fermi-dirac
New Member
I would like to know if there is any help for a friend of mine. He was brought to the US when he was 8 and he has been living here for the past 10 years(still not documented). Three years ago he was arrested and charged with two counts of residential burglary. The event occurred at a residential high school. After a long court process he was allowed to apply to a pretrial diversion program. He met before a committee and was accepted. Moreover he fulfilled all the requirements and the case was dismissed. The program coordinator told him that he needed to proceed with an application to expunge the arrest. The coordinator also knew of his immigration status. He did as she said and with the help of an attorney the records were expunged. Under state law he does not have a conviction, however, for immigration purposes the conviction is there even though the case was dismissed and he didn't serve a sentence. This is due to the fact that the program was in a sense a punishment. In fact having the record expunged didn't do much except for allowing him to attend college. I did quite a bit of research and found that there are severe consequences that follow from that conviction because of the nature of the crime mainly because it's deportable. I could state his explanation the details of the incident much more in depth but it may not matter for immigration purposes. The explanation did, however, help in getting accepted to the program. I just want to know if there is any hope at all for getting a Green card in the future or some type of residence in the US, be it via marriage, family member, or company sponsorship, etc. I found that a full and unconditional pardon could perhaps provide some relief as it enables one to apply for a waiver. But since his record has been expunged is that even an option now. Is it advisable to consult with an immigration/criminal justice attorney right now? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Some additional information is that this took place in Illinois and it happened when he was 17 which is probably irrelevant because he was tried as an adult. The felony is a 4 to 15 year sentence and probation is not available. The records were expunged earlier this year and he is now 20. If it's of any help he has all the documents of expungment, arrest, and so on. If anyone can shine some light on this please do so. We could really use some help.