Naturalization Approved Despite Prior Federal Conviction for Structuring Transactions 31 U.S.C. § 5324(a)(3)

In June 2025, our office successfully assisted a client in obtaining naturalization despite a federal

conviction under 31 U.S.C. § 5324(a)(3) — structuring a financial transaction to avoid currency

reporting requirements.

At the time of the incident, our client was a college student and was working parttime at a small

business. One of their supervisors obtained cashier’s checks from a bank and made them payable

to the client, who then cashed the checks on two separate occasions. Our client was not aware of

any wrongdoings, was not personally benefited from the transactions, and was just simply

following instructions from their employer. However, in the interest of timely resolved this legal

issue, our client pled guilty to structuring and attempting to structure financial transactions to

evade federal reporting requirements for amounts exceeding $10,000.

When the client sought our assistance, Attorney Nguyen D. Luu and our legal team developed

strong arguments demonstrating that this decades-old conviction should not prevent the client

from becoming a U.S. citizen. We argued that the offense was not fraudulent or deceptive in

nature and therefore did not fall within the categories of crimes that typically bar naturalization,

such as those involving fraud, drugs, firearms, or money laundering.

We further emphasized that the conviction did not meet the legal definition of an “aggravated

felony” or a “crime involving moral turpitude,” both of which can disqualify an applicant from

naturalization. Because the conviction was essentially a reporting violation and did not result in

jail time, it lacked the seriousness necessary to affect immigration status.

In addition to the legal arguments, we highlighted the client’s decades of good conduct since the

conviction. The client has lived a law-abiding life, avoided further legal issues, and consistently

contributed to their family and community. They met all statutory requirements for

naturalization, including the standard of good moral character over the preceding five years.

We were very pleased to celebrate with our client as they took the Oath of Allegiance in

September 2025, officially becoming an American citizen.