Riverside, CA Immigration Law Firms & Lawyers

You are correct about the disclosure: you have to tell USCIS about all your arrests. USCIS runs criminal record checks on every 485 applicant, and your arrest will come up on your FBI rap sheet even if the arrest record was sealed or expunged on the state level. However, an arrest, by itself, does not disqualify you from adjustment of status, no matter what the arrest charges were. Only a conviction counts. Without a conviction, the only way an arrest can matter is if you fail to disclose it to the Service. Since the charges were dropped, list the arrest in your application, attach an notarized affidavit about what happened, a certificate of good conduct from the local police precinct or sheriff's office, a certified letter from the state attorney's office confirming that the arrest charges were dropped and were not brought in court, and a certified letter from the local criminal court that you have no convictions and no record of prosecuted offenses. The form and the wording of these documents wary from state to state (and even from one county to another), but, basically, USCIS will want to see confirmations of your story in your sworn statement, and a document from each, the local police, the local prosecutor, and the local criminal court. It is your duty to prove that you are eligible to adjust status; if you do not provide the listed documents, USCIS will send you a request for evidence and it will extend the time of processing of your case by several months.

If you have been outside US for 10 years, you may apply for a waiver, but to come back you will need a petitioner like spouse, parent, son or daughter which you did not mention in your question.