Assault Charge - Deportation and Travel outside of USA

[wonderfulboy]

I came to USA around 10 years back in October 1999. I got my permanent residency in the year of 2005, February. I never had any criminal records or background till December 2008 other than few traffic violations. But on 24th, December 2008 I hit my wife due to some personal arguments/dispute for which on 30th december 2008 the county police arrested me at my home and put me in County Adult Detention Center (ADC) from December 31st 2008 - February 4th 2009. During the court hearing on February 4th 2009, i plead guilty for the charge. I have been convicted and the judge did charge me for VA state code 18.2-57 (Simple Assault and Battery) for 364 days jail time but exempted all the jail time. I have been asked to be under supervised probation till February 2010 and also court ordered me to attend domestic violence classes. But my major concern now what kind of impact can the above incident have on travel outside of USA after probation too? Can I get deported or will have problems at port of entry?

 

[aosing]

I think you should be okay because the charge is a misdemeanor, the suspended sentence was just under one year and it is a first offense, so you should not be deportable.

If you mess up and violate the terms of your probation, fail to attend classes, or are convicted of any other crimes, then you will be in serious trouble. You probably don't want to travel out of the country or for very long out of state while on probation either.

 

[dafortycal]

Not so fast, I once saw a case where a LPR left the county and just happen to return on a day when they were doing extra screening. CBP found a guy with a minor assault conviction and charged him as inadmissible under section 212 of the INA. They simply paroled him into the USA and mailed him a NTA. You seem to be confused by "one year" sentence, it isn't what you get for a misdemeanor, it is what he "could" have gotten. If that number is 365 days\1 year then he could be deportable if it occured within the first 5 years of getting his status. After 5 years, getting caught stealing a pack of gum twice, at the lowest level of misdemeanor will get you deported. The possible sentence could be as low as 7 days in jail, 365 days isn't needed. It is much easier to get rid of a LPR after 5 years than before.

You need the 365 day sentence to trigger certain ag/felonies under section 101 of the INA. Conviction at the misdemeanor level would still make most of the a CIMT. I do believe that under immigration law, a conviction with a suspended sentence is still a conviction, suspended or not.

I think you should be okay because the charge is a misdemeanor, the suspended sentence was just under one year and it is a first offense, so you should not be deportable.

If you mess up and violate the terms of your probation, fail to attend classes, or are convicted of any other crimes, then you will be in serious trouble. You probably don't want to travel out of the country or for very long out of state while on probation either.