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ResourcesVisa & Immigration LawUS Immigration LawPrior Criminal History and American Marriage Visa Applications

Prior Criminal History and American Marriage Visa Applications

Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests we are discussing prior criminal history on the part of petitioners for a US spousal immigration benefit notably the CR-1 Visa the IR-1 Visa and the K-3 Visa. Criminal history can have an impact on the overall process for US Visa benefits specifically in a spousal contest this can be especially the case with respect to prior history of domestic violence. There is another video on this channel that discusses domestic violence specifically in the context of fiancée and marriage visas. I urge those who are interested in that topic to go ahead and check out that video directly because there is way more to drill down into with respect to domestic violence specifically than there is in the context of this video.

I am talking about more routine criminal matters; DUI, various mid to low level felonies or misdemeanors. They may not actually have that big of an impact, depending on the circumstances of the underlying case upon an American citizen or lawful permanent resident's ability to file for spousal immigration benefits for their foreign spouse. So those watching this video, a DUI depending on the circumstances of it, may not have an impact on the process whatsoever. Again depending on circumstances and let me caveat all of this by saying this should not be taken as definitive legal advice. Contact a legal professional if you have a criminal history and you are seeking immigration benefits because there can be things that are very, very narrow and sort of way far afield that I am not even thinking of in my head right now that would seemingly be innocuous but could have a tremendously negative impact on the overall processing of a marriage visa to the United States. Again the major thing to watch out for is domestic violence history and again we get into that in another video on this channel.

But the thing to take away from this video,  you know prior criminal history, although it is not the  perfect thing in the world it may not be the most optimal thing with respect to processing a marriage visa petition, but it may not be dispositive of denial. It may not result in an automatic denial or a preclusion from seeking those visas. So again check out the video on domestic violence if that pertains to you but with respect to this video, the thing to take away from is contact a legal professional and ascertain whether or not one’s criminal history is going to have any impact on the immigration process before filing anything.