Expungement of Petty Theft (US Citizenship Application)

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rockydecosta

Registered Users (C)
I am US permanent resident
In 2007 I was cited a ticket for petty theft misdemeanor. I pleaded no contest and was convicted of infraction. I paid fine, no jail, no community service, no probation.
Is there a way to expunge the record so I do not have to disclose it on my citizenship application?
What impact this incident might have on my US citizenship application?
I appreciate any advice. Thank you.
 
What state was it in?
How much did you steal?
Do you know the maximum possible sentence for what you did there?
 
This happened in State of California.

The court actually charged me with Petty Theft Infraction and asked me to pay fines. There was no jail time, no probation, nothing. I just had to pay fines.
I paid fines and the case has already been closed a while back.

I just want to know if Petty Theft Infraction can be Expunged from the records or not? I have heard that only Misdemeanors and Felonies can be expunged. I am not sure about Infraction if it can be expunged or not.

Will infraction affect my US Citizenship application?
 
That means you are trying to lie to USCS. You are trying to find ways to hide your record. crime is not that serious to worry about too much. Crime is small but not being truthful can get you in big trouble. Even if you expunge the record, there is a question in N-400 about the criminal charges, you have to answer. If your record is more than 5 years old, it won't effect the application. In your case it is not. So here is the solution: since expungement won't help, just wait it out for 5 years and apply then. You will be fine. As of now either you lie or be denied. Either way is not good for you. Good Luck


rockydecosta said:
I am US permanent resident
In 2007 I was cited a ticket for petty theft misdemeanor. I pleaded no contest and was convicted of infraction. I paid fine, no jail, no community service, no probation.
Is there a way to expunge the record so I do not have to disclose it on my citizenship application?
What impact this incident might have on my US citizenship application?
I appreciate any advice. Thank you.
Click to expand...
 
rockydecosta said:
I am US permanent resident
In 2007 I was cited a ticket for petty theft misdemeanor. I pleaded no contest and was convicted of infraction. I paid fine, no jail, no community service, no probation.
Is there a way to expunge the record so I do not have to disclose it on my citizenship application?
What impact this incident might have on my US citizenship application?
I appreciate any advice. Thank you.
Click to expand...

You are fine. Your conviction is a single conviction and it was just an infraction. So it is definitely not a deportable conviction. However, no matter what you do, you should not lie about it. Infraction charges are usually erased from your record within a year. However, you do have to disclose it during your interview and it will count as evidence against your good moral character. All this means that you have to wait till 2011/12 (that is 5 years after the conviction) before you should apply for citizenship.
 
Even though it is infraction, it is a crime of moral turpitude.
Crimes of moral turpitude are deportable crimes in case the maximum possible penalty under the section of the law you were convicted is more than 12 months of jail, even though your particular penalty had no jail term at all.
Also, in case you have more than one crime of moral turpitude, you are deportable, regardless anything else.

You have to answer my questions to know the truth.
 
Of course, you realize it cannot be expunged, because second crime of moral turpitude has to make you deportable anyway.
 
For immigration purposes expunged offenses are treated as still being on the record, and can be used to deny your naturalization or deport you. SEE A LAWYER before applying for naturalization, to help you figure out the immigration consequences of this specific crime. The lawyer needs to look at the specifics of the crime and the applicable state laws. "Infraction" or "Petty theft" in one state doesn't always mean the same thing in every other state. Don't rely on anonymous message boards for something as serious as this.
 
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