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icysloth
Joined: 09 Apr 2013
Posts: 5
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 Posted: Sat May 24, 2014 2:57 am Post subject: Criminal Background and Teaching in China |
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| I am sure I will be able to get a Visa, I've already checked. My question has to do with companies doing background checks. I am an American college graduate interested in teaching english in China. I have a misdemeanor assault charge, and a misdemeanor possession charge on my record. Neither were convictions and both have been dismissed. Do companies typically run background checks and would this disqualify me from teaching in China? |
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NoBillyNO
Joined: 11 Jun 2012
Posts: 1762
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| Posted: Sat May 24, 2014 3:09 am Post subject: |
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| Some locations require the applicant to provide a criminal assurance document .... that is a document that indicates you have had no arrest in your home country .. or your last China station... |
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icysloth
Joined: 09 Apr 2013
Posts: 5
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| Posted: Sat May 24, 2014 3:41 am Post subject: |
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| Should I disclose off the bat? |
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Toast
Joined: 08 Jun 2013
Posts: 428
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| Posted: Sat May 24, 2014 3:57 am Post subject: |
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| NoBillyNO wrote: |
| Some locations require the applicant to provide a criminal assurance document .... that is a document that indicates you have had no arrest in your home country .. or your last China station... |
This. Certain provinces require it, as in some cases do individual schools. It's becoming more widespread. I wouldn't be surprised if it's thrown in as another mandatory box to check for the lot of us nation-wide in the next 2~3 years. No doubt to be re-applied for and re-submitted annually just for the pain-in-ass factor. For the time being you shouldn't have issue with finding a job that doesn't require one.
Amazing how something stupid, and often fairly minor that every single one of us did in our dumber days (smashed beer bottles, drunken fight with a friend etc.) can come back to haunt and screw up employment possibilities even decades later. I had a highly educated friend in Korea who taught for 12 or 13 years at some of the country's best universities, military academies etc. By all reports he was a great teacher, but finally got shunted out when they brought in mandatory CBCs which he couldn't "pass" as a result of a ganja possession charge and car mirror he drunkenly broke when he was 18 - back in the 1970s.
It's sometimes possible to get previous charges or misdemeanors expunged from your record depending on the seriousness and how long ago they were committed. No idea about what the rules are where you come from, though might be worth looking into, as sooner or later I think those (albeit minor) charges are going to *beep* up your job possibilities in the PRC. Generally speaking Asian employers will run for the hills with even a hint of a drug issue. |
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Toast
Joined: 08 Jun 2013
Posts: 428
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| Posted: Sat May 24, 2014 3:59 am Post subject: |
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| icysloth wrote: |
| Should I disclose off the bat? |
I wouldn't. Just pick a job location that doesn't require the check. Still the majority of provinces don't need one. |
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thebroformerlyknownaschou
Joined: 09 May 2014
Posts: 96
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| Posted: Sat May 24, 2014 4:02 am Post subject: |
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| icysloth wrote: |
| Should I disclose off the bat? |
never. why would you? especially since all charges were dismissed.
there may be nothing on your record. have you checked? even if,
you may be able to have dismissed charges expunged after a certain time.
where are you now? in your hometown? if so, get a criminal background
check, fbi-style. or just get a local records check done by your local police
precinct or sheriff's office. get that notarized.
cbi is only required in a few places so far. even then, there's no standard
as to what they want, or what is acceptable.
currently in hainan, they are only asking for a written statement from the
prospective teacher, that he/she is of moderately good character and
has no bad criminal history in their homeland. |
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icysloth
Joined: 09 Apr 2013
Posts: 5
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| Posted: Sat May 24, 2014 4:08 am Post subject: |
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| thebroformerlyknownaschou wrote: |
| icysloth wrote: |
| Should I disclose off the bat? |
never. why would you? especially since all charges were dismissed.
there may be nothing on your record. have you checked? even if,
you may be able to have dismissed charges expunged after a certain time.
where are you now? in your hometown? if so, get a criminal background
check, fbi-style. or just get a local records check done by your local police
precinct or sheriff's office. get that notarized.
cbi is only required in a few places so far. even then, there's no standard
as to what they want, or what is acceptable.
currently in hainan, they are only asking for a written statement from the
prospective teacher, that he/she is of moderately good character and
has no bad criminal history in their homeland. |
Yeah I have checked it shows that I was charged and the dismissal's where through deferred adjudication. I am in the process of getting a petition for non-disclosure on one and expunging the other, but if an FBI background check is required the non-disclosure still shows up. |
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wuliuchiba
Joined: 07 Jul 2013
Posts: 61
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| Posted: Sat May 24, 2014 4:51 am Post subject: |
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People with felony convictions, and some serious misdemeanors, are already barred from obtaining a passport. If you really did do something serious, you couldn't come to China anyway. What this new law does is target people who may have made some minor mistakes and got caught up in the law because of it. Which includes 1 out of every 4 or 5 Americans (last I checked 65 million U.S. citizens have some sort of criminal record).
I mean, this isn't going to weed out the pedophiles. I'm pretty sure that anyone who's a registered sex offender can't get a passport. Those offenders are pretty tightly regulated as to even where they can live in certain neighborhoods in the U.S., do you think the government is going to let them fly overseas and give them passports?
