Crimes of Moral Turpitude

(A)

Self-Petitioning.  A noncitizen spouse or child can “self-petition” (file a visa petition for adjustment of status for him- or herself, without any citizen or permanent resident’s sponsorship) if s/he can show that “during the marriage, the alien or a child of the alien has been battered by or has been the subject of extreme cruelty perpetrated by the alien’s spouse.”[446]

            The 2005 VAWA reauthorization bill adds a definition of “self-petitioner” to the INA, which includes persons eligible under the Cuban Adjustment Act, the Haitian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act of 1998, and the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act, who have been battered or subjected to extreme cruelty.[447] 

A self-petitioner must demonstrate that s/he is a person of Good Moral Character.  An aggravated felony conviction obtained after November 29, 1990 is a permanent bar to finding Good Moral Character.  See § 3.14, supra.  Commission of an aggravated felony arguably will not bar a finding of Good Moral Character for VAWA purposes, however, if the conviction can be waived for purposes of deportability (e.g., through former INA § 212(c)), or inadmissibility (e.g., through INA § 212(h)), and if the commission of the act was connected to the noncitizen’s having been battered or subjected to extreme cruelty.  Note that VAWA 2000 also removed from certain waivers the requirement that the applicant show extreme hardship to the spouse.[448]  Therefore, a VAWA applicant can apply for a waiver of inadmissibility under INA § 212(h), for example, without proving hardship to the spouse.  A grant of the waiver will avoid both the ground of inadmissibility and the bar to showing Good Moral Character.  VAWA relief is not available to a person who entered the United States via the Visa Waiver Program.[449]

[446] INA § 204(a)(1)(A)(iii)(bb), 8 U.S.C. § 1154(a)(1)(A)(iii)(bb). 

[447] Violence Against Women and Department of Justice Reauthorization Act of 2005 § 811, Pub. L. No. 109-162, 119 Stat. 2960 (Jan. 5, 2006) (adding INA § 101(a)(51), 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(51)).

[448] See INA § 212(g)(1), 8 U.S.C. § 1182(g)(1) (health grounds); INA § 212(h)(1), 8 U.S.C. § 1182(h)(1) (certain criminal grounds); INA § 212(i), 8 U.S.C. § 1182(i) (visa fraud); INA § 237(a)(1)(H), 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(1)(H) (visa fraud). 

[449] Schmitt v. Maurer, 451 F.3d 1092 (10th Cir. Jun. 20, 2006) (noncitizens who enter on the visa waiver program waive all rights to contest removal or appear before an immigration judge, except to apply for asylum; VAWA applicant who entered through Visa Waiver Program and overstayed therefore cannot adjust).