Does the gravity of the offense affect the chances of waiver approval?

[Str8upG 0]

Hi all, My wife is Albanian and we are currently in the middle of the I-130 process. I believe she will need a waiver because she had a shoplifting charge in Athens, Greece over 5 years ago. That is definitely considered Moral Turpitude. It involved about $50 worth of stuff. Anyway, I'm sure that's gonna show up on her Greek police certificate, she has never been in the US, never broken any US laws, and the aforementioned minor offense was her first and last.

My question is, does the gravity of the offense affect the chances of waiver approval? I mean does a person who steals a chewing gum from the grocery store have better chances of approval than one who was convicted of aggravated assault or armed robbery? Please explain.

Thank you in advance for your time and consideration.

[emt103c 10]

Gravity of the offense makes a difference and length of time that has passed since the last offence makes a lot of difference as does evidence of good character now. . . There are lots of factors to consider in preparing the waiver. Check out the waiver information posted on www.i2us.net and www.visacentral.net

There are a few good articles on this topic written by Laurel Scott that explain it quite well.