Will Domestic Violence Conviction Prevent Your Receiving a U.S. Visa or Green Card?

Any non-citizen of the United States (whether living inside or outside the U.S.) who wants to get either a nonimmigrant (temporary) visa or permanent residence (a green card) should take care to avoid what's called "inadmissibility" in the immigration law world. This legal concept is explained further in Inadmissibility: When the U.S. Can Keep You Out, but essentially means that one cannot enter the U.S. or get either a visa or green card due to issues like medical or criminal history.

What about when an applicant has a police record including household abuse or violence? Although domestic violence isn't actually named in the law as a crime that can make a person inadmissible, it can still result in inadmissibility. This article will explain why, specifically covering:

• how domestic violence can be viewed as a "crime involving moral turpitude" (CIMT), and
• when domestic violence can be considered an "aggravated felony."

Domestic Violence Convictions Can Make Applicants Inadmissible as "Crimes Involving Moral Turpitude"

The most common way in which a domestic violence conviction could make a noncitizen inadmissible to the United States and therefore not able to obtain a U.S. visa or green card is if it matches what's known in the immigration world as a "crime involving moral turpitude"(CIMT).

The basic definition of a crime of moral turpitude is one that shocks the conscience or is deemed "inherently base, vile or depraved." For more on this, see What's a Crime of Moral Turpitude According to U.S. Immigration Law? and I.N.A. § 212(a)(2)(A)(i)(I).

The decision of whether a particular person's conviction for domestic violence is a CIMT is made by either an immigration judge or U.S. government official, depending on where the person is in the process of applying for an immigration benefit or fighting deportation. Even if the immigration judge or official determines a particular domestic violence crime to be a CIMT, however, the analysis isn't over. There might still be an exception it arguably falls under.

Most notably, a domestic violence crime could fall under what's sometimes called the "petty offense" exception if the maximum jail time the person could have been sentenced to was one year or less and the person was not sentenced to more than six months of imprisonment. If the crime qualifies for this exception, then the applicant would still be eligible to receive the visa or green card if there were no other immigration issues (criminal or otherwise) on their record.

Domestic Violence Convictions Can Make Applicants Permanently Inadmissible as "Aggravated Felonies"

Applicants for U.S. visas or green cards face potentially harsher consequences after a domestic violence conviction if the crime matches what's known in immigration law lingo as an "aggravated felony." This would put the person at risk for mandatory detention, deportation, ineligibility for relief from deportation, and even a permanent bar to reentering the United States.

A domestic violence conviction may be viewed as an aggravated felony if it is considered to be a "crime of violence" (defined at 18 U.S.C. §16). If the crime on record was intentional, included force, and the order for imprisonment was for more than one year, the crime is likely to be considered a crime of violence and thus an aggravated felony under U.S. immigration law.

The record of conviction (including the written law for the crime, the charging documents, plea agreement and transcript, sentence, and jury instructions) will determine whether the domestic violence crime is a crime of violence and an aggravated felony.

It is VERY important to understand that police reports (the document made by police detailing the crime or incident) are not included in the record of conviction unless a person agrees that the facts in the report are true. So if a non-citizen already has a conviction for domestic violence, it is in their best interest to keep the police report out of consideration for the issue of an aggravated felony. That's because the report might include comments that the noncitizen (or other person involved) made to the police that could elevate the crime to the level of a crime of violence or aggravated felony.

Getting Legal Help

If you already have a domestic violence crime on your record, speak with an experienced immigration attorney for a full analysis of whether it makes you inadmissible.

If you have been charged with domestic violence, but haven't yet received a final conviction, it's also worth bringing in an immigration attorney to confer with your criminal law attorney. You might be able to plead down to a lesser crime, but the exact definition of that crime will be important, in order to avoid the possibility of deportation and exile from the United States. Specifically with domestic violence, your best bet will likely be to plead to something that does not include a sentence of more than 364 days, such as simple battery or assault.