" To overcome a criminal inadmissibility, an immigrant visa applicant has two limited options: contest the finding or seek a waiver."
past transgressions or present danger. Broadly, the categories relate to public health risks, security risks and past offenses. The categories are health; criminal; security threats, such as terrorism, members of the totalitarian party or involvement with the Nazi; public charge, like indigence; labor certification and credentials, such as where credential are a prerequisite for the visa classification; illegal entrants and immigration violators; documentation problems; ineligible for citizenship; aliens previously removed; and miscellaneous reasons, including practicing polygamists, child abductors, unlawful voters and former U. S. citizens who renounced citizenship to avoid taxation.
Among the ten categories, the ones that seem more likely to impact EB-5 applicants would be those relating to health, criminal records and immigration status violations and prior removals. These inadmissibilities may be temporary, time-limited or permanent. For example, health-related inadmissibilities, relating to a medical condition of public health concern, will typically be resolved by a finding that the condition no longer presents a problem.
Similarly, provisions relating to“ aliens previously removed,” which includes those who have overstayed an authorized stay in the US, are mostly limited to periods of 3, 5, 10 or 20 years, after which the excludability vanishes. The most serious bases of inadmissibility are those that don’ t go away, including all of the security and criminal grounds, as well as prior misrepresentation to US immigration officials.
Most inadmissibilities can be waived for non-immigrants, but waivers for immigrants are limited- and, remember, EB-5 is an immigrant visa.
Let’ s take a look at the big three.
HEALTH-RELATED INADMISSIBILITIES
All immigrants must submit to a full medical examination by a physician under contract with the U. S. government. For overseas visa processing, it’ s handled by a designated panel physician and for adjustment of status within the US, it’ s done by a designated civil surgeon. Under guidance from the Centers for Disease Control( CDC) the designated physician must assess a visa applicant’ s physical and mental health.
" To overcome a criminal inadmissibility, an immigrant visa applicant has two limited options: contest the finding or seek a waiver."
All visa applicants must document that they have been vaccinated against certain diseases, including mumps, measles and polio among others. Failure to provide proof of vaccination will result in visa denial. Communicable diseases of public health significance, such as tuberculosis, leprosy, gonorrhea and syphilis among others will also render an individual inadmissible to the United States as a Class A medical condition.
Similarly, a finding that a visa applicant currently suffers from a physical or mental disorder that may present a risk of harm to people or property will also be subject to a Class A medical finding. This is particularly poignant in cases relating to recent drunk driving offences or offenses where drugs or alcohol affected judgment, like a bar fight or property damage.
CRIMINAL INADMISSIBILITIES
Certain criminal offences can render an individual inadmissible for life. These include controlled substance violations, crimes involving moral turpitude, multiple convictions with an aggregate sentence of confinement five years or more, prostitution, alien smuggling and money laundering.¹
The concept of“ crimes involving moral turpitude”( CIMTs) is confusing, even for legal professionals. Fundamentally, jurisprudence suggests a certain level of baseness, vileness or depravity associated with the crime- a purposeful, deliberate attempt to harm or defraud. Rape is a CIMT as is petty larceny and mail fraud. A guiding principle is whether an essential element of the crime requires knowledge of wrongfulness- intent. When a crime requires specific intent to commit an act, it will likely be deemed a CIMT.
Significantly, inadmissibility for CIMTs and controlled substance offences can be based not just on a conviction, but also on an official admission of guilt. Such admissions must be under oath, be based on the statute and personal statements to establish the CIMT, be made with an understanding of the elements of the crime, include all the factual elements that constitute the crime and be explicit, unequivocal and unqualified. 2
Inadmissibility based on such admissions used to be quite rare, but in the past few years we have seen a significant increase in such findings, including a 2014 change in the State Department’ s policy relating to
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