I am an American that wants to travel around the world in about 3 years with my wife. I am concerned that I will be denied entry to some countries because of my minor criminal record. I have been arrested 4 times since I was eighteen - once in 1999 for being drunk in public ( I was eighteen at the time and no charges were filed. Another time in 2001 for being under the influence of cocaine, not possession ( I was placed on probation for 2 years and ordered to go to drug counseling, I was 21 at the time) Again in 2002, because I was an accomplice to my ex girlfriend shoplifting pictures (unknowingly- that was a suprise when I left the store) I paid a fine. The fourth and final time was in 2006 for menacing, charges were dropped.

I just want to see if there is anyone out there that know anything about traveling with a minor record. I have never gone to jail for any longer than six hours. I can get in and out of Mexico easily, but when I went on my honeymoon in Canada they were going to deny me entry for my shoplifting offense. In that case the Canadian boarder officer was "compassionate" and let me pay $200 Canadian dollars for a temporary residence permit for 10 days. I was told if I wanted to come back to Canada before 2012 I would have to apply for rehabilitation and pay anywhere from 200 - 1000 dollars.

Are European countries as strict as Canada? I know a lot of the new boarder regulations were put into place because of 9/11. I don't want my past to haunt me for the rest of my life. I am not a bad person, I was just stupid.

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Thanks!

Eric

For the most part, it's a question of whether or not they know. Canadian and US authorities exchange criminal record information. I'm not sure if that's true of any other countries. For the most part, if they do know, you'll be refused entry...no reason to allow a criminal into the country, no matter how minor the offense.

Applying for a pardon is probably your best course of action. Any run ins with the law that didn't result in a conviction should not be a problem (paying a fine is tantamount to a guilty plea).

I'm certainly not an authority on the matter but I imagine you'll be fine. I had a minor run in with the man, well a few, but like you, minor, public intox and possesion of marijuanna. I've only ever had a hassle in Canada, and that was only once and that was years ago, since then I've dealt with Canadian border agents a few times without any problems.

I really can't imagine you'd run into any hassle at all once over an ocean.

I can't imagine that the US authorities share this information with the Europeans.

Reason is that such agreements only work if they are reciprocal. At the moment, the EU can't even manage to constructively share information on such minor transgessions among its own countries. Bigger stuff is shared more easily. But this?

Besides, don't some things disappear from your record after a few years? (sorry donÄt know the legal term in english, I don't mean the statute of limitations, I mean the deadline where convictions are expunged from your record)

I've had a few minor incidents myself and traveled and even lived abroad without problems. In fact, a few times I've been asked on visa applications if I've ever been arrested, etc, etc, and just said no.