Washington, GA Immigration Law Firms & Lawyers

Many people, even including skilled criminal defense attorneys, mistakenly believe that expungement of a criminal conviction will have no impact upon an immigration-related application. Instead, security background checks that are a part of immigration application processes can be expected to reveal arrests and convictions even if they have been ordered expunged by the relevant court. Beyond that, an applicant must disclose criminal arrests and convictions in the application forms, and failure to do so, even following an expungement, can have very harsh consequences. Also note that it is necessary to supply court-certified copies of arrest dispositions, and when a case has been expunged it can be quite difficult to get court-certified copies. For this reason, if a criminal defense attorney is not thoroughly familiar with the impact of criminal matters on immigration, a client should request collaboration with an immigration attorney. Domestic violence convictions may indeed bar eligibility for naturalization. It would be wise to engage an immigration attorney who, after learning all of the relevant information about that matter, could advise you about eligibility and about steps that may be available to take at this late stage to attain your goal. Some immigration law firms, including mine, offer legal services on a "flat fee" basis so that a client will know the total expense from the very beginning, and a few immigration law firms, including mine, offer an initial consultation free of charge.

Upon marriage abroad, the approved K1 fiance visa will become moot, but you should be able to commence consular processing to achieve your goal of enabling him to come to the U.S. and become a Lawful Permanent Resident. It would be wise for you and your fiance? to consult with an immigration attorney who, upon learning all of the relevant information about you and your fiance?, will be able to advise about eligibilities, options and strategies and would be able to offer legal representation in the often complex application process.

If you plead guilty this will affect your N400 from the date of the crime for 5 years(3 years if you apply for N-400 based on your marriage to a USC spouse).