Prior arrest in US - will my visa go to “administrative processing”?

[UKnown4]

Hello. 6 years ago I was arrested for “resisting an officer without violence” in the USA. I had drank quite a bit and circumstances meant that I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Since then I have visited the US over 25 times on an esta with no problem. For the first 2 years after the incident, i was given an “X” on my customs receipt which meant I needed to be checked upon entry. After that, I no longer had any checks.

Current my company is petitioning for an L1 visa as I need to work in the states. I need to get the visa fairly urgently but I am worried that my request will go to “administrative processing” and take a considerably long time.

I will provide all the documentation of what happened to the visa officer but as my fingerprints were taken in the US, it is certain that there will be a “hit”.Does anyone have any sense of the likelihood of this being managed without administrative processing?

[Libra_14]

Are you applying for Individual petition or Blanket petition? L1A or L1B ?

[UKnown4]

To be completely honest I don’t know

[UKnown4]

It is a blanket petition

[UKnown4]

Can anyone help?

[Libra_14]

With blanket petition the chances are high for Admin processing or rejection ...

[UKnown4]

Why? If it was an individual one would it be different?

[UKnown4]

Why do you think there is a risk of rejection?

[Libra_14]

Do you know the difference between Blanket & Individual petition?

[UKnown4]

Unfortunately not. The whole thing has come to me very quickly. My attorney said there is a risk that it will go to administrative processing but they seem very conservative so wanted to hear other views.

[Libra_14]

Blanket petition is basically given to your company, so that they can send anyone to USA on L1 visa, which means USCIS isn't aware until the interview that who is going to come for visa - hence the onus is with the VO to review your profile if you are eligible for the visa or not. Usually VO does not take any risk & reject the visa if he think there is an iota of doubt.

Individual petition is given to an individual person of a company after reviewing whole details of the company as well as the individual. Hence when a person with Individual petition appears for interview, VO knows that your profile is already been thoroughly reviewed & hence he generally issues the visa after couple of simple questions.

Hope this clears the doubt.

[UKnown4]

Thank you that’s very helpful. Do you think that they will defer even if I provide all details, including court records from the US? When I informed my attorney, the applied for a “VCU appointment” which took longer to book in than a standard interview. Are you aware of this approach (London embassy) and do you think this could mean a more experience VO can review and make a judgement? It was an unfortunate event but hope they recognise that I have been travelling to the US multiple times since it happened. Thanks again

[Libra_14]

Thank you that’s very helpful. Do you think that they will defer even if I provide all details, including court records from the US? When I informed my attorney, the applied for a “VCU appointment” which took longer to book in than a standard interview. Are you aware of this approach (London embassy) and do you think this could mean a more experience VO can review and make a judgement? It was an unfortunate event but hope they recognise that I have been travelling to the US multiple times since it happened. Thanks again

Sorry I am not aware of VCU appointment. But now the onus is on your to prove that you are all good. Your recent travels & timely return will surely add value to your case.