Immigration Corner | Can I get my green card back?

Dear Mrs Walker-Huntington,

Years ago, I asked to be sent home for less than four pounds of marijuana. The judge told me that after seven years I could reapply to return to the United States.

What are the chances of me getting back my green card and returning to America?

CW

Dear CW,

The quantity of marijuana that you were charged for in the United States is considered more than for personal use and would translate into a criminal trafficking charge and an aggravated felony immigration designation. This would also be a substance abuse violation for immigration purposes.

The judge’s words that after seven years you could “reapply” to return means that after seven years, when you reapply, you would not need special permission to reapply before the expiration of the seven-year bar. Many people misinterpret these words to think that they would be able to return after seven years. If you applied to return to the United States before the seven years, you would require special permission to apply.

Anyone who is removed from the United States for a criminal conviction will always be inadmissible to the US for the same reason that caused their removal. The question then becomes when they try to return is whether there is a waiver for the criminal grounds of inadmissibility – and it also depends on whether they are trying to return as a permanent resident or a non-immigrant.

There is no waiver for an applicant for permanent residence who has a conviction of four pounds of marijuana. However, theoretically, everyone is eligible to apply for a non-immigrant waiver (with few exceptions, e.g., if you are a Nazi or a terrorist), and the US Embassy would weigh whether they would want to issue a non-immigrant visa for a person who was removed for your conviction to allow you to make a temporary visit to America.

Dahlia A. Walker-Huntington, Esq. is a Jamaican-American attorney who practises immigration law in the United States; and family, criminal and international law in Florida. She is a diversity and inclusion consultant, mediator and former special magistrate and hearing officer in Broward County, Florida. info@walkerhuntington.com