Can I have my sale of narcotics charge expunged and get US citizenship?

Depending on where you live you should speak with an immigration lawyer before you spend money on an expungement. An excellent one in SF is Phil Levin whose email address is: ; I have misplaced his phone number but he will be listed in SF information or look him up on the internet. If you are near SF, he is the guy to go to. If you are far away email him as he might be able to recommend someone in your area. I can do the expungment if it will make a difference for ICE purposes. If it doesn't don't spend the money. Again if you are in the Bay Area I can do it for you and if elsewhere I can recommend a good criminal lawyer for these purposes BUT BEFORE DOING ANYTHING CONTACT AN IMMIGRATION LAWYER.

The general rules and guidelines are: Records are forever, and priors may count as 'strikes' in future charges. However, many felony and misdemeanor convictions [not infractions] can sometimes be 'expunged' from criminal records by proper application and Petition to the court, but only if there was no prison time served, or even sentenced and reduced to probation, if it was not for certain sex and Domestic Violence crimes, if all terms of sentencing and probation [and at least one year of probation] are completed and finished, and if there are no new charges pending. If successful, the conviction would be retroactively reduced to a misdemeanor and then withdrawn and the charges dismissed. That does not 'remove' the conviction, but merely changes the record to show 'conviction reversed and dismissed by expungement'. When applying for a job in the private sector, you generally do not have to disclose a conviction if it was expunged. However, the conviction is still a 'prior' or 'strike' for purposes of repeat offense, and must be disclosed on any application for government and professional employment and licensing, bonding, security clearance, etc. The licensing agency and employer then can decide whether you are barred from licensing and employment because of your conviction. As you can see, prison sentencing bars you from expungement. If you were actually sentenced to prison, but put on probation in lieu, you are not able to get expungement. If you were NOT sentenced to prison, you can. If that is the case, then contact me if serious about seeking this. If you are not certain, then get out your court paperwork, or go to the court clerks office and pull your file.

We can certainly expunge your case, and an immigration attorney will help with citizenship Give us a call.

If it was a felony, you need to hire a lawyer to first do a 17b motion to reduce it to a misdemeanor and, once that is granted, the lawyer can petition the court to expunge the misdemeanor. If it was plead as a misdemeanor, then the attorney can proceed straight to the expungement petition. Since this occurred so long ago, you have a pretty good chance of success.

As far as expunging the case, that is definitely something that you should seek if you want to obtain citizenship. If your conviction was for a felony you might also seek a reduction from a felony to a misdemeanor under PC 17(b). As far as the citizenship, you would most likely need to speak to an immigration attorney to see how this will affect you.

Yes it is possible to do both. You will want to have your record expunged prior to applying for citizenship. Many attorneys will be able to assist you with this.