DWI Charges Can Limit Your Travel

 Posted on October 10, 2022 in Uncategorized

Drivers facing a Texas DWI charge usually first think of their freedom, hoping to avoid any jail time. They may next think of their finances, hoping to avoid stiff monetary fines and penalties. But DWI charges and convictions can bring other serious collateral consequences, including affecting a job, career, professional or business license, and even child custody, among other things. One of those other concerns is your ability to travel. Make no mistake: a DWI charge or conviction can affect your ability to travel. Don't underestimate or ignore the potential impacts of a DWI charge, especially if your ability to travel around the United States or abroad is important to you, your job, or your family. If you face a Texas DWI charge, retain DWI Specialist attorney Doug Murphy for your winning defense.

Restrictions on Driving Privileges

Losing a license to suspension or revocation because of a DWI charge or conviction can certainly limit one's ability to travel. If Texas suspends or revokes your driver's license because of a DWI arrest, you can't rely on that license to drive in Texas or any other state. If Texas limits your driving privileges to commuting back and forth to your local place of work, then you can't rely on that license to drive in other states. Other states must respect the Texas driving restrictions. If your ability to travel locally or around the country relying on your driver's license is important to you, then be sure to retain premier Texas DWI Specialist attorney Doug Murphy for your aggressive and effective defense. Preserve your driving privileges to the full extent you are able.

Other Potential Limits on Interstate Travel

Generally, though, a Texas DWI charge or conviction won't keep you from traveling in other states by other means, without relying on your suspended or revoked license. Unless the court imposes some specific restriction on your interstate travel, you should generally expect to be able to travel interstate with family or friends, or using public air, rail, or vehicular transportation, as long as you are not driving. But courts sometimes do impose restrictions on travel, either while the DWI case is pending as a bond condition or related to the terms of a DWI conviction and sentence. Court hearings, probation reporting, periodic drug testing, alcohol or drug counseling, community service, and other court-imposed requirements may also discourage interstate travel if not outright prohibit it. If your ability to travel is important to you, then retain skilled and experienced DWI Specialist attorney Doug Murphy to ensure that you have the greatest flexibility the court will allow.

Potential Limits on International Travel

If you face a Texas DWI charge or suffer a Texas DWI conviction, your international travel may well be at risk, depending on your desired destination. International travel can be desirable, important, or even critical, depending on your circumstance. Your education or job may require it, your family commitments may highly recommend it, or your friends and affinities may highly desire it. But each country has its own laws regarding entry, and countries vary widely on how they treat the entry of a foreigner facing a DWI charge or having a DWI conviction. Our southern neighbor Mexico, for instance, is notorious among international travelers for prohibiting entry by those having a DWI within the prior ten years. Similarly, Canada discourages entry by those having a DWI, requiring special applications, procedures, and fees if entry is even possible. Some Middle Eastern countries may also restrict entry or free travel within their borders out of security concerns. The United Kingdom and European Union fall at the other end of the spectrum, generally permitting entry without concern over a prior DWI. Once in the European Union, its Schengen Agreement should permit unrestricted travel from member country to member country. If you travel internationally, be sure you understand the potential impacts of a DWI charge and conviction.

Potential Effects on Immigration Status

A DWI conviction can also affect your immigration status and visa and thus indirectly affect your ability to travel. Generally, an immigrant can face three possible consequences of a crime committed while in the United States: deportation; denial of admissibility to return to the United States; or denial of citizenship. While a DWI generally won't trigger deportation or other immigration consequences, other charges relating to the DWI, or aggravating circumstances surrounding the DWI, could supply that trigger. For instance, a DWI relating to drug use, an intoxication assault charge for injuring someone in the DWI, or a DWI with a minor in the vehicle could, if not properly handled, constitute a serious enough charge to affect the defendant's immigration status. If you face a Texas DWI while an immigrant on a U.S. visa, don't let the charge affect your immigration status. Retain Texas DWI Specialist attorney Doug Murphy to minimize the potential travel and immigration impacts.

The Best Approach to Preserving Travel Opportunities

The best approach to preserving travel opportunities is to beat the DWI. Skilled and aggressive representation from Texas DWI Specialist attorney Doug Murphy may lead to an early dismissal of the charge. Just because the police and prosecution brought a DWI charge doesn't mean that the prosecution can prove it beyond a reasonable doubt. The prosecution may lack the evidence, or the evidence may be inadmissible as unreliable or unconstitutionally obtained. Even where the prosecution has evidence on which to convict beyond a reasonable doubt, other options may also exist. A DWI can be more serious in its travel impacts than other, lesser crimes to which prosecutors may permit the defendant to plead.

Hire a Premier Houston DWI Defense Attorney

If your travel around the country or internationally is important to you, then retain premier Houston DWI defense attorney Doug Murphy for your DWI defense. Attorney Murphy is both a DWI Specialist and one of only two Texas criminal defense attorneys to hold DWI Board Certification and Criminal Law Certification. Attorney Murphy is also US News & World Report's Best Lawyers in America 2021 Lawyer of the Year for DWI defense. Retain attorney Murphy for your winning defense.