United States Criminal Warrants

United States Criminal Warrants are an issue that few wish to discuss, but the issue can be extremely important for those residing overseas as criminal matters pending in the United States, or one of its territories, can have an adverse impact upon one’s lawful status in a foreign country.

In many cases, the issuance of a criminal warrant can cause inconvenience to the party who is subject to the terms of the warrant since a large number foreign countries have extradition treaties with the USA. Those residing overseas may find themselves arrested in the country in which they are staying. This could result in detention in the foreign country prior to extradition proceedings and remittance to American authorities.

Unfortunately, many who have criminal warrants, fugitive warrants, or outstanding arrest warrants wish that their problems would simply disappear. These individuals believe that running away from the problem will ultimately solve the problem. In the vast majority of cases, this is a bad attitude to take as the problem can only be effectively dealt with by facing the charges. However, dealing with a criminal warrant does not necessarily mean that individuals cannot receive an assessment of their situation from a legal professional. Many people overseas who have outstanding warrants choose to contact an American attorney residing abroad. This provides the client with the opportunity to receive advice and counsel before arriving in the USA so that the client will be familiar with government protocols. More importantly, a client can be advised as to his or her rights, thereby placing the client in a position to better deal with the consequences of a return to the USA.

Many individuals overseas find that returning to the USA is not a problem, but traveling to other countries is. This is usually due to the fact that a US Embassy or US Consulate has the authority to confiscate n American’s passport if they have outstanding fugitive warrants. In other cases, Americans find their passports confiscated due to a failure to keep up child support payments. Although this situation is not dire at the outset, remaining in a foreign country without a passport is a dangerous proposition. Many Americans find that consulting an American attorney resident overseas is beneficial because many American attorneys outside of the USA understand the procedures of American Consulates and Embassies as well as the dynamics of the court system in the USA. These two areas of expertise can be a boon to those who have had their passport revoked because competent advice and counsel in such situations could greatly diminish inconvenience as some pending cases in the USA can be dealt with from even though the individual in question is not physically within the United States’ jurisdiction.