Sex offenses
Rape and sexual abuse of a minor are aggravated felonies with no sentence threshold, and an aggravated felony closes almost every form of relief. Where the offense turns on the victim's age alone, the federal definition of sexual abuse of a minor requires a victim younger than 16. Separately, prostitution is a ground of inadmissibility with its own waiver, failure to register as a sex offender is a ground of deportability, and many sex offenses are also crimes involving moral turpitude. This page states what we can support from primary sources and no more.
Current as of October 2026. We re-check this page regularly and after any rule change.
Three questions decide what a sex offense plea does. Does the offense match rape, sexual abuse of a minor or child pornography under the aggravated felony entries? Is it a crime involving moral turpitude, or a prostitution offense, on the inadmissibility list? And, for a person who will need protection from removal, is it a particularly serious crime? This page keeps to the rules we can support from primary sources, and where we have no rule to give you, it says so. The map of every criminal ground is on the crimes and removal page.
The aggravated felony entries
Three entries on the list in INA 101(a)(43) reach sex offenses, and none of them turns on the sentence.
| Entry | Offense | Threshold |
|---|---|---|
| (A) | Murder, rape, or sexual abuse of a minor | None. The offense alone |
| (I) | Child pornography offenses | None |
| (K) | Owning, controlling, managing or supervising a prostitution business; transportation for prostitution for commercial advantage; peonage, slavery, involuntary servitude, trafficking in persons | None |
Whether a state conviction matches an entry is decided under the categorical approach: the elements of the statute of conviction are compared to the generic federal definition, the least serious conduct the statute punishes controls, and the record is consulted only where the statute is divisible. The categorical approach page explains it.
Sexual abuse of a minor: the victim must be under 16
In Esquivel-Quintana v. Sessions, 581 U.S. 385 (2017), the Supreme Court held that where the offense turns solely on the age of the victim, the generic federal definition of sexual abuse of a minor requires the victim to be younger than 16. A statute that criminalizes consensual sexual conduct with a person aged 16 or 17, with no other element, punishes conduct outside the federal definition and does not categorically match entry (A). Whether a particular age-based statute is divisible by age, so that the record can show the victim's age, is a statute-by-statute question, so bring us the one you are charged under.
An aggravated felony conviction makes an admitted person deportable at any time under INA 237(a)(2)(A)(iii), makes detention mandatory under INA 236(c)(1)(B), and closes cancellation for permanent residents, asylum, voluntary departure, good moral character permanently, and the 212(h) waiver for a person who entered as a resident. The full table is on the aggravated felony page.
INA 101(a)(43)(A), (I), (K); Esquivel-Quintana v. Sessions, 581 U.S. 385 (2017); Moncrieffe v. Holder, 569 U.S. 184 (2013); Descamps v. United States, 570 U.S. 254 (2013); Mathis v. United States, 579 U.S. 500 (2016).
Three other grounds
Prostitution and commercialized vice
INA 212(a)(2)(D) makes inadmissible a person who has engaged in prostitution or commercialized vice within ten years of the date of application. It is a ground of inadmissibility, not deportability, and it is one of the grounds the 212(h) waiver reaches. Prostitution is also a conditional bar to good moral character during the statutory period under INA 101(f)(3). Running a prostitution business, or transporting a person for prostitution for commercial advantage, is separately an aggravated felony under entry (K), which no waiver reaches for the relief that entry closes.
Failure to register
INA 237(a)(2)(A)(v) makes deportable a person convicted under 18 U.S.C. 2250, the federal offense of failing to register as a sex offender. It is a ground of deportability with no sentence threshold. Whether a conviction under a state registration statute falls on this ground depends on its elements, so ask us about yours.
Crimes involving moral turpitude
Under Matter of Silva-Trevino, 26 I&N Dec. 826 (BIA 2016), a crime involving moral turpitude requires reprehensible conduct committed with some form of scienter, decided under the categorical approach. Many sex offenses meet that test, and a conviction that does carries the one-CIMT five-year rule, the two-CIMT rule and the inadmissibility ground. We do not have a published holding to give you on any specific sex offense category as a crime involving moral turpitude, so we read your statute rather than list which ones qualify. The moral turpitude page has the test and the grounds, and the plea tool marks these categories accordingly.
DACA
The regulation lists sexual abuse among the misdemeanors that disqualify regardless of sentence, so one such conviction disqualifies on its own under the regulatory criteria. The program's current status is the subject of ongoing litigation. 8 C.F.R. 236.22(b)(6)(i).
