Hi.

This will be a difficult thing for some people to read, and I assure you that I am not finding it easy to write. But it has not been addressed elsewhere in the forums and I'm sure I'm not the only one with the question, so I'll put it forth. Many of you who read this will not have a tremendously high opinion of me, but I hope that some of you will be willing to look beyond whatever judgements you might make of my past and help me with my future.

Anyway, all of that having been said, my situation is as follows: I currently live in the United States. Approximately five years ago, when I was in my early twenties, I got into a powerful, passionate romantic relationship. He was caring, handsome, found me attractive and warm, he was fun, we enjoyed each other's company... in every respect, we made each other very happy.

He was also 14 years old.

A few months into our relationship, he wrote me a love letter and lost it in his parents' car. To make a long story incredibly short, this set off a chain reaction that terminated our relationship and placed me in the hospitality of the American Prison System for roughly a year. ("He started it" is apparently only a valid defense when the judge is a kindergartener.) It has also placed me permanently on the sex offender registry in the United States. This condition is bad enough right now, but as I am a student of history, and as I see the parallels between the treatment of undesirables in 1930s Germany and the treatment of people on that registry in the United States today, I recognize that it will not be safe for me to remain here much longer. I will be free of any legal obligations to the United States in December of 2006 - I plan to be out of the country by January 2007, if at all possible.

In the last two years, I have spent a great deal of time and energy researching the laws and cultures of the world in order to choose the best possible new home. I have chosen Spain for the following reasons:

1) It is my understanding that the situation that got me in trouble in the United States, although socially taboo in Spain, would not have been a crime under the laws of the country. This is important to me not because I intend to repeat this kind of activity, but because I want to minimize the negative effects of my past as much as possible.

2) It is my understanding that Spanish culture involves something more akin to two "mini-days" every day with a siesta in between. Given that studys show beginnings and endings are the most productive parts of any endeavour, I think that kind of start-and-stop mentality would suit me very well, and make life pursuits more fruitful.

3) It is my understanding that the Spanish cost of living is comparable and that computer technicians with good communications skills and a grasp of the Spanish language (which I don't have yet, but will by the time I move) would have a decent chance of staying afloat in the Spanish economy.

So, the reason I'm going through all of this with the board is because I'm hoping someone can share a little bit of their expat experience with me. Here are the questions I have:

1) Is what I've learned about the country true?
2) Has anyone here immigrated to Spain with a criminal background, or know anyone who has? Do they have specific restrictions or anything? Does a person with a criminal background still have one, per se, if what they did isn't a crime in the country they're moving to?
3) I attend a school with a campus in Spain - would it be wise for me to transfer to the Spanish campus on a Student Visa and then try to establish permanent residency once I'm already in Spain? Would this be more or less difficult than a "direct" approach?

If you can provide me any help or answers, it would be very much appreciated. In any case, thanks for lending me your "ear" (eye) for a moment.

Jerry

Wow, Jerry. IT's good you're so up-front here, but you might not want to be such a "high revealer" when it's time to talk with the visa people.

Spain for years had a reputation as a safe place for people with criminal backgrounds (and foregrounds!) IRA bombers used to jump the next flight to Malaga just before the target was set to blow up. Organized crime figures, on-the-lam shysters, etc. used to congregate quite famously in the Spanish sun, protected by a lax or non-existent extradition law. (the Med. coast near Gibralter and some coves in Galicia are still crawling with generations of drug-running bad guys of every kind.)

But that is no more, from what I'm told by a bud at Interpol. Police, customs, and federal law enforcement are now much better organized and (so he says) less corrupt these days. And justice comes in varying degrees, depending on the color of your skin and/or country of your origin. The post-9/11 and March 11 clampdowns on "suspicious characters" might put a big red flag next to your name in all their computers.

It is hair-raising, what happened to you. I assume you're rehabilitated and you're never going to do that again. Because if you did, don't expect much mercy in Macho Spain. That's if they even let you come over as a student. It's hard enough for regular non-con Americans to stay longer than three months. (one visa requirement is a statement from law enforcement attesting to your clean criminal record.)

Once the American Morality Cops get you, it seems like they keep punishing and harrassing you the rest of your life. I hope you prove me wrong, but law enforcement the world over is just as hard-nosed and unforgiving.

Bless you.
Reb.

My Spanish Consulate, in stating it's visa requirements, asks for: "9. - Criminal record sent by the department of police of the cities where you have resided during last the five years and in which it is shown you have no criminal sentences by existing crimes in the Spanish ordering."

Is this an indicator that it has to be a crime in /Spain/ in order to aversely affect a visa application? Am I right in determining that my offense was not, in fact, against Spanish law?

Thanks for the well wishes, by the way. Things are proceeding about the way I expect them to, but a little bit faster than I thought it would. Miami Beach City Council just passed an ordinance outright banning sex offenders from their city limits last week. I anticipate that, sometime in the next two years, every city in Florida (and possibly the entire U.S.), for fear that they'll get all of the sex offender refugees, will pass the same ordinances, which will put me in violation of the law simply by my presence here. Then they can lock me up for violating the local law and, even if the Supreme Court overturns the bans later on, process me for civil commitment once I'm back in the prison system. Game, set, match.

Needless to say, finding a way to leave has become a top priority.

We are in the year 2005 and as Rebrites said in these modern post 911 times Interpol shares its files with the United States so do not expect to find many places to go where they do not have you red flagged.

We all have CNN and some of us have FOX News, which have been reporting many stories of child abduction, pediphiles and child porn rings and which also have many people here up in arms.
Not to mention the little tolerable local problems with this stuff as well.

In some small town here in Spain they caught this guy who had sex with an under aged girl and stoned him to death.

There are new laws and internet police here who's mission is to track down people similar to you who use the internet to hook up with under age kids or might be involved with child pornography.

Also, things have changed here in the last 5 to 10 years with immigration problems so do not think that it is like the days of old where many rich and famous people (gay or not) have robbed the craddle and fleed to Europe to evade the law.

You might be best off using a little more discretion and picking some country in central or south America where there is even more corruption if that is even possible.

Hello,

This is my first post but I have been reading for weeks before registering tonight. This post was over a year ago but I was wondering if "Jerry" ever found out if he would gain a residency permit for Spain. It also got me thinking about the different types of crimes on criminal records and how the Spanish government would have to implement some type of policy to use against persons wanting to gain a residence permit with a criminal record. Probably many types of crimes are a standard "No" for ever, but what about a DWI 20 years ago (felony) and fighting in a bar (misdemeanor assault) 7 years ago. While these could be serious or just a very stupid act committed in later youth, surely the Spanish government has a method of looking at a single conviction and determine all types of information about it and what has happened since then for consideration.

I met a Spanish lawyer once who told me this was referred to as "canceling" a crime out if it was in the past and everything about the sentence had been carried out.

In no way am I referring to myself but I did stand behind someone in a residency line in another country where this became an issue for that person.

Any thoughts? Any lawyers in the house?

Gary

As I remember, the consulate only asks for a criminal record for the past 5 years when you apply for the visa... Have you checked with your consulate?