Disclosing a Pending DWI to CBP and the Risk of Denial
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Reviewed & verified by A. Jason Velez, Esq.*
Managing Attorney, 1LAW · Last reviewed January 1, 2026
Legal Inquiry
Consumer Legal Issue
I want to know if I should be honest about my DWI if asked, if CBP can see pending cases on their end, and can I be denied entry for a pending case.
Attorney Answer
Be honest — and know that a pending charge, standing alone, does not make you inadmissible. Being caught in a false answer to a border officer is a far worse problem than the DWI itself.
The crime-involving-moral-turpitude ground of inadmissibility, INA § 212(a)(2)(A)(i)(I), 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(2)(A)(i)(I), is triggered by a conviction of such a crime, or by an admission of having committed it, or by an admission of committing acts which constitute its essential elements. An arrest is not a conviction, and a charge that is still pending is not a conviction either. The pending case therefore does not, by itself, place you within that ground.
Do not read that as meaning the charge is irrelevant at the border. CBP has broad, separate authority over the admission of nonimmigrants and can act on adverse information well short of a moral-turpitude conviction — sending you to secondary inspection, deferring inspection, or refusing admission on other grounds. Officers generally have access to criminal history information that includes pending matters, so assume it is visible.
There is also a trap in the statute worth naming: an admission of the essential elements of an offence can count even without a conviction. That is a reason to answer the question you are asked, factually and truthfully, and not to volunteer characterisations of your own conduct.
What you can do
1. Speak with an immigration attorney before you travel, if travel can wait. A pending case is exactly the situation where advice before departure is worth more than advice after. 2. Carry certified copies of the court record showing the charge, the date, and that no conviction has entered. 3. If asked whether you have been arrested or convicted, answer truthfully and precisely: you were charged on a date, the case is pending, and you have not been convicted. 4. Do not sign anything at the border — including any withdrawal of an application for admission or abandonment of status — without speaking to a lawyer. 5. Tell your criminal defence lawyer that you are not a citizen and that immigration consequences matter, before the case is resolved. How it is finally resolved, and any sentence, can matter later even though the pending charge does not.
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Frequently Asked Questions
If the case is later dismissed, does anything remain?
A dismissal means there is no conviction, and 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(2)(A)(i)(I) turns on a conviction or an admission. The arrest record itself can still appear in systems, so keep certified proof of the dismissal with your travel documents.
Can they see the case even if I do not mention it?
Assume so. Officers have access to criminal history information that includes pending matters, which is why an incomplete or false answer is the greater risk — it creates a separate credibility problem on top of the underlying charge.
Does a DWI conviction automatically mean I can be refused entry?
Not automatically under the moral-turpitude ground, which requires a conviction or admission of a crime involving moral turpitude. But CBP has separate and broader authority over admission, so have the specific offence and disposition reviewed by an immigration attorney before travelling.
