I was sentenced to five months in prison for theft in 2008. Can I immigrate to America now?

If you have a criminal record, it will definitely be detrimental to your application, and it will also slow down the time for obtaining a visa. But it is not necessarily hopeless. First of all, it depends on the nature of the crime, how many years ago it was committed, the age at the time of the crime, how many criminal records there are, and so on. If you have only committed a minor crime once in your life, it has been more than five years since you committed the crime, and you were still young when you committed the crime. Just need more documents, so it will take several months to approve.

Once it is found or considered that the applicant belongs to or may belong to the category of no entry, his application may be rejected. There is one way to avoid being classified as non-entry: prove that non-entry does not apply to you.

Prove that the non-entry category does not apply to you, usually when the applicant is classified as a non-entry category because of crime or moral problems. But not all crimes or moral problems are classified as off-limits. If the applicant has been arrested or prosecuted, as long as he has not been convicted or the prosecution has been dropped, he cannot be classified as inadmissible. In addition, a person sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years does not belong to the crime of moral corruption, nor can it be classified as non-incrimination.

If the applicant has been clearly classified as not allowed to enter the country, applying for exemption is the last resort.

Crimes unrelated to drugs are minor crimes and can be exempted according to their nature and the number of crimes:

Immunity from crime: If the applicant is listed as inadmissible because of a crime or criminal record, and can't prove other circumstances, you can consider applying for exemption directly from the immigration bureau or the embassy or consulate.

An application for exemption from the non-entry category should only be made when the applicant is officially notified that it is classified as a non-entry category. Of course, if the applicant knows that he is not allowed to enter China when submitting an application for an immigrant visa or an application for adjustment of status in China, he can also apply for visa exemption at the same time.

Many times, major family changes will be regarded as one of the conditions for applying for exemption. In this case, the applicant must prove that if he is deported or refused entry, he, as a close relative of an American citizen or permanent resident, will suffer greatly from such family separation. Applicants must state these different difficulties in detail and provide proof at the same time. First, proof of family relationship, such as marriage certificate, birth certificate of children, proof of parents' identity, etc. , followed by the relevant certificates of serious difficulties, such as doctor's certificate, medical certificate, bank statement, deposit certificate, tax bill, certificate or explanation of the applicant's country of residence, etc.