Can I Become a U.S. Citizen With a Misdemeanor?

Yes, you can become a U.S. citizen with a misdemeanor on your record in many cases, but the answer depends entirely on what the offense was, when it happened, and how federal immigration law classifies it. Some misdemeanors delay your eligibility for a few years. A smaller group permanently bars naturalization. And a few can turn your citizenship application into a deportation case. Sorting out which category your conviction falls into is the whole task.

The Good Moral Character Window That Decides Most Cases

Every naturalization applicant has to show “good moral character” (GMC) for a set period before filing Form N-400 and continuing until the oath of allegiance. That period is five years for most lawful permanent residents and three years for applicants married to and living with a U.S. citizen.¹ Any misconduct inside that window counts against you.²

Older offenses are not automatically ignored. USCIS officers can look at your entire life history when deciding whether you meet the community standard today, so a misdemeanor from before your statutory period can still be weighed alongside evidence that you’ve reformed.³ Beyond that discretionary review, the Immigration and Nationality Act lists specific offenses that automatically block a good moral character finding. Those are the categories that matter most.

Misdemeanors That Trigger a Temporary Bar

A conditional bar means the conviction blocks this application. Once a clean statutory period passes, you can generally apply again.

Crimes Involving Moral Turpitude

A crime involving moral turpitude (CIMT) is an offense involving fraud, deceit, or conduct considered fundamentally dishonest. Common misdemeanor examples include theft, forgery, and fraud. A CIMT conviction inside your statutory period is a conditional bar.⁴

There is a significant exception. The “petty offense” exception applies when you have only one CIMT on your record, the maximum possible sentence for the offense was one year or less, and you were not actually sentenced to more than six months of imprisonment.⁵ Many misdemeanor shoplifting and petty fraud convictions fit within it. Whether yours qualifies can turn on subtle differences in state sentencing law, which is why immigration attorneys spend so much time on this exact analysis.

Drug Offenses, Including Legal-State Marijuana

Any controlled substance conviction during the statutory period is a conditional bar, with one narrow exception: a single offense of simple possession of 30 grams or less of marijuana.⁴

Marijuana catches people out constantly. Federal law still classifies it as a controlled substance, and USCIS follows federal law. Using, possessing, or even working in the marijuana industry can bar a good moral character finding regardless of whether your state has legalized recreational use. Assuming state legalization protects your citizenship application is one of the more dangerous mistakes an applicant can make.

DUI Convictions

A single DUI misdemeanor is not automatically a conditional bar, but two or more DUI convictions during the statutory period are.³ USCIS also treats “habitual drunkard” as its own conditional bar and looks for signs like multiple public intoxication arrests, alcohol-related job losses, and unexplained employment gaps.⁴ Even a single DUI will draw close discretionary scrutiny.

Other Conditional Bars That Catch Misdemeanors

Two or more convictions with combined sentences totaling five years or more, regardless of whether the individual offenses were misdemeanors.
A total of 180 days or more of jail or prison time during the statutory period, even if served across multiple shorter stints.
False oral testimony under oath to obtain an immigration benefit, which includes lying at your naturalization interview.

Each applies to conduct inside the statutory period.⁴

USCIS can also find you lack good moral character based on unlawful acts you committed during the statutory period even if you were never charged. The officer can rely on your own admissions or other reliable evidence in the record.⁴

When a Misdemeanor Becomes a Permanent Bar

Some offenses that state courts label misdemeanors are treated as “aggravated felonies” under federal immigration law. An aggravated felony conviction on or after November 29, 1990, is a permanent bar to naturalization. USCIS cannot approve your application, ever.⁶

The immigration definition is far broader than the name suggests. A theft offense or a crime of violence counts as an aggravated felony if the court imposed a sentence of one year or more, and the sentence counts even if the judge suspended it entirely.⁷ A misdemeanor theft plea with a one-year suspended sentence and zero days actually served still qualifies. What the court ordered is what matters, not what you served.⁶

When Applying for Citizenship Could Get You Deported

This is the risk most guides skip past, and it deserves the closest look. Filing Form N-400 puts your entire history in front of USCIS. If the agency discovers a deportable conviction during the process, it can deny your application and refer you to immigration court for removal.

