englishnurse

hi folks
wondered if you could help us out with a bit of a problem
we are moving to the USA in september, my husband has a criminal record for stupidity when he was younger
hes fretting about failing a background/ criminal record check for employment when he arrives
how does this procedure work? will this follow him to the USA? i understand that credit history doesnt but have never thought about this one, apart from when filling in the visa paperwork
thanks

Patrick Hasler

Depends on what it's for and how long ago .......Tell the truth when you come and be totally honest about whatever it was.
The INS seem to take a lie worse than some minor offence or something foolish long ago.

englishnurse

We are not worried about the immigration side of the process, that is all taken care of as far as we know, we have been honest and according to the attorny it will be fine
its the employment check which bothers us, ie could a US employer check out a british criminal record and refuse him employment, is it possible, obviously it would be nice to be forwarned
thanks.

Lynne

I think a lot will depend on what type of job he goes for. I doubt that a lot of employers would go to the trouble of contacting the UK for a criminal check but you never know. A lot will depend on the type of crime. On the other hand if your criminal background check was o.k. for the immigration process then I would think that would be o.k. but you just never know. I don't think anyone can give a guaranteed answer to this. It may be that honesty is the best policy. As someone else said, lying on a resume or at an interview is worse and could have consequences down the line. Good luck.

As for credit check some companies will check your UK credit. When we built our house the mortgage lender contacted a credit agency in the UK. I don't know if they all do it, but they did with us despite us being here with green cards and both having jobs and putting a huge chunk down.

englishnurse

thanks
i think honesty is the best policy as it has been with the ins
it just goes to show that being an idiot at 19 can get you worried when you are all grown up!!

Lynne

Ain't that the truth. Good luck and welcome to the USA.

englishnurse

aww you are the first person to say the welcome thing
thanks very much
to be honest we cant quite believe it!

Ray

Bring some written references from previous employees that may suffice ...

englishnurse

thanks ray, hubby has been making up a portfolio of his work over the past two years plus got references from most of the jobs he has worked on hopefully that will help.

dragonfly

my husband did some silly things when he was younger he informed his prospective employer in the USA he had no problem they will do a criminal record check but that is only for the USA he is a security consultant with a local company. Will you have any problems with your visas my husband declared his indiscretions to the embassy he got his green card. Honesty is the best policy

Ray

That should be well good enough ... especially if he crime was a misdemeanour ..a bit more though if it was a felony ....

englishnurse

visas will be fine it was just the references for employment he was worried about, you know when jobs are advertised and it says 'criminal background check required'
from what everyone says it should be fine
whats the difference between a misdemeaner and a felony ray?

BigDavyG

Obviously I'm not an attorney, but as far as I'm aware an employer in the UK cannot run a criminal record check on you without your prior consent and as far as I'm aware only certain employers have the right to request your consent eg government jobs, teaching (due to sex offenders), etc so if a regular UK employercannot run a check I find it hard to believe that a US based employer would ever be able to access your husband's records.
Aslo if your husbands offense was committed a long time ago and if it was not a serious crime his conviction will be spent which means that in the UK he is not even required to declare it to most employers (with the exceptions being the groups already mentioned) - on a UK job app look at how the question regarding a criminal record is worded - generally it would mention convictions which are specifically not 'spent' under the rehabilitation of offenders act.

So with all this in mind, like I said depending on the nature of the offense and the type of work your husband is in this is unlikely to be a problem in the UK, much less the US where I see no way where a potential employer could find out about a UK record in most circumstances.

As for honesty being the best policy - personally given all I believe to be true above I would keep schtum if I was in your husbands position when talking to any potential employer - obviously immigration is a different matter. The job market is so competitive that the best candidate doesn't always get the job, so don't give an employer any chance to take you out of the running.

englishnurse

thanks
its definately spent in the uk for employment reasons it just reappeared during the completion of the visa paperwork
i will certainly take your advice to heart, at the end of the day he wont want to loose out job wise.

BigDavyG

If its spent in the UK a far as I'm aware no US company could access the record anyway.
The only potential you have for worry is that you have provided the INS with info of the offense - if it is a minor crime (and it prob is otherwise they would not have granted him a visa) i'm not sure if they record this info, and even if they do I would doubt that it is made available to any external groups.

Keep it under your hat imo - like I said above I would imagine that a lot of recruiters will throw your application in the bin once the word criminal is mentioned.