Good Moral Character in Prince William County VAWA Applications
Good moral character is defined by the Immigration and Nationality Act, which has quoted what conduct would disqualify a person from having good moral character and being eligible to apply for the VAWA. There is a list of pertinent criminal offenses that will disqualify a person from proving good moral character.
In the VAWA context, it is important to demonstrate properly if a person does not have a criminal record that includes one of the statutory grounds that will disqualify a person from good moral character. If so, a person will be able to qualify. However, if a person does have any kind of criminal record, they definitely want to supplement the VAWA application with letters of recommendation from people that can kind of counterbalance the negative things in their file.
Proving Good Moral Character
If USCIS deems that an individual is not a person of good moral character in Prince William County, their VAWA application cannot be approved. This is one of the essential requirements. It is not for all the forms of immigration benefits because it is for VAWA applicants. It is one of the elements that a person needs to address and a person’s application can be denied if they are unable to give that.
A person is required to submit evidence of police reports, or a person has to get background checks from every jurisdiction that they have lived for more than six months in the past three years and a person can also supplement that with letters from – or letters of recommendation from people who know the person, like co-workers and friends.
Factors That Prevent Good Moral Character
There are a number of statutorily defined criminal offenses that will disqualify a person from good moral character like anything that will be considered as aggravated felonies will disqualify a person.
Engaging in prostitution – although there is a case law that said that being an actual prostitute does not disqualify a person, but being a habitual drunkard. There are a number of different disqualifying factors, but it can also be done on a discretionary basis, so even if a person does not have one of the actual statutory disqualifying factors in their records, if a person has a number of smaller offenses, a person has to overcome that because it is through the totality of the circumstance is the determination of whether or not a person has good moral character and it is discretionary.
Benefit of an Attorney
It is very important that you can prove good moral character when filling out an application for VAWA. If you have any questions about the application process it may be in your best interest to contact an experienced VAWA lawyer to help you with the process.