I am a potential EB-5 investor from Europe. About 25 years ago, I was sentenced to one year and 10 months in prison for a crime involving moral turpitude. The sentence was suspended, and I never went to prison. Ten years ago, upon my request, the criminal record has been removed. Now I have a clean criminal record. When I apply for EB-5, do I need to disclose this to USCIS? Will this impact my ability to get a green card?
You are still required to disclose the charge and final disposition. Whether it would impact your ability to apply for lawful permanent residence may depend on the review of the details of your criminal history and the court findings, etc.
The fact that the record is expunged does not matter and must be disclosed. It is a complex question for an open forum. Your complete criminal case record and its disposition must be reviewed to advise you of potential inadmissibility issues. Consult an immigration attorney for further guidance.
The questions usually are phrased as "have you ever?" So yes, you'll have to disclose but then you explain the rest and it may be OK. Work with an attorney, please.
Yes. You should disclose it. Since it happened so long ago, your sentence was suspended, and the criminal record was removed, hopefully it will be a non-issue, but unfortunately, there are no guarantees with these kinds of cases. We would recommend that you try and apply. Maybe you can speak to the regional center and get an I-526 rejection payment guarantee from them, which includes a rejection due to this factor.
The fact that it has been expunged does not help. The case has to be reopened and dismissed.
This is a difficult question with complexities. You should consult with an immigration attorney who specializes in questions regarding detained and aliens in criminal consequences, an attorney who is preferably board-certified in immigration and nationality law in the state where the attorney practices law. Depending upon the crime itself and a variety of other factors, you may be excludable from the U.S. This would be true even if the criminal record was expunged. As part of the process, you must answer questions about whether or not you've ever been arrested or convicted of any crimes. A failure to answer the question correctly could also have a negative impact, should the USCIS examiner or the consular officer abroad determine that you had in fact been arrested and convicted for a crime.
Yes, you will need to disclose your entire criminal record during the permanent residency process. You should consult with a U.S. immigration attorney about whether your criminal history may affect your ability to become a U.S. permanent resident.
I think Interpol will have a record that you were arrested, even if the case was later expunged. We always advise our clients to disclose everything. It's worse if you get caught lying to the government. We would need to look at what the crime was to give you further advice.
Yes, you must disclose your criminal record. Otherwise, any failure to disclose will be considered an act of misrepresentation and it may negatively affect your petition.
Yes, you need to disclose it. Whether or not it would impact your ability to become a permanent resident would need to be analyzed with complete court records.
If the sentence in Europe was expunged and said expungement is allowed on its merit under the local laws, you should not have any problems applying for EB-5 or receiving your green card if you are eligible. However, please note that the USCIS officer has a wide discretion when it comes to the determination of good moral character.
