Hello,
I'm from the Philippines and was searching for online legal advice and found this website. Maybe someone out there can help me.
My parents and I just came back from our U.S. Visa Renewal Interview. My father and I were both approved.
My mother was denied because of an honest mistake made on her application
form. The part where you are asked if you have ever been arrested in the U.S. She answered no when it should've been a yes. In all honesty, we have completely forgotten about this and was suddenly reminded of it when the consul started questioning my mother during the interview. Of course, by then, we couldn't defend a truly honest mistake. She has already decided that my mother was lying. She also said that it would be up to us to re-apply but if we get her as interviewer again, she will still deny my mother's visa.
In 1990, my mother was in the US taking care of my grandmother. My mother was arrested for shoplifting in a TJ MAXX store. My mother didn't do it, someone slipped a shopping bag with a pair of unpaid shoes together with her previous purchases which she placed momentarily on the floor while getting her wallet to pay the cashier. She called my Aunt with whom she was staying with and she brought a lawyer to the police station. The lawyer advised her to just own up to the accusation and pay the fine so she could go home. My mother who was by herself, already in shock and scared out of her wits followed the lawyer's advise against her better judgment. The lawyer also told her that after 3 years, her record would be cleared up. Obviously, it wasn't cleared up at all.
I am writing here because I'd like to know how we should go about clearing my mother's record in the U.S. Its already done and I know we can never defend what happened to her back then anymore. But I would really like to clear up her record if it at all possible. She doesn't deserve a VISA denial because of this record. She has never committed a crime in her life. This is really unfair but it happened to her and she'll be stuck with it for the rest of her life.
Any helpful advice on how we will defend a truly honest mistake on the VISA application form will be much appreciated. The incident was in 1990, its now 2008. My mother is 61 years old, already a senior citizen in our country. Both my father and I have forgotten about this incident as well. It was not our intention to hide it. We really just forgot about it. And what is confusing about this is that in 1998, years after the incident, we were granted 10 years for our U.S. VISA without any question regarding the said incident. Which is also why we didn't remember it for this time around.
We made a mistake and we own up to that. But it was an honest mistake without any intention of concealing anything, without malice at all. I'm very worried about how we will be able to repair the situation because we have no idea what to do.
If there's anyone out there who can help me out, I can't even express how much it would mean to me and my family.
I'm from the Philippines and was searching for online legal advice and found this website. Maybe someone out there can help me.
My parents and I just came back from our U.S. Visa Renewal Interview. My father and I were both approved.
My mother was denied because of an honest mistake made on her application
form. The part where you are asked if you have ever been arrested in the U.S. She answered no when it should've been a yes. In all honesty, we have completely forgotten about this and was suddenly reminded of it when the consul started questioning my mother during the interview. Of course, by then, we couldn't defend a truly honest mistake. She has already decided that my mother was lying. She also said that it would be up to us to re-apply but if we get her as interviewer again, she will still deny my mother's visa.
In 1990, my mother was in the US taking care of my grandmother. My mother was arrested for shoplifting in a TJ MAXX store. My mother didn't do it, someone slipped a shopping bag with a pair of unpaid shoes together with her previous purchases which she placed momentarily on the floor while getting her wallet to pay the cashier. She called my Aunt with whom she was staying with and she brought a lawyer to the police station. The lawyer advised her to just own up to the accusation and pay the fine so she could go home. My mother who was by herself, already in shock and scared out of her wits followed the lawyer's advise against her better judgment. The lawyer also told her that after 3 years, her record would be cleared up. Obviously, it wasn't cleared up at all.
I am writing here because I'd like to know how we should go about clearing my mother's record in the U.S. Its already done and I know we can never defend what happened to her back then anymore. But I would really like to clear up her record if it at all possible. She doesn't deserve a VISA denial because of this record. She has never committed a crime in her life. This is really unfair but it happened to her and she'll be stuck with it for the rest of her life.
Any helpful advice on how we will defend a truly honest mistake on the VISA application form will be much appreciated. The incident was in 1990, its now 2008. My mother is 61 years old, already a senior citizen in our country. Both my father and I have forgotten about this incident as well. It was not our intention to hide it. We really just forgot about it. And what is confusing about this is that in 1998, years after the incident, we were granted 10 years for our U.S. VISA without any question regarding the said incident. Which is also why we didn't remember it for this time around.
We made a mistake and we own up to that. But it was an honest mistake without any intention of concealing anything, without malice at all. I'm very worried about how we will be able to repair the situation because we have no idea what to do.
If there's anyone out there who can help me out, I can't even express how much it would mean to me and my family.
Last edited:
