There is this convinience store oppposite my school which sells Indian food. I am their regular customer. The person who manages this store is an indian too and of my age. So we became friends over a period of time. We used to hang out togather. Now on this day i went to his store as a customer, he had something really urgent to attend inside so he asked me to stand at the counter for 5 mins. Now here comes a guy asking for cigerettes. I search for the type of cig he wants, ask for his id and the money mentioned on the tag. I give him the cigerette but my math went wrong and he wasnt 18 yrs old. This was the 1st time i was checking ids and this was a human error. To make things worst it turns out to be a set up. The guy was sent in by the cop.
Now the cop asks me how old was the person whom you just sold cigerettes to I said he was born in 1988. Still i am confident he was 18. Now the cop looks at the sticker in the store which says u cant buy cigerettes if you are born after this date thats when even i look at it and realise that i have done a mistake. Now the cop asks for my id and writes me a citation. Now on the citation he has writen that the convinient store is my employer. I was too scared to even notice it that time. This was my 1st encounter with cops and law in USA. My friend who manages this store tells the cop that its not my fault i was just helping him so please write him or the store a citation instead of writing me a citation. He tells the cop he shouldnt have made me stand there. But the cop is like he saw me selling cigeretttes so he cant write a citation to someone else.
I have hired an attorney who says he will get this matter dismissed and then he will file a petition to get the matter expunged. I am very confident that these charges will be dismissed and then in due course expunged.
My only concern is i am a student here on an F1 visa and i am not eligible to work off campus which i never have. I am a full time grad student and work 20 hours on campus. But the citation said that the convinience store is my employer. Does this mean i was working off campus and have violated the F1 visa.
Once again I never worked at his place. Never got money from the store. I was their customer and used to buy stuff from there. I pay for everything i get from there just as everyone else.
My question here is that when i graduate in 7 months time and apply for OPT or get a job and apply for H1 status will this incident affect me. Once the charges are dismised and expunged will the immigration authority come to know that such charges were ever imposed upon me. Even if they come to know will it afect their decision to grant me further status.
Now the cop asks me how old was the person whom you just sold cigerettes to I said he was born in 1988. Still i am confident he was 18. Now the cop looks at the sticker in the store which says u cant buy cigerettes if you are born after this date thats when even i look at it and realise that i have done a mistake. Now the cop asks for my id and writes me a citation. Now on the citation he has writen that the convinient store is my employer. I was too scared to even notice it that time. This was my 1st encounter with cops and law in USA. My friend who manages this store tells the cop that its not my fault i was just helping him so please write him or the store a citation instead of writing me a citation. He tells the cop he shouldnt have made me stand there. But the cop is like he saw me selling cigeretttes so he cant write a citation to someone else.
I have hired an attorney who says he will get this matter dismissed and then he will file a petition to get the matter expunged. I am very confident that these charges will be dismissed and then in due course expunged.
My only concern is i am a student here on an F1 visa and i am not eligible to work off campus which i never have. I am a full time grad student and work 20 hours on campus. But the citation said that the convinience store is my employer. Does this mean i was working off campus and have violated the F1 visa.
Once again I never worked at his place. Never got money from the store. I was their customer and used to buy stuff from there. I pay for everything i get from there just as everyone else.
My question here is that when i graduate in 7 months time and apply for OPT or get a job and apply for H1 status will this incident affect me. Once the charges are dismised and expunged will the immigration authority come to know that such charges were ever imposed upon me. Even if they come to know will it afect their decision to grant me further status.
