Civil lawsuit and the US visa

In My Humble Opinion
1

I was in the US in 2013, working with authorization. Suddenly my mother fell critically ill, and I had to rush back to India; I had to leave literally overnight. Sadly, she passed away shortly thereafter. In the aftermath, I forgot to call up my apartment complex to settle with them, and got sued. As soon as I came to know from my colleagues still in the US, I contacted their Collections and paid the money on phone. The lawsuit was subsequently dismissed “with prejudice”.

I do not have a copy of the lawsuit, nor of the settlement. (Lost it when my drive crashed in early 2016.)

Now I am scheduled to attend a US Business Visa appointment at a consulate in India.

Questions:

  1. Does this negatively impact my case? Will I be judged as a law-breaker?
  2. Any idea if the Visa background checks include civil lawsuits?
  3. Is it possible to obtain the legal documentation on my case now, including the settlement?

I did not come across request for such information (civil lawsuits) while filling up the visa documents. (They do ask about criminal history.)

TIA for any information or advice.

2

  1. A civil case should not impact your visa application. But, in case it does come up, get a copy of the judgment to show your immigration case officer. You should be able to find it via the county courthouse where you were sued. Many are on the web now and you can often look up cases for free.

  2. No idea, but my guess is probably not.

  3. Yep, see above. The judgment and final disposition will be on record with the court.

3

Thanks! The Nebraska state charges 50 bucks to access your legal documentation stuff online. :frowning: Any idea what “with prejudice” means in the context of a judgement?

4

‘With prejudice’ means you can’t be sued again for that debt.