Official Court Records from US

[Leanne99]

My father-in-law is applying as a 2016 PR grandparent family class sponsorship. His file got moved from Canada to the US last year, after he paid RPRF. In October, they asked for official court records of his misdemeanor for possession of ~1 g of marijuana in 2012. He submitted a FOIA request but it is still being processed. Meanwhile, he's been responding by every deadline saying the request is still in process, so they've given us extensions. Recently they sent a letter that says "We will give you a final extension of 30 days. If no documents are received within a 30 days period, we will assess your application with the documents already on file." Is there anything we can do? He no longer has any records, in fact he can't remember them giving him any at the time of the charge. I'm guessing they'll deny him without the official record, and I don't know of any other avenues besides a FOIA request (I called US Customs & Border Protection, who made the charge, and that's what they said). There appears to be no way to speed up a FOIA request. The estimated time of completion of the request is Dec. 20, 2018, and this hasn't changed since November!

 

[scylla]

I don't believe FOIA is the only option. Pretty sure you can contact the court house / state where this occurred and request records directly from them.

And yes - they will only give you so many extensions before they make a decision based on the documents they have now.

 

[Leanne99]

I don't believe FOIA is the only option. Pretty sure you can contact the court house / state where this occurred and request records directly from them.

And yes - they will only give you so many extensions before they make a decision based on the documents they have now.

Thanks. The thing is, it never went to court. They had a little trailer where they took his fingerprints and picture, and that was it. No fine, nothing. That was US Customs and Border Protection in California. When I called them, they said I needed to do FOIA. Is there another option?

 

[scylla]

Thanks. The thing is, it never went to court. They had a little trailer where they took his fingerprints and picture, and that was it. No fine, nothing. That was US Customs and Border Protection in California. When I called them, they said I needed to do FOIA. Is there another option?

I see. In that case it sounds like you're out of luck on alternatives and have to wait for FOIA.

 

[Leanne99]

I see. In that case it sounds like you're out of luck on alternatives and have to wait for FOIA.

Oh dear. That’s what I thought, but thank you. Does anyone know if it’s possible they will still approve him? Or if FOIA doesn’t happen this month is it pretty much guaranteed to get rejected?

 

[scylla]

Oh dear. That’s what I thought, but thank you. Does anyone know if it’s possible they will still approve him? Or if FOIA doesn’t happen this month is it pretty much guaranteed to get rejected?

Generally an application would be refused if you can't provide the court documents IRCC has requested. However each case is individual.