If yous are a permanent resident seeking US citizenship, your Due north-400 citizenship application will crave you to reveal whether y'all take always been arrested for, charged with or convicted of a crime. It's patently non good news if you have been convicted of a crime. Simply will a criminal conviction doom your citizenship application, given that "good moral graphic symbol" is required for citizenship? The short answer is the least satisfying one — it depends.

More specifically, it depends on the nature of the crime, how long ago information technology was committed, how erstwhile you were when yous committed it, and how the crime fits into an overall picture of your moral character. In some cases, the crime won't bear upon your application. On the other cease of the spectrum, some crimes tin not only result in denial of your application but tin can cause y'all to be deported as well.

What Constitutes a "Conviction" of a Crime?

Some states offering diversion programs, etc., that are designed to let first-fourth dimension offenders to escape being burdened with a formal criminal record. So what does information technology mean to be "convicted" of a crime for immigration purposes? US immigration law applies a broad definition — you have been "convicted" of a crime if:

  • A judge or a jury finds yous guilty;
  • You pleaded guilty or "no competition" to the criminal offense;
  • Y'all confess to the crime or admit to certain facts which, if proven, would prove you guilty of the offense;
  • Y'all received a suspended sentence; or
  • The courtroom orders some restraint upon your liberty (it requires yous to check into a halfway house, for example).

Criminal Conviction - Guilty Illustration

What is an "Automatic Bar"?

No, it doesn't mean that the USCIS is going to buy you a bottle of champagne to celebrate your application for citizenship.

If an automated bar applies, it means that the USCIS has no discretion to approve your citizenship application — information technology is required by police force to decline it. 2 kinds of automatic bars exist — permanent confined and temporary bars.

Crimes that Result in a Permanent Automatic Bar to Citizenship

Two types of criminal offence result in an automated and permanent bar to citizenship – murder, and aggravated felony for which you were convicted after November 29, 1990. These crimes as well upshot in displacement. Although the meaning of "murder" is clear, the meaning of "aggravated felony" is more ambiguous and is not dependent on how state law defines the crime. Some examples follow:

  • Rape
  • Drug trafficking
  • Any offense of violence or theft that can be punished past a year or more of incarceration
  • DUI (sometimes)
  • Sexual practice with a partner who is under the age of consent (xviii in some states, including California)
  • Money laundering over $x,000
  • Income tax evasion over $ten,000

The complete listing of aggravated felonies is too long to reprint here, and there is a certain amount of ambivalence among legal authorities as to which crimes practise and exercise not vest on the listing.

Criminal Conviction - Drug Trafficking

Crimes that Event in a Temporary Automatic Bar to Citizenship

Certain crimes are defined by Usa immigration law as "crimes involving moral turpitude." Conviction of one of these crimes will typically bar yous from receiving citizenship for five years after your conviction appointment (only three years if your permanent residence is based on union to a Us citizen). If you are convicted of one of these crimes, you will accept to look for the five-year (or 3-year) anniversary of the confidence appointment to file your citizenship application.

Crimes of moral turpitude include (just are not express to):

  • Any criminal offense for which you were incarcerated for 180 days or more
  • Whatever two crimes for which you were sentenced to five or more years of incarceration
  • Going to a prostitute
  • Fraud and certain other crimes of dishonesty
  • Possession of illegal drugs (except pocket-size amounts of marijuana)

Call up, the foregoing is a very incomplete list of "crimes involving moral turpitude".

Exceptions to the Automatic Bar

There are three main exceptions to the automatic bar:

  • "Purely political offenses": If you were bedevilled overseas for a purely political criminal offense (criticizing the majestic family is illegal in certain jurisdictions, for example), this volition non be held against y'all.
  • Juvenile offenses: Offenses committed when you were under xviii that are more than v years quondam will not be held against you, even if the criminal offense would otherwise exist considered an aggravated felony.
  • Trivial offenses: A petty offense is a crime that does non qualify every bit murder, an aggravated felony or a criminal offense involving moral turpitude. These crimes are normally less serious in nature.

Remember, the foregoing is a very incomplete list of "crimes involving moral turpitude".

Criminal Conviction - Juvenile Offenses

Even If the Automatic Bar Doesn't Apply…

If you have a criminal record simply are not discipline to an automated bar (your crimes were all petty offenses, for case), you are non necessarily out of the woods. Although y'all are non subject to an automated bar to citizenship, the USCIS can still practise its discretion to reject your citizenship awarding based on the totality of the circumstances. Information technology can even penalize you for arrests and charges that did not result in a conviction.

Suppose, for example, that you were convicted of theft four times in your home country, but you were a juvenile at the time. Suppose further that y'all were charged with theft as an adult in the US, but the charge was plea-bargained downwards to a picayune criminal offence. Suppose also that you accept massive unpaid debts. The USCIS is entitled to conclude that you lack "skillful moral character" and refuse your citizenship application on this ground.

The Bottom Line is…

The bottom line is that it in many cases, it is difficult to predict in advance how the USCIS will react to your criminal record. Your best hazard of anticipating their reaction, and fighting back finer, is to seek the advice of an experienced immigration lawyer.

Looking for more than information, bank check out our naturalization & citizenship guidelines now!