Can a DUI Affect My Immigration Status?

Use these links to jump to different sections:

• Can a DUI Affect My Visa Application?
• What Are the Consequences of a DUI on a Green Card?
• Can I Renew My Green Card With a DUI on My Record?
• Can a DUI Affect My Application for US Citizenship?
• Can a DUI Affect My Work Visa?
• Can I Be Deported for a DUI/DWI?
• What Actions Can Trigger Deportation?
• Speak With an Immigration Attorney

To legally remain in the United States during the immigration process, you need to follow the same laws that U.S. citizens follow. This includes the laws on getting and holding a driver’s license. Not following the rules of the road or driving under the influence can negatively affect your immigration status.

If you are going through the immigration process and get a DUI, speaking with a lawyer can help you navigate the immigration consequences that come with your arrest and conviction.

Can a DUI Affect My Visa Application? 

Yes, your DUI could impact your visa application. However, whether it does or not will depend on when your DUI happened and the circumstances surrounding it.

Immigration officers want to know that you will follow U.S. laws while in the country. A very recent or egregious DUI could imply that you won’t. Multiple DUIs show a pattern of behavior and a more extensive criminal record that could result in the denial of your visa application.

What Are the Consequences of a DUI on a Green Card?

A DUI can delay the processing of your green card application. If it is your first DUI, there are no aggravating factors, and you have a clean criminal history, then your DUI probably won’t cause a denial of your green card application. Depending on the circumstances, you might have to attend U.S. immigration court for a judge to review your DUI charges. The judge could revoke your green card as the outcome of this hearing.

Can I Renew My Green Card With a DUI on My Record?

If it is your first DUI and there are no aggravating circumstances, it probably won’t significantly impact your green card status and renewal. However, if you have received multiple DUI charges, have other criminal charges on your record, or have served jail time, there is more of a risk of impact. Speaking with an immigration lawyer about the specifics of your DUI charge will help you understand how it will impact your status.

“Generally speaking, one DUI does not bar you from getting a green card if it’s alcohol,” says Ricky Palladino, an immigration law attorney at Palladino, Isbell & Casazza in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. “If it’s not alcohol, then it could bar you as a controlled substance violation, and if it’s more than one DUI, it could be on discretionary grounds.”

Can a DUI Affect My Application for US Citizenship?

Having a DUI does not result in the automatic denial of immigration applications. Even though it could be a criminal conviction, a single DUI could imply a lack of good moral character. However, this depends on how recently it happened, the circumstances, and the outcome of the criminal charges.

Having multiple DUIs within a specific amount of time can create a presumption of questionable or lacking moral character. This won’t result in automatic denial but will require you to work harder for approval.

Can a DUI Affect My Work Visa?

A DUI can cause you to lose your non-immigrant visa. You may be required to leave immediately or be allowed to stay for the remainder of your current visa. In both situations, you will likely face denial in the future when attempting to re-enter the United States.

Depending on your visa, DUI conviction, and other circumstances, you may have to wait a number of years before gaining re-entry approval. In some situations, you may never gain re-entry approval.

Can I Be Deported for a DUI/DWI?

Generally, a DUI is not a deportable offense. However, there are exceptions to this. If you are an undocumented immigrant, a DUI can trigger deportation procedures. In this situation, you are not getting deported because you were arrested for DUI. Instead, your DUI arrest brought you to the attention of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Once located and identified as an undocumented immigrant, removal proceedings will begin.

Palladino highlights the subtlety of immigration law and how a DUI can be the catalyst that begins deportation proceedings. “If someone’s here and they’re already unlawful, the U.S. government would try to deport them, but not because of the DUI itself. It’s the DUI that puts them on the enforcement radar.”

If you gain naturalization status, a DUI won’t cause you to lose your status. The exception to this is if your DUI took place before you applied for citizenship and you lied about it on your application. It wouldn’t be the DUI that causes your loss of status but the fact that you lied.

What Actions Can Trigger Deportation?

Individuals who are in the United States legally will get deported for committing crimes that are violent, aggravated felonies, crimes of violence, or moral turpitude. Generally, a DUI won’t fall into these categories, but that does not mean a DUI cannot qualify as a crime of moral turpitude. Whether it does or not will depend on the circumstances of your DUI, arrest, and crimes charged with.

For example, an immigration court may classify your DUI as a crime of moral turpitude if someone died, there were children in your vehicle, you were driving on a suspended license, or you were using drugs. These are all aggravating factors that turn your DUI into a more serious criminal offense.

Palladino gives another example of how immigration law can become complex based on the factors of your DUI. “Generally, you cannot be deported for just the DUI. Now, the letters DUI mean ‘driving under the influence.’ Generally speaking, if you’re driving under the influence of alcohol, it’s not deportable. If you’re driving under the influence of a federally controlled substance, then you could be. A deportable offense because it’s a controlled substance violation.”

You can speak with a lawyer if you are concerned about your DUI charges. A DUI defense attorney can evaluate your charges to determine if they are deportable crimes. They may also advise negotiating with the prosecutor to reduce the charges. Instead of a DUI, they may be reduced to reckless driving.

Should I Report a DUI Arrest to Immigration Authorities?

You must report your DUI offense to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). If you do not disclose it during your application process, you can be denaturalized for obtaining your citizenship fraudulently. The consequences of hiding your DUI are significantly more severe than getting a DUI and disclosing it.

Palladino encourages individuals to disclose their criminal history fully for complete honesty on their immigrant applications. “Absolutely, you have to report it. On any immigration application that you’re submitting, you have an affirmative duty to disclose anything that could possibly render you ineligible for a green card. You have a duty to disclose really anything that’s specifically asked. The application asks if you have ever been arrested, cited, or charged. You also need to disclose it if it’s expunged.”

Do I Need an Immigration Attorney or a DUI Attorney for a DUI-Related Immigration Issue?

When seeking legal advice, contact a lawyer who focuses their practice on the area of law in which you need representation. While all lawyers receive a generalized education while in law school, they focus their practice on a specific area of law. A DUI defense lawyer will provide knowledgeable representation for your administrative and criminal proceedings for your DUI arrest. An immigration lawyer will give knowledgeable representation for your immigration proceedings.

You may want to speak with both types of attorneys to ensure you stay fully informed. There can be different and conflicting legal definitions that can impact your immigration status. For example, under criminal law, a conviction is a reasonably straightforward definition where you are found guilty of the crime accused of. Under immigration law, a conviction can have a broader meaning. So, agreeing to a particular outcome by following your DUI attorney’s advice can impact your immigration status.

Palladino explains what could qualify as a conviction for immigration purposes: “A conviction for immigration purposes is any time that there is an admission of guilt. So, for example, a no-contest play—even though you’re not admitting guilt, you’re also not completely absolved of it. [That] can lead to a conviction.”

Speak With an Immigration Attorney

No matter what your status, you should not participate in drunk driving. If you find yourself facing DUI charges, speaking with a criminal defense attorney will help you understand your legal options for preserving your criminal record. Speaking with an immigration attorney will help you protect your permanent resident status.

Visit the Super Lawyers directory to begin your search for an experienced immigration lawyer. For more information on these legal issues, see our overviews on DUI/DWI law and the immigration process.