Korean Job Discussion Forums

armbar · Joined: 29 Jan 2008

Hello. I have been looking on the forums for a while here because I was worried about having a misdemeanor on my CRC. So, here is my experience. I had a civil misdemeanor about 12 years ago. I think it was either public intoxication or destruction of property. At the court trial, one was dropped. the other stuck. I was given 30 days suspended jail sentence and 1 year unsupervised probation. I've had no legal problems since. Fast forward to the present...I was kind of freaking out because i wasn't sure if that would show up on my FBI CRC. I sent away and recieved it about 2 weeks later. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING showed up. I got the NO CRIMINAL RECORD stamp. Turns out civil misdemeanors WILL NOT SHOW UP on your CRC. A CRIMINAL misdemeanor will. what's the differrence? A civil misdemeanor carries a jail sentence under 1 year. A criminal misdemeanor carries a sentence over a year. At least thats how it works in Maryland and other states that do not have things like drug possession misdemeanors. As I understand, drug, sex, and violent crimes are automatic no-nos for the E2 visa. Anyway, sorry this is so long and I hope this helps and possibly eases some people's minds about their records.

Roch · Joined: 24 Apr 2003 Location: Seoul

DHC · Joined: 15 Jan 2003

Whether or not a misdemeanor arrest shows up on a records check depends upon whether or not the arresting agency reported the arrest to your state agency that records arrests or the FBI. Not all arrests are reported. If the arrest was reported it will show up during a check. To say that a misdemeanor arrest will not show up in all jurisdictions is an incorrect statement.

bassexpander · Joined: 13 Sep 2007 Location: Someplace you'd rather be.

I agree that it's probably state-related.

armbar · Joined: 29 Jan 2008

yeah, I'm not a legal expert and didn't mean to seem like an authority on it. this was just what I could make out of the situation. Im pretty sure it was reported because i got fingerprinted, mugshot, etc. and ended up in court. I would imagine that the FBI would look and see if the individual was involved in any court cases. I'm not saying take my word as the gospel but this was my experience.

blonde researcher · Posted: Fri Feb 08, 2008 5:04 pm Post subject:

Every state in USA has slightly different things they report on to the FBI. So there will never be any clear yes/ no for your past errors coming back to haunt you when the FBI do a nationwide sweep for your CRC .

The rule of thumb for most states seems to be that if you had a fingerprint card done and were officially arrested or taken to court to answer a charge - and that state reports all fingerprinting to FBI [both civil and criminal] - then you have this listed on your CRC.
Maybe you have to find out what exactly your state does include in FBI checks to get a better idea if a misdemeanor will show or not ?

DrTommyTom · Joined: 18 Dec 2007 Location: Suwon, South Korea

Maybe your CRC came up clean cuz your state has a policy of expunging low end crimes from your record. I know in Canada that are things called absolute and conditional discharges where one can have their arrest record and any findings of guilt purged after a certain period of time. its 3 years wait for an absolute discharge and 5 years wait for a conditional discharge.