The following misdemeanor categories can make a lawful permanent resident deportable:

Any controlled substance conviction at any time after admission, with the same narrow exception for a single simple-possession offense of 30 grams or less of marijuana.
Any firearm offense involving purchasing, selling, possessing, or carrying a firearm or destructive device in violation of any law.
Any conviction for domestic violence, stalking, child abuse, child neglect, or child abandonment.
Any aggravated felony conviction at any time after admission, including misdemeanors that meet the immigration definition.
A single CIMT committed within five years of admission that carries a possible sentence of one year or more, or two or more CIMTs at any time after admission.

These grounds come from the deportability provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act.⁸

If any of these describes your record, talk to an immigration attorney before you file. A denial is a setback. Being placed in removal proceedings because you drew attention to yourself is a different order of harm. An attorney can weigh whether the value of citizenship outweighs the risk of losing your green card.

Disclosing Your Record on Form N-400

Form N-400 asks about every arrest, citation, charge, and conviction in your entire life. Answer truthfully. USCIS will run your fingerprints through FBI databases and will find what you don’t disclose. The filing fee is $710 online or $760 by paper.⁹

Expunged, sealed, and vacated records are the most common source of costly disclosure mistakes. Those state-level actions do not erase a conviction for immigration purposes. The N-400 instructions explicitly require you to report offenses that have been expunged or otherwise cleared, and warn that failing to disclose can lead to denial even if the underlying offense wouldn’t have disqualified you.¹⁰

Hiding a conviction at the interview is itself a conditional bar. False oral testimony under oath given to obtain an immigration benefit meets all three elements of the false testimony bar.⁴ Even when the underlying misdemeanor wouldn’t have blocked citizenship, lying about it almost certainly will.

For each incident, gather a certified final court disposition and a certified arrest record, plus proof you completed every term of your sentence — probation completion letters, receipts for fines, community service records. If a court cannot locate a record, get an official statement confirming it’s unavailable.¹¹ Courts can take weeks to process these requests, so start early.

Building the Case for Approval

When a misdemeanor lands you in a discretionary review rather than an automatic bar, evidence of rehabilitation does real work. Proof that you completed probation and paid every fine. Letters from employers, community leaders, or volunteer organizations describing your character since the offense. A record of steady employment and consistent tax payments. Officers weigh how serious the offense was, how recently it happened, whether it was isolated or part of a pattern, and your age at the time. A single trespass from a decade ago reads very differently from three disorderly conduct convictions in the last four years.

If USCIS Denies Your Application

You have 30 days from receiving a denial notice to request an administrative hearing by filing Form N-336.¹² A different officer, equal or higher in grade to the one who denied you, will review your case fresh and can consider new evidence.¹³

A denial doesn’t automatically cancel your green card. If you failed a test, didn’t meet residence requirements, or fell short on good moral character without a deportable offense, you remain a lawful permanent resident and can try again later. The serious exception is a denial tied to a deportable conviction or fraud in obtaining the green card. In those cases, USCIS can move you into removal proceedings, which is why the deportation analysis has to happen before you file, not after.

1
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I Am a Lawful Permanent Resident of 5 Years
2
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Chapter 3 – Continuous Residence
3
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Restoring a Rigorous, Holistic, and Comprehensive Good Moral Character Evaluation Standard for Aliens Applying for Naturalization
4
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Chapter 5 – Conditional Bars for Acts in Statutory Period
5
U.S. Department of State. 9 FAM 302.3 Ineligibility Based on Criminal and Related Grounds
6
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Chapter 4 – Permanent Bars to Good Moral Character
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1101 – Definitions
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1227 – Deportable Aliens
9
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. N-400, Application for Naturalization
10
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. N-400 Instructions
11
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Chapter 3 – Evidence and the Record
12
eCFR. Part 336 Hearings on Denials of Applications for Naturalization
13
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Hearing and Judicial Review