If you have a relative that is U.S. legal permanent resident or citizen, he can file a family petition in your behalf, so that you can be a U.S. resident (and if you wish, in the future to U.S. citizen). It is a process that is made with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, in which you must meet certain requirements, including demonstrate that you do not have a negative immigration record in the United States, (permanent and temporary bars of inadmissibility. Before this, in some cases there are waivers that can help you overcome some bars.

But when we talk about Criminal Offenses, they do have an immigration impact, which in many cases can make you permanently inadmissible to get the U.S. residency through a family petition. Because of that, it is very important to take care of any criminal case in U.S. courts, since not only can affect your criminal record, but also the opportunity to adjust your immigration status and perhaps even get the U.S. residency.

A criminal offense may have one or more of four immigration impacts, for example:

• Denial of admission to the country.
• Denial of Residency.
• Revocation of Residency and Deportation.
• Denial of Citizenship.

To find out if in a case the crime is classified as a “Immigration Crime”, we have to compare the charges with the cases held in Circuit Courts and the BIA (Board of Immigration Appeals). To learn more about this subject, we invite you to visit our blog.