Criminal records check (maybe stupid) question

[jbauer]

If you need a criminal records check, should you get one from your home country, or one from the country you currently live in / want to get a job in, depending on time spent there? For example, I have lived in Thailand continuously for over five years- if I wanted to apply for a job in Thailand, or another country, which required a criminal record report, should I get a check from the Royal Thai police, or from my home country?

Edited February 23, 2015 by jbauer

[lostinisaan]

I assume a criminal record check from Thailand won't be helpful for another country.

BTW, in my ten years of teaching here, i never had to show such a check. Neither from my country of origin, nor from Thailand.

My 5 baht to it.

[samsensam]

your future employer abroad or in thailand will specify what background checks are required. you can get a certificate of good conduct (basically a criminal background check) from the thai police HQ near central world. 70 or 100 baht as i remember.

for employment in the UK, depending again on your prospective employer, you may require a DBS check (superseded the CRB check) they can ask for as far back as 10 years.

if you are looking to work with children in the UK expect extensive background check requirements and references

[jbauer]

I must clarify- what I really meant was, if I applied for a position in an international school in Thailand, would the check have to come from the Thai police, since I have been here for a fair while, or from the UK?

[lostinisaan]

I must clarify- what I really meant was, if I applied for a position in an international school in Thailand, would the check have to come from the Thai police, since I have been here for a fair while, or from the UK?

If this International school wants to see a criminal check, I'd think that they want one from your country of origin.

It might be required, based on your past performance if you may trusted with children and that you are a law abiding individual.

The definition of a "background check" seems to indicate that they want to see that you don't have a criminal record in your country.

[jbauer]

I must clarify- what I really meant was, if I applied for a position in an international school in Thailand, would the check have to come from the Thai police, since I have been here for a fair while, or from the UK?

If this International school wants to see a criminal check, I'd think that they want one from your country of origin.

It might be required, based on your past performance if you may trusted with children and that you are a law abiding individual.

The definition of a "background check" seems to indicate that they want to see that you don't have a criminal record in your country.

Thought it might. Does anyone have any experience of getting one from the UK while being in Thailand? I imagine it's a pain...

Edited February 23, 2015 by jbauer

[claffey]

I must clarify- what I really meant was, if I applied for a position in an international school in Thailand, would the check have to come from the Thai police, since I have been here for a fair while, or from the UK?

If this International school wants to see a criminal check, I'd think that they want one from your country of origin.

It might be required, based on your past performance if you may trusted with children and that you are a law abiding individual.

The definition of a "background check" seems to indicate that they want to see that you don't have a criminal record in your country.

Your background check needs to come from your country of residence. If you have been working and living in Thailand for the last 5 years(with a visa and WP) you will require a check from the Royal Thai Police. If you lived in a country for more than 6 months during the required time you also need a police check from there. That is why you usually have to give address details for the past 5 or 10 years....

What's the point in getting a police check from home if you haven't been resident there.Common sense really...

[jbauer]

I must clarify- what I really meant was, if I applied for a position in an international school in Thailand, would the check have to come from the Thai police, since I have been here for a fair while, or from the UK?

If this International school wants to see a criminal check, I'd think that they want one from your country of origin.

It might be required, based on your past performance if you may trusted with children and that you are a law abiding individual.

The definition of a "background check" seems to indicate that they want to see that you don't have a criminal record in your country.

Your background check needs to come from your country of residence. If you have been working and living in Thailand for the last 5 years(with a visa and WP) you will require a check from the Royal Thai Police. If you lived in a country for more than 6 months during the required time you also need a police check from there. That is why you usually have to give address details for the past 5 or 10 years....

What's the point in getting a police check from home if you haven't been resident there.Common sense really...

I never claimed to have common sense... However, it would probably be a lot easier to get a check from Thailand, if this is correct.

However, I would have thought that a potential employer would want to know what you might have done in your home country before you came to Thailand / wherever. A criminal record from 10+ years ago might still tell you something about an applicant, after all. I'm not aware of a time limit when, after that time, criminal convictions deemed spent are expunged from a record check- or is that indeed how it works? If I knew, I wouldn't be asking.

Imagine someone had a clean record in Thailand but had a criminal record in the UK. I'm sure that some foreigners in Thailand manage to slip through cracks in immigration concerning their past activities and keep their noses clean...

[SlyAnimal]

They will almost definitely want one from your home country, and one from Thailand wouldn't hurt either (Although that'd be a lot easier to get, since you're in Thailand).

[schweizer]

In the UK the step down method is used for criminal convictions under the revised Rehabilitation of Offenders Act, this allows certain convictions to be removed from the visible record, these convictions are removed based upon the severity of the crime a document showing the crimes and the length of time they remain on your visible record is available from here http://www.acro.police.uk/police_certificates.aspx

The reason I use the word visible is that for normal requests the record will not show after its step down date, however if you were to apply for a teaching position (or banking where I worked) in the UK any past crimes are visible if the employer applies under the exemption allowing them access to all records.

The USA does not recognise the rehabilitation of offenders (for its own citizens too) and so they would require you to produce a full statement, not sure if Thailand does or does not.

I worked in the banking industry for over 30 years and moved from CH to GB to USA then Singapore the back to CH, each time as my length of stay in these countries was over 6 months I had to produce certificates from each country I had lived in (also as I was in banking financial records too), its a real pain but necessary.

[simon43]

I've lived in Thailand for 12 years, but I have a background check certificate from Thailand and from the UK - covers the last 30 years in total.

But no school has ever asked to see these documents...