The American authorities proceeded, on July 31, to the expulsion of Romulus Mihai, a Belgian national of 33 years in an irregular situation, sentenced to us for sexual crime on minor. He was given to the Belgian authorities upon arrival.
After his conviction in Belgium, Mihai had fled to the United States in order to escape his prison sentence. He entered US territory in April 2013 thanks to the visa exemption program, then had taken steps to obtain American nationality. During this process, he had never mentioned his criminal history of immigration services.
Arrest in April 2025
It was during the examination of his naturalization request that the American services discovered his conviction in Belgium. The Department of Detection of Fraud and National Security of USCIS (US Citizenship and Immigration Services) then pointed out the file to the Washington Division of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), which opened an investigation.
Based on the elements collected, Romulus Mihai was arrested in April 2025. He was then placed in expulsion procedure. An immigration judge from the Ministry of Justice ordered his dismissal on June 26.
“He tried to exploit our immigration system”
Mihai’s expulsion was welcomed by the American authorities as an example of effective cooperation between agencies.
“Not only did Mihai attacked a child in his country of origin, but he also tried to exploit the integrity of our immigration system to escape his responsibilities,” said Christopher Heck, HSI interim agent in Washington.
Romulus Mihai was given to the Belgian authorities as soon as he arrived in the country, where he will have to serve the sentence pronounced against him.
