Traveling Abroad as a Permanent Resident With a 2019 DUI

Attorney Answer

A single, simple DUI is very unlikely to cause you a problem coming home — which is why five trips have gone smoothly — but "unlikely" is not "impossible," and what actually matters is exactly what you were convicted of.

Start with the right framework. Under INA § 101(a)(13)(C); 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(13)(C), a lawful permanent resident returning to the United States is not regarded as seeking a new admission unless one of six enumerated conditions applies. The one that concerns criminal history is clause (v): where the person "has committed an offense identified in section 1182(a)(2) of this title, unless since such offense the alien has been granted relief under section 1182(h) or 1229b(a)." So the question is not whether you have a record — it is whether your offense is one of the offenses that section identifies.

INA § 212(a)(2)(A)(i)(I); 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(2)(A)(i)(I) makes a person inadmissible who is convicted of, or who admits having committed, or who admits committing acts which constitute the essential elements of, a crime involving moral turpitude, or an attempt or conspiracy to commit one. A simple DUI, standing alone, is not treated as a crime involving moral turpitude. There is also a petty-offense exception at § 1182(a)(2)(A)(ii)(II) that can apply to certain minor offenses.

Two cautions, because the reassuring version of this answer is slightly too reassuring. Clause (v) speaks of having *committed* an offense, not of having been convicted of one, so a conviction-only reading understates it. And the statute's second and third triggers are admissions — which is the practical reason not to discuss the facts of an old case with an officer at a border booth. If your 2019 case involved more than simple impaired driving — drugs, an injury, a second or subsequent offense, a suspended-licence element — the analysis is genuinely different.

What you can do

1. Before you book, order the certified court disposition of the 2019 case: the exact statute and subsection you were convicted under, and the sentence imposed. That one document drives the entire analysis. 2. Have an immigration lawyer read that disposition against § 1182(a)(2) once. One consultation covers years of travel. 3. Carry your green card and a copy of the certified disposition when you travel. 4. At the border, answer questions about your identity and status. Do not volunteer a narrative about the old case — under § 1182(a)(2)(A)(i)(I) an admission has legal consequences of its own. 5. Keep the trip short. Length of absence is one of the other conditions in § 1101(a)(13)(C) that can change how a returning resident is treated.

Do not sign anything at a port of entry that gives up your permanent residence.