Travelling to the US with a criminal record

Techno Mick

I was wondering how the op got on, did they get into the US?

LegacyUser

As it turns out I got lucky. Rather than fly me to the US, they had a couple of people come over to perform the final interviews this week. I know that travel to the US is now a definite, though at least I've managed to postpone it for a while at least - this is of course assuming I get the job!

I'm now going about getting the relevant information together to allow me to apply for the visa, though have to make a big call about taking the job (again I could be jumping the gun here) because if I don't get the visa I'll probably be out of a job, whereas it's not an issue for my existing job. This hasn't been an enjoyable experience and will remain like that until I find out whether I am successful with the visa application or not, but things are a little better than when I originally posted.

Dr. Zeus

OP,

Be careful here. The US establishment has a very conservative attitude to drugs, believe me I know. Having spent a large part of my life in the US after a certain age even having a few beers can be frowned upon. It's certainly very different to here.

If you do tell the company I am pretty sure they won't hire you. They mightn't say that's the reason but they will find another reason not to hire you. Could be wrong but that's my feeling esp. in the current climate where they could find someone else with no record.

If you don't tell them and get into the States and get the job and they ever find out they will fire you on the spot. Some would even go so far as to sue you for lying - it;s the land of litigation after all. If you did pull the wool over their eyes would you not be in a constant state of paranoia about them finding out?

magneticimpulse

Im quite surprised if its a US company that the company itself has not done a crimminal check on you. Its quite standard procedure to check you out when they offer you a job.

Usually you have to sign a form that gives them the right to access any personal information on you. This usually means contacting the places where you studied and ensuring the grades and qualification is what you got.

It can also mean checking your crimminal record. Being a US company this would be important, like you said if they intent to fly you out there from time to time.

So you might have got away with it now...but it might come up again so be prepared if they ask you to fill in the form with your signature. I think alot of US companies I worked for ran this check.

Dr. Zeus

Also, OP lying to US immigration is pretty much a federal offense in the US. Major deal. They take people into custody for lying about their address.


They have always taken their role very seriously and even more so since 9-11 as another poster has pointed out.

Having been found out lying to US immigration and a drug conviction could be a disaster for your career in other countries!

Think long and hard about this and be very careful. When you book airline tickets now to the US I am pretty sure they check you name on their terrorist and most wanted list. I don't think they check for criminal offenses but you never know these days. Who know what info they have access to. They probably know what library books you checked out over the course of your life!

LegacyUser

I agree with regards to telling them - they won't hire me if I do. I'm also aware of the fact that if they did a check on me I'd be found out, but (and this is where I'm taking another risk) the Irish branch of the business is very small (for the time being) and they don't even have a local HR presence. People in the US cannot get access to crimial records of people, like myself, so I should be ok on that front.

My main worry is getting to the US. If I get my visa, which may be along shot, I reckon I'll be ok. Otherwise I reckon I'll be another name on the unemployed list

magneticimpulse

Yes they can have access to your criminal record and other personal details from the US. From personal experience, US companies based in the UK were able to access all my data from Ireland. I know because they had a few questions for me to clear up and i was surprised at just how much info they got on me.

I also worked for another company in California and they checked out my info. They are very strict about the application process.

You will be found out...and the longer you act like you can pull the wool over the companies eyes, they will retract any contract offer made to you. The more you lie and think they cant find out, the more this company wont be impressed when it does find out. Just because the HR is not in Ireland, they must have some representative, as otherwise you would not have gotten this far in the application process and there must be some person who deals with contracts, and payments of employees.