Lawyers reveal whether Prince Harry’s drug use will affect US visa status
“Truth-teller” Prince Harry may find himself in hot water — and lose his rights to live in the US — for being too honest about his past drug use, a legal expert tells Page Six exclusively.
“An admission of drug use is usually grounds for inadmissibility,” former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani says.
“That means Prince Harry’s visa should have been denied or revoked because he admitted to using cocaine, mushrooms and other drugs.”
Rahmani, adds that there is “no exception for royalty or recreational use.”
The Duke of Sussex revealed in his memoir, “Spare,” released in January, that he “drank heavily,” used cocaine and smoked pot throughout his life.
The prince said during an online chat with trauma expert Gabor Maté earlier this month that he considers hallucinogenic drugs a “fundamental” part of his life.
But Lawyer Leonard explains that drug users who are not US citizens would have to give immigration officials a reason to launch an investigation into the individual’s status, like a criminal act.
“You’ve got to give them something that would trigger it, and revealing it in a book, that you experimented with drugs when you were a young man, I don’t think gets you there,” the celebrity attorney adds.
“Immigration is not going to do anything based on that. If he got arrested or if he got a DWI, then we’re having a different conversation.”
However, Rahmani maintains that there is “no requirement that the person actually be convicted of a drug offense.”
He notes, though, that a loophole for drug users to stay in the US would be for them to “get a waiver” as proof that their substance abuse “is in remission.”
Harry moved to California with his wife, Meghan Markle, and their son, Archie, in early 2020 after quitting the royal family that January.
According to a 2021 article by the Times, the duke has no plans to seek a permanent US residency, citizenship or a “green card at any point.”
A top immigration attorney previously told Page Six that should any issues arise, Markle, 41, who was born in California, could sponsor her husband.
Lawyers reveal whether Prince Harry’s drug use will affect US visa status. Lawyers reveal whether Prince Harry’s drug use will affect US visa status
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