Can Voting Affect Your Green Card or Citizenship? | Real Immigration Case

Warning for Green-Card Holders

Attorney Kristina Krilchev warns that green-card holders who are not U.S. citizens should not register to vote or vote in U.S. elections unless they are legally eligible. They should also avoid signing voter-registration documents they do not understand.

Example and Potential Consequences

The attorney describes a permanent resident whose naturalization application was denied after an election worker processed her information and directed her to a voting machine, even though she had said she was not a U.S. citizen. The resident said she had not intended to register or vote. After discovering the issue, she canceled her registration, disclosed what happened to USCIS, and submitted evidence of good moral character.

The attorney says she has also seen green-card holders accidentally register at DMVs because of language barriers or misunderstandings.

USCIS may treat voter registration as a false claim to U.S. citizenship, which can affect naturalization and, in some cases, put a person’s immigration status at risk. Knowingly making a false claim of citizenship to register to vote may also be a federal felony.

What to Do if You Registered by Mistake

Proving that a registration was accidental can be difficult. The attorney recommends contacting an immigration attorney promptly if you discover you registered by mistake, rather than waiting until a naturalization interview.

Presenter

Attorney Kristina Krilchev, identified in the subtitles as “Christina Crov.”