Criminal and Traffic Defense
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If you are charged with having committed a misdemeanor criminal (including traffic) offense, it can have serious consequences for your rights and privileges in the United States, whether you are a U.S. citizen, LPR, student, visitor, undocumented, or otherwise. Even minor traffic citations can impact your ability to stay in the United States, depending on the facts and circumstances.
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A conviction, jail time, or a probation order may cause you to be placed into ICE custody and deportation or removal proceedings, and an experienced attorney can help you navigate the options, risks, and consequences of any decision, before accepting any plea negotiations or even paying your ticket online. We may be able to help you avoid jail time or other outcomes that might impact your immigration status, and can fight your case in court to obtain the best outcome for you.
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Driving without a valid license in Georgia is a criminal offense. In some States, traffic offenses are not technically criminal offenses, but in Georgia, traffic offenses are also criminal offenses. If you have been cited for driving without a valid license by a police officer in Georgia, then you are being charged with a criminal offense, and a plea of guilty or nolo will be a conviction of a criminal offense. The consequences for driving without a valid license become more severe each time you are convicted, including higher fines and longer jail sentences. Read more below.
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Visit our Driving Without a Valid License in Georgia blog for more information.
Driving without a valid license in Georgia
In the State of Georgia, if you want to drive on the public roads, you must have a valid, unexpired driver's license. If a police officer stops you, whether for a traffic violation or at a roadblock checkpoint, the officer will request your driver’s license and vehicle registration. Failing to provide your license and/or registration is a violation of Georgia law. Even though it’s a traffic offense, in Georgia, it’s also a criminal offense under the Official Code of Georgia Annotated.
There are many ways to be guilty of “driving without a license” in Georgia. For example, you might simply have never had a valid license, perhaps due to your age. Or, your license might have expired and you forgot to renew it. Or perhaps the license was suspended or revoked. Maybe you just forgot to bring your valid license with you in the car.
In any situation listed above, driving without a valid license can lead to jail time. If you are an immigrant, it could present serious problems with your immigration status.
For example, if you have Temporary Protected Status (TPS), two misdemeanor convictions (even from the same incident, such as speeding and driving without a license) can disqualify you from TPS eligibility.
If you are undocumented (living in the U.S. without lawful status), you could be arrested by local law enforcement and transferred into ICE custody to begin deportation/removal proceedings against you.
Different courts and prosecutors have different procedures for handling defendants who were caught driving without a Georgia license. For all of these reasons, we recommend that every noncitizen discuss their traffic citations with an experienced attorney, like Eric Adams, who understands criminal and immigration law. Proper counsel can help you avoid unnecessary, expensive immigration problems, keep you out of jail, and possibly help you fix any immigration problems or pursue lawful status to which you might be entitled.
You can read more about driving without a valid license here on our website or over at Avvo.
Eric Adams has proudly represented clients across the State of Georgia for over a decade, handling traffic citations, including driving without a valid license and various types of immigration cases in: