French Visa & Criminal Record Worries

[mondays]

Apologies if this topic has been over-discussed