American in China Who Doesn't Want to Lose Everything

[James Falconer]

My question involves a background check in the State of: Tennessee.

Howdy!

I am an American living and working in China. I have lived here for over seven years, and am married to a local Chinese woman whom I love very, very much.

After eight years, the government of China is formulating a policy of requiring "A Letter of Good Conduct" from a police agency. They have not yet said that it has to be from the FBI, but from a government agency. The province I live now does not require this as yet, but I feel will by next year or 2010.

In the 1990s, I was a drug addict, and was popped for shoplifting a $10 steak from a Kroger store in March of 1996 in the state of Tennessee. Went to court, paid a fine, no jail time. Unfortunately this was my second minor offense, so it could not be ajuducated, so I am stuck with a "Theft under $500" beef for the rest of my life. I can look up the charge online, compete with RNI number.

Funny thing was that I was employed with a casino in Mississippi, and the state of Mississippi took my prints, and because of my offense, I was disbarred from working in a casino for three years after the conviction, but was never called on it.

Back to China, they want something from my "local police station". Not FBI as of yet.

Unfortunately, my crime occured in my home city and state. I was wondering if there was anyway that I could get a background check for myself that is only a felony report in Tennessee, rather than everything. I would also like to know if this was reported to the FBI, in case I need an FBI clearance. I have read in passing that many times that the state and local arresting department will not send a non violent misdeamnor to the FBI (hence, never getting popped by the Ms. Gaming Commission)

To get around the FBI clearance, I was thinking about submitting for a gun permit, which will clear me of felonies (I'm not a felon, thank God) and be something legal from my government to theirs.

Is there anyway I can get something from the state that only show felonies?
Can this possibly be requested in an FBI check?

James

[Mr. Knowitall]

Your FBI record probably does not include your misdemeanor. Get a copy, as discussed in your other thread, and see what is in it. Then, assuming it doesn't reflect the misdemeanor, see if it's acceptable to the Chinese government.

Ultimately, what matters is what the Chinese government finds acceptable. We can make you no promises about what that will turn out to be.

[MudDuck]

I live in San Francisco, CA. Here you can go to the Hall of Justice and request your arrest record. What they give you is a record of all arrests and dispositions of same, for the "County of San Francisco." There is no reference to any other jurisdictions outside of the County of San Francisco. This would, I'd think, satisfy the condition of a report from you "police station".

On the other hand, an NCIC report(National Crime Information Center), otherwise referred to as your FBI report DOES list everything you've been arrested for, misdemeanor (serious misdemeanor is how they put it) or felony. The following is an extract from the FBI NCIC site:

" 2. Individuals who have committed or have been identified with an
offense which is classified as a felony or serious misdemeanor under
the existing penal statutes of the jurisdiction originating the entry
and for whom a felony or misdemeanor warrant has been issued with
respect to the offense which was the basis of the entry."

The link to their site is: http://www.fas.org/irp/agency/doj/fbi/is/ncic.htm

Go with the local arrest record, you can obtain one from any county of previous residence.

Good luck!

[blargotronic]

Go with the local arrest record, you can obtain one from any county of previous residence.

I taught in Asia for some time.

I knew a guy who ignored all the visa requirements for 5 years. Finally, he decided to go back and visit family, but on his exit, was told to never come back. In the meantime, he had started a restaurant business and had thousands tied up in it. What did he do?

Changed his name citing "personal preference," got a new passport, and re-entered. His new name was hilarious, if I told you it, you'd laugh. To him, that name was meaningless anyway.

Don't panic, there's always a way. Best of luck.

[blargotronic]

Also worth noting:

Japan required this when I was there in 02. When I was in Tokyo mushrooms were legal. Japan outlawed them on 03. Guess what China did in 04?

So I'm guessing here that it's the same old. Japan's visa was local, and I'll bet your right in your assessment that China is, too.