Criminal Background

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Is your immigration situation being affected by a criminal history?

An Important Note:

Call us immediately if you've recently been charged with a federal offense, or any major offense, including alien smuggling. Call before you accept any deal, because a deal could keep you outside the U.S. for your lifetime.

If You Have a Criminal Background

Many would-be immigrants have made mistakes in the past or been caught up with bad associates and have found themselves charged with a crime. Some of them didn't want to pay for a criminal attorney to represent them, ended up pleading guilty, and accepted the deal offered to them by the prosecuting attorney. They were afraid of going to trial even if they were innocent, in case the jury found them guilty and handed down a large sentence.

If you'd like to immigrate to the U.S. and a criminal history is getting in your way, we can probably help. Call or email us today to set up a consultation.

Consult a Lawyer Before You Leave the Country

Perhaps you have a Green Card. But if you leave the country, re-entry is not guaranteed. Many people are blocked from returning here by the border officers. Some border officers know the law and others don't. But whether or not they know it, they have the authority to keep you out based on how they view your criminal background.

Criminal Immigration Waivers

Sometimes it's possible to get your criminal record overlooked or waived by the Board of Immigration Appeal. This can be a complex process, and there's a lot of information on the Internet that you could read for days and end up none the wiser as to your own specific case.

We urge you to call us. We can answer a lot of questions over the phone and save you a lot of wasted time. Each waiver is specific to your particular circumstances. Immigration law is complicated, and waivers can take a year or longer to obtain.

Reducing or Vacating Your Charges

Our Jacoby & Meyers criminal division may be able to do two things to help your immigration status:

• Reduce a felony to a misdemeanor
• Have a felony or misdemeanor vacated

This is not cheap, and not everyone qualifies. We might be able to do one of these things if your criminal background was in the U.S., but not if it was outside the U.S.

After speaking with you, one of our immigration attorneys can determine whether a waiver is possible for you. We would not ask you to pay us for trying to do something unlikely to succeed.

Don't delay. Please contact our immigration lawyers today, and we can help move you forward towards a legal immigration into the U.S. Jacoby & Meyers has offices nationwide.