Sailing with expunged felony?

[OhNoItsKamryn]

Hey guys, my life long dream is to circumnavigate and I am currently saving heavily for my grand adventure. I'm an avid sailor here in the states. I have a felony of theft that I had to plea guilty to to get the pre trial diversion back when I was 20. I never did any kind of jail time. A few years after this incident I traveled to Canada before it was expunged and got stopped and booked at the border and they almost turned me around. It was then that I realized my record wasn't expunged at all even at the city level...so I took the proper steps to expunge the record. I got the conviction expunged at the city, local and federal level after 5 years. I recently ran my states criminal history check as well as a personal FBI fingerprint check and both came back completely clear. I have not left the country other than Canada ever since this incident occurred. So my question is now that I am truly going to be traveling heavily (now that I have the money), if I am going to be good to go. I have a valid passport. I figured I would be able to simply travel to the BVIS or other carribean countries, but as far as extended travel, I know visas are required for entry into some. Is my dream of circumnavigation a possibility? Or would I be held up certain places?

Thanks in advance guys

[Suijin]

Originally Posted by OhNoItsKamryn

Hey guys, my life long dream is to circumnavigate and I am currently saving heavily for my grand adventure. I'm an avid sailor here in the states. I have a felony of theft that I had to plea guilty to to get the pre trial diversion back when I was 20. I never did any kind of jail time. A few years after this incident I traveled to Canada before it was expunged and got stopped and booked at the border and they almost turned me around. It was then that I realized my record wasn't expunged at all even at the city level...so I took the proper steps to expunge the record. I got the conviction expunged at the city, local and federal level after 5 years. I recently ran my states criminal history check as well as a personal FBI fingerprint check and both came back completely clear. I have not left the country other than Canada ever since this incident occurred. So my question is now that I am truly going to be traveling heavily (now that I have the money), if I am going to be good to go. I have a valid passport. I figured I would be able to simply travel to the BVIS or other carribean countries, but as far as extended travel, I know visas are required for entry into some. Is my dream of circumnavigation a possibility? Or would I be held up certain places?

Thanks in advance guys

I'm going to assume that since you checked with your state and the FBI that you should be fine, but this is really a question for the State Department or an attorney that handles international criminal law. I think the salient question is whether your record is lingering in some database that other countries use when processing visas.

[donradcliffe]

It depends on how well your records were expunged. I have a Canadian friend who had a marijuana bust at 18. It was expunged from all his Canadian records, but he ran into trouble at the US border. I'd take a test trip to Canada.

[denverd0n]

Agree with donradcliffe. Take a trip to Canada. Take a trip to Mexico. Take a trip, maybe, to the Bahamas. Places where the expense and inconvenience is not so great that it ruins your year if you get turned away. If no problems with these test trips, then I would assume that you are good to go pretty much anywhere.

[boatman61]

To my knowledge the only country you'd have a problem with as a Transient is the USA.. but as your a citizen I think you'll be just fine..

[Paul L]

Canada is one of the tougher places for travelers with US passport and a prior.

This is the New Zealand question asked on the arrival forms

. Have you ever been sentenced to 12 months or more in prison, or
been deported, removed or excluded from any country at any time?

[AiniA]

I don't remember even being asked a question about this. Unless there is a record attached to your passport somehow I don't see a problem. Most countries don't require a visa for Americans and if you need one it is obtained on entry.

[JPA Cate]

OhNoItsKamryn,

Yes, take the question to the State Dept. It would be awful to get held up in a foreign country. And those things tend to follow one. Are you even certain you can obtain a passport? You need to find out. One's passport is routinely checked in the Pacific, and I should think in Europe, as well. If you or your boat are in the other countries' watch lists, there will be problems.

Correctly done, the expungement should leave you good to go, but I do not know how you go about finding it out for sure, in advance, other than what you've already done. Try filling out your passport application, and see what happens?

Or, maybe, pay a lawyer to check it out for you. Remember that in countries that follow Napoleonic Law, rather than British Common Law, it is your burden to prove, from in jail, that you didn't do "it".

Ann

[mogulskibum]

Often when someone applies for residency in a foreign country one of the numerous documents they must produce is clean criminal record from their country's national police (the FBI in the US) that has been Apostilled by their country's Foreign Ministry/State Department.

In your situation, looking for a temporary visa, it is unlikely that you would need such a document, but... if I were in your shoes, I'd get a copy of my clean FBI record, have the State Department Apostille it, and carry it with me in case a question ever came up. I would also know how to contact the US Embassy and/or nearest US Consulate.

Here's the website for the State department office that does Apostilles:
https://travel.state.gov/content/tra...tications.html

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

..... Are you even certain you can obtain a passport? You need to find out. .....

....Try filling out your passport application, and see what happens?......

FWIW, the OP states he currently has a valid passport.

[s/v Moondancer]

We have sailed to 30 countries between Canada, US, Caribbean, Europe and the Pacific. Occasionally, usually for an extended visa, we had to produce a clean police report.

Some countries, New Zealand, Australia, Fiji require advance notice of your arrival perhaps for and internet search of criminal record. If they deny you entry you go to the next country.

[mfotis]

I work for the State Department, (be clear I am not advising you on behalf of the State Department) you already have a valid passport, apply for the visas of where you want to go and go. It's that simple. Unless you're still wanted for something and wanted bad enough for the US to put out an Interpol hit most other coutnries can't see your US based criminal record, much less one that is expunged. Felons from the US get passports and travel all over the world all the time--unless they are convicted international drug traffickers--then not so much. there are other disqualifications as well but I'm pretty sure a no time served petty theft "conviction" isn't on the disqual list.

[Kenomac]

Apparently you'd be OK here in Italy. I traveled here with friend who has the same issue with a vandalism felony back when he was 18yrs, he's now 50 and had it expunged many years ago. He still can't obtain a gun permit in the US but No problems at the EU entry border with his US passport.

[spiv]

Originally Posted by s/v Moondancer

We have sailed to 30 countries between Canada, US, Caribbean, Europe and the Pacific. Occasionally, usually for an extended visa, we had to produce a clean police report.

Some countries, New Zealand, Australia, Fiji require advance notice of your arrival perhaps for and internet search of criminal record. If they deny you entry you go to the next country.

I'll second that.
Unless you are 'wanted' nobody is going to bother you.

[fatherchronica]

Maybe you should try going to a foreign land first that welcomes felons. Maybe Columbia, or the District of Columbia. Both chock full of felons, often in positions of wealth and power.