You may have regretfully committed a crime while living in your home country quite some time ago. You may have learned your lesson thoroughly and changed your morals and character significantly since then. While you may want nothing more but to put the entire thing behind you, it may follow you around indefinitely in the form of a permanent criminal record. This may be a top concern if you wish to file Form N-400, Application for Naturalization, with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Well, in this case, please continue reading to learn whether you can apply for U.S. citizenship if you have a prior criminal record and how an experienced immigration criminal issues lawyer in Milwaukee, WI, at Sesini Law Group, S.C., can help you fight for this status.
Can I apply for United States citizenship if I have a criminal record?
It might still be conceivable to apply for United States citizenship even with a preexisting criminal record. However, this does not come without its obstacles. That is, depending on the time of crime you were found guilty of committing, you may face a temporary or permanent bar to citizenship. More specific examples of each are as follows:
- Crimes that might constitute a temporary bar to citizenship:
- Certain crimes that were issued a conviction three to five years ago:
- Drug possession of marijuana in an amount greater than 30 grams.
- Minor forms of fraud.
- Prostitution.
- Solicitation.
- Certain crimes that were issued a conviction three to five years ago:
- Crimes that might constitute a permanent bar to citizenship:
- A murder conviction that was issued on or after November 29, 1990.
- An aggravated felony conviction that was issued on or after November 29, 1990:
- Child pornography.
- Drug trafficking.
- Fraud of a certain amount.
- Rape.
- Sexual abuse of children.
- Weapons trafficking.
Can I lose my citizenship rights after committing a crime?
Say your temporary bar to citizenship has ended, you have submitted Form N-400, and you get naturalized in the United States. However, in the time since, say that you are convicted of a criminal offense. Well, you may rest a little easier knowing that your crime does not necessarily mean you will lose your citizenship rights if have already been naturalized.
But it may be a completely different story if you already had a criminal record when applying for naturalization, yet you lied about it on your petition. That is, if the USCIS learns that you misinformed them about your criminal history, they may initiate what are known as denaturalization proceedings. This essentially means that you may lose your citizenship status and receive a removal order from the country.
All of this to say, you must disclose your entire criminal history on Form N-400, regardless of whether you think it might jeopardize your access to citizenship. This means stating any arrests on your record, any crimes for which you were not arrested, and any criminal cases against you that were eventually dismissed.
If you require legal representation, look no further than a skilled removal & deportation defense lawyer in Milwaukee, WI. The client testimonials on our website speak for themselves, saying that you will not regret hiring the team at Sesini Law Group, S.C.