Does USCIS look at your old applications, even if they were denied 12 years ago?
And how can it affect your case?
As an immigration lawyer,
something that we frequently are confronted with and asked about by
clients is whether
old applications should be something that a client should worry about.
There are so many examples that I can give you
of how USCIS looks at your past applications
when you go in front of them for something that's completely new.
Not only that, I can give you so many examples of how USCIS
can also use other information that you may not have even thought about.
So today we will discuss three important things that you must know
if you are applying to immigration for any immigration benefit right now,
especially if you have filed for something in the past.
So first,
why would USCIS even want to look at your old information in the first place?
Second, how can that old application impact your current process?
And three,
how can you prepare to fight anything that may happen on your current case?
My name is Moumita Rahman, and I am an immigration
attorney who has been practicing immigration law for the past 30 years.
If you would like my assistance on your case, call our office at 212-248-7907
to schedule a case evaluation with my team.
We are based in New York, but serve immigration clients
all over the United States.
So what are the reasons why immigration may want to take a look
at your old applications,
even if they were denied or even if dozens of years have passed?
And how can that old application that you filed impact
your current ongoing process?
There are several reasons why immigration
may want to take a look at your old applications from the past.
When you go in front of an immigration officer and ask for them
to grant you a green card or to make you a citizen of the United States,
USCIS officers primary job is to make sure that you are not
otherwise inadmissible or barred from this sort of benefit.
This means that they need to find out if you have ever committed
misrepresentation, if you have ever been arrested
or convicted of a crime for which you did not disclose,
or in certain marriage-based applications or family-based applications,
whether you do actually have that required family relationship for that case.
So the primary reason why USCIS may want to check up on your old
applications is to see if there is any sort
of misrepresentation or fraud in your file.
This means that they will even go so far as to check your old visit
visa applications or to see if any other relatives have filed
for you in the past, or whether you yourself have filed for something.
Because what they will do is they will look to see what you have answered
and the information that you have given to judge whether anything you gave
as information about your current status in the past conflicts with
or is inconsistent with what you are saying today.
The first example where I see this is when people come to the United States
on a visit visa, a common thing that people all over the world
do in order to increase their chances at getting a visit
visa to the United States is to say that they’re already married.
Why would a person do this?
Well, it is generally true that a consular officer overseas
may be less inclined to approve a visit visa for someone who is single
and thus someone who has less reasons to go back to their country
and who is more likely to stay in the United States.
However, when a person says that they're married,
when they're actually single and they get approved
and they come to the U.S., that is technically a misrepresentation.
And what may happen is, let's say, if this same person ten years later
applies for a marriage-based green card inside the United States,
because now they have actually met someone and fallen in love
and needs to get married and wants to apply for a green card.
Well, what may happen is that USCIS may pull up your old application
information for that visa and see that you have said that you're married
and they may now issue you a request for evidence to prove
that you are actually not married and free to engage
in the relationship that you're in right now for the purpose of a green card.
You are now going to be in a defensive position to show
that that was a misrepresentation and that you were not at that time married,
but you are now.
So that is one reason why USCIS may want to uncover that information.
And second, how it may actually impact your current process.
Another reason why USCIS may want to look at your old
applications is to see if there is any conflicting evidence
or conflicting information that would disqualify you from the current case.
And the next best example
that I can give you of this is when somebody applies for VAWA.
When you file from VAWA, USCIS may, in fact look at your old I-485
to see whether the dates of shared residence that you put down
with your spouse at that time
also matches and is consistent with what you put out in your VAWA
application, because shared residence is a legal requirement for a VAWA case.
And in a VAWA case, any credible evidence is evaluated.
So inconsistency can actually raise questions
about the credibility of your evidence and your statements.
If that happens, then also you may get an RFE or a request for evidence
asking to explain the inconsistencies or challenging that your case is credible.
Another thing that people don't realize
is that you don't always have to have submitted an application
to USCIS for immigration to actually access that information
and use it to make judgments or assertions about your current case.
Any time you have ever been arrested.
Any time that you have been married.
Any time you have been divorced.
These types of records are the types of records
that USCIS would generally have access to should they decide to search for it.
Also, sometimes they may just do a quick Google search of your name
to see what is publicly out there when they are deciding your current case.
So how can you actually prepare?
Well, the first thing is this.
If you know that you have ever submitted any sort
of application to either USCIS or to the Department of State,
when you are applying for a visa, I would say the number one thing
is to try to get a copy of that or access your own records of what you wrote
and try to recall if you ever stated something that was not true at that time.
If you now know that ten years ago you committed a misrepresentation
on your visa application or on a different green card application, then you know
now already that you may need a waiver for misrepresentation.
So then you would have the opportunity to evaluate and speak with a lawyer
about whether you qualify for a waiver in the first place and whether you
have a decent shot of getting it approved because if you don't qualify
for a waiver for a past misrepresentation, then it can put you in jeopardy.
And you don't want to put yourself
into that sort of position unless you are prepared for it.
Next, if you know that you may have made a mistake in the past
and there is some sort of inconsistency in the record
that USCIS may use to challenge your VAWA application.
Be prepared with the explanations.
Oftentimes, people file applications with different lawyers.
Sometimes the lawyers are not careful, and many mistakes of law may be committed.
If you know that you have worked with somebody who was either not
a good lawyer or not a real lawyer, or you don't even know what was filed.
You can also order searches through the Freedom of Information Act
on your past applications and have that evaluated by a lawyer
before you proceed any further in filing new applications.
That way, you know what is already there in the system.
So the short answer is if you have ever filed
anything with immigration, yes, absolutely.
USCIS can and may and usually does access
those records in order to see if you have any sort of misrepresentation
or fraud in the past that may then impact your current case.
So be prepared. Know what's there, and keep
copies of everything you ever submitted to Immigration.
If you want my help with your case, call us at 212-248-7907.
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