How Criminal Charges Affect Your Ability to Sponsor Family Members

How Criminal Charges Affect Your Ability to Sponsor Family Members

Getting criminal charges can totally mess up your plans to sponsor family members for immigration. It’s super frustrating but there are definitely things you can do to try to work around it. This article will break it all down for you.

Crimes Involving Moral Turpitude

One of the biggest issues is something called “crimes involving moral turpitude.” This is a fancy legal term that basically means crimes that show some kind of dishonesty or evil intent. Some examples are fraud, theft, and assault. If you get convicted of one of these, it can make you ineligible to sponsor family members.

So for instance, if you got convicted of shoplifting, that could prevent you from sponsoring your spouse for a green card. It sucks but moral turpitude crimes are a big deal with immigration. Even if it was a misdemeanor, it can still cause problems.

Multiple Convictions

Another thing is if you have multiple convictions on your record. So let’s say you got convicted of shoplifting, and also have a DUI conviction from a few years ago. If the total sentence for your crimes adds up to 5 years or more, you could be barred from sponsoring family.

It doesn’t matter if they were misdemeanors or that you didn’t actually serve 5 years in jail. Just having convictions with a combined possible sentence over 5 years can make you ineligible. So definitely something to watch out for.

Domestic Violence and Child Abuse

Crimes involving domestic violence and child abuse are super serious when it comes to immigration. Even misdemeanor convictions for things like simple assault against a family member or child neglect can get your petition denied.

These types of crimes may require you to apply for a special waiver in order to sponsor family members. Getting the waiver approved can be really difficult too. Your best bet is to consult an immigration attorney if you have any convictions like this.

Impact on Financial Ability

There’s also the issue of how criminal charges can hurt your financial situation. To sponsor relatives, you have to meet certain income requirements and prove you can support them financially when they come to the U.S.

But having a criminal record can make it really hard to get a good job. And if you don’t have enough income because of unemployment or underemployment due to your record, your petition could get denied.

So criminal charges often create a bad double whammy – making you ineligible to sponsor family directly, plus indirectly by hurting your financial ability.

What If You’re Just Charged But Not Convicted?

Many people think that just being charged with a crime, but not convicted, means it won’t impact immigration. This is totally wrong! You absolutely have to disclose any arrests or pending charges to immigration officials.

Will it automatically make you ineligible to sponsor family? No. But it could still cause delays or extra scrutiny in your case. Immigration may want details about the incident, police reports, court docs, etc. to decide if it raises any “moral character” concerns.

Bottom line – get an attorney to help explain the charges in the best light possible to immigration. Don’t just assume it won’t matter if you weren’t convicted.

Waivers in Some Cases

We’ve talked a lot about how criminal issues will torpedo your family petition. But in some limited cases, you may be able to get a waiver to overcome the problem.

For example, you can apply for a waiver if your only conviction was for a single misdemeanor crime. But it has to be the ONLY thing on your record. More than one conviction makes it really hard to get a waiver approved.

Another possibility is a waiver for juvenile crimes. If you have a conviction from when you were under 18, you may be able to get it waived since you were a minor. There are specific requirements for this so talk to a lawyer.

Bottom Line

Dealing with criminal charges or convictions totally complicates the family sponsorship process. There are definitely ways to potentially work around it, but your chances depend on the specific details of your situation.

To figure out your options, bite the bullet and speak with an experienced immigration attorney. They can review your criminal record and lay out the possible waivers or other strategies you could use.

It’ll probably cost a few hundred bucks but could save you months of headaches if they can help get your petition approved. Don’t let past mistakes derail your plans to bring family to the U.S.!