travel in europe with a US criminal conviction

I think this forum is not the best place to find out very specific information like that. It is better to check with each individual country and their embassy or consulate and get accurate information.

Maybe a call or email to the U.S. State Dept. could clear this up.

Please post an update if you come across any information on this!
I have a very similar case in my extended family!
Thanks!

once you find out your answer and if your client is allowed to travel..I would have that confirmed in writing on official letterhead by powers that be...

then have your client make several copies...
leaving one at home, a couple in his suitcase
and one on his body if he's question by security, customs or anyone else.

Also, keep the number of the US embassy handy for each country he travels to.
He might even consider registering his trip in advance

You say you have a "client"...does that you're an attorney???

Check, but from what I have seen, it would indicate that as long as you have a current passport, and no outstanding warrants you should be fine.

Whatever profession the original poster is in - lawyer, travel agent - I'd be a very unhappy client to learn that he was coming to this board for an an answer to a question like this...

I know someone that had a felony, no sentence or fine, but probation. He traveled to Norway, Finland, Holland, Germany and France for two weeks then three weeks in the UK (in one trip)and didn't have any trouble at all. If your client has a passport he should be fine. The people who check your passports will not know that he has a felony record. As for Canada, they do sometimes put up your SS number and if they see that you have a felony you are not allowed in. But, if your client has his record expunged then when anyone pulls up his SS number then nothing will show and if ever asked if he was ever arrested he can legally say no.

Robin....that is not technically true. If he/she is asked if they have ever been arrested, and they say no, they are not telling the truth. Asking if someone has been arrested is completely different from being asked if one has a criminal record.

Robin, sentence served and fines paid do not mean a record has been "expunged". Big difference there.

I stand by my original post, this is not the place to come to for finding out legal information. If I was a client of someone, paying them money and I found out they were doing research for me on a travel website, I think I would be overly peeved, to say the least.

Exactly! If this person is an attorney then the "client" should be RUNNING not walking away.

I know someone who was convicted less than 10 years ago and traveled to Italy just last year without any problems. But the best is to call the embassy of each of the countryoes he's going to travel to and ask.

Jo, I didn't say that after sentence severed, fines paid that your record is expunged. You have to go a lawyer and the lawyer and the person has to go in front of a judge and the judge can or can not expunge your record. If the judge does expunge your record, then here in the states if you are asked if you ever been arrested (like on applications) you can legally say no. If someone pulls up your name after the expungment you will not have a record. All of your records are sealed after an expungment takes place.

He hasn't ONCE named the client so I don't understand why he is being vilified for asking a question on a travel board. Also the assumption that he is going to rely 100% on what it posted here is just that--an assumption. Perhaps he is just looking for leads to where he can get reliable information. Who knows? Maybe he is hoping to find someone who has traveled successfully with a similar past. I do recall someone asking about something along the same lines in reference to themselves a while back.

Well, if he thinks his client will have problems in Canada, I am not sure why he is questioning Europe. Are the laws stricter in Canada or something?

It would be nice if the poster came back and answered all these questions so no one had to speculate.

One other thing, considering how many of the glitterati manage to travel the world with various drug convictions, etc. it obviously can be done. Also, I have NEVER been asked if I have a criminal record when entering a foreign country. I think the thing to do would be to contact the US State Department to find out if felony criminal records are attached to your passport records. http://travel.state.gov/travel/tips/emergencies/emergencies_1201.html

From reading the information at the above URL, I would say that criminal records are NOT attached to your passport. Otherwise you wouldn't need to obtain the information from the police to provide to someone who might ask.

While this is, by no stretch of the imagination, a reliable source of legal information,
I also don't think the question asked by David is so terribly out of left field or taboo!

One of my 'Extra' children from America has a fairly recent drug conviction.

Without alerting the 'authorities', we too have been trying to obtain information about what travel to the EU would be like for him.
It goes without saying that he wouldn't violate probation or anything even close, on the US side, and we are all clear on the Austrian end of things - thanks to the Austrian embassy staff here and in the USA. But we have no idea of figuring out how the process would work for other countries within the EU.

He is a great young man who did almost two years in jail because he got caught up in a traffic stop/drug bust in the car of friends. Many of us are working together to open up new worlds for him, and to get him out of the small town environment where his every move is watched by local authorities, and just smiling at his childhood friends could land him back into trouble with the law.

I think David posed a legitimate question, asking for nothing but input. He hasn't asked for any legal definitions, nor has he revealed the name of his client, to me it rather felt like he was stretching out his feelers, without having to go through official channels.

I really do not see anything wrong with his post at all!!!

Immigration agents don't need to ask about priors, they have computers right in front of them that will alert them to anything "fishy", they do scan the numbers at the bottom of the face page. Law enforcement agencies also share information with their counterparts around the world. Of course this doesn't necessarily mean the prior convictions will stop one from traveling, but Big Brother is always watching:)

Exactly Michael! :-))

I don't need/want legal advice,
but I was wondering about the actual experience of standing in front of that immigration officer, with Big Brother lurking in the background.

I had a few very hairy experiences myself, reentering the US: I even got detained once (2003), even though I am as legit and harmless as they come.

Corinna, did the immigration guy sing to you? "Corinna, Corinna, where you been so long?"

By the way, "client" could mean anything- a lawyer's client, a drug abuse counsellor's client, a personal shopper's client, etc.

If it was me, I would travel with a visa. If you apply for and recieve a visa, permission is already granted to enter a country. If you travel on a visa waiver, however, there is a possibility that you will be denied entry and have to fly back on the next plane, all at your expense.

Drug convictions are a reason people aren't let into the US and I would expect our European friends have very similar standards.

Exactly what I want to know - now Canada I know you have to apply for a CERTIFICATE OF REHABILITATION takes about 3 years- and that's after you get all the documents and send them to thier consolute!

I can speak for Canada and Australia.

For Canada you need to apply for a Certificate of Rehabilitation. Prior to applying for the certificate you must be OFF parole/probation for a minimum of five years. There is a fee and a processing period.

For Australia you must apply for a VISITOR visa not an ETA or Electronic visa. I traveled to Australia on an ETA visa that the tour company provided. Little did I know the ETA visa was not appropriate for someone with a criminal conviction. Upon arrival in Brisbane I answered yes to the criminal conviction question on the immigration paperwork. Four hours later I was surrendering my passport/wallet/luggage as I was being detained and awaiting the next 15 hour flight back to LAX. The Australian authorities were incredibly polite and considerate while denying me access to their country. It was the most pleasant detention one could imagine but my scuba extravaganza was a bust.

I was told by the immigration officer that had the tour company applied for the proper VISITOR Visa he was confident it would have been awarded but an ETA visa doesn't cut it with a prison sentence.

Neal and Ty -

Did you notice that this thread is over a year old?

Old thread yes,, but thank you to Ty for posting an actual experience ,, not just hearsay.

I know its not a drug conviction, but my friend had a DUI from about 20 years ago,, and before we went to Hawaii 10 years ago she went to a lawyer and paid alot of money to have her record cleared. I think its kind of a moneygrab. I mean, the difference between a clean record and not clean record is what,, 800 bucks?? So poor people just don't get to ever have their records cleared. I think it should go JUST by years cleared of any more wrong doing( 5 -10)