Travelling to the US to Settle Arrest Warrants
Jan 28, 2018, 2:22 pm
#32
Join Date: Aug 2017
Posts: 177
As you can see from earlier posts in this thread, upon return to the US, especially Kansas or a neighboring state, you may face a scenario of being arrested at the airport and needing to wait for extradition/transport to Sedgwick County. (So arriving on a non-holiday Monday morning or Tuesday morning offers you the best chance of a speedy appearance in court.)
As others have posted, you may wish to consider having your attorney try to smooth a path for you to turn yourself in and appear in court without being arrested, although that may be difficult to coordinate with CBP and possibly also local law enforcement (airport police, local police/sheriff for the airport, and/or state police, etc.).
And like others have suggested, another possibility is flying into a different part of the US, far away from Kansas, where there is less likelihood of being arrested, because it would be too much trouble and cost to arrest and extradite someone to a distant state for misdemeanors, but with all your court papers and a letter of explanation from your attorney, so when CBP questions or even detains you, you can explain to them that you should not be removed and sent back to Saudi Arabia, but instead allowed to continue to Kansas for a court appearance.
And, of course, even once you arrive in Sedgwick County, have your attorney prepared with a cash bail or bail bondsman arrangement there if you want to stay out of jail.
But also seriously consider finding an attorney experienced in this exact situation: foreign visitors with warrants arriving in the US by air. They can work in conjunction with your local attorney in Kansas to try to figure out the best path. Good luck.
As others have posted, you may wish to consider having your attorney try to smooth a path for you to turn yourself in and appear in court without being arrested, although that may be difficult to coordinate with CBP and possibly also local law enforcement (airport police, local police/sheriff for the airport, and/or state police, etc.).
And like others have suggested, another possibility is flying into a different part of the US, far away from Kansas, where there is less likelihood of being arrested, because it would be too much trouble and cost to arrest and extradite someone to a distant state for misdemeanors, but with all your court papers and a letter of explanation from your attorney, so when CBP questions or even detains you, you can explain to them that you should not be removed and sent back to Saudi Arabia, but instead allowed to continue to Kansas for a court appearance.
And, of course, even once you arrive in Sedgwick County, have your attorney prepared with a cash bail or bail bondsman arrangement there if you want to stay out of jail.
But also seriously consider finding an attorney experienced in this exact situation: foreign visitors with warrants arriving in the US by air. They can work in conjunction with your local attorney in Kansas to try to figure out the best path. Good luck.
I have DUI case, I was pulled over on campus in December of 2010. I also got in trouble for a lwed and lascivious behavior in May 2012.
I left US in July 2012 and didn’t go to court for the lewd and lascivious behavior as I didn’t receive a court date while I was in the US.
For The DUI , I initially went on diversion and failed it and by the time they called me to court again I had already left the US.
The reason I am writing today is that I have 2 warrant. A bench warrant for the DUI charge and an arrest warrant for the lwed behavior charge. Since I was an international student and not a US citizen once I completed my studies I had to leave the country and I couldn't follow up on the court dates. At the moment I am living and working in Saudi Arabia.
i want to get rid of the warrants and solve these cases but after getting in touch with a few lawyers in Kansas(the cases are for Sedgwick county court) it seems like even my warrants can’t be quashed without appearing in court. I have emailed the US embassy in Riyadh to grant me a visa to go to the states to resolve these matters.they have asked me to apply for a visa and set up an interview with them, I am hoping they will grant me a visa.
my question is that if I receive the visa to travel to the US will the CBP will let me enter the US. What will be the best port of entry and how long should I plan to stay to clear out these cases? Since I would need to apply for a leave with my current employers.
The DUI I received was my first ever offense and the lewd and lascivious behavior was my second offense , I have not been involved with any other trouble. Both the cases are marked as misdemeanor.
I was naive and thought that this won’t be a an issue after I left the US but I was recently denied a job after these pending cases showed up on my back ground check.
i really want to get this cases taken care of. Any help would be appreciated.
I left US in July 2012 and didn’t go to court for the lewd and lascivious behavior as I didn’t receive a court date while I was in the US.
For The DUI , I initially went on diversion and failed it and by the time they called me to court again I had already left the US.
The reason I am writing today is that I have 2 warrant. A bench warrant for the DUI charge and an arrest warrant for the lwed behavior charge. Since I was an international student and not a US citizen once I completed my studies I had to leave the country and I couldn't follow up on the court dates. At the moment I am living and working in Saudi Arabia.
i want to get rid of the warrants and solve these cases but after getting in touch with a few lawyers in Kansas(the cases are for Sedgwick county court) it seems like even my warrants can’t be quashed without appearing in court. I have emailed the US embassy in Riyadh to grant me a visa to go to the states to resolve these matters.they have asked me to apply for a visa and set up an interview with them, I am hoping they will grant me a visa.
my question is that if I receive the visa to travel to the US will the CBP will let me enter the US. What will be the best port of entry and how long should I plan to stay to clear out these cases? Since I would need to apply for a leave with my current employers.
