Charged With A Crime? You Might Need An Immigration Lawyer

Charged With A Crime? You Might Need An Immigration Lawyer

4 September 2018
 Categories: , Blog


If you aren't a citizen of the United States of America but have been recently arrested and charged with a crime that you may or may not have committed, your first inclination may be to hire a criminal defense attorney. And although criminal defense attorneys specialize in all different types of crimes, your specific criminal attorney may not know the immigration consequences that you are facing unless they have prior experience with immigration law. By hiring not only a criminal attorney but an immigration attorney as well, you can hopefully cover all of your bases so that you aren't facing additional repercussions for the crime you are being charged with. This article will take a closer look at three different scenarios in which you need to hire an immigration lawyer.

You're a student here on a visa

If you are a student who is studying in the US on a student visa and are being charged with a crime, then you want to make sure that you hire an immigration attorney right away. Your immigration attorney will see if you being charged has any bearing on you being able to continue to study in the US. They will also check with your university to see if there are any repercussions for facing criminal charges.

You're visiting as a tourist

If you are visiting the US as a tourist and are being faced with a criminal charge, then you may not have any idea what your rights are as a tourist. Make sure that you contact an immigration attorney right away so that they can help get everything settled for you right away; you want to know what your rights are, and you want to be able to contact everyone back at home to make sure that everything is taken care of while you're dealing with your charges. For instance, if you are being detained, then you will want your immigration attorney to contact your employer back home and notify them of everything that's going on. 

You're a permanent resident or almost a citizen

If you are a permanent resident and haven't yet received your citizenship, then you may be freaking out and wondering what impact your criminal charges may have on your citizenship. Your immigration attorney will be able to file all of the proper paperwork on your behalf to make sure that you continue on the path toward getting citizenship. 

To learn more about immigration attorneys or to hire one, contact a law firm near you today.