Hi all,
I've not posted before but have found some useful answers on this forum. I have a question:
12 years ago I was arrested in Greece for a minor drugs charge. Basically the police raided the place some friends and I were staying for a holiday and found a half smoked joint. It was actually left by a guest we had in our place the night before, but that's neither here nor there. We were taken to the police station and finger printed and photographed. We were asked some questions then kept in a cell overnight and went to court the following day. By the time we got to court the police chief who had picked us up pretty much realised we were just stupid kids who were in the wrong place at the wrong time and I think that's what he told the judge. Because of the language barrier it was hard to know exactly what was going on. Basically we were in court for maybe 10 minutes and in the end were asked to pay about 20 euros for the court fees and then let go. We didn't get any paperwork so I don't know if we were convicted then pardoned or not convicted at all or what. It seems strange they would convict us but not give us any paperwork...?
I have a friend who has recently been through the process of getting Permanent residency so I know a fair bit about it. I understand I need to submit a police certificate from my country and anywhere I've been for more than 6 months in the last 10 years. I've actually got one of those previously and it's all clear. I only need one from my home country as I've never been anywhere for more than 6 months. I've not been to Greece in the last 10 years so that wont even show up in my travel history.
I've done some research into Greek law and I know the following
So my question is - what should I do in this case? I understand I'll be asked if I've been arrested previously and I don't know if I should bother divulging this. As I say, it won't be on record in Greece any more, if it ever was. I'm 99% sure there are no other databases it will appear on. From what I understand the fingerprint details won't of been shared with any other agencies. Obviously organisations like INTERPOL only store data on wanted persons, so it's not like I would of ever featured on any databases.
I would prefer to be honest and I expect there's a good chance that for such a minor thing so long ago it wouldn't affect my application but on the other hand maybe any kind of drug related charge is a red flag to CIC and I wouldn't have a chance.
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks.
I've not posted before but have found some useful answers on this forum. I have a question:
12 years ago I was arrested in Greece for a minor drugs charge. Basically the police raided the place some friends and I were staying for a holiday and found a half smoked joint. It was actually left by a guest we had in our place the night before, but that's neither here nor there. We were taken to the police station and finger printed and photographed. We were asked some questions then kept in a cell overnight and went to court the following day. By the time we got to court the police chief who had picked us up pretty much realised we were just stupid kids who were in the wrong place at the wrong time and I think that's what he told the judge. Because of the language barrier it was hard to know exactly what was going on. Basically we were in court for maybe 10 minutes and in the end were asked to pay about 20 euros for the court fees and then let go. We didn't get any paperwork so I don't know if we were convicted then pardoned or not convicted at all or what. It seems strange they would convict us but not give us any paperwork...?
I have a friend who has recently been through the process of getting Permanent residency so I know a fair bit about it. I understand I need to submit a police certificate from my country and anywhere I've been for more than 6 months in the last 10 years. I've actually got one of those previously and it's all clear. I only need one from my home country as I've never been anywhere for more than 6 months. I've not been to Greece in the last 10 years so that wont even show up in my travel history.
I've done some research into Greek law and I know the following
- Unlike the US, arrests are never recorded
- For minor crimes which result in a fine or prison sentence of less than 2 months records are expunged after 10 years. Again, unlike the US, expunged means literally destroyed
- In Europe the way of keeping track of crimes in other countries is when someone is convicted in another country they tell the person's home country and the crime is recorded there. This initiative has only been going for a few years and since my home police certificate is clear this obviously hasn't happened in my case. Like I say, I'm not even sure I was convicted anyway
So my question is - what should I do in this case? I understand I'll be asked if I've been arrested previously and I don't know if I should bother divulging this. As I say, it won't be on record in Greece any more, if it ever was. I'm 99% sure there are no other databases it will appear on. From what I understand the fingerprint details won't of been shared with any other agencies. Obviously organisations like INTERPOL only store data on wanted persons, so it's not like I would of ever featured on any databases.
I would prefer to be honest and I expect there's a good chance that for such a minor thing so long ago it wouldn't affect my application but on the other hand maybe any kind of drug related charge is a red flag to CIC and I wouldn't have a chance.
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks.