Nah, this new requirement is going to nab folks who did dumb shit when they were drunk. |
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NoBillyNO
Joined: 11 Jun 2012
Posts: 1762
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| Posted: Sat May 24, 2014 5:20 am Post subject: |
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Most, convicted felons will have no issues getting a US passport.
I think what ur talking bout is 22 U.S. Code § 2714.......
| Quote: |
(1) Felonies
Subsection (a) of this section applies with respect to any individual convicted of a Federal drug offense, or a State drug offense, if the offense is a felony.
(2) Certain misdemeanors
Subsection (a) of this section also applies with respect to an individual convicted of a Federal drug offense, or a State drug offense, if the offense is [1] misdemeanor, but only if the Secretary of State determines that subsection (a) of this section should apply with respect to that individual on account of that offense. This paragraph does not apply to an individual’s first conviction for a misdemeanor which involves only possession of a controlled substance. |
Mandated Denial of a Person’s Passport Application
Federal law prohibits a US citizen from obtaining a passport if …
The person is a convicted drug trafficker, having gone into another country to commit the crime.
The person is under federal arrest or a felony-related subpoena.
The person is forbidden to get a passport by a court order, probation, or parole;
The person is forbidden to leave the United States.
The person is in arrears on loans incurred as a prisoner abroad.
The person is serving time in prison or in a supervised release program for felons convicted of possession or distribution of a controlled substance. This is under federal or state law.
Discretionary Passport Application Denial
Federal Agencies have the power and discretion to prohibit obtaining a passport if …
The person is in arrears on a federal loan that allowed repatriation to the United States
The person is formally declared incompetent.
The person is a minor who has no legal guardian’s consent
The person is in arrears over $5,000 in child support.
The person can be denied a passport by the U.S. Secretary of State if the person is identified as a serious threat to national security or to U.S. foreign policy, in the states or out of the country.
If the person is a convicted felon that already holds a U.S. passport, that passport can be revoked or have limited travel restrictions put upon it if the person is in one of above bulleted situations. If the person lied to get the passport originally or if the passport has been altered, or use under false pretense, meaning fraud the passport can be revoke or taken from the person’s possession.
Use of a passport can be invalidated for travel through countries with who the United States has formally declared war. Also if there is a severe danger to any US citizen. The Secretary of State has this power over passports. One can check the Federal Register for applicable information.
A bigger problem than a passport is finding a country that will accept a convicted US felon, even if it is “only” a DUI. Canada will refuse a US DUI misdemeanor, never mind a felon, Mexico, likewise, will refuse. If a US felon travels to Canada or Mexico by ship, the US felon will not be allowed to disembark onto foreign soil. So, a passport can be obtained but one may have nowhere to go.
Law Dictionary: Obtaining Passport with Recent Felony DUI |
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icysloth
Joined: 09 Apr 2013
Posts: 5
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| Posted: Fri May 30, 2014 1:08 am Post subject: |
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| I have one more question at this point I have received 3 offers, the problem with all of them is airfare reimbursement is at the end of the year upon completion of the contract. Is this standard do any companies pay for your flight to China? |
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NoBillyNO
Joined: 11 Jun 2012
Posts: 1762
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| Posted: Fri May 30, 2014 2:01 am Post subject: |
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| not likely |
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toteach
Joined: 29 Dec 2008
Posts: 273
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| Posted: Fri May 30, 2014 4:43 am Post subject: |
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In order to be hired, I had to submit a letter from my local police station. They searched local records and found no criminal record and wrote that I appeared to be a citizen in good standing.
I imagine that if one had a criminal record in another county, state, or country, it wouldn't show up on a *local* background search...
(If I believed my letter wouldn't be glowing from my local police, it would be an easy thing to go to the surrounding county police stations and ask them to search their records and write a letter). |
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theoriginalprankster
Joined: 19 Mar 2012
Posts: 895
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| Posted: Sat May 31, 2014 6:59 am Post subject: |
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I'm happy to say I have my police clearance cert., but in my country it's a laborious process: go to police station - get fingerprinted - pay fee - wait, and wait, and wait two months.
Can't they speed up the process..? |
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Javelin of Radiance
Joined: 01 Jul 2009
Posts: 1187
Location: The West
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| Posted: Sat May 31, 2014 7:01 am Post subject: |
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| theoriginalprankster wrote: |
I'm happy to say I have my police clearance cert., but in my country it's a laborious process: go to police station - get fingerprinted - pay fee - wait, and wait, and wait two months.
Can't they speed up the process..? |
Maybe this was the speedy process. |
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Volver
Joined: 27 Sep 2013
Posts: 181
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| Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2014 5:37 am Post subject: |
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This is a timely thread. Here is my situation and I would appreciate any input.
I got into a drunken fight in college - 1979 - and the felony charge still shows on my FBI background check. An attorney is trying to clear it but it takes time. The school where I have worked in Henan Province for 2 years did not require such a check. So, 3 questions:
1. Has anyone else been in such a position with an old conviction?
2. Did it affect your ability to get hired or get a visa?
3. Should I simply tell the school upfront or wait and see what happens?
Thanks.
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