The Law Offices of David S. Chesley keeps an office right in Santa Rosa. Its immigration lawyers work on visas, green cards, citizenship and asylum. Its criminal lawyers defend charges where a conviction, or even a plea deal, can affect a non-citizen's status, since state law requires a warning about that risk before any plea.
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Where is a Santa Rosa criminal case actually heard?
Santa Rosa is both a city and the Sonoma County seat, so county business and city business sit close together. The county's one criminal courthouse, the Hall of Justice, is a short drive from downtown.
| Court | Address and phone | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Hall of Justice | 625 Administration Drive, Santa Rosa, CA 95403; (707) 521-6500 | Sonoma County's criminal courtrooms |
Table: where Sonoma County hears criminal cases.
A criminal citation lists the time and place to appear, nothing more, under Penal Code 853.6. Treat that paper, not a web page, as the real schedule.
The firm's Santa Rosa office sits at 3558 Round Barn Blvd Suite 200, Santa Rosa, CA 95403, reachable at (707) 583-9986. Two related pages cover the criminal side directly: criminal defense in Santa Rosa and DUI defense in Santa Rosa.
Who handles a Santa Rosa immigration case at the federal level?
A criminal case stays local. An immigration case does not. It moves through three federal agencies, none of which has a building in Sonoma County, and each agency mails its own notice stating where and when to appear.
| Agency | Office for this area | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Immigration court (EOIR) | Concord, 1855 Gateway Boulevard, Suite 850, Concord, CA 94520, (925) 680-9015, or Sacramento, (916) 447-9301 | Removal cases; EOIR lists these as Northern California's two courts and does not say which counties each serves |
| USCIS | San Francisco Field Office, 630 Sansome Street, San Francisco, CA 94111 | Interviews for non-asylum cases, naturalization ceremonies, applicant services |
| ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations | San Francisco Field Office, 630 Sansome Street, Room 590, San Francisco, CA 94111; (415) 365-8800 | Area of Responsibility: Northern California, Hawaii, Guam, Saipan |
Table: the federal side of a Sonoma County immigration matter.
Why not just assume the nearer court handles it? Because EOIR itself never says so. Its court finder names Concord and Sacramento as the region's only two immigration courts, full stop, with no county-by-county key. Whoever gets a hearing notice should trust that document over a guess. For checking a case already filed, EOIR runs ACIS. In its own words, the tool "provides basic information about the status of certain cases" once an A-Number and nationality are entered. It is upfront, though, that "not all cases, or all information about a case is displayed."
USCIS, unlike the court, does publish a real address, and its ZIP-code tool places every Santa Rosa address under the San Francisco Field Office at 630 Sansome Street. That office runs by appointment for non-asylum interviews, naturalization ceremonies, and applicant services, exactly as listed on its own page, which adds: "Please refer to your interview or appointment notice to confirm the field office address for your visit." A biometrics appointment is a different stop entirely, at an Application Support Center, not this field office.
ICE's enforcement side for this region is the San Francisco Field Office too, whose listed "Area of Responsibility" reads "Northern California, Hawaii, Guam, Saipan." Sonoma County is not spelled out by name there, but Los Angeles and San Diego's field offices each publish a narrower area that plainly excludes it, which is how Northern California's broad description still reaches here.
How can one conviction create three different problems?
A Santa Rosa conviction can trigger three separate federal consequences, and they are not interchangeable.
| Outcome | What it means | Statute | Example grounds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deportable | Removable after already being admitted | 8 U.S.C. 1227(a)(2) | One crime of moral turpitude within 5 years of admission with a possible 1-year sentence; 2 such crimes after admission, not from a single scheme; any aggravated felony |
| Inadmissible | Barred from a visa, green card or reentry | 8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(2) | A crime of moral turpitude, admitted or convicted; a controlled substance violation |
| Barred from relief | Cancellation of removal unavailable | 8 U.S.C. 1229b | Permanent residents: an aggravated felony. Others: a conviction under 1182(a)(2), 1227(a)(2) or 1227(a)(3) |
Table: deportable, inadmissible and barred from relief are three distinct questions.
Someone already living in the country faces the deportability test first. 8 U.S.C. 1227(a)(2)(A) reaches a single crime of moral turpitude inside five years of admission carrying a possible one-year sentence, any aggravated felony at all, or two crimes of moral turpitude after admission that did not spring from one scheme.
Applying for something new, a visa, a green card, reentry, triggers the opposite test instead. 8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(2)(A) can block that application over a crime of moral turpitude or a drug violation. One exception exists, and it is narrow: a single crime of moral turpitude where either the person was under 18 and more than five years have passed since release from confinement, or the maximum possible sentence was a year or less and no more than six months was actually imposed.
Calling something an "aggravated felony" means invoking 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(43)'s own federal list, which runs on different rules than California's felony category. A California misdemeanor tops out at 364 days under Penal Code 18.5, so it never reaches the list's one-year thresholds; a wobbler sentenced on the felony side of the line is a different story.
Finally, what counts as a "conviction" at all is its own federal question. 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(48)(A) says a formal judgment of guilt stands alone as a conviction; short of that, a guilty or no contest plea plus any punishment counts just the same, and a suspended sentence is measured by its full length, not the time actually served.
What warning does California require before a plea?
