Applying for DACA with Open Criminal Case

Hello Everyone,

So I have criminal case open for driving without a license and I want to apply for DACA. The public attorney wants to prolong the court case to see if I can possibly get my charges dropped once I get approved(if I get approved), but when I spoke to my immigration lawyer, he said that USCIS normally does not approve applicants who have a criminal case open. I know I could plead guilty and close the case which will not bar me from being approved for DACA(according to what I have read here and what my attorney has told me), but I would like to dismiss the charges if possible so that I can keep my record clean. So I was wondering if anyone here has been approved for DACA while having an open criminal case? Thanks in advance for any replies.

it would look better on your record with a closed case than a pending one. regardless guilty or not. i dont know what state you are in, but driving without license is just a minor offense i think. i'd suggest get the case resolve out in court and then submit daca with case disposition from court.

I live in Indiana and here it is a class C misdemeanor. Thanks for the suggestion. It would still be nice if someone in the forum has been through a similar situation and could share their experience. Thanks!

you can still apply. alotta dreamers have driving without licnese infractions.

http://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/co...sked-questions

Thanks for the reply. I already know that driving without a license is not really a problem once your case has closed. The question I have is if anyone else has applied for DACA while they had a case open and if they could share what happened. My lawyer says that USCIS usually does not approve anyone who has a case open regardless on the type of case. So even though my case only involved driving while never being licensed, it could still get denied since it is currently open. I do not want to close it because the public attorney is trying to give me time so that I can hear something back from USCIS so that hopefully the charges can get dropped since I will be able to get my license. This is important to me because my lawyer says that if I get convicted for never being licensed, I will not be able to do the provisional waiver since right now USCIS is denying anyone who has a misdemeanor or a felony(according to my lawyer). Hopefully someone has applied with an open case and can let me know how it went for him/her. Thanks!

i understand you are seeking advise if someone on this forum ever applied with open case, i almost apply my daca with an active arrest warrant in other state for failure to pay court fees (10yrs ago). but now i got it resolved (the judge agreed to withdraw the warrant after i paid the fee without any penalty) and im getting my certificate disposition so i can submit it together with my daca application.

no matter what, just get it take care first before you apply for DACA. my lawyer said the same thing about having a open case does not look good on your application. when they do your background check they will see you have a pending case and most likely they will deny your application base on that fact alone. i know waiting is the least thing you want (i went through it i understand) just be patient, your case is not serious and once that closed you can apply daca.

You might find the following website helpful, it's a NY law firm that has a service obtaining Certificate of Disposition's for clients. See: www.certificateofdisposition.com