Naturalization & Citizenship Attorney in Evanston, Illinois
Can I apply for citizenship if I have a criminal record?
Can I apply for citizenship if I have a criminal record?
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if you have a criminal record you may or
may not be eligible to file for
citizenship so in simple terms the more
egregious or the more complex your
criminal background is the less likely
it is that you will be eligible for
citizenship so let’s look at a couple of
examples
if you were convicted of an aggravated
felony the chances are that you are not
eligible to become a citizen and in fact
if you were to file for citizenship
there is a possibility not necessarily
probability but possibility that you
could be placed in removal proceedings
now if you let’s say have a DUI or a DWI
in your record my general counsel is to
wait until the statutory period has come
and gone meaning you are outside the
5-year statutory period then to possibly
consider filing and of course then we
have the um routine traffic violations
that generally speaking don’t really
come into play all that much and so
because there’s so much at stake and and
and the consequences are rather dire I
do encourage those who are contemplating
filing for citizenship to do so only
after speaking to a professional who can
properly assess their chances of success
Evanston, IL immigration attorney Alen Takhsh talks about whether or not you can apply for citizenship if you have a criminal record.
