Immigration Corner | Will shoplifting charge affect my visa renewal?

Jamaica Gleaner | 2025-12-02 | Original Article

Dear Mrs Walker-Huntington,

I was in the United States on a J1 visa and was charged with shoplifting. I received a deferral certificate. Will I be able to apply and obtain a visa next year?

I humbly await your response.

Dear JJ,

The J1 visa is a non-immigrant visa and is commonly referred to in Jamaica as the “work and travel programme”. It is a programme that is designed to promote educational and cultural exchange. The recipients of the J1 visa are allowed to travel to America for a specified period of time and to legally work in a stated field. There are university students who use this programme during the summer to travel to America, work and are able to fund their education back home. On the other hand, there are career individuals who are also able to use the J1 visa programme to travel to America and work for an extended period of time, e.g., teachers.

Regardless of the intent of the J1 visa, it is still a non-immigrant visa that is not guaranteed to any applicant. Among other criteria, you need to satisfy the consular officer that you intend to make a temporary trip to America and return home. You also need to demonstrate that you are a person of good moral character who warrants the privilege of a US visa. This means that the consular officer will examine your past visa history, your criminal record in your home country as well as any criminal encounters you may have had in America, among other factors.

Having a shoplifting charge in the United States can be a disqualifier for any type of visa. I assume by “deferral” you mean a deferred prosecution agreement, which is found in many jurisdictions in the US. To varying degrees, the prosecution and defence attorneys agree that the prosecution delays prosecuting the defendant in a case and gives a list of actions the defendant must perform. If the defendant complies with the agreement, the criminal case is usually dismissed. At the end of the day, if the deferred prosecution agreement is successfully completed and the charges dropped, the defendant does not have a conviction.

However, in immigration matters, questions about criminal background need to be read carefully and if asked, if ever arrested an applicant must answer yes. In the non-immigrant visa setting, while there may not be a conviction one must be careful in answering and an arrest may be a deterrent to the consular officer to grant or renew a visa. You must always be truthful, even if it results in a denial as not being truthful increases the probability of denial by the addition of a fraud and misrepresentation immigration charge that will cross over into an immigrant visa application. A denial is not always forever, but fraud and misrepresentation is forever.

Dahlia A. Walker-Huntington, Esq. is a Jamaican-American attorney who practises immigration law in the United States; and family, criminal and international law in Florida. She is a mediator and former special magistrate and hearing officer in Broward County, Florida. info@walkerhuntington.com

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