Penal Code 1016.5 makes the judge read a warning, word for word, before almost any guilty or no contest plea: "If you are not a citizen of the United States, you are hereby advised that conviction of the offense for which you have been charged may have the consequences of deportation, exclusion from admission to the United States, or denial of naturalization pursuant to the laws of the United States." Skip that step on a conviction that may carry one of those outcomes, and the defendant can move to withdraw the plea.
That court-side warning is not the only duty. Penal Code 1016.2 writes Padilla v. Kentucky into state law; the Supreme Court's own words at 559 U.S. 356, 374 (2010) were "we now hold that counsel must inform her client whether his plea carries a risk of deportation." Following through on that, Penal Code 1016.3 tells defense counsel to give honest, affirmative advice on the consequences and to push back against them where the client wants that.
Can an old Santa Rosa conviction be reopened?
A conviction that looked settled for years can resurface the moment a visa, green card or citizenship application is filed. Penal Code 1473.7 answers that problem for anyone no longer in criminal custody. A motion to vacate is available wherever prejudicial error kept the person from meaningfully understanding, defending against, or knowingly accepting the immigration fallout of a plea. That standard covers far more than a lawyer's bad advice alone.
Two clocks can start this deadline. One is being served notice that the conviction is being used to seek removal, or to deny a benefit, status or naturalization. The other is being notified that a removal order has become final. Whichever one rings last is the one that counts.
Because this remedy is narrow, it is worth saying what will not work. A sealed record and a certificate of rehabilitation are real, useful things under California law, and the Board of Immigration Appeals confirmed in Matter of Pickering, 23 I&N Dec. 621 (BIA 2003), that neither one touches the federal picture when the underlying problem was rehabilitation rather than a legal flaw: such a conviction "is not eliminated for immigration purposes." Only Penal Code 1016.5 and 1473.7 can actually move that needle.
Anyone about to enter a plea in a new Santa Rosa case should get it checked against their immigration history first. Two firm resources cover this directly: reviewing a plea for immigration consequences and, specific to driving cases, how a DUI can affect immigration status.
What immigration services does the firm provide?
Santa Rosa clients come to the firm's immigration lawyers for asylum claims, the EB-5 investor visa program, Form I-601 and I-601A hardship waivers, adjustment of status, and citizenship and naturalization filings. On the removal side, the firm prepares cancellation of removal applications, filed as EOIR-42A or 42B under 8 U.S.C. 1229b, and follows up with a motion to reopen or reconsider if a judge says no.
Two narrower categories round out the practice. A child who fits 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(27)(J), which requires a juvenile court order among other conditions, can pursue Special Immigrant Juvenile Status. A crime victim can pursue a U Visa, though the petition only moves forward with a law enforcement certification under 8 U.S.C. 1184(p)(1).
Criminal defense stays part of the same office, covering DUI, drug, theft, violent and sex offense charges, so one team handles both halves of the case.
Frequently asked questions
Does it take a felony to risk deportation from Santa Rosa, or can a misdemeanor do it too?
A misdemeanor can be enough by itself. Immigration law has no concept of California's felony versus misdemeanor split. A misdemeanor domestic violence conviction, a drug offense, or two unrelated crimes of moral turpitude can each support deportability under 8 U.S.C. 1227(a)(2). An immigration lawyer can check a specific charge against this list before any plea.
If my case never led to a conviction, can the arrest still hurt my immigration status?
Sometimes, and it is worth knowing why. The strict definition in 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(48)(A) means a bare arrest is not a conviction on its own, but the Laken Riley Act changed that for one group. Under 8 U.S.C. 1226(c)(1)(E), someone already inadmissible under 8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(6)(A), (6)(C) or (7) faces mandatory ICE custody once charged with or arrested for theft, burglary, larceny, shoplifting, assault on a law enforcement officer, or a crime causing death or serious injury.
Would a no contest plea keep my immigration record cleaner than a guilty plea?
It would not. 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(48)(A) makes no distinction between the two once a judge orders any punishment at all.
I pleaded guilty in Sonoma County years ago and nobody mentioned immigration consequences. What are my options?
Start with Penal Code 1016.5. For pleas taken before January 1, 2026, the statute says a court's failure to give the exact word-for-word warning does not, by itself, support vacating the plea. That holds regardless of whether the warning was imperfect or missing entirely. A court keeps its usual discretion to vacate on other grounds, and Penal Code 1473.7 covers more ground and is worth raising alongside it.
Can ICE walk into the Sonoma County jail and take someone on request?
No, not on a hold request by itself. Government Code 7284.6(a)(1)(B) blocks that. A transfer to immigration custody needs a judicial warrant, a judicial finding of probable cause, or one of the specific convictions Government Code 7282.5 lists, per Section 7284.6(a)(4).
How strict is the police certification rule for a U Visa?
Strict. 8 U.S.C. 1184(p)(1) makes a law enforcement certification a required part of the petition, not a bonus. The applicant separately needs to have been, be, or be likely to become helpful to the investigation.
My citizenship application is already pending. Could an old Santa Rosa case still cause a problem?
It could, so do not wait for USCIS to find it first. Get the old case reviewed against the pending application before the interview takes place.
Talk to a Santa Rosa immigration lawyer today
A criminal deadline and an immigration deadline tied to the same Santa Rosa case rarely match up. The Law Offices of David S. Chesley offers a free consultation, is available 24/7, and offers payment plans. Call (800) 755-5174 or use the firm's consultation request form.