What is the name of your state? Maryland
I was sent a fine and citation, and was told I would receive a (civil) summons because of an administrative paper (license to rent out an appartment) I did not finalize. More specifically, I paid the amount for the license in full, and did everything else - or rather the real estate agent agent did it for me - but I had to give a name of somebody in Maryland for the process to be finalized, did not realize I had to do so and neither did the real estate agent... so I was left thinking everything was good but it was not. Apparently, I was sent a reminder at my old address (I was moving jobs, apartment, and changing my type of US visa during that same period), but the USPS never transferred this mail even though they were supposed to, and I therefore ended up being send a fine/citation and information I would be called to the court because of the un-finalized (though fully paid for) license to rent out the apartment. Things have now been "resolved" in the sense that the fine and citation were dismissed. I was also told the summons would go out because that is the way things are processed in the county, the summons needs to go out for it to be dismissed. So the summons will be dismissed in the end - but it will have been issued first.
So far, I have been unable to ascertain:
Thanks a lot!
I was sent a fine and citation, and was told I would receive a (civil) summons because of an administrative paper (license to rent out an appartment) I did not finalize. More specifically, I paid the amount for the license in full, and did everything else - or rather the real estate agent agent did it for me - but I had to give a name of somebody in Maryland for the process to be finalized, did not realize I had to do so and neither did the real estate agent... so I was left thinking everything was good but it was not. Apparently, I was sent a reminder at my old address (I was moving jobs, apartment, and changing my type of US visa during that same period), but the USPS never transferred this mail even though they were supposed to, and I therefore ended up being send a fine/citation and information I would be called to the court because of the un-finalized (though fully paid for) license to rent out the apartment. Things have now been "resolved" in the sense that the fine and citation were dismissed. I was also told the summons would go out because that is the way things are processed in the county, the summons needs to go out for it to be dismissed. So the summons will be dismissed in the end - but it will have been issued first.
So far, I have been unable to ascertain:
- Will I have a record for that? This is a civil matter.
- If I do not have a record, will there be another type of record of that that can create trouble for me?
- I am not an American, and have never had any trouble getting my visa or renewing it... But in the future, can a dismissed summons create trouble for me? For example, will I have to "confess" to it when applying for my next visa/renewal?
- If there is something that will "stay" from this event, is there any way I can have my record cleaned? Never having even had a parking ticket before, I have been extremely shocked by this...
Thanks a lot!
P.S.: the county attorney told me that there is no record (this is not a criminal matter), but that there is a trace somewhere (that a civil citation was issued then dismissed). He has no idea of the potential impact on immigration. I also just told an American colleague who told me the same thing happened to him, in the same State, he thinks everything is fine... but I am not sure (the colleague is of a generally optimistic disposition, and maybe being American he also has greater confidence in his ability to understand what that means). After all, he is a researcher at a University, he is not renewing any visa (being American), or applying to be a cop, a judge, or to enter the FBI 