# Moving to Spain with Criminal Record??



## movingtobcn

Please advise!

I will be in spain for more than three months in jan from the usa..

I was planning on living there for a total of a year; working and living.

I was going to to take my chances and dealing with visa/residency matters once I was there.

I still "did my homework" from home, ie research, etc, and there seems to be a criminal background requirement.

I have dismissed felony dropped to a convicted misdemeanor!!! 

I am REALLY concerned now i wont be permitted to stay in spain let alone work there.

Are there any "criminals" residing in spain with a record from the USA?

Please advise.. Will this be a deal breaker?
Can i still get a job?

Thanks!


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## xabiaxica

movingtobcn said:


> Please advise!
> 
> I will be in spain for more than three months in jan from the usa..
> 
> I was planning on living there for a total of a year; working and living.
> 
> I was going to to take my chances and dealing with visa/residency matters once I was there.
> 
> I still "did my homework" from home, ie research, etc, and there seems to be a criminal background requirement.
> 
> I have dismissed felony dropped to a convicted misdemeanor!!!
> 
> I am REALLY concerned now i wont be permitted to stay in spain let alone work there.
> 
> Are there any "criminals" residing in spain with a record from the USA?
> 
> Please advise.. Will this be a deal breaker?
> Can i still get a job?
> 
> Thanks!


hi & welcome

regardless of any criminal record - if you want to come here from the US for more than 90 days you HAVE TO get your resident visa before leaving the US - it simply can't be done once you are here

also, it would be illegal for you to work here on a 90 day tourist visa


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## Guest

First off, don't even think about coming to Spain without starting the visa process. You'll make a very expensive mistake and they'll send you home to get the process started. 

Regarding the criminal background, I've seen people with DWIs be turned away from Spain and others let in. It will all depend on the consulate and how lenient they're feeling. 

As for jobs, unless you've got a big chunk of money in the bank *or* you have a skill that cannot be filled by a Spanish national (I can get you the list if you want) it's darn near impossible for non-EU citizens to work in Spain. The other possibility would be to find an American employer which has offices in BCN and have them hire you and take care of your Spain work visa. 

It's *extremely* difficult to get to work in Spain as a non-EU citizen. Right now, there's so much unemployment (approx. 20%) and so many EU-nationals going for the jobs.


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## jojo

criminal record/visa or not, getting a job that will earn you enough to live on - or even one that doesnt wont be easy. Times are hard! That said, there are men/women who walk around selling handbags and dvds to tourists (commonly known as lookie lookie men) - they work and live illegally. I dont know how you find out about joining them tho, cos as I say, they are illegal, but then so would you be if you dont follow the correct procedures

Jo xxx


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## mrypg9

I'm thinking about the thousands and thousands of small-time British crooks, wide-boys, benefit cheats, time-share frauds and general low-life wheeler-dealers who pollute the reputation of Brits in Spain....
That's life, I guess....


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## jojo

mrypg9 said:


> I'm thinking about the thousands and thousands of small-time British crooks, wide-boys, benefit cheats, time-share frauds and general low-life wheeler-dealers who pollute the reputation of Brits in Spain....
> That's life, I guess....


But they didnt need visas and had a right to be there, so they didnt have to look over their shoulder for just being there! And many of them now are scrabbling around trying to earn a crust cos the bubble has burst in the majority of cases. We had some neighbours who had been "big" in the timeshare world, but lost everything and were simply moving from house to house, doing a runner before they got kicked out for not paying their rent. In the end they got caught and the husband ended up in prison. The wife and children disappeared back to the UK I think????


