Receiving a B1/B2 Visa With A Criminal Record

According to the US Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), there are 10 reasons for inadmissibility. After being refused for these reasons, you need to apply for a waiver to obtain a visa to travel to the United States or immigrate.

Year: November 2018
Birthplace: China
Beneficiary: Mr. Wang
Applicant: Mr. Wang’s sister
Application Category: F-4 (US Citizen Petition for Siblings)

Brief background:
Mr. Wang was born in China and immigrated to Hong Kong in the 1980s. After Mr. Wang’s sister married to the United States and became a U.S. citizen, she filed immigration petitions for both her mother and younger brother. My mother moved to the United States to live with my sister. After more than ten years of waiting, Mr. Wang finally arrived in 2017. However, during the immigration interview, the consulate found out that Mr. Wang had a criminal record and concealed the record when he applied for a B1/B2 visa in 2005, thus violating the 212 (a)(2)(A)(i)(I) crime and 212(a)(6)(C)(i) fraud, ineligible for immigration, the original B1/B2 visa is also cancelled, and thereafter no re-entry United States, unless exempted.

Mr. Wang’s mother and sister were very sad when they found out, especially the 80-year-old mother shed tears every day, worrying that she would never see her son again.

My sister found Zang Dikai United Law Firm (Tsang & Associates) through the website and came to consult after learning about the immigration exemption cases we had successfully handled. Hurry up, because mother doesn’t know how long she can wait.

The Tsang and Associates lawyer team is well aware of the great responsibility, and immediately formulated an exemption strategy after accepting the entrustment. After a month of intensive preparations, they submitted an application for exemption in October 2017, and then submitted three requests for expedited processing, and finally received the exemption one year later. The approval notice, Mr. Wang obtained the immigrant visa and came to the United States to reunite with his mother and sister. The sister expressed his gratitude on behalf of the whole family!

Keys to success:
1. Immediate family members of U.S. citizens or permanent residents and extreme hardship
Immigrant waivers require applicants to prove that their inability to come to the United States will bring extreme hardship to the spouses, parents, and children of U.S. citizens or permanent residents.

Mr. Wang’s mother is a permanent resident of the United States and has lived in the United States for more than ten years, meeting the basic conditions for exemption.

After communicating with Ms. Wang, Zang Dikai’s lawyer team sorted out and discovered the facts: the mother is 80 years old and suffers from cardiovascular disease and needs frequent hospitalization and surgery; at the same time, the mother has mild dementia, and the blow of Mr. Wang’s inability to come to the United States has aggravated the mother Disease, bedridden need long-term accompany.

Although Ms. Wang is in the United States, she usually has to work and has her own family to take care of (my husband has handicapped legs and feet). Since she cannot afford the cost of nursing care, Ms. Wang has to take care of her mother and husband alone. It weighed her down. Now that the mother’s condition has worsened, the family’s situation is even worse.

In addition to instructing Ms. Wang to provide necessary documents such as hospital visits, the Tsang and Associates team fully demonstrated through the lawyer’s letter that Mr. Wang’s inability to come will cause great mental, physical and economic difficulties to the mother; Life. On the other hand, the health of Mr. Wang’s mother no longer allowed her to travel long distances to return to Hong Kong to reunite with her son. Mr. Wang’s absence will cause the family a lifetime of regret.

2. The nature of the crime and the performance of rehabilitation
Mr. Wang committed a supermarket theft 30 years ago, a misdemeanor (Misdemeanor), and has never committed it again since. Over the past 30 years, Mr. Wang has continued his studies after graduating from a vocational school. He has worked diligently, married and established a career. After work, he also serves as a volunteer to help those in need. Never thought that a mistake many years ago would have such serious consequences. Zang Dikai’s lawyer team guided Mr. Wang to retrieve the court judgment, proving that what he committed was a “misdemeanor” and more than 15 years ago. Mr. Wang has rehabilitated and immigration will not cause any damage to the welfare and security of the United States.

3. Extenuating Circumstances for Fraud and Misrepresentation
When Mr. Wang applied for a B1/B2 visa in 2000, it was not intentional not to disclose the supermarket theft. At that time, he was sentenced to two months of probation for one year and did not actually serve his sentence in prison. Mr. Wang never mentioned this disgraceful incident to anyone. He hoped that time would erase this record, and he would forget it as time went by. That’s why I didn’t mention the fact that I had committed a crime when I applied for the visa. The team emphasized the nature of the crime, the length of the sentence, and the final application of probation. In addition, when the visa was issued in 2005, it had been more than 15 years since the crime was committed, so there was no need to conceal the facts to obtain a visa.

Comments from Zang Dikai Law Firm:
According to the US Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), there are 10 reasons for inadmissibility, of which fraud & misrepresentation, illegal stay, illegal entry, and criminal reasons are the most common factors. After being denied for these reasons, it is necessary to apply for a waiver to obtain a visa to travel to the United States or to immigrate. If you have a previous criminal record, you can apply for immunity through a misdemeanor exemption, or by claiming that the 15-year period has passed. If neither applies, only through US Relative + Extreme Hardship. In this case, Mr. Wang originally met the first two methods to obtain immunity, but because he ignored the clause that caused repeated mistakes and committed fraud. Because of a mistake many years ago, it was almost impossible to go to the United States to reunite with my mother, which is worth taking as a warning.

If you have any questions about immigration or non-immigrant waivers after visa denial and want to seek professional advice, please call Tsang & Associates to make an appointment for consulting services.

*For more information, please click the link below to view:
FAQ Immigrant Denial of Entry Waivers
Interpretation of Immigrant Exemption and Great Dilemma
Complete list of applications for exemption from rejection of US immigration interviews (I)
Complete list of applications for exemption from rejection of US immigration interviews (II)

*To protect customer privacy, customer names are pseudonyms.