Asked on Feb 06th, 2017 on Immigration - New Jersey
More details to this question:
Hello, I am a permanent Resident for over 10 years, and decided it is time to apply for a US citizenship. One problem that I do have is in June 2015 I was arrested for a DWI (which is considered as a traffic offense in NJ) in the state of NJ. Will this have any negative effect on my application and cause it to be denied? Do I absolutely have to wait 5 years from the arrest date until I can start the process for naturalization? Do any other factors such as being a full-time student, owning a home, weigh in positively towards the decision making from USCIS? If the application does get denied, Do I have to wait another 5 years until I can re-apply? Thank you for your advice!
I will assume for purposes of your question that you were not cleared of the charge. Naturalization requires good moral character, in most cases for five years. You have a questionable case as to whether an application would be granted at this time. If only one DWI, however, the odds are good. DWIs in the past were not considered too damaging to applications, but have received much attention in this past decade. That is because of the pressure brought on to members of Congress by aggressive lobbying by interested parties, which in turn has meant the dragging of DHS officials before congressional committees on the issue. If you do decide to go forward with your naturalization case, you should attempt to make a showing of any equities that you have including any explanations for your DWI arrest .Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee, Esq.'s (the "Firm") participation in responding to questions posted herein does not constitute legal advice, nor legal representation of the person or entity posting a question. No Attorney/Client relationship is or shall be construed to be created hereby. The information provided herein by the Firm is general, and requires that the poster obtain specific legal advice from an attorney. The poster shall not rely upon the information provided herein as legal advice nor as the basis for making any decisions of legal consequence.
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