Jo xxx


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## mrypg9

jojo said:


> But they didnt need visas and had a right to be there, so they didnt have to look over their shoulder for just being there! And many of them now are scrabbling around trying to earn a crust cos the bubble has burst in the majority of cases. We had some neighbours who had been "big" in the timeshare world, but lost everything and were simply moving from house to house, doing a runner before they got kicked out for not paying their rent. In the end they got caught and the husband ended up in prison. The wife and children disappeared back to the UK I think????
> 
> 
> Jo xxx


That's true...
We know of a person who has clearly been claiming benefits fraudulently. He has been claiming Incapacity Benefit whilst fit and healthy - he 'suffers' from CFS -and makes regular visits to the UK to sign on or for medical appointments. These trips are financed by smuggling cheap tobacco from Gibraltar and selling it in the UK. He works on the black here in Spain.
This p****s me off hugely but although he is in no way a friend I can't bring myself to 'shop' him. I know it sounds daft but it's just 'not British' informing like that although I know I should.
We've encountered a few of the -shall we say -less desireable elements who've ended up here, no doubt on the run from the CSA, debt or something.
Why do they choose Spain as their rathole, I wonder? People who don't know Spain, especially the CDS, often have very wrong ideas about the ambience here and I find it very annoying. Grr.....
Programmes like that ghastly 'Benidorm' don't help.


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## nigele2

mrypg9 said:


> .......................
> This p****s me off hugely but although he is in no way a friend I can't bring myself to 'shop' him. I know it sounds daft but it's just 'not British' informing like that although I know I should.........


Mary I have always found that odd. I was always told you do not grass someone, it isn't cricket. I don't know if it is reinforced by the 'lovable rogue' idea as in the current Ronnie Biggs for example. But it is a struggle within my mind. I try to think of the guy they knocked senseless who never fully recovered and is now dead. 

However I remember someone a few years back at the golf club saying "just think of someone waiting for that operation for which there is no budget this week. Knowing they are dying. That is the money he (the benefit thief) is buying beer with in the pub.". Made me think. As it happened the guy we were discussing went down for three years shortly afterwards so I got let off the hook.


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## 90199

You are talking about the law in the U.S. which was derived from English law. In the United Kingdom Felonies and misdemeanour's were replaced by the Theft Act in 1968, however if I remember rightly most misdemeanour's were never recorded as crimes, so it may well be that you do not have a criminal record.

I suggest that you check with the authorities where your conviction is recorded, and then the Spanish consulate where you live.


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## xabiaxica

Hepa said:


> You are talking about the law in the U.S. which was derived from English law. In the United Kingdom Felonies and misdemeanour's were replaced by the Theft Act in 1968, however if I remember rightly most misdemeanour's were never recorded as crimes, so it may well be that you do not have a criminal record.
> 
> I suggest that you check with the authorities where your conviction is recorded, and then the Spanish consulate where you live.


I had a feeling that might be the case - which is why I said _criminal record aside_, because I don't think that would be the main issue

the main issue to me is that the OP must get the visa before coming - s/he can't just turn up in Spain & apply for it once here


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## Pesky Wesky

xabiachica said:


> I had a feeling that might be the case - which is why I said _criminal record aside_, because I don't think that would be the main issue
> 
> the main issue to me is that the OP must get the visa before coming - s/he can't just turn up in Spain & apply for it once here


Totally agree.
"The Issue" for me is getting work as an American. As Halydia has already said, as an American, you can only legally get work that no one else in the country can do, so you need to have a pretty special profile - which may be you have - and to have the offer of work before you leave the US, or Colombia as I see you say you're in Cali (I lived there for 2 years and LOVED it!)


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## xabiaxica

Pesky Wesky said:


> Totally agree.
> "The Issue" for me is getting work as an American. As Halydia has already said, as an American, you can only legally get work that no one else in the country can do, so you need to have a pretty special profile - which may be you have - and to have the offer of work before you leave the US, or Colombia as I see you say you're in Cali (I lived there for 2 years and LOVED it!)


I read Cali as California :confused2:


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## Pesky Wesky

xabiachica said:


> I read Cali as California :confused2:


Hahaha

Now I see how *everything* can be interpreted in a different way


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## movingtobcn

*A Sincere Thank You*

I appreciate everyones frankness and for taking the subject seriously. I did expect as least one.. Stay home we dont want ur kind ..

A move is always the most radical form of change. I recently read I am applicable for Italian Citizenship . So I shall keep my trip to bcn under three months this time, make connections and friends. "Take care" of my "shady" past at home, and do things right from the beginning.

My next thread will be knowing how to avoid apartment rental scams...

Any advice...

cheers


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