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Thread: Visa Application with Criminal Background

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[quote=GUEST56198,474919]I recently applied for a Chinese visa thru a courier service for a business trip. I am a US citizen and convicted felon and answered "yes" to the question about criminal records. I was approved for the visa but it did take longer than usual. I applied at the same time as a coworker who does not have a criminal record. We both chose to expedite the visas as much as possible, he received his that day and mine took 3-4 days. Following advice from this thread I first sent the application in with a very brief description which basically said "In 2004 I was convicted of a crime where I allowed the use of my vehicle for someone to flee the scene of a fight they were involved in". The courier service came back and said that I would need to send in court papers showing that I am no longer under any obligation to the courts. I had to go to the courthouse and retrieve a certified copy of the journal entry in my case which stated that I had fulfilled the terms of my sentencing and that I was under no supervision or obligation of the court. With that the courier service submitted my application but the consulate came back asking for a more detailed personal account of the crime. I sent them about a 1.5 page long word doc with one paragraph about the details of the event and another paragraph talking about how remorseful I am, how I've never been in trouble before or after that, etc. I do not know if the consulate has set rules for whether or not they approve a visa for a person convicted of a crime but it seems more that they want full disclosure of what happened. Good luck and I hope my advice helps / eases some worry if you are applying with a criminal record. For those of you saying to just put "no", I think thats terrible advice as lying on those forms is a felony in itself. Getting the visa is one thing, getting thru customs could be very different if they decide to run you, or even worse if you are in China and something goes down and you get detained by police.[/quote]

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