How to Get a Visiting Visa to the USA with a Criminal Record

If you are applying for a visiting visa to the USA, your application can be denied if you have a criminal record. It largely depends on what type of crime you have been convicted of. Depending on whether you are working on a temporary basis or are planning to establish permanent residency in the United States, you will need to undergo an application process and then an interview with an Immigration Officer when you arrive at a legal point of entry.

Since the stipulations of allowing entry to immigrants have become increasingly more strict, an immigrant who has a criminal history of any type will be scrutinized more closely and will often be denied entry into the United States, even if his visa has been approved. The USCIS Officer is the one who has the final say on whether an immigrant gains entry into the United States or not.

Approval of Entry

The USCIS Officer will thoroughly examine all aspects of an immigrant's case to determine whether he should be granted a visiting visa to the United States. This applies even if the immigrant received a pardon for that criminal conviction.

Crimes that involve sexual acts, children or violent behavior will often result in the immigrant being denied lawful entry into the United States, even if the criminal offense was pardoned. The USCIS Officer will likely not want to take the chance of allowing the immigrant into the country and opening up the possibility of him committing the same or similar crime in the United States.

It's important to note, though, that specific factors are weighed by the USCIS Officer before he makes a final decision on whether to grant or reject a visiting visa to the USA. One important factor is the time when this crime took place. If there has been a great deal of time between when this crime occurred and the present day, that will significantly boost the immigrant's chance of gaining lawful entry into the United States.

Another important factor is how long the immigrant's criminal history is. If the immigrant only has one offense that either occurred a long time ago, was pardoned, or both, it's likely that the immigrant will be granted lawful access to the United States. However, if the immigrant's criminal history involves multiple crimes, it's more likely that the immigrant will have his visiting visa to the USA rejected by the USCIS Officer.

Pardon of a Conviction

If there is evidence on the immigrant's record that the conviction on his record was pardoned by the government that has jurisdiction over the country in which the offense took place, the USCIS Officer will check out the circumstances of the pardon, as different coutries use different factors and reasons to issue pardons, including the amount of time since the crime occurred.

If a pardon was issued because of the amount of time that has passed, the USCIS Officer will likely not see the pardon as valid, since he already took into account the amount of time that has passed since the crime was committed when he originally assessed the charge.  If a pardon was issued because of new evidence that led to a finding of innocence, a USCIS Officer will usually overlook the offense as if it never happened, greatly boosting the chances of an immigrant receiving lawful entry via a visiting visa to the USA.

Obtaining Help from an Immigration Attorney

Immigrants with criminal records will have the hardest time gaining lawful entry into the United States, as USCIS Officers will carefully examine those records to see exactly what those crimes are, how long ago they occurred, and whether they were pardoned or not.  Consulting with an experienced U.S. immigration attorney is your best bet to giving yourself the greatest chance of gaining lawful entry into the United States if you've had a criminal pardon for past crimes on your personal record. The immigration attorney will lay out the options to you to show your best course of action to increase your chances of gaining a visiting visa to the USA despite having a criminal record.