By the Staff of New York Immigration Attorneys
The Law Offices of Spar & Bernstein
Question: I entered the United States in 1994 on a tourist visa. The same month I got here, my friends and I were driving on the Belt Parkway in Brooklyn and got pulled over by the cops for speeding. I was in the back seat. When the cop looked into the car, he saw a handgun on the floor of the front seat. He called more of his cop friends over and we were all arrested for having that one gun. Believe me that gun was not mine. I didn’t know anything about it. Well I met with the Legal Aid attorney who told me to plead guilty and I would not have to go to jail. Being new to the country, I did not know any better, and I pled guilty. I never got in trouble with the law again. Now I am married to a US citizen, and my wife is pregnant with twins. I’m scared to have her file for me. I don’t want to take the chance of getting deported and not being able to live with my wife and my yet unborn children. My wife says I’m crazy to be scared. What do you think?
Spar & Bernstein: It is understandable why you would be scared to file your adjustment of status application; however, in this family dispute, I have to side with your wife. As strange as this may sound, gun possession is a deportable offense but is not an inadmissible offense. What this means is that Immigration can not prevent you from obtaining a green card because you have a simple gun possession charge, but can deport you once you are a green card holder if you get the same charge. So, since you don’t have your green card yet, you can adjust your status without a problem. Go get your green card now. Once the twins come you won’t have time.
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