Can't immigrate to the United States with a criminal record?

According to the provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Law of the United States, a person who has been convicted of crimes against public morality or pleaded guilty (CIMT), or whose recognized criminal activities can constitute the basic elements of crimes against public morality, is prohibited from entering the United States.

The Immigration Act does not define crimes against public morality. According to the written opinions of the Immigration Appeals Board (BIA), crimes against public morality generally refer to actions that are despicable or degenerate in nature, violate recognized moral standards, and violate the due responsibility between people and between people and society.

Common crimes against public morality include murder, intentional homicide and manslaughter in some cases. In some cases), serious fighting (assault [violation]), kidnapping (kidnapping), spouse abuse (spouse abuse), child abuse (child abuse), robbery (robbery), * * (rape), credit card fraud/illegal use of credit cards (credit card fraud/use), theft (theft), corruption (embedding), *

According to previous precedents, the drunk driving behaviors judged as CIMT include: drunk driving with an invalid driver's license and knowing that the driver's license is invalid, and drunk driving occurs when the driver's license is temporarily suspended, revoked, revoked or restricted due to a history of drunk driving. In other cases of drunk driving, in the process of applying for an immigrant visa, the consulate will judge whether it violates public morality according to the details of the specific case.

The above list is only a brief summary of various crimes, and the actual definition is more complicated, usually depending on the case or specific case, and the regulations of each state are not the same.

If a person is convicted or determined to have committed a crime against public morality, he may be restricted from "no entry", except for the following circumstances:

One is petty crime. The requirements for minor crimes are: 1) The longest sentence that may be imposed on the alleged crime shall not exceed one year; 2) The actual prison term is less than six months. Therefore, if the applicant commits a crime against public morality and meets the above conditions, he can get an exception exemption.

The second is juvenile delinquency. The elements of juvenile delinquency are: 1) being a minor at the time of committing the crime; 2) The date of the crime is more than five years from the date of visa or entry application. If sentenced to imprisonment, the date of release is more than 5 years from the date of visa or entry application.