Criminal Law Arrested for domestic battery

[Kinchie]

I am a permanent resident, residing in Illinois, I am contacting you as a matter of urgency, as after a disagreement escalated out of control and both of us did and said things we shouldn't have. My husband called the police and I was arrested for "domestic battery," against my husband. I taken into custody, hospitalized for two days, my husband was not, I was arrested, my husband was not, my husband now regrets involving the police and the ramifications of his actions.

My husband now wants to drop his complaint. We have taken legal advice and we are aware that under Illinois law he cannot do this and that the state attorney is now in control, so we are waiting to see what the outcome is.

My concern is with my immigration status, my resident visa is due to expire in December this year 2014 and I am deeply concerned my renewal and my future citizenship, what do I need to do with respect to the renewal and what advice can you offer?

 

[Proserpina]

You REALLY need an attorney.

If you are convicted of a domestic violence charge, you are automatically subject to deportation and removal proceedings can happen very quickly.

If you are convicted of a lesser charge (such as "simple battery"), your status is a little up in the air. While the State may not consider "simple battery" as a domestic violence issue, Immigration can consider it domestic violence regardless of what the State says.

I'd like to clarify something else. Illinois will indeed allow your husband to ask that the charges are dropped - it's not illegal to do that. The problem is (and it appears that you do understand this bit) that the State does not need your husband's consent to go ahead with the charge.

The main reason for this is that many victims of DV will recant their story. It's unfortunately very common, and this is why the State will go ahead if there's enough evidence.

I cannot emphasize this enough: You NEED an attorney. Two, actually - one for the charge, and one for the immigration process.