Criminal Defense of Immigrants

(C)  Temporal Scope.  The bars to Good Moral Character generally only apply for a specified period of time immediately preceding application for the immigration benefit which varies according to the specific benefit.[89]  The period during which GMC must be shown continues past the date of application for the benefit until the benefit is granted.[90]

Any person convicted of an aggravated felony after November 29, 1990 is permanently barred from showing Good Moral Character.[91]  A conviction of murder is also a permanent bar to showing Good Moral Character, regardless of the date of conviction.[92]

[89] See, e.g., Santamaria-Ames v. INS, 104 F.3d 1127 (9th Cir. 1996) (even a serious conviction or set of convictions that that occur outside the statutorily mandated period cannot serve as the sole basis to decline to find Good Moral Character as a matter of discretion).

[90] Matter of Ortega-Cabrera, 23 I. & N. Dec. 793 (BIA 2005) (the period during which Good Moral Character must be established ends with the entry of a final administrative decision by the immigration judge or the Board of Immigration Appeals).

[91] INA § 101(f)(8), 8 U.S.C. § 1101(f)(8); 8 C.F.R. § 316.10(b)(1)(ii); Immigration Act of 1990, § 509, Pub. L. No. 101-649, 104 Stat. 4978 (Nov. 29, 1990).  See United States v. Hovsepian, 359 F.3d 1144, 1165-1169 (9th Cir. 2004) (en banc) (“Congress explicitly limited the reach of [INA § 101(f)(8)] to conduct ocurring after November 29, 1990, the effective date of the statute.”); Chan v. Gantner, 464 F.3d 289 (2d Cir. Sept. 20, 2006) (1993 conviction of conspiracy to smuggle aliens constituted aggravated felony, which statutorily precluded noncitizen from establishing Good Moral Character for the purposes of seeking naturalized citizenship under INA § 316, 8 U.S.C. § 1427); Castiglia v. INS, 108 F.3d 1101 (9th Cir. 1997); Matter of Reyes, 20 I. & N. Dec. 789 (BIA 1994).  See also INS, Office of the General Counsel, Genco Opinion No. 96-16, 74 Interpreter Releases 1515, 1530 (October 6, 1997).

[92] Miscellaneous and Technical Immigration and Naturalization Amendments of 1991, § 306(a)(7),  Pub. L. No. 102-232, 105 Stat. 1733 (Dec. 12, 1991).  See also 8 C.F.R. § 316.10(b)(1)(i); Castiglia v. INS, 108 F.3d 1101 (9th Cir. 1997).