retailtheft
New Member
hi, i m in a problem. the magnitude of the problem may be very small compared to the problems of people that i have been reading on this forum. but i m losing sleep over it since its affecting my own self esteem and that of my family too. i m a professional, looking for further training in usa. i m currently on a 10 yr multi entry b2 visa and have been looking for a training program since last yr. since i didnt get into a program this season, i was in WI , USa staying with some friends. I did some informal training sessions / rotations in MA and WI and always had a very very decent record everywhere and people liked me professionally and as a person. I was totally oriented towards my studies / career and future options. then something bad happened. one day in may, i set out fr some shopping and walked to a burlington coat factory in the city in WI where i was living . i didnt have any car at that time, nor did i have a driving licence valid in USA (tho i drive in my own home country) and i bought articles worth 60$ from thre but was stealing articles worth 17$. it set off their burglar alarm and they called cops. i pleaded with them and offered to pay the price of those items and the fine whatever it may be coz i had the money, credit cards etc. but they didnt listen. so i was arrested and takn to the nearest city hall by the police. they photographed and finger printed me and told me that this was retail theft and i wud have to pay the ticket (municipal fine ticket as they called it) if i didnt want to show up in court. i chose to do so as that was the easiest way to get out of the mess at that time and i was badly disturbed. the earliest court date was 2 wks after my scheduled departure from USA. so the cops too agreed this wud be the easiest way for me. so i paid the fine of 360$ which was the maximum fine plus thrice the cost of stolen items. they charged me with retail theft, but i was also told this didnt account to misdemanour or felony or anything of the sort. since i was a professional in good standing and had a clean record in my country and this was my first( and hopefully the last ) incident in USA, the cops said this is almost like a traffic ticket and nothing more would happen bt this wud be in the records. i never saw a judge, never was sent to jail and was released by cops in 2 hrs of arrest after paying the fine.
i left for my home country within 4 days of this incident, way before my scheduled departure, coz i was mentally disturbed and also were my friends with whom i was staying (i never meant to tell them but i didnt want them to have probs after i left, so i told one of them) i am still sleepless over this issue. i dont know the consequences of this, i intend to go bak to usa after 2-3 months again on b2 visa and intend to stay there for 4-5 months and apply for new training programs / look for jobs that sponsor a j1 or h1 b visa. i dont know how this is going to affect all that. i intend never togo back to my frnds in WI and not event o apply to jobs in WI. The jobs i wud apply to wud mostly be in MA or NY.
a)would this incident in WI affect that?
b)Is it possible to get my name expunged from police records legally ?
c)Will this incident affect my application for j1/ h1 b visa in future?
d)if the cops were right and if its equal to a traffic ticket, then should i be worried abt it at all?>
please give me sound and frank technical advice, i cannot live with this stress anymore. Its affectiny my work and family life very badly. I have already gone thru a lot of stress in last 4-5 months due to my career efforts / not being able to get a job/ being still financially dependet onmy parents.
thanks for your time and efforts. please please help me, i m dying over this issue
i left for my home country within 4 days of this incident, way before my scheduled departure, coz i was mentally disturbed and also were my friends with whom i was staying (i never meant to tell them but i didnt want them to have probs after i left, so i told one of them) i am still sleepless over this issue. i dont know the consequences of this, i intend to go bak to usa after 2-3 months again on b2 visa and intend to stay there for 4-5 months and apply for new training programs / look for jobs that sponsor a j1 or h1 b visa. i dont know how this is going to affect all that. i intend never togo back to my frnds in WI and not event o apply to jobs in WI. The jobs i wud apply to wud mostly be in MA or NY.
a)would this incident in WI affect that?
b)Is it possible to get my name expunged from police records legally ?
c)Will this incident affect my application for j1/ h1 b visa in future?
d)if the cops were right and if its equal to a traffic ticket, then should i be worried abt it at all?>
please give me sound and frank technical advice, i cannot live with this stress anymore. Its affectiny my work and family life very badly. I have already gone thru a lot of stress in last 4-5 months due to my career efforts / not being able to get a job/ being still financially dependet onmy parents.
thanks for your time and efforts. please please help me, i m dying over this issue
