CSEP With Prior Legal Issues

[Friedrich]

Hi all,
I’m a U.S. citizen by birth trying to figure out all the complexities of immigrating to Ireland with a Critical Skills path. I’ve already done a lot of research on this and think I’ve got it down but have a few huge doubts right now. The company I work for has a Dublin subsidiary and I’m working with them to basically move my job over there. As long as there is a legitimate way to do that, I definitely should qualify for the CSEP. My understanding of the process from a high level is to get the permit, no visa required so arrange travel from there, get permission to enter at the airport, then register in Ireland for longer stay based on CSEP. I hope to eventually get citizenship after 5 years…but there’s potentially a big problem.

I got into serious legal trouble as a young adult, felony theft and breaking and entering, nothing violent. At the time I served 4 months and then did a total 180 to change my life totally around. I went to college, got a degree, have a family, and a good career. Those troubles were almost 25 years ago and I’ve never had a single issue since, not even a traffic ticket. I also had the record expunged well over a decade ago. So while I will absolutely be above board and honest when asked ‘the question’, I’m wondering when that question will be asked and if I’m just being too anxious. It doesn’t appear to be part of the CSEP application but maybe there’s some vetting done there? I know they can ask the question upon arrival but I absolutely don’t want to be turned away at that point so maybe I should check with the Consulate first or maybe an immigration attorney? What about vetting after arrival during registration? I’m not overly worried about Naturalization as I know background checks are a part of it and accept that but it’s down the road awhile too so not an immediate problem. But still, I am of good character now, have been for some time, but hope to not be judged as a person that for all intents and purposes no longer exists. Any insight is much appreciated.

Thanks

[AlmostIrish_111]

Hey Friedrich,

Good of you for turning your life around and managing to build up yourself after a low point.
I did some research on the Critical Skills Employment Permit process and have not found any question related to previous offenses/convictions, so I do not expect that you will be asked that question even during registration.

Down the line, for the naturalisation application you will need to disclose your conviction. It does not matter that you had it expunged, it will still need to be disclosed. The best non-legal advice I can give you is to at that time write a letter, addressing the Minister and/or the ISD officer, explaining how all of this is in the past and how much work you put into improving yourself.

Best of luck to you.

references:
https://www.irishimmigration.ie/registe ... documents/
https://enterprise.gov.ie/en/what-we-do ... nt-permit/
https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/m ... d-permits/

[Friedrich]

Thanks much for the reply. The CSEP process itself looks relatively straightforward and is even documented step-by-step. I did not see any real background questions there that aren't related to employment.

I don't fully know all of what goes on with Registration but the link you provided, which I believe I've looked over as well, did not seem too complicated either or have background info listed. But one thing to understand coming from America, is that a lot of us don't fully trust policing authorities so I for one am always suspicious. It's probably part of the past trauma to be honest.

But anyway, what concerned me in addition to the Registration step and not knowing how that normally goes on there was this wording from https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/m ... n-ireland/

Being refused permission to enter Ireland
The immigration officer may refuse your permission to enter Ireland if the immigration officer believes:
...
You have been convicted of an offence which carries a penalty of a year’s imprisonment or more

But I'm now noting that it's related to visas so maybe the treatment we get coming from a non-visa country is different, not to mention the skills permit.

But...I am concerned that the above could be potentially problematic. Unless it actually means convicted within Ireland which, of course, I have not and will not be. Or if it was based on a maximum sentence possible of a year or more even outside the state. I'm just not sure what that means.

I have no issue, aside from the discomfort of talking about that past, with disclosure when asked. I figure in regards to immigration, it's your country and your rules, so if they ask I'll be totally honest. But I might go ahead and write that letter in advance just in case. Granted with naturalization my circumstances will be different in that I'll also have 5 years of clean records within the state too and it would have been about 30 years since my youthful misbehavior. I may be over-preparing or over-thinking this.

[AlmostIrish_111]

Being refused permission to enter Ireland
The immigration officer may refuse your permission to enter Ireland if the immigration officer believes:
...
You have been convicted of an offence which carries a penalty of a year’s imprisonment or more

This does not mean only convictions in Ireland but convictions in any country of offenses which in Ireland would carry a penalty of a year's imprisonment.

I have never heard of any officer asking that question at the points of entry, so I would believe it to be hard for you to be refused entry even if some of the border control officers are "not nice", to say the least.

Being from the USA gives you a bit of leeway, because of the Irish immigration to the USA long ago, but not much. The fact that you will bring, printed, an approved critical skills permit is what normally makes the officer relax a bit because you are not someone trying to stay illegally but you will appear to be someone who is following the legal process.

When it comes to interacting with the Gardaí, the advise that I can give you is "Be respectful". The guards are generally decent people, up for a laugh but ultimately doing their job. I haven't found in Europe any police force as obnoxious as the USA one, but situation is different over there and the culture is not the same.

[Friedrich]

Thanks again for the further follow-up. This is helpful clarification. It's always a risk moving to a new country so I'm trying to make sure I have all things accounted for. I just got approval from my job and a salary number (which I think is a touch low) but hopefully this will all work out.