Salt Lake violinist John Shin, who immigration officials detained during a 2025 work trip to Colorado, has now completed a green-card interview, and his legal team says the permanent-resident card could arrive within days. The development would cap a legal saga that pulled in musicians, lawmakers, and neighbors for a months-long campaign to win his release. Supporters say this final step would let Shin, who has performed with the Utah Symphony and Ballet West, return to steady work and rebuild his life in Utah.
On Saturday, Shin's attorney Adam Crayk told KSL Newsradio that his client has finished the green-card interview and that he expects the physical resident card "in the next few days." Crayk said the application was filed through the normal route and that federal officials are no longer pursuing deportation in Shin's case.
How he ended up in ICE custody
Shin was flagged while trying to enter Fort Carson last August and was taken into custody, then transferred to the Denver-area detention center in Aurora, where he spent 17 days before a judge granted bond. As KSL reported, the government later failed to appeal an immigration judge's order terminating removal proceedings, a missed deadline that effectively ended formal deportation efforts.
DACA, a past conviction and a marriage that matters
Shin, who moved to Utah from South Korea as a child, had protections under DACA until a 2019 Tooele County impaired-driving conviction cost him that status. He married a U.S. citizen in 2021, and with his attorney filing for permanent residency on his behalf, the recent interview is the last major step before officials issue a green card, local reporting shows, per Deseret News.
Local musicians rallied
The arrest prompted a wave of public support: benefit concerts, daily gatherings at the State Capitol, and an online fundraiser that helped post a $25,000 bond and cover legal costs. Friends and colleagues organized performances and letters of support to press officials and to cover legal fees, per Hoodline.
What a green card would change
Crayk told KSL Newsradio that a green card would give Shin nearly all the rights of a U.S. resident, excluding the right to vote, to serve on a jury, or to hold a U.S. passport, and that Shin would be eligible to apply for citizenship roughly two years and nine months after the resident card is granted. That timeline, Crayk says, would clear the way for longer-term work permits and more stable gigs with orchestras and studios around Salt Lake.
Shin's supporters say they are cautiously optimistic as the paperwork moves through federal channels. "I consider myself an American. This is my home," he said after his release last fall, a line captured by local outlets and echoed by musicians who rallied on his behalf. If the green card arrives as Crayk expects, Shin would likely resume performing and teaching in the region while he moves toward naturalization.
