Denied Permanent Residency Due to Inadequate Response to a RFE
I filed an application in November 2011 to adjust my status based on the fact that my wife is a United States citizen. Unfortunately, I did not retain an immigration attorney and my case has now been denied. The basis of the denial seems to be what USCIS considers to be an inadequate response to the Request for Evidence. By way of background, I was arrested in 1995 while I was on J1 visa. The matter was sent to the Grand Jury who returned a No True Bill and so there was no trial. The arrest record was finally expunged from my records. There was never any conviction of any sort.
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> > In any event, I contacted both the Police Station and the Court House and I was sent a copy of the arrest report which they indicated was all they had, a copy of the No True Bill ( an initial copy of this was submitted with my application and also brought to the interview), a letter from the Clerk of the Court indicating that she did not have any records available She did send a letter (the original which I gave to USCIS) indicating that they were unable to find any record and I submitted as well a copy of the arrest report which I had and the expungement.
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> > The denial notice seems to indicate that this was not enough in response to the arrest record. I now have 30 days to respond. I am presently in overseas on Advance Parole which will expire within the week. I am willing to do consular processing but some lawyers suggest I should try to return to the States even though the AOS has been denied. One said even if I am put in detention it will allow them to fight the case. I do not think that is a good option so I rejected it.
After almost two years what could be keeping the I 130 from being approved? Should I simply refile and do consular processing as we speak? Should we wait for the I 130 to be approved? How do I overcome the challenge of not being able to provide copies of complete arrest records and final disposition which have been expunged?