Naturalization and a criminal record
Naturalization requires good moral character for the statutory period, five years or three for the spouse of a citizen, and through the oath. Two convictions bar it forever: murder, and an aggravated felony on or after November 29, 1990. A longer list bars it for as long as the conviction is inside the period, including a single crime involving moral turpitude, a drug offense, and 180 days of confinement, and nothing is approved while probation is still running. The record can also do something worse than delay the application. It can start a removal case, which is why it is read against the deportability grounds before the N-400 is filed.
Current as of October 2026. We re-check this page regularly and after any rule change.
Two questions, in this order. Does the record make you deportable? And does it bar good moral character, and if so for how long? Most people ask them the other way around, because the second one is the one the form asks. The first one matters more. This page goes through the character rules, the probation and DUI rules, the reason the order matters, and how waiting is sometimes the strategy. The categories a conviction can fall into are on the crimes and removal page, and the character rules for every form of relief are on the good moral character page.
The statutory period, and the two kinds of bar
Good moral character is required for the statutory period, five years before filing, or three years for the spouse of a citizen, and through the date of the oath. INA 316(a)(3), 319(a); 8 C.F.R. 316.10(a)(1). The bars come in two kinds. Permanent bars apply whenever the conviction occurred. Conditional bars apply to conduct during the period.
| Permanent bar | When | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| Conviction of murder | At any time | INA 101(f)(8); 8 C.F.R. 316.10(b)(1) |
| Conviction of an aggravated felony | On or after November 29, 1990 | INA 101(f)(8); 8 C.F.R. 316.10(b)(1)(ii) |
| Conditional bar, during the period | Note | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| A crime involving moral turpitude | Subject to the petty offense exception: one offense, maximum possible penalty of one year or less, sentence imposed of six months or less | INA 101(f)(3); 8 C.F.R. 316.10(b)(2) |
| Two or more offenses with aggregate sentences of five years or more | Whatever the offenses were | INA 101(f)(3); 8 C.F.R. 316.10(b)(2) |
| A controlled-substance violation | Other than a single offense of simple possession of 30 grams or less of marijuana | INA 101(f)(3); 8 C.F.R. 316.10(b)(2)(iii) |
| Confinement of 180 days or more as a result of a conviction | Confinement, counted as the regulation counts it | INA 101(f)(7); 8 C.F.R. 316.10(b)(2) |
| False testimony to obtain an immigration benefit | Including at the naturalization interview | INA 101(f)(6); 8 C.F.R. 316.10(b)(2) |
| Prostitution; smuggling; polygamy; habitual drunkard; gambling offenses | Each a separate bar | INA 101(f)(1), (3), (4), (5); 8 C.F.R. 316.10(b)(2) |
The petty offense exception to the moral turpitude bar is the same one that applies on the inadmissibility list, and it is the reason the sentence on a misdemeanor CIMT plea matters for a future citizen: six months or less on an offense with a one-year maximum, and the conviction is not a CIMT bar. Six months and a day, and it is. The petty offense page goes through it. The 180-day row is a separate count, and a sentence to confinement of 180 days or more on any offense, CIMT or not, is a bar for the period.
Probation, DUI, and the catch-all
Probation must be over
Under 8 C.F.R. 316.10(c)(1), an application will not be approved until any probation, parole or suspended sentence has been completed, and conduct during that period is considered. A three-year probation term on an offense that is not otherwise a bar is a three-year wait. When the criminal lawyer asks what sentence structure you can live with, the length of probation is part of the answer, and a shorter term with a condition attached is often better for this purpose than a longer unconditional one.
DUI
A simple DUI is not a crime involving moral turpitude, and multiple simple DUIs do not become one. Matter of Torres-Varela, 23 I&N Dec. 78 (BIA 2001) (en banc). But under Matter of Castillo-Perez, 27 I&N Dec. 664 (A.G. 2019), two or more DUI convictions during the statutory period create a rebuttable presumption that you lack good moral character. One DUI is not a listed bar; two is a presumption you have to overcome. Driving while knowing your license is suspended is a CIMT under Matter of Lopez-Meza, 22 I&N Dec. 1188 (BIA 1999), which puts an aggravated DUI under the conditional bar for a crime involving moral turpitude. The DUI page covers the categories.
The catch-all
Under 8 C.F.R. 316.10(b)(3)(iii), an unlawful act that is not on either list may still be found to reflect adversely on character unless you show extenuating circumstances. A disposition that is not a conviction under INA 101(a)(48)(A), a dismissed charge with an admitted factual basis, or a conviction from before the period can all be raised under this paragraph. It is the reason a plea that avoids every listed bar still has to be explained at the interview, and the reason the allocution matters even when the disposition does not.
Why the record is read against the deportability grounds first
The N-400 asks about every arrest, charge and conviction, and it puts the answers, the certified dispositions and your fingerprints in front of the agency that can refer you for removal. Under INA 318, no naturalization application may be decided while removal proceedings are pending, and none may be granted to a person under a final order of removal. So a filing that reveals a deportable conviction does not produce a denial. It produces a Notice to Appear, and then a naturalization case that cannot be decided until the removal case is over.
The bars expire. The deportability grounds do not.
