Consequences of a Conviction
The fallout beyond the sentence: how a criminal charge or conviction can affect immigration status, jobs, professional licenses, housing, financial aid, custody, travel, and security clearances. Consequences vary by conviction and by state.
All Consequences of a Conviction guides
- How a Conviction Affects Housing
How a criminal conviction can affect renting: private landlord screening, federal public-housing rules, and steps to improve your chances.
- How a Conviction Affects Professional Licenses
How an arrest or conviction can affect nursing, law, real estate, CDL, and contractor licenses, and what to do about reporting duties.
- What Is a Crime of Moral Turpitude?
A crime of moral turpitude has no fixed legal definition but can trigger deportation and license denial. Here's how courts decide and what it means for you.
- Crimes That Can Get You Deported
Which criminal convictions can lead to deportation, including for green card holders, and the categories and deadlines that matter most.
- Traveling Abroad With a Criminal Record
A criminal record can get you turned away at the border, especially in Canada. Here's what to check before you book any trip.
- Plea Deals and Immigration Consequences
A plea can count as a conviction for immigration even with no jail time — what to know before you plead, and how to get it reviewed first.
- How a Criminal Conviction Affects Your Job
How criminal convictions affect hiring, firing, and background checks — ban-the-box laws, EEOC rules, and your disclosure duties.
- How a Criminal Conviction Affects Child Custody
A conviction doesn't automatically end custody, but violent, drug, or sex offenses weigh heavily under the best-interest standard.
- How a Conviction Affects Student Financial Aid
Does a criminal conviction block federal student aid? The old drug-conviction FAFSA bar is gone, but incarceration and other rules still matter.
- Aggravated Felonies in Immigration Law
"Aggravated felony" is an immigration term that can include some misdemeanors and often means near-automatic removal with no relief.
- How a Criminal Conviction Affects Immigration
How a conviction can make a noncitizen deportable or inadmissible, why immigration's definition of "conviction" is broader than you think, and Padilla v. Kentucky.
- How a Conviction Affects a Security Clearance
A conviction rarely ends a clearance automatically — but how you handle disclosure often matters more than the offense itself.