Past feloney conviction

S

sliderip

Registered Users (C)
I plead guilty to a felony under USC 1029(a)(2) Unauthorized use of access device back in 1995. I was sentenced to 6 months of halfway house and 3 years of probation.

During my halfway house stay i was picked up by INS for deportation proceedings based on the felony conviction. I was bonded and told to appear before a immigration judge.

I was granted waiver under section 212(h) by the immigration judge and given LPR under section 245 in June 1998.

I have had no past criminal record since that felony conviction back in 1995.

My GC is about to expire next year and i am wondering should i just renew my GC or apply for Naturalization? I think this question may have been asked before but i appreciate any fresh input/advice.

Thanks
 
Seeing that you were given LPR status after your conviction, I believe you should be okay in applying for citizenship. However, I would still run this by a competent attorney.

sliderip said:
My GC is about to expire next year and i am wondering should i just renew my GC or apply for Naturalization? I think this question may have been asked before but i appreciate any fresh input/advice.
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Triple Citizen said:
Seeing that you were given LPR status after your conviction, I believe you should be okay in applying for citizenship.
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It is OK for the sake of prevention of deportation ( I believe there is something similar to double jeopardy in crminal law) but whether citizenshipship is OK depend upon if the felony is aggravated felony. Aggravated felony establish permanent bar to citizenship.

Anyway, the risk is deportation plus $ 685. If depoetation is a settled issue (waiver was given and if we assume once a waiver is given, it can not be
used as basis for deportation again), thgen the risk is only $ 675.
 
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Triple Citizen said:
That is why I advised the OP to run it by a competent attorney :)
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He need to check with a lawyer with two things

(1) If a waiver was given to an deportable offense, can the person still be deported based upon the same offense?

(I believe the answer should be NO otherwise any waiver or relief
become meaningless because USCIS can create a dead loop by
placing a persin over and over again into removal procedure no
matter how many times a waiver or relief is given)

(2) If the offense is an aggravted felony.
 
sliderip said:
It was not a aggravated felony ,,
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Then if you need to check if the same offense can be used again
for deportation or not after a waiver is given.

If it is no more deportable and the offense is not aggravated felony, then
citizenship should be OK. and whether it is actuall;y OK or not, you
can only find out by applying. Only USCIS can give a really meaningful
answer. Other others are just speculations
 
sliderip said:
I plead guilty to a felony under USC 1029(a)(2) Unauthorized use of access device back in 1995. I was sentenced to 6 months of halfway house and 3 years of probation.

During my halfway house stay i was picked up by INS for deportation proceedings based on the felony conviction. I was bonded and told to appear before a immigration judge.

I was granted waiver under section 212(h) by the immigration judge and given LPR under section 245 in June 1998.

I have had no past criminal record since that felony conviction back in 1995.

My GC is about to expire next year and i am wondering should i just renew my GC or apply for Naturalization? I think this question may have been asked before but i appreciate any fresh input/advice.

Thanks
Click to expand...



Just apply for citizenship, this crime occured when Clinton was still a President and we were swimming in money, until some brush clearing buffon entered the White House and ripped our saving underneath our fingers...:rolleyes: The statutory period expired in 2001, so there is nothing which prevents you from filing for naturalization. In reading you case, I read nowhere in which you crime was classified as an aggravated felony. If you had committed the latter, you wouldn't be in the US irrespective of your family petitions for your GC.


Read this very slowly: No waiver is available for serious aggravated felonies such as murder, criminal acts involving torture, or convictions of trafficking of controlled substances, unless the drug trafficking crime is a single offense involving the simple possession of 30 grams or less of barbiturates (marijuana). In addition to the above, no waiver shall be granted in the case of a permanent resident if either since the date of such admission the alien has been convicted of an aggravated felony or the alien has not lawfully resided continuously in the United States for at least 7 years immediately preceding the date of initiation of proceedings to remove the alien from the United States. In short, when USCIS granted your initial greencard, this crime was weighed in within the bounds of what is acceptable and unacceptable, and USCIS ruled that you were fine. The waiver which you got under 212 (h) is narrow and focused on crimes which US govt consider unacceptable for immigrants to commit. ;)

You can consult a lawyer if you want an assurance, if I were in your shoes, I would apply and naturalize. In the process of filing, don't speed or committ any other crimes which might call into questions your rehabilitation from this terrible episode in your life. Good luck and keep up posted...:D
 
i concur ,, there is such a thing as statue of limitation under federal guidelines ;)

assembler.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode18/usc_sup_01_18_10_II_20_213.html

I came to USA legally in summer of 1989.

Now hindsight is 20/20 , if i had knows the difference between felony and misdemeanor etc i sure would not have plead guilty , i charged $22 on a credit card that was not mine , a stupid and criminal thing to do on my part , i should have known better but thats in the past.
 
sliderip said:
i concur ,, there is such a thing as statue of limitation under federal guidelines ;)

assembler.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode18/usc_sup_01_18_10_II_20_213.html

I came to USA legally in summer of 1989.

