Can calling the police to report a crime be considered a record of law and enforcement in the United States?
Immigration attorney Scott Decker highlighted a case in which USCIS denied an applicant a STEM OPT extension, citing that the individual had had an “interaction with law enforcement.”
The agency did not say what the interaction with law enforcement was, but Decker said he was aware his client once called police after being assaulted in the street.“In short, USCIS takes the position that being a crime victim and seeking police assistance is a bad omen that makes you ineligible for any discretionary benefit, such as an extension of status in the United States,” Decker wrote in his LinkedIn post.“I suspect/hope that the USCIS officer was just lazy, saw in their system that the client’s name appeared on the police report, and never looked any further. Hopefully, upon receiving the response to the NOID, USCIS will come to its senses. If not, we may need to go to federal court for relief.”A NOID is a Notice of Intent to Deny, which is a previous letter from USCIS saying they plan to deny the application unless more evidence is provided.
It is usually given a response window of 30 days.Decker said this is a crazy situation for USCIS but he can’t say this is the first time something like this has happened.“About 10 years ago, a client was denied a visitor visa in Paris on the grounds of fraud. The consular officer claimed that my client lied about never being arrested, and the officer showed our client a police report that supported this claim.
We explained that our client was a witness to a crime, not the perpetrator, and that the pages of the police report only reflect our client’s statement to police about what he witnessed,” Decker wrote, giving an example.“Therefore, it is clear that the client did not lie to the consulate and there was no fraud. What did the consulate do? After months of denial, they issued an updated denial notice saying that the client lacked nonimmigrant intent, a basis that cannot be reviewed by the courts. Not only would they admit they made a mistake in the initial denial, they made sure that no one else could criticize them for their mistake,” the post concluded.
