How Criminal Convictions Affect Immigration Status: CIMTs and Aggravated Felonies

Criminal law and immigration law describe the same event in different languages. A state court may call a case dismissed, diverted, expunged, or resolved with no jail time. Immigration law asks a separate set of questions, using definitions written into the Immigration and Nationality Act, and it frequently reaches a harsher answer.

Two categories dominate the analysis: crimes involving moral turpitude, a phrase never precisely defined by statute, and aggravated felonies, a list at 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43) that includes many offenses no state calls either aggravated or a felony. A third category — controlled substance offenses — operates on its own unforgiving terms.

What immigration law counts as a conviction

The definition sits in the statute rather than in state practice. A formal judgment of guilt is a conviction. So, generally, is a disposition where the person entered a guilty or no-contest plea or where a judge found facts sufficient for guilt, and the court ordered some form of punishment, penalty, or restraint on liberty — including probation, a fine, or classes.

The practical consequences of that definition surprise people constantly:

• A deferred adjudication that keeps a record clean under state law can still be a conviction federally
• A later state expungement or sealing generally does not erase the immigration conviction
• A suspended sentence still counts as a sentence imposed for category tests that measure sentence length
• A conviction on appeal is often treated as final for immigration purposes once direct review concludes
• Juvenile delinquency adjudications are generally not convictions, but the details matter and vary
• Vacating a conviction for a legal defect can eliminate it; vacating it purely for immigration hardship usually does not

Crimes involving moral turpitude

No statutory list exists. The concept covers offenses involving fraud, deceit, theft with intent to deprive permanently, or conduct that is base or depraved — and it has been shaped over decades of administrative and court decisions rather than by legislation. Simple assault, ordinary driving offenses, and many regulatory violations usually fall outside it; forgery, larceny, and offenses with an element of intent to defraud usually fall inside.

The consequences split by posture. For admissibility, a single conviction can make someone inadmissible, subject to a narrow petty offense exception that depends on the maximum possible penalty and the sentence actually imposed. For deportability, the usual triggers are one such conviction committed within a defined period after admission where the offense carried a possible sentence of a year or more, or two convictions at any time not arising from a single scheme.

Aggravated felonies: the term that means something else

The aggravated felony list covers murder, rape, and sexual abuse of a minor, but also theft or burglary offenses where a sentence of one year or more was imposed, crimes of violence on the same sentence threshold, fraud or tax offenses above a loss threshold, and drug trafficking offenses. Because of the sentence-based entries, a shoplifting conviction with a suspended one-year sentence can carry consequences a violent misdemeanor with a short sentence does not.

1. Removability. A lawful permanent resident convicted of an aggravated felony is deportable, regardless of how long they have lived in the United States.
2. Loss of most relief. Cancellation of removal is unavailable, and the conviction is generally treated as a particularly serious crime that bars asylum and can bar withholding of removal, leaving only deferral under the Convention Against Torture in some cases.
3. No voluntary departure. The option of leaving without a removal order closes, which forecloses the strategy described in our guide to voluntary departure.
4. Naturalization blocked. An aggravated felony conviction on or after the statutory date is a permanent bar to establishing good moral character, a point covered in continuous residence and good moral character.
5. Re-entry consequences. A person removed after an aggravated felony conviction faces a bar with no fixed end date, and returning requires consent to reapply.

Controlled substance offenses

These grounds are drafted broadly. Almost any conviction relating to a controlled substance triggers inadmissibility, and admissions of drug use can matter even without a conviction. Waiver authority is far narrower than for moral turpitude offenses — the statutory waiver reaches only a single offense of simple possession of a small quantity of marijuana.

State legalization does not change the federal analysis. Conduct that is entirely lawful under state law can still generate immigration consequences, including for people working lawfully in state-licensed cannabis businesses. That mismatch has persisted for years and, as of mid-2026, remains unresolved at the federal level.

The decisions that actually matter happen before the plea

Once a plea is entered, options narrow sharply. The Supreme Court has held that defense counsel must advise noncitizen clients about the deportation consequences of a plea, which is why the criminal case and the immigration case need to be handled as one problem rather than two.

For someone already facing charges with a pending or planned immigration case, coordinating early with immigration counsel is what makes the difference between a negotiable plea and an unfixable record. After the fact, the remaining routes are narrow: post-conviction relief on a legal defect, a waiver where one exists such as the I-601 route for related grounds, or relief in removal proceedings before EOIR.

Quick answers

I had my record expunged. Do I still have to disclose it?

Yes. Immigration forms ask about arrests and charges regardless of later expungement or sealing, and background checks surface them anyway. Non-disclosure risks a misrepresentation finding that is worse than the underlying offense. Bring the certified disposition and let the adjudicator apply the correct analysis rather than deciding for them that it no longer exists.

Does a misdemeanor ever count as an aggravated felony?

It can. Several entries on the list depend on the sentence imposed rather than on how the state classifies the offense, so a misdemeanor carrying a one-year suspended sentence may qualify while a felony with a shorter sentence does not. The label the state uses is not the test.

Can a green card holder be deported for an old conviction?

Sometimes. Certain grounds have timing limits tied to the date of admission, but others do not, and a conviction from decades ago can surface when a resident travels, applies to naturalize, or files a petition for a relative. Residents with any criminal history should assess exposure before making a filing that puts their record in front of an officer.

Will a DUI stop my green card?

A single ordinary driving-under-the-influence conviction is often not treated as a crime involving moral turpitude, but the analysis depends on the statute's elements and any aggravating features, and DUI history can still be weighed in discretionary decisions and in health-related grounds concerning alcohol. Bring the disposition to the interview and expect questions.

Where can I check how USCIS approaches these questions?

The USCIS Policy Manual sets out the agency's current framework for criminal grounds and for good moral character determinations. It is updated periodically, so read the live version rather than a summary, and remember that immigration courts apply Board and circuit case law that the manual does not fully capture.

Where this leaves you

Collect the certified records before you form an opinion about your own case — charging document, plea transcript if one exists, and the judgment showing the sentence imposed. Identify whether the question is admissibility, deportability, or both. Check the sentence length against the one-year thresholds, since that single fact reorganizes the whole analysis. If a criminal case is still open, treat the plea as an immigration decision. And if the record is already fixed, map the remaining options honestly: post-conviction relief, an available waiver, or a defense built in immigration court.