The immigration process can be a very long and difficult one. On average, it can take about 14 months from start to finish. It isn’t hard to imagine that those 14 months would be a stressful time. You would want everything to go as smoothly and as quickly as possible, because life can be unpredictable!
Filing bankruptcy is an important decision, and one that can affect many things in your life. It can affect your belongings, those around you, etc. So have you ever wondered, “can bankruptcy affect my immigration status?”. In a recent article by ABI explored the effects of bankruptcy on immigration – it’s a good read to learn more. Here are a couple ideas of note:
If immigration and bankruptcy are on your mind – ask these questions before you consider filing bankruptcy.
Can bankruptcy stop my immigration application? Luckily, when it comes to this particular question, there is a straight answer. The Federal US Bankruptcy Code section 525 (a) stops the government from discriminating against someone for filing bankruptcy. This section explains: “a governmental unit may not deny, revoke, suspend, or refuse to renew a license, permit, charter, franchise, or other similar grant to, condition such a grant to, discriminate with respect to such a grant against, deny employment to, terminate the employment of, or discriminate with respect to employment against, a person that is or has been a debtor. . .”
So good news, filing bankruptcy will not affect immigration status, green card or the ability to apply for US Citizenship. The only way it could possibly affect these processes, is if it is found later that you had lied in your bankruptcy case under oath, or left out information in the bankruptcy petition, etc.
If you have more questions about bankruptcy’s effect on immigration or other issues, please give our office a call at 801-221-9911.