Will having a misdemeanor conviction prevent me from getting a New Zealand holiday work visa?
Question by sigepdave34: Will having a misdemeanor conviction prevent me from getting a New Zealand holiday work visa?
Does anyone having any experience with this or possibility work in immigration? The conviction is for a drunk and disorderly over 4 years ago. The charges have been dismissed but it still shows up on my record. At least it does with the state of California. I have to get a police certificate from the FBI but it takes about 8-10 weeks and I’m not sure what their records show. I want to book my flight for February 2010 but I don’t want to find out at the last minute they rejected my application.
Best answer:
Answer by johno
Hi. Have you already made an application and been told that you have to get a copy of your police records?
If not, I’m not sure where you have got your information from with regards to what you need to provide in order to obtain a working holiday visa. Assuming you are from the US you can apply for the visa on line. As working holiday visas are issued for less than 24 months you do not need to provide a police report. However, you do need to declare on the application form, any prior charges, convictions and/or whether you are under investigation. I’m not sure what you mean when you say you were convicted but the charges were dismissed?? Either you were convicted or the charges were dismissed – it can’t be both. Do you mean wiped by lapse of time?? A four year old charge that did not result in a conviction, or a conviction for a misdemeanor which has been wiped is unlikely to derail your application.
In any case, if you submit an online application you will receive a reply within days and so you can wait until you have the visa before booking your flights.
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