Police Check Non-immigrant b visa

[Englishteacher1989]

Hello all!

 

I have a question that I am hoping to get some help with. I am a 4 year college degree holder and TEFL certified. I wish to travel to Bangkok on a tourist visa, find a teaching position upon arrival, and convert my tourist visa to the appropriate non-immigrant B visa to work legally. I understand that for teachers to obtain this visa, the consulate will need a police clearance letter to show no criminal record. I have a misdemeanor DUI conviction in the same state which I currently reside. Will this prevent me from obtaining the b visa? Can I use a background check from a different county in my state, another state altogether, or a local Thai police check? Anyone who has gone through this process recently or has experience with this sort of issue please please respond! I am very worried that I will end up in Bangkok and find a teaching position with no way to obtain the b visa and end up simply going home when my tourist visa expires.

[ubonjoe]

Most nearby embassies and consulates will accept a Thai police clearance certificate.

Info on getting one is here: http://www.pcscenter.sb.police.go.th/eng/

Some schools may want one from you home country. A DUI would not keep you from getting the job. The reason they want them is to confirm you have not been convicted as a sex offender or for child abuse.

[Englishteacher1989]

Thank you! I am concerned that the embassy or consulate may ask for one from the US that would display the DUI. Should this be the case, do they take a hard stance on "NO" criminal background? I think obtaining the job would be one thing, but getting the visa would be a whole different story. Has anyone had this experience in the past?

[ubonjoe]

The embassy and consulate in Laos does not specify where the police clearance comes from. They routinely  accept one from Thailand.

An embassy would not be concerned about a DUI if you had one from the US.

[dave moir]

It wouldn't matter what state you had a police check done as everything is on computer and would show up where ever you get the check done! 

[John Than]

In my case the police clearance letter or whatever was sent directly to my hospital. I did not even have to request it. But that was in 2011. 

[anon789561]

On 12/8/2017 at 8:19 AM, ubonjoe said:

Most nearby embassies and consulates will accept a Thai police clearance certificate.

Info on getting one is here: http://www.pcscenter.sb.police.go.th/eng/

Some schools may want one from you home country. A DUI would not keep you from getting the job. The reason they want them is to confirm you have not been convicted as a sex offender or for child abuse.

it's not just child abuse. a DUI is nothing to them. however, if there was more than one conviction for violence and that to them would show a pattern of violent behaviour it would be a problem, also, anything deemed as dishonest such as theft on more than one occasion would also screw you. but a DUI is nothing to them

[RocketDog]

Go to your local police station in your home town and ask for an official criminal record check. This is standard and they will do it and give you an official record document for a few bucks.

 

Thailand is looking for criminals, not civil offenses. I was arrested for the evil weed when I was 19, (now 68) and after spending $200 to register with the US GOES system, which uses FBI background check, for faster airport access they rejected me and I wasted my money.

      
Maybe a FBI background check would have turned that up, but the Non-O visa just ask non-specifically for a background check document from my home country so I gave them one! The Colorado Bureau of Investigation didn't show the weed offense , a misdemeanor and that's what I submitted for my visa application.

 

I lost many nights at home worrying about this and delayed applying for my Non-O visa with the consulate in San Francisco. My Thai friend told me not to worry. She was correct. I got the visa in a week and never spoke to a soul in SF. I've now completed my first 90 report with no snags and am happily living in LOS.

 

I have since seen the extreme error of my ways and am completely healed and rehabilitated from my tragic life of crime of 50 years ago. I thank the powers that be for my salvation every day!!!!!!

 

 

For what it's worth, I bet you have nothing to worry about.

[Englishteacher1989]

So do you all think it is worth it getting a county or state background check done here in the US that would reflect the DUI (which IS considered criminal not civil violation) and use that for the non b? Or should I just rely on using a local Thai police check instead upon arrival?

[Englishteacher1989]

On 12/10/2017 at 1:05 AM, dave moir said:

It wouldn't matter what state you had a police check done as everything is on computer and would show up where ever you get the check done! 

Ive done enough research to know that this is wildly inaccurate. A COUNTYwide check would only reflect COUNTY violations, a STATEwide check only reflects dispositions in the STATE, and an FBI check would indeed be national. 

[tonray]

1 hour ago, Englishteacher1989 said:

Ive done enough research to know that this is wildly inaccurate. A COUNTYwide check would only reflect COUNTY violations, a STATEwide check only reflects dispositions in the STATE, and an FBI check would indeed be national. 

Most local police access a national Federal database instead of maintaining their own, which makes sense in the post 9-11 era. In fact most criminal background checks in the USA are done to qualify for the priority check-in at airports which pre-screens passengers so the national info is necessary.

[Englishteacher1989]

1 hour ago, tonray said:

Most local police access a national Federal database instead of maintaining their own, which makes sense in the post 9-11 era. In fact most criminal background checks in the USA are done to qualify for the priority check-in at airports which pre-screens passengers so the national info is necessary.

This is taken directly from the county in which I currently reside, different county but same state at the DUI

[tonray]

2 minutes ago, Englishteacher1989 said:

This is taken directly from the county in which I currently reside, different county but same state at the DUI

Great...then why not just get the check and find out. People here tend to obsess over nothing....

[ubonjoe]

In some states you can go online to find out if you have a criminal record. I did it for Texas out of curiosity after paying a $1.25 fee and it simply came back saying no criminal records found. Do a search to find out if your state has that check online.

[NanLaew]

My personal experience of a discharged County-issued DUI is it appears in the US Immigration databases. Just because a County or State may be slow on the uptake, doesn't rule out your priors being flagged up elsewhere. There's a whole slew of interconnected databases in the US courtesy of the USA Patriot Act, the revised BSA and AML regulations. They're after tax dodgers and financial criminals and not looking specifically for drunk drivers but, whoops!... there you are!

 

Go with the RTP one for now; as the low-end of the Thai education pool will happily take your "Honorable Mention Certificate" in baby hogs from the State Fair. If you get hired by an educational establishment worth it's faux name and exorbitant fees, they will appreciate the fact that you are a US citizen and have probably spent 99% of your life under their legal auspices, bin the worthless RTP one and ask for your US State one.

[Englishteacher1989]

Asking because I don’t want to get turned away by embassy after traveling and finding a job. My worry is not the schools, but whoever will be processing the visa. I know that in China, for example, the country has instituted a policy where individuals must provide an FBI check and unless it shows anything besides “No arrest data found”, it gets turned away. This includes any criminal offense, convicted or not. Not sure how it would work if I submit for b visa and provide a document that shows an arrest and conviction. The problem that I foresee would be whoever is processing the visa will not distinguish what the crime is, but rather that the background check does not show “nothing”. Ultimately this is what my issue is.