Citizenship bid won’t go to pot
QWill my marijuana arrest keep me from becoming a U.S. citizen? I have had a green card since 1971. In 1977, I was ar- rested for marijuana possession when a cop found marijuana seeds in a car where I was a passenger. I went through a remediation program and the charges were dropped. Once when returning from abroad, an officer said he was sending my case for deportation, but I’ve heard nothing since.
AYou can get U.S. citizenship despite your arrest. However, please follow “Wernick’s rule”: Anyone with a criminal record should consult an immigration law expert before
applying for an immigration benefit.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services issued new guidance just last week on marijuana and naturalization. The guidance restated the rule that a conviction or admission of marijuana shows a lack of the good moral character needed to naturalize. The new wrinkle is that according to USCIS, marijuana use shows a lack of good moral character even if possession is legal in your state. In any event, your arrest was beyond the five-year period of good moral character usually required for citizenship, so it should not be a problem. And, the USCIS position is legally questionable given that the good moral character definitions exempt a conviction for 30 grams or less of marijuana.
As for deportation, under our immigration laws, your having to go through remediation to get your case dismissed means that you were “convicted.” However, the law provides for a deportation waiver for a single conviction of possession of 30 grams of marijuana.
Q A
Can an F-1 international student make money by licensing a patent or owning a business? Yes. It is not a violation of F-1 status to own a license or patent or own a business. You can supervise business activity and earn profits from that activity.
You may be in violation of F-1 status, however, if you were to take a salary from a business, unless you are permitted to work through practical training or other USCIS permission. Profits are fine. Salary is not.