The DUI I received was my first ever offense and the lewd and lascivious behavior was my second offense , I have not been involved with any other trouble. Both the cases are marked as misdemeanor.
I was naive and thought that this won’t be a an issue after I left the US but I was recently denied a job after these pending cases showed up on my back ground check.
i really want to get this cases taken care of. Any help would be appreciated.
Last edited by Newbie2FT; Jan 28, 2018 at 2:44 pm
Jan 28, 2018, 2:28 pm
#33
Moderator: Travel Safety/Security, Travel Tools, California, Los Angeles; FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: LAX
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Moderator's Note
The thread that @Bilal87 started was merged into this one.
TWA884
Travel Safety/Security co-moderator
TWA884
Travel Safety/Security co-moderator
Jan 29, 2018, 6:52 pm
#34
Join Date: Jun 2010
Posts: 45
The OP has likely resolved their situation one way or the other by now but @Bilal87 's situation may still be unresolved. I'm not a lawyer but I'd recommend, if possible, both entering the USA via a foreign airport that has preclearance (for example in Ireland or UAE) and travelling to a state well away from the state where you have the active warrant.
When you do preclearance CBP will still see the warrant and certainly still has the authority to ask CBP at the destination airport to meet the flight and take you into custody. But here's the thing--this is done only rarely because it requires CBP to make extraordinary advance preparations for the arriving aircraft. So CBP will likely use the time that your aircraft is in flight to determine whether the warrant is extraditable or not and only bother to meet the flight and invest the time if the warrant is, indeed, extraditable. It isn't worth them sending out officers to take time out of their day specifically to deal with detaining you if you are only going to be released because you can't be extradited.
By contrast if you don't do preclearance, CBP will see the warrant upon arrival and will take you into custody. They don't have to go out of their way to do so in that scenario so are far, far more likely to take such action in that case. They will still eventually figure out that the warrant isn't extraditable but they will only make that determination after you are taken into custody--resulting in a very unpleasant delay of unpredictable length. Of course you should try to find out from your attorney over what area the warrant is extraditable.
When you do preclearance CBP will still see the warrant and certainly still has the authority to ask CBP at the destination airport to meet the flight and take you into custody. But here's the thing--this is done only rarely because it requires CBP to make extraordinary advance preparations for the arriving aircraft. So CBP will likely use the time that your aircraft is in flight to determine whether the warrant is extraditable or not and only bother to meet the flight and invest the time if the warrant is, indeed, extraditable. It isn't worth them sending out officers to take time out of their day specifically to deal with detaining you if you are only going to be released because you can't be extradited.
By contrast if you don't do preclearance, CBP will see the warrant upon arrival and will take you into custody. They don't have to go out of their way to do so in that scenario so are far, far more likely to take such action in that case. They will still eventually figure out that the warrant isn't extraditable but they will only make that determination after you are taken into custody--resulting in a very unpleasant delay of unpredictable length. Of course you should try to find out from your attorney over what area the warrant is extraditable.
Jan 30, 2018, 2:16 am
#35
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SAN
Programs: PR Premier Elite
Posts: 1,950
The legally "correct" way to handle this "by the book" would be to hire an attorney who is licenced to practice in the jurisdiction where the warrant was issued. Have that atourney appear in court on your behalf, explain your circumstances and move that the failure to appear warrant be withdrawn and a new court date be set in the future where you can then appear personally with your atourney to face the music. The court may set conditions, but on a failure to appear on a DUI warrant they would likely entertain such a motion filed by an attorney representing you, and withdraw the arrest warrant pending future court proceedings.
Feb 2, 2018, 7:48 am
#36
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: WAS
Programs: enjoyed being warm spit for a few years on CO/UA but now nothing :(
Posts: 2,508
The OP has likely resolved their situation one way or the other by now but @Bilal87 's situation may still be unresolved. I'm not a lawyer but I'd recommend, if possible, both entering the USA via a foreign airport that has preclearance (for example in Ireland or UAE) and travelling to a state well away from the state where you have the active warrant.
When you do preclearance CBP will still see the warrant and certainly still has the authority to ask CBP at the destination airport to meet the flight and take you into custody. But here's the thing--this is done only rarely because it requires CBP to make extraordinary advance preparations for the arriving aircraft. So CBP will likely use the time that your aircraft is in flight to determine whether the warrant is extraditable or not and only bother to meet the flight and invest the time if the warrant is, indeed, extraditable. It isn't worth them sending out officers to take time out of their day specifically to deal with detaining you if you are only going to be released because you can't be extradited.
