Many statutory grounds of deportation expressly apply only if the triggering act (whether conviction or commission) occurred after admission to the United States.[56]  Certain grounds of removal, and some forms of relief, also depend upon a certain amount of time passing between admission and commission or conviction of a criminal offense.[57]  For example, one CMT conviction triggers deportation only if the conviction occurs within five years after admission.[58]  For these reasons, it is important to know when a noncitizen has been “admitted,” and to know which admission counts for purposes of removal or relief.  It is also important to know what version of the law applies – the law that existed when the application for admission was made, or the law that existed when the immigration authorities make their decision.

[56] E.g., INA § 237(a)(2)(A)(i)(I), 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(A)(i)(I) (conviction of crime of moral turpitude); INA § 237(a)(2)(A)(ii), 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(A)(ii) (multiple convictions of crimes of moral turpitude “at any time after admission”); INA § 237(a)(2)(A)(iii), 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(A)(iii) (aggravated felony “at any time after admission”); INA § 237(a)(2)(B)(i), 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(B)(i) (controlled substances conviction “at any time after admission”); INA § 237(a)(2)(B)(ii), 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(B)(ii) (anyone who is or has been a drug abuser or addict “at any time after admission”); INA § 237(a)(2)(C), 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(C) (firearms conviction “at any time after admission”); INA § 237(a)(2)(E)(i), 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(E)(i) (domestic violence conviction “at any time after admission”).

[57] See, e.g., INA § 237(a)(2)(A)(i), 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(A)(i) (CMT within 5 years of admission); INA § 240A, 8 U.S.C. § 1229b (cancellation of removal).

[58] INA § 237(a)(2)(A)(i)(I), 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(A)(i)(I).

BIA

ADMISSION - CRIMES OF MORAL TURPITUDE
Matter of Carrillo-Arrillo, 25 I. & N. Dec. 99 (BIA Oct. 21 2009) (pursuant to the Cuban Refugee Adjustment Act of November 2, 1966, Pub. L. No. 89-732, 80 Stat. 1161, 1, the date at which a Cuban noncitizen was paroled in the United States counts as the date of "admission" as a lawful permanent resident; noncitizen who was paroled into the United States in 1999, but did not adjust status until 2001, was not deportable as a noncitizen who had committed a CMT within 5 years of admission based on offenses committed in 2004).