Police Check for Jobs and Work Visas

[Teacher2016]

Hello! I need some advice regarding police checks for work visas. First I will give a little background of my situation. My husband and I have been teaching at our current international school for 6 years. We have had a great experience but very much want to move on. There is just one problem....my husband has an arrest on his record for possession of a narcotic substance for personal use from 13 years ago when he was in his early 20's. As it was his only offence ever he was able to receive a "deferred judgement" which technically means no conviction. If he is asked if he has ever been convicted of a crime he can truthfully say "no". The charges are essentially "dismissed" which is as close to an expungement as we can get in out home state. He was still able to get his teaching license after this and it was not a problem at our current school which only asked if there had been a conviction of a crime and asked for a local police check. The arrest doesn't seem to come up on local police checks but will on an FBI check. I know more and more schools are requiring FBI checks and we are so worried. My questions are:
1. Does anyone have or know someone who has had a similar experience and what was the outcome?
2. Should we disclose this information no matter what and at what point in the hiring/interview process (we would never lie of course but don't necessarily want to bring it up if we don't have to)
3. Does anyone know which countries are more and less strict about background checks?
4. What was the background check process for your school and which country was it?
Thank you so much for any information. Please no comments that he shouldn't be teaching anyway with something on his record...he is an exceptional and devoted teacher. We are really worried about our future prospects.

[heyteach]

I would not bring it up at an interview or on an application. Of course he shouldn't lie, he knows that. If the question "Have you ever been convicted?" comes up, your husband can truthfully say no. I doubt a foreign country would be able to access U.S. FBI files.

When I was interviewing, I had a portfolio with a copy of my current certificate and background clearance card; he might do the same but without commenting on it or pointing it out (that would make an interviewer wonder why).

One last comment: NEVER EVER confide about his record to friends or colleagues you meet along the way. No matter how close you feel to them.

[PsyGuy]

You have two options and neither of them are good. First, you need to understand that for a number of regions any offense even as simple as an arrest without conviction for a narcotics offense is a disbarring event for entry or issuance of a visa. You will need to check very carefully on this before accepting an appointment in a given country, and determine if its worth the risk of being discovered.

Option 1 we can call the "Sids leadership thinks they have a right to know everything" option, which means you need to disclose the offense no later than after the interview and absolutely before the appointment is accepted. The IS will be in a position to know if the offense would bar your spouse from entry or issuance of a visa. If you choose this route you may want to research the requirements for immigration with the region, and if they are very restrictive, not bother wasting a recruiters time with an application and interview that they cant appoint you to.

Option 2 we can call the "PsyGuy, three people can keep a secret if two of them are dead" option. Dont disclose. Its none of the ISs or recruiters business. You can reasonable claim ignorance if discovered, since the offense did not result in conviction and a finding of guilt. If the IS wants to claim that it still matters you can argue that their right it does matter and that you can honestly and truthfully state your spouse has not been convicted of a crime, though if they are looking at issues such as that its probably because they are looking for a way/reason to get rid of you anyway. At which point they could just say you were dishonest, and dismiss you.
If this is the path you go, absolutely never tell anyone or disclose the background to anyone you work with or socialize with regardless of how close you are with them. Three people can keep a secret if two of them are dead.

European regions generally are the most laxed. Asian countries much more restrictive, and have very low tolerance for narcotics offenses. LCSA is the most complex, its not generally a problem until someone makes it a problem, and then its a big problem. You could be startled awake one night in Columbia with the Federal Police breaking down your door and a gun shoved into your neck and dragged out into the street in handcuffs. At the police station they put half a dozen bricks of coke on a table and say this is yours, then you go to prison forever. Of course this could happen in Asia too in places like Thailand, Indonesia, etc.., where accusations alone are enough to lock you away forever.

Lower tier ISs tend to be satisfied with local/regional CRB checks, and upper tier ISs want regional or national CRB checks. Its rare that a CRB check is required by immigration, they often are content with a self certified response. An IS that would normally want a national check may accept a regional/local CRB if time is an issue.

[Teacher2016]

Thanks for your response. I guess we lucked out at our current school which isn't a "tier 1" but still a really good school/package that it didn't come up. So frustrating as by the time we leave it would be close to 15 years in the past but I understand of course that countries have the right to decide who they will let in. I guess we will just need to research very carefully before interviewing.

Kind of a scary thought what you mentioned about Latin America but I guess if just an accusation can get you in trouble then anyone can be at risk (such as the recent situation in Indonesia).

Would love to hear from others regarding what the background check was like for there schools/countries. Thanks again!

[Snowbeavers]

Exact same thing happened to my wife (she was 19, never convicted,etc) and essentially forgot about it but it came up on an FBI check a few years ago. We thought it was automatically expunged after 10 years but not the case. We paid a lawyer a couple grand and it was officially expunged after a few months. I would highly recommend doing this.

[PsyGuy]

@Snowbeavers

The LW stated they had already gone as far as they could with what their state offered as far as expungement.

[jstwatchin]

it is my understanding that expunged convictions come up just the same in FBI checks as they deal with arrests, not convictions. So there really isn't that much difference between the US and some other countries, where the accusation alone is sufficient.

[PsyGuy]

An FBI CRB will reveal arrests and convictions at the national level, and whatever data is available/submitted at the state level.
The FBI CRB is clearly indicates that its purpose is only for personal review. It provides everything available because its only intended for your personal knowledge and consumption.

[Teacher2016]

I have done some more research and recently found out that in my home state, there is now an option to have deferred judgement cases involving narcotics (only if it is a certain one time offense) expunged and sealed if you meet certain requirements. If approved, the state must update their records and seal the file and it will not show on a background check. Often you need to follow up on this and make sure it is done. The difference with the FBI is they are a federal agency and not bound by state regulations. However, I have found that we can "petition" or apply to the FBI to update their file to reflect the expungement and sealing of the record. There is an actual process the FBI lists of how to go about this. My understanding is they do not necessarily have to do it, but technically they say the will honour the expungement and remove it. My understanding is this also includes the record of the arrest. Basically this seems like our best shot to a clean record and could work for others if they meet the eligibility requirements....however its not a guarantee.

[PsyGuy]

@Teacher2016

I would STRONGLY suggest doing some more research, and really consulting with legal counsel. The concepts of expungment and sealing are not wholly incompatible, but if an offense is expunged it doesnt need to be sealed as there is nothing there to seal. Your state may have some other process that they call expungement but does less than actually removing the offense and record. You may also have multiple records to address. You will have the court record of course, but you will very likely have an arrest record, and possibly a jail record as well, that may not be eligible for expungment, though you may have an option to have those records sealed.

Unless your States expungement process removes the actual offense and record then its very likely that whatever record there is, is still going to show up. Some states call their process expungement but then have fine print that the records are still available to specific LE (Law Enforcement) agencies, and the FBI is surely one of those agencies, which means the record would still appear on the FBI CRB you can request, because the FBI CRB is for personal review only.

Really, contact an appropriate legal representative.

[expatscot]

A neat irony, in all this.

If I had a similar thing from the UK which appeared on my criminal record (which I don't) I would most likely not even get entry to the US, never mind considered for a teaching post.