When you do preclearance CBP will still see the warrant and certainly still has the authority to ask CBP at the destination airport to meet the flight and take you into custody. But here's the thing--this is done only rarely because it requires CBP to make extraordinary advance preparations for the arriving aircraft. So CBP will likely use the time that your aircraft is in flight to determine whether the warrant is extraditable or not and only bother to meet the flight and invest the time if the warrant is, indeed, extraditable. It isn't worth them sending out officers to take time out of their day specifically to deal with detaining you if you are only going to be released because you can't be extradited.
To imply that CBP rarely has people detained is not just misleading but flat out false. From 2008 to 2013 CBP under the previous presidential administration issued more than 15,000 immigration detainers PER MONTH. While this number dropped dramatically in direct proximity to election season the trend was promptly resumed under the current administration.
But immigration detainers are not the only detainers. Other federal and local LEAs also regularly issue detainers and directly notify the "receiving" airport (or bus or maritime port) of a person of interest and the request to detain. "Extraordinary advance preparations" are not needed, all it takes is a phone call.
Feb 3, 2018, 12:26 pm
#37
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Join Date: Jul 2001
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Posts: 102,095
On the first - yes, because if you are not granted admission at pre-clearance then at least you will be in your home (or other) country and not in a US detention facility.
To imply that CBP rarely has people detained is not just misleading but flat out false. From 2008 to 2013 CBP under the previous presidential administration issued more than 15,000 immigration detainers PER MONTH. While this number dropped dramatically in direct proximity to election season the trend was promptly resumed under the current administration.
But immigration detainers are not the only detainers. Other federal and local LEAs also regularly issue detainers and directly notify the "receiving" airport (or bus or maritime port) of a person of interest and the request to detain. "Extraordinary advance preparations" are not needed, all it takes is a phone call.
To imply that CBP rarely has people detained is not just misleading but flat out false. From 2008 to 2013 CBP under the previous presidential administration issued more than 15,000 immigration detainers PER MONTH. While this number dropped dramatically in direct proximity to election season the trend was promptly resumed under the current administration.
But immigration detainers are not the only detainers. Other federal and local LEAs also regularly issue detainers and directly notify the "receiving" airport (or bus or maritime port) of a person of interest and the request to detain. "Extraordinary advance preparations" are not needed, all it takes is a phone call.
Feb 3, 2018, 12:50 pm
#38
Moderator: Travel Safety/Security, Travel Tools, California, Los Angeles; FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: LAX
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Moderator's Note:
Folks,
Just a gentle reminder that this is the Practical Travel Safety and Security Issues forum. It is the place to ask questions and get information to help members travel safely and with minimal hassle.
Please keep in mind that this thread is about travelling to the US to clear arrest warrants and limit your responses to addressing the OP's questions.
If you wish to argue, debate, opine or comment about CBP officers detaining passengers at US pre-clearance facilities abroad and admissibility to Canada of individuals with criminal records, please do so in the Checkpoints and Borders Policy Debate forum.
Future off topic messages will be summarily deleted without further notice.
Thank you for understanding,
TWA884
Travel Safety/Security co-moderator
Just a gentle reminder that this is the Practical Travel Safety and Security Issues forum. It is the place to ask questions and get information to help members travel safely and with minimal hassle.
Please keep in mind that this thread is about travelling to the US to clear arrest warrants and limit your responses to addressing the OP's questions.
If you wish to argue, debate, opine or comment about CBP officers detaining passengers at US pre-clearance facilities abroad and admissibility to Canada of individuals with criminal records, please do so in the Checkpoints and Borders Policy Debate forum.
Future off topic messages will be summarily deleted without further notice.
Thank you for understanding,
TWA884
Travel Safety/Security co-moderator
Mar 15, 2018, 9:01 pm
#39
Join Date: Jun 2010
Posts: 45
<redacted>
I was addressing the topic of being detained by the CBP only insofar as it has a bearing on the original topic: if someone is detained by CBP at the border it becomes difficult to enter the US to clear the arrest warrants. My point had been that CBP rarely detains people at the US destination airport on flights that have been precleared outside the US. Such flights generally arrive at domestic terminals and would require that CBP take the unusual step of meeting the flight. If this happened it would be obvious to other passengers, and it is something that I have never observed, so I feel confident in saying that it is rare. Note that "rare" does not mean "never" and I did not intend to mean "never".
<redacted>
I was addressing the topic of being detained by the CBP only insofar as it has a bearing on the original topic: if someone is detained by CBP at the border it becomes difficult to enter the US to clear the arrest warrants. My point had been that CBP rarely detains people at the US destination airport on flights that have been precleared outside the US. Such flights generally arrive at domestic terminals and would require that CBP take the unusual step of meeting the flight. If this happened it would be obvious to other passengers, and it is something that I have never observed, so I feel confident in saying that it is rare. Note that "rare" does not mean "never" and I did not intend to mean "never".
<redacted>
Last edited by TWA884; Mar 16, 2018 at 6:32 am Reason: Discussion of Moderator Actions; FT Rule 18