non immigrant with 20year old record

[speedysteve]

Hi,

Have relocaed to the US and am a "non immigrant" alien on a 3yr L1-A working visa I have "resident" status and have recently recieved my Texas driving license along with SSN and lease documents to prove current address ( am actually about to purchase a home rather than current rental address but thats probably not relevant )

As far as I can tell based on research on this site and reading the Texas laws associated with application the above plus an easily obtainable hunting license would be all I require to initially purchase a handgun and also apply for a CHL

However 20 years ago back in my student days in the UK I was charged with "simple possesion" of less than a gram of weed, the offense was considered a misdemenor in the UK as the fine was approx $ 50 and no other repercusions, I have had no contact with the police in any way since then.

When I applied for my visa I was totally honest about the offence and although it delayed the issuing process ultimately wa not a problem due to the time that has passed since, my current position of responsability & the relatively low severity of the crime ( I had to apply for a waiver of inelligability which involved background checks by the DHS )

Would this make applying for a CHL etc impossible for me ? or is the fact that a visa was issued an good indication that a background check would be OK ?

thanks,

SS

[RPBrown]

First, welcome both to the forum and to the US.

Now, were you actually arrested or just cited?

If arrested, you will need to have a certified copy of the final disposition. With that I think you will be ok. The only drawback would be you are not a citizen and an immigrant with a record. There are others here that can answer this better than me.

If you were just cited and not arrested, then you dont even have to list it.

[speedysteve]

Hi Im not really sure what cited means ?

I wasnt actually arrested simply given a ticket to appear in court ( along with everyone else in the room at the time ) and we were all given a fine on appearing in court.

In the Uk this level of possesion is really concidered "minor" and is concidered "spent" after 5 years, which means it does not appear on a standard records check it is however always on your permanent record as there is no such thing as being truly "expunged" at least in UK law.

I realise any form of drug related crime is concidered very serious US which is why I disclosed it during the visa application process, chances are if I hadnt mentioned it no one would have ever known but I didnt want to take the risk.

SS

[WildBill]

Steve - Cited is when an officer gives you a citation, commonly known as a ticket. Usually if you are arrested, they will book you and take a mug shot and fingerprints.

IMO, once you get all of the paperwork figured out you should be fine to get your CHL.

[TexasCajun]

I believe that something like that & it being over 20yrs ago shouldn't be a problem. As stated above, get all of your paperwork in order - including the final disposition & give it a shot. If you don't want to risk the $250 or so on actually going through the process, you could consult with a 2nd Amendment-friendly attorney first. The disclaimer on all of this is & always will be: I'm not a lawyer & this advice may turn out to be exactly what you've paid for it. But welcome x2 & good luck!