Persons applying for non-immigrant visas are generally subject to the grounds of inadmissibility.  See § 2.16, supra.  After admission on a non-immigrant visa, the noncitizen will be subject to the grounds of deportation.  Even if conviction of a criminal offense does not result in deportability, the immigration authorities may find that the conviction, and any service of sentence imposed as a result, defeats the purpose for which the noncitizen was admitted.[334]  There are several classes of visas that have a particular bearing on immigrants with criminal issues.

[334] But see Matter of Murat-Kahn, 14 I. & N. Dec. 465 (BIA 1973) (student’s conviction that did not result in long period of incarceration and did not interfere with her studies so as to meaningfully disrupt her education does not constitute a failure to maintain status). See also Mashi v. INS, 585 F.2d 1309 (5th Cir. 1978) (reversing BIA where student substantially complied with terms of visa).

Third Circuit

RELIEF - CRIME-RELATED NONIMMIGRANT VISAS - CONVENTION AGAINST TRANSNATIONAL ORGANIZED CRIME
When dealing with crime victims and crime informants, counsel should check whether they might be candidates for relief under U.S. law that mirrors the protections in the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime or any of its protocols (such as the protocol against human trafficking or the protocol against migrant smuggling). The Third Circuit has directed the BIA to analyze what type of relief must be provided in Rranci v. Mukasey __ F.3d __ (3d Cir. 2008). Thanks to Rex Chen of Catholic Charities of Newark