Legal Question in Immigration Law in California

Hello I'm Jose Medina. From Los Angeles, CA.
On may 4th of 1986 I'd applied to become a resident under amnesty. In 1988 I was convicted to a felony 245(a)(1) assault with a deadly weapon (not a firer arm, was a link of chain). I was sentence to 89 days in county jail and I'd served 34 days. A recommendation of not being deported from the judge and the superior court was issued along with a certified letter to the INS, as part of the guilty plea bargain. I was assigned to a public defender because I didn't had money to get a private attorney and this was the results. In my opinion this case was self defense and should had been threaded as self defense, but It wasn't . In 1990 I was approved/admitted as a permanent resident and ever since I'd renewed my green card two times with out any problems. question is: Now I want to apply for my citizenship but I'm not sure if I should.
Thank you.

Asked on 2/04/16, 1:04 pm

3 Answers from Attorneys

Armen Tashjian Law Offices of Armen M. Tashjian

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Mr. Medina,

You are doing a very smart thing by seeking legal advice before applying for the citizenship.

What I would highly recommend, is for you to get your complete records of any prior convictions. Also, get your records from immigration so your prior immigration history can be reviewed.

Once the review is done, you willing be in the position to know if you can safely apply for citizenship.

If you go forward without doing your due diligence, not only your citizenship may get denied, you may trigger a new deportation/removal action against you.

Take care,

Answered on 2/04/16, 9:29 pm

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Charles Medina Law Office of Charles Medina

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One of the requirements of citizenship application is to prove good moral character. Your conviction might affect your good moral character. We suggest you to consult with an immigration attorney to discuss the possible solution. We have written an related article which you might read on our website www.medinalawgroup.net.

You may visit our website at www.medinalawgroup.net for our featured cases that cover the most complicated areas of immigration law. Our telephone number is 714-786-6835 and email is [email protected]. Thank you.

The above reply is for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing legal advice. You should contact an attorney to obtain advice with respect to any particular issue or problem. Use of and access to this Web site does not create an attorney-client relationship.

Answered on 2/05/16, 9:51 am

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