? Does this involve state, federal criminal background checks as well as driver's records, etc.

Why USCIS Conducts Security Checks
Understanding the Immigration Security Process - US Department of State

USCIS conducts security checks for all cases involving a petition or application for an immigration service or benefit. This is done both to enhance national security and ensure the integrity of the immigration process. USCIS is responsible for ensuring that our immigration system is not used as a vehicle to harm our nation or its citizens by screening out people who seek immigration benefits improperly or fraudulently. These security checks have yielded information about applicants involved in violent crimes, sex crimes, crimes against children, drug trafficking and individuals with known links to terrorism. These investigations require time, resources, and patience and USCIS recognizes that the process is slower for some customers than they would like. Because of that, USCIS is working closely with the FBI and other agencies to speed the background check process. However, USCIS will never grant an immigration service or benefit before the required security checks are completed regardless of how long those checks take.

How Immigration Security Checks Work

To ensure that immigration benefits are given only to eligible applicants, USCIS adopted background security check procedures that address a wide range of possible risk factors. Different kinds of applications undergo different levels of scrutiny. USCIS normally uses the following three background check mechanisms but maintains the authority to conduct other background investigations as necessary:

• The Interagency Border Inspection System (IBIS) Name Check— IBIS is a multi-agency effort with a central system that combines information from multiple agencies, databases and system interfaces to compile data relating to national security risks, public safety issues and other law enforcement concerns. USCIS can quickly check information from these multiple government agencies to determine if the information in the system affects the adjudication of the case. Results of an IBIS check are usually available immediately. In some cases, information found during an IBIS check will require further investigation. The IBIS check is not deemed completed until all eligibility issues arising from the initial system response are resolved.

• FBI Fingerprint Check—FBI fingerprint checks are conducted for many applications. The FBI fingerprint check provides information relating to criminal background within the United States. Generally, the FBI forwards responses to USCIS within 24-48 hours. If there is a record match, the FBI forwards an electronic copy of the criminal history (RAP sheet) to USCIS. At that point, a USCIS adjudicator reviews the information to determine what effect it may have on eligibility for the benefit. Although the vast majority of inquiries yield no record or match, about 10 percent do uncover criminal history (including immigration violations). In cases involving arrests or charges without disposition, USCIS requires the applicant to provide court certified evidence of the disposition. Customers with prior arrests should provide complete information and certified disposition records at the time of filing to avoid adjudication delays or denial resulting from misrepresentation about criminal history. Even expunged or vacated convictions must be reported for immigration purposes.

• FBI Name Checks—FBI name checks are also required for many applications. The FBI name check is totally different from the FBI fingerprint check. The records maintained in the FBI name check process consist of administrative, applicant, criminal, personnel and other files compiled by law enforcement. Initial responses to this check generally take about two weeks. In about 80 percent of the cases, no match is found. Of the remaining 20 percent, most are resolved within six months. Less than one percent of cases subject to an FBI name check remain pending longer than six months. Some of these cases involve complex, highly sensitive information and cannot be resolved quickly. Even after FBI has provided an initial response to USCIS concerning a match, the name check is not complete until full information is obtained and eligibility issues arising from it are resolved.

For most applicants, the process outlined above allows USCIS to quickly determine if there are criminal or security related issues in the applicant’s background that affect eligibility for immigration benefits. Most cases proceed forward without incident. However, due to both the sheer volume of security checks USCIS conducts, and the need to ensure that each applicant is thoroughly screened, some delays on individual applications are inevitable. Background checks may still be considered pending when either the FBI or relevant agency has not provided the final response to the background check or when the FBI or agency has provided a response, but the response requires further investigation or review by the agency or USCIS. Resolving pending cases is time-consuming and labor-intensive; some cases legitimately take months or even several years to resolve. Every USCIS District Office performs regular reviews of the pending caseload to determine when cases have cleared and are ready to be decided. USCIS does not share information about the records match or the nature or status of any investigation with applicants or their representatives.
As part of the adjudication process, when an applicant/petitioner applies for a USCIS benefit, a background check is conducted on that individual. To facilitate the process and improve efficiency, USCIS developed BCS as a centralized repository that contains the consolidated data on all background check requests and resuls. BCS allows authorized USCIS users to request background checks and access the data stored in BCS during the adjudication procss in order to make an informed decision.