Now hindsight is 20/20 , if i had knows the difference between felony and misdemeanor etc i sure would not have plead guilty , i charged $22 on a credit card that was not mine , a stupid and criminal thing to do on my part , i should have known better but thats in the past.
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Yep. Just consult one of these free Catholic service and have one of their lawyers review your situation for free. However, consider a confession first..:D As I said, I see no problems in your case because the crime was a long time ago, and all wrongdoers are forgiven after some time. Good luck and keep us posted because your case could benefits someone in similar case years from now. :cool:
 
sliderip said:
I plead guilty to a felony under USC 1029(a)(2) Unauthorized use of access device back in 1995.
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Access device as in use of illegal cable, satellite decoder, or credit card?
Felony fraud is considered a CIMT and fraud over $10000 is considered aggravated felony.
You were already granted a waiver for the conviction and you received your GC afterwards so I highly doubt they would try to deport you again if you apply for naturalization.
Double check with an immigration lawyer specialized in criminal law to make sure.
 
Bobsmyth said:
You were already granted a waiver for the conviction and you received your GC afterwards so I highly doubt they would try to deport you again if you apply for naturalization.
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At other forum, I heard a case that someone commited anssault before GC
(GC was granted after that offense was considered).
After he got the GC, he commited another assault. The government deported him on the basis of first offense not the second even apparently it was the second offense that push the government to deport him. His lawyer said he was screwed.
 
WBH said:
At other forum, I heard a case that someone commited anssault before GC
(GC was granted after that offense was considered).
After he got the GC, he commited another assault. The government deported him on the basis of first offense not the second even apparently it was the second offense that push the government to deport him. His lawyer said he was screwed.
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Was he ever in removal proceeding and granted a waiver for the first offense before GC process? If not, it's not comparable to OP's case.
 
Bobsmyth said:
Was he ever in removal proceeding and granted a waiver for the first offense before GC process? If not, it's not comparable to OP's case.
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That I don't know. But I am not sure if there is such thing as double jeopardy in immigration law. If not, then government can indeed repeat
removal proceeding based upon the same offense even waiver was given before. And if there is immigration equivalent of dpouble jeopardy,
then what action means the person is alrewady put into jeopardy once (Waiver, relief, or get out of USA and come back again)?
 
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There is some stuff I found:

http://immigration.lawyers.com/deportation/Immigration-Hearings-Double-Jeopardy.html

Quote:

In the United States, there are a couple legal concepts called - res judicata and collateral estoppel - that prevent identical cases from being disputed in the courts more than once. In immigration proceedings, this means that if the government brings a case against an alien in attempt to remove him or her from the country, and if the government loses that case, then the government cannot repeat those removal proceedings in an effort to get a different result.

Res Judicata and Collateral Estoppel
Res judicata is a Latin phrase that translates as "a matter [already] judged." It means that once a final decision has been reached in a case, then that case cannot be re-tried. This is similar to the concept of double jeopardy, and goes hand-in-hand with the Fifth Amendment to the US Constitution, which says that "nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb."

Collateral estoppel means that once a final judgment has been reached in a case, then those same issues cannot be raised again in a lawsuit by the same parties. In other words, once after judgment has been reached in a case, and after all subsequent appeals have been exhausted, then if an identical or near identical case is brought before the courts, the case must be dismissed.

Neither res judicata or collateral estoppel prevent new cases from being litigated if the facts change, the issues change or the parties to the case are different.

What Does This Mean for Immigration Proceedings?
Courts have ruled that the doctrines of res judicata and collateral estoppel also apply to immigration proceedings. If the government initiates removal proceedings against an alien, and the government loses the case, then the government cannot initiate a new round of removal proceedings using the same set of facts, or facts that the government was aware of during the first removal proceedings, but chose not to use.

However, if the government tries again to remove an alien based on new facts that were previously unknown, that case would be allowed to proceed.

For example, if an alien has been found guilty of a crime, then the government will try to have the alien deported from the country. If the government loses the case, and the alien is permitted to stay in the United States, then the government cannot later try again to remove the alien because of the same criminal conviction. However, if the alien is later convicted of another crime, the government would be able to start new removal proceedings against the alien because the facts of the case have changed.
 
Bobsmyth said:
Was he ever in removal proceeding and granted a waiver for the first offense before GC process? If not, it's not comparable to OP's case.
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The issue here is that the government can do something against laws.

There is a case law Matter of rainford (see the attached link) that says deportable but not inadmissible offense prior to teh green card can not be used to deport a person after he gets the GC. But in the story I cited the person got deported anyway based upon his pre-GC offense

http://www.usdoj.gov/eoir/vll/intdec/vol20/3191.pdf
 
sliderip said:
My GC is about to expire next year and i am wondering should i just renew my GC or apply for Naturalization? I think this question may have been asked before but i appreciate any fresh input/advice.
Click to expand...

As others said, it is unlikely they will raise this issue again. Also, an immigration attorney can help review your complete case.

However, assuming the chances of renewal of GC are higher than chances of naturalization, would it not be better to apply for GC and lock in permanent residency for another 10 years?
 
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