cindy salazar law

- Criminal Convictions

If you are a non-citizen living in the United States, being charged and convicted of a crime could affect your immigration status and your ability to remain in the country legally.

  • The specific consequences, however, depend on a number of factors including:
  • Your current status as a lawful permanent resident or a visa holder;
  • How long you have lived in the United States;
  • The nature and severity of the charges against you; and
  • Any prior criminal record you may have.
  • It is important to remember that accepting a plea deal, in most cases, is the same as being convicted by a judge or jury. Before you accept any plea agreement or pre-trial diversion or program, it is critical for you to know whether your immigration status and benefits will be affected, and if so, how they will be affected. Once you accept a plea deal and the judgment is entered, you cannot reverse the decision when you discover that your immigration benefits have been impacted.

Even pursuing an expungement or sealed record will not help your immigration case. An expungement, in fact, will cause more harm than good because the expungement might make it harder to show the circumstances of the original prosecution.
For more information about criminal convictions and how they can affect your immigration status, contact our office. Call 508-388-2999 for a confidential consultation today.



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