Even if you are a U.S. green card or visa holder, you are not entitled to live in the United States indefinitely unless you are a naturalized U.S. citizen. This means that, if you get into trouble with the law, your right to remain in the United States could be in jeopardy.
Therefore, if you have recently been arrested on relatively minor charges, for example, for a DUI, you should still take this seriously and learn how a conviction could affect your legal status. The following is an overview of whether you stand the chance of being deported due to a DUI.
A DUI does not mean automatic deportation
A DUI that does not result in a collision or incident is not generally considered to be a serious crime. An immigrant will not be automatically deported because of this. However, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) will look into the issue and consider what penalties will be appropriate.
You are at risk of deportation if your DUI is charged as a felony
A DUI felony is a serious charge. A person is often charged with a felony DUI when they are a repeat DUI offender, when they were drunk driving with children in the car, when they were extremely drunk while driving, when they were drunk driving on a suspended license, or when they caused injury or death as a result of their drunk driving. Any DUI felony could alter your immigration status or lead to deportation if you don’t defend yourself.
Alteration of your immigration status
Even if you do not get deported due to the DUI, you may face an alteration of your immigration status, which could lead you to no longer be legal in the United States.
If you have recently been arrested on DUI charges and you are worried about your immigration status, it is important that you take action to understand how the law applies to you.