A single CIMT is a conditional bar for five years and then it is not. On the deportability list, a single CIMT committed within five years of your admission with a possible sentence of a year or more makes you deportable at any time afterward, INA 237(a)(2)(A)(i); two CIMTs at any time do, INA 237(a)(2)(A)(ii); and an aggravated felony, a drug offense other than a single small marijuana possession, a firearms offense, and a domestic violence, stalking or child abuse offense do, with no clock at all. INA 237(a)(2)(A)(iii), (B)(i), (C), (E)(i). Several of those also mean detention without bond under INA 236(c)(1). A resident who waits out the character period and then files with one of those convictions on the record has not solved the problem; the filing is the problem. The green card holder page sets out the whole list, and the removal proceedings page covers what follows the Notice to Appear.
Sealed and expunged records are disclosed
Under Matter of Roldan-Santoyo, 22 I&N Dec. 512 (BIA 1999), a state expungement, sealing or set-aside granted under a rehabilitative statute does not eliminate the conviction for immigration purposes. The form asks whether you have ever been arrested or convicted, and the answer includes sealed cases. Leaving one out is false testimony to obtain a benefit, which is a bar of its own under INA 101(f)(6). Only a vacatur for a substantive or procedural defect in the original case removes a conviction, Matter of Pickering, 23 I&N Dec. 621 (BIA 2003), and even then the arrest is disclosed. The expungement and sealing page explains what has to be produced.
Waiting out the period as a strategy
For a resident whose record contains a conditional bar and nothing on the deportability list, time is the remedy. A single CIMT inside the petty offense exception is not a bar at all. A single CIMT outside it is a bar until it is more than five years old, or three for the spouse of a citizen. A confinement of 180 days or more is a bar until the conviction leaves the period. Probation has to be finished. The application is filed when the last of those dates has passed, and not before, because a premature filing is a denial and a second filing fee, which is a government fee and not a legal fee, and because the interview is under oath.
For a resident whose record contains something on the deportability list, time is not the remedy, and the question becomes whether the conviction actually fits the ground under the categorical approach, whether the record establishes it, and whether it can be vacated for a defect. That is the work described on after a plea. The pre-filing reading of the record is what decides which of the two situations you are in.
At the plea, for a resident who intends to naturalize, the negotiating points are these: an offense outside the CIMT category or inside the petty offense exception; no drug plea other than the single small marijuana possession; a sentence to confinement under 180 days; the shortest probation term the court will accept; and, on any theft, violence, forgery or obstruction plea, a sentence of 364 days rather than a year so the conviction is not an aggravated felony, which would be a permanent bar and a ground of deportability at once. The immigration-safer pleas page goes through them, and the 364-day page explains the last one.
Read next: good moral character, pleas for green card holders, expungement and sealing, or the petty offense exception.
Common questions
How long do I have to wait after a conviction to apply for citizenship?
It depends on the bar. Murder and an aggravated felony on or after November 29, 1990 are permanent under INA 101(f)(8) and 8 C.F.R. 316.10(b)(1). The conditional bars in 8 C.F.R. 316.10(b)(2), including a CIMT, a drug offense and 180 days of confinement, apply to conduct during the statutory period of five years, or three for the spouse of a citizen, so a conviction from before the period does not trigger them, though the agency can still consider it. And under 8 C.F.R. 316.10(c)(1) nothing is approved until probation, parole or a suspended sentence is complete.
My record was sealed. Do I have to disclose it?
Yes. A conviction that a state sealed, expunged or set aside under a rehabilitative statute is still a conviction for immigration purposes under Matter of Roldan-Santoyo, and the N-400 asks about arrests and convictions whether or not the record was sealed. Only a vacatur for a substantive or procedural defect in the original case removes the conviction, under Matter of Pickering. Withholding a sealed conviction risks a false-testimony finding, which is itself a bar.
Can a DUI stop my naturalization?
A simple DUI is not a crime involving moral turpitude under Matter of Torres-Varela, so one DUI is not a CIMT bar. Under Matter of Castillo-Perez, two or more DUI convictions during the statutory period create a rebuttable presumption that you lack good moral character. Any DUI can also be weighed under 8 C.F.R. 316.10(b)(3)(iii) as an unlawful act reflecting adversely on character unless extenuating circumstances are shown, and a DUI with a sentence that includes confinement counts toward the 180-day bar.
Why do I need an immigration lawyer to read my record before I file the N-400?
Because the N-400 is a disclosure to the agency that can refer you for removal, and under INA 318 no application can be decided while removal proceedings are pending. A conviction that is a bar to naturalization for five years may also be a ground of deportability with no time limit, such as an aggravated felony, a drug offense other than a single small marijuana possession, or a firearms offense. The record has to be read against INA 237(a)(2) first, and only then against the character rules.
Tell us about the charge before you take the plea. Not after.
You get a free conversation with an immigration attorney, in your language. We speak English, Russian, Spanish and Uzbek in-house, and we bring in a live interpreter for anything else. We will read the charge against the immigration statute, tell you what the offered plea does to your status and to every form of relief, and tell you what to ask your criminal lawyer to negotiate instead. If the plea has already been entered, we will tell you what can still be done.