On April 4, 2024, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) announced that effective immediately, any Form I-693, Report of Immigration Medical Examination and Vaccination Record, which was properly completed and signed by a civil surgeon on or after November 1, 2023, does not have an expiration date. The service noted that the Form can be used indefinitely to evidence that the applicant is “not inadmissible on health-related grounds.” This determination was made by USCIS in consultation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) and “based on advances in public health electronic notification.”
I'll Take My Chances
The Immigration Consequences of Alcohol-Related Driving Incidents
Drunk driving, driving while intoxicated (DWI), and driving under the influence (DUI) of alcohol are responsible for thousands of deaths every year in the United States, and are considered to be serious threats to public health and safety. It is therefore not surprising that the US Government has passed laws designed to deter and punish those who operate motor vehicles under the influence of alcohol. Immigration law is no exception. Foreign nationals who have been arrested for or convicted of offenses related to drunk driving, DWIs, or DUIs (whether in the United States or abroad) can expect substantial delays in the processing of their visas and at ports of entry, as well as in their efforts to procure a Green Card here in the US. They also face barriers to citizenship, and depending on their status, removal (deportation) from the US. We here address some of the most common questions that arise in this context.
I have a DUI conviction and wish to come to the United States on a temporary visa. Will this conviction bar me from entering the US?
Possibly. Under US immigration law, a foreign national can be found “inadmissible” for a number of reasons. Among these is having committed or been convicted of a “crime involving moral turpitude.” Under settled law (i.e., a firmly established and undisputed law or court decision), a simple DUI conviction does not constitute a crime involving moral turpitude; however, a DUI conviction that involves aggravating factors, such as knowingly driving with a suspended license or a DUI while children are in the vehicle, or a DUI that results in death or injury of another, may be found to involve moral turpitude and therefore bar admission to the United States.
Read moreNew Electronic Form DS-260
The State Department has recently made a change for immigrants applying for a green card through a consular post abroad. Prior to September 1, 2013, The National Visa Center (which processes and organizes all paperwork for the State Department before sending the case to the US consulate abroad) required applicants who were permanently immigrating to the United States through a consular post to submit the paper DS-230 biographic form along with all the other required documentation. A paper immigrant visa application such as this has been required since the Immigration and Nationality Act was enacted back in 1952. It’s been pretty much the same process since Harry Truman was president, the average new car cost $1,700, and the Big Bang Theory was a new scientific idea, not a television show.
Read more