Naturalization bid won’t halt deportation for serious crime

Can I be deported after I’ve applied for naturalization? I am a permanent resident inmate. I came here from Jamaica on an immigrant visa when I was 5 years old to live with my mother. Before I was arrested, I applied for U.S. citizenship, but never heard back. Meanwhile, I was charged and convicted of a serious drug crime and my case is on appeal. From what I have read, if the appeals court upholds my conviction, I face deportation with no relief available.

C. Newton, N.J. Having a pending naturalization application won’t stop a judge from ordering your removal. A naturalization applicant must meet the good moral character requirement up to the time he or she is sworn in as a U.S. citizen. An immigration judge has the power to close removal proceedings based on a pending naturalization application, but if you have no relief from deportation, the judge won’t do that.

With a recent drug conviction, other than for possession of 30 grams or less of marijuana, U.S. Citizenship would have to deny your naturalization application. Is your mother a U.S. citizen? If she naturalized and you got permanent residence before you turned 18, you may be a U.S. citizen.

A church sponsored my friend as a religious worker. Her petition is pending on appeal. What’s the situation for applicants under this category?

Name withheld, Pelham, N.Y. I’m not surprised USCIS gave your friend a hard time. The agency believes that many religious worker applications are not valid.

To qualify for a religious worker green card, your friend must have been working as a religious worker for two continuous years, either here or abroad, prior to filing the petition.

The law requires that your friend’s main reason for immigrating is to work in a religious occupation. Lay work, such as secretarial work, doesn’t count, even if it is for a religious organization. Examples of religious occupations include liturgical workers, religious instructors, religious counselors and missionaries.