got a felony conviction - next steps?

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clio

Registered Users (C)
I have a wife and 2 sons, all American citizens.

I have been a permanent resident for 19 years, and got a felony conviction for a fight with a son, about 3 years ago.

I was sentenced to 6 months jail time (suspended) and 2 years probation which I completed.

My GC expires in 2015.

According to my studying of the law, I will be put in removal proceedings and would have then to apply for COR.

What would be the recommended course of action?

Should I start this process now or should I wait until the expiration of my GC?

I will be close to 60 by then.

Thanks in advance for any advice.
 
I would consult an immigration attorney now. Most have a reasonable consulting fee. ($100 or less) You have to be very careful. It doesn't seem to qualify as an "aggravated felony". Although your sentence would have had to be more than a year technically. But you need to look into it immediately, they factor in suspended sentences. I don't want to scare you, but you should have consulted an immigration atty before accepting any plea deal (assuming that's what you did). Many permanent residents are deported for accepting plea deals they think won't effect them. And it doesn't matter if you have US children, wife etc... Please do not wait, and at least set up an initial consult (or 2 for second opinion); The sooner the better and good luck
 
Learned that this is not a deportable offense.

Immigration laws are complex and my reading of them was incorrect.

So yes, it is a good idea to consult an attorney.
 
To be removed for a crime of violence, you need a couple of things: You need to be convicted and receive atleast a 1 year sentence in prison, you got 6 months and probation. You conviction isn't a Aggravated Felony, but it could be concerned a CIMT. If you have been a LPR longer than 5 years, they would need two CIMT's to attempt remove you. Depending on any other convictions, I would go get a new green card or better yet apply for citizenship. They can't deport citizens...

Two items must be remembered when reviewing criminal histories for INS defined aggravated felonies.
· First, the subject must be an ALIEN. If the subject is a U.S. Citizen, he/she CANNOT be an Aggravated Felon;

Second, the alien must be CONVICTED of the crime in the chart’s SECOND column.
* IMPRISONMENT includes any sentence except probation.
For instance, imprisonment for INS purposes, includes parole, suspended sentence, adjudication withheld, jail, prison, etc. A crime, which is a misdemeanor under state law, but if prosecuted under a Federal law with the same elements would have been a FELONY, is an INS Defined AGGRAVATED FELONY.
 
I have a similar incident when I son was acting crazy and I slapped him. Pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge and got suspended sentence of 180 days and one year probabtion. visited my county 4 times with no issues and applied for GC renewal and got it.

My N-400 got rejected cuz I applied to soon and I had to wait for some time to prove good moral character.
 
dafortycal said:
Second, the alien must be CONVICTED of the crime in the chart’s SECOND column.
* IMPRISONMENT includes any sentence except probation.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure if that's true any more. From what I gather, in certain cases especially those involving narcotics trafficking or drug abuse the alien merely has to have confessed or CIS merely has to have a reasonable cause to believe the alien has been in the past involved in or associated with a group who has committed trafficking of people or narcotics. I believe they made the change in 1996 but I'm not very well versed in all the technicalities.

Obviously OP is not involved in an aggravated felony so it's irrelevent afaik but my point was CIS has been given reign to let their imaginations lead the way with much more fervor than they were allowed before 1996.
 
It is a deportable offense. It is not a Agg. Felony because of the sentence, but it is still a CIMT. If he has two CIMT's in his record, that could be a big problem.
 
pleasehelp08 said:
My N-400 got rejected cuz I applied to soon and I had to wait for some time to prove good moral character.
Click to expand...

How many years was that, 5 years? 10 years? This might be relevent to OPs case and he could possibly be better off planning to let some time pass after the last conviction to prove good moral character too(by not getting charged with anything new).
 
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