What each ground closes
| Ground | Deportability | Inadmissibility | 212(h) | Cancellation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aggravated felony, (A), (I) or (K) | Yes, any time after admission | Not as such; the offense is tested as a CIMT | Barred for a person who entered as a resident; violent-or-dangerous standard for others | Barred: LPR, non-LPR and VAWA cancellation all require no aggravated felony or no 237(a)(2) conviction |
| Crime involving moral turpitude | One within five years with a one-year possible sentence; or two at any time | Yes, one conviction or admission, subject to the petty offense and juvenile exceptions | Available, with the violent-or-dangerous standard | Non-LPR cancellation barred; LPR cancellation not barred by the label but time stops at commission |
| Prostitution, 212(a)(2)(D) | No deportability ground of its own | Yes, within ten years of application | Available | Non-LPR cancellation barred by a conviction under 212(a)(2); good moral character conditionally barred |
| Failure to register, 237(a)(2)(A)(v) | Yes | No counterpart | Nothing in 212(a)(2) to waive | Non-LPR and VAWA cancellation barred by a 237(a)(2) conviction; LPR cancellation not barred unless an aggravated felony |
INA 237(a)(2)(A)(i)-(iii), (v); INA 212(a)(2)(A)(i)(I), (D); INA 212(h); 8 C.F.R. 1212.7(d); Matter of Jean, 23 I&N Dec. 373 (A.G. 2002); INA 240A(a), (b)(1)(C), (b)(2); Matter of J-H-J-, 26 I&N Dec. 563 (BIA 2015).
Asylum, withholding and the particularly serious crime
For a person who will need protection from removal, the question after the ground is whether the conviction is a particularly serious crime. The rule is different for each form of protection.
Asylum
Asylum is barred for a person convicted of a particularly serious crime, and any aggravated felony is per se particularly serious for asylum. INA 208(b)(2)(A)(ii), (B)(i). A sexual abuse of a minor conviction that matches entry (A) ends the asylum claim.
Withholding of removal
Withholding of removal is barred for a particularly serious crime, but the per se rule is narrower: an aggravated felony, or felonies, with an aggregate term of imprisonment of at least five years. INA 241(b)(3)(B)(ii) and flush text. Every other conviction, including an aggravated felony with a shorter sentence, is decided case by case under Matter of Frentescu, 18 I&N Dec. 244 (BIA 1982), and Matter of N-A-M-, 24 I&N Dec. 336 (BIA 2007): the nature of the conviction, the sentence, the circumstances and underlying facts, and whether the type and circumstances of the crime indicate that the person is a danger to the community.
Deferral of removal under the Convention Against Torture
Deferral of removal under the Convention Against Torture is not barred by any conviction. 8 C.F.R. 1208.17(a).
The sentence matters twice here: once for whether the offense is an aggravated felony at all, and again for whether the aggregate term reaches five years and makes the withholding bar automatic. Our asylum practice at asylumadvocate.com litigates the particularly-serious-crime question; the cards below hand off to it.
What this means at the plea
We will not give you a list of pleas to ask for in a sex offense case, because a count that avoids entry (A) can still be a crime involving moral turpitude, a registration offense, or a particularly serious crime on its facts. What the rules above do say is where the lines are. A statute whose age element reaches 16- and 17-year-olds is analyzed differently from one that stops at 15. A count on the prostitution ground has a waiver; a count on entry (K) does not for the relief it closes. A sentence that keeps the aggregate under five years keeps withholding a case-by-case question. Each of those has to be checked against the actual statute and the record the plea will produce, with a lawyer who has read both. The plea strategy pages cover how that conversation is conducted, and the Padilla page covers what your criminal lawyer is required to tell you.
Read next: aggravated felonies, the categorical approach, pleas for asylees and refugees, or mandatory detention.
Common questions
Is every sex offense an aggravated felony?
No. INA 101(a)(43)(A) lists murder, rape and sexual abuse of a minor, and (I) lists child pornography offenses. Whether a state conviction matches one of those entries is decided under the categorical approach by comparing the elements of the statute to the federal generic definition. Under Esquivel-Quintana v. Sessions, where the offense turns solely on the victim's age, the generic definition of sexual abuse of a minor requires a victim younger than 16, so a statute that reaches consensual conduct with a 16- or 17-year-old is broader than the definition. Other sex offenses are analyzed as crimes involving moral turpitude or under the prostitution ground.
Is there a waiver?
It depends on the ground. The prostitution ground of inadmissibility, INA 212(a)(2)(D), is one of the grounds the 212(h) waiver reaches, and a crime involving moral turpitude is another. An aggravated felony has no 212(h) waiver for a person who entered at a port of entry as a permanent resident, and for anyone the violent-or-dangerous standard applies. There is no waiver for the aggravated felony bar to cancellation for permanent residents or to asylum.
What is the withholding of removal analysis?
Withholding of removal is barred for a person convicted of a particularly serious crime. An aggravated felony with an aggregate term of imprisonment of at least five years is per se particularly serious. Every other conviction, including an aggravated felony with a shorter sentence, is decided case by case under the factors in Matter of Frentescu and Matter of N-A-M-: the nature of the conviction, the sentence, the circumstances and underlying facts, and whether they indicate a danger to the community. Deferral of removal under the Convention Against Torture is not barred by any conviction.
Does failure to register count?
Yes. INA 237(a)(2)(A)(v) makes deportable a person convicted of failure to register as a sex offender under 18 U.S.C. 2250, the federal registration offense. Whether a conviction under a state registration statute falls on this ground, or on any other, depends on its elements, so it has to be answered from your statute.
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.