Green card renewal with conviction on record

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xxxx9998

New Member
My GC is up for renewal after 10 years. I have started the process by efiling the I90 online and am waiting for a Biometric appointment etc.

Herein lies the issue - 10 years ago, i made a error in judgement and ended up being arrested for soliciting a prostitute. As you can imagine a complete nightmare, i engaged a lawyer who negotiated the charge to be ammended to "disorderly conduct", pled guily and paid a $250 fine.

Now that my GC is up for renewal, i went to the court today to get a disposition of the charge which reads

Idling with intent to engage in illicit sex - charge amended
Disorderly conduct - $250 fine paid

The disposition certifies that everything has been paid etc.

At the GC interview and renewal review - i will have to present this disposition - which would come up in background checks anyway. I had hoped that it would just detail the "disorderly conduct" charge, but again it would probably come up in BGchecks.

I have done some research on USCIS sites, here and other forums and here's what i have gleaned

PROS : 10 years ago (more than the 5 year good conduct threshold), Fine was $250 (less than threshold), jail time for incident could have been 30 days in city jail for 1st offense (less than 1 year threshold), fully disposed

CONS : criminal record, Crime of Moral Turpitude

I would appreciate any legal or semi-legal views on this.

(i would be grateful not to receive any moral judgements - after 10 years of living this - i know the errors of my way)


Thanks
 
For green card renewal you don't have to submit court dispositions with the application. They can send an RFE to request the court papers after you submit the application, but it's very unlikely they would do that for such a minor charge that did not involve jail time. And usually there is no interview. Citizenship could be a problem, as they will really dig deep for everything if you ever apply for citizenship, but I doubt you'll run into trouble for GC renewal.
 
some backup for my concerns

When my kid turned 14 and neede a GC renewal, the biometric appointment notice required to bring disposition of any convictions.

I assumed that to be a standard letter rather than just for minors?????



Also an Extract from USCIS page

During this step, USCIS initiates the background checks of the applicant/petitioner and identifies issues that may need to be addressed either during an interview or by asking the applicant/petitioner to submit additional information or documentation. USCIS reviews applicant's/petitioner's criminal history, determines if there are national security concerns that need to be addressed, and reviews the application/petition for fraud indicators.

If you have filed an I-485, I-589, I-751, N-400, I-90, I-821, I-131, I-130 or I-765, you can expect to receive an appointment notice to appear at an Application Support Center to have your fingerprints and/or biometrics taken. The timing of your appointment is determined by the number of applicants ahead of you that also need a biometric appointment. We try to schedule biometric appointments as quickly as possible and in most cases you will receive your appointment notice within 30 days of submitting your application. We will send your appointment notice approximately 14 days ahead of your scheduled appointment. It is important that you keep this appointment. If absolutely necessary, you can request that your appointment be rescheduled however, please be aware that rescheduling may delay the processing of your application. Please follow the instructions on your appointment notice if you need to reschedule.
 
If the notice says to bring the court papers, bring them, but don't show them if not asked.

Based on this case (http://www.murthy.com/news/n_nocrme.html) it seems that a single act of soliciting prostitution for oneself is not a CIMT. And there even if it is a CIMT, there is the "petty offense" exception which apparently applies to your case, given that it was a single offense and the sentencing penalties are so low.

If still you have serious concerns, you can consult a lawyer. But if this offense is really a problem for renewing your green card, you may be in trouble already. You have already submitted the application, so the background checks have begun. If you back out of the renewal process, your life will be messed up in other ways from not having a valid green card (e.g. being unable to renew your drivers license), and they might find a reason to deport you anyway based on the background checks they're already doing.
 
Im in the same case but my charge is more serious. in 1999 I was charged with possesion of Marijuana..but it gets a little tricky! how much Weed? well 2lbs, its a long story, my intent was not to sell the police knew that. so they dropped it to a lower charge. So it went from a felony to a misdemeanor . got convicted to 3 years probation the day of my 18th b=day. completed 3 years of prob, did a 90 day out patient rehab then kept going to aa and na meetings. so its been 10 years I have been working no arrests , no more drugs. ""I am still scared"" . I was gonna apply for citizenship but sine my GC in expiring in OCT. I decided to renew my GC to guarantee me more time here.. I have a couple of Qs...1> If my GC expires in OCT 2010, is now Jan/Feb too early to send I90 form? 2> once i renew my GC when will the new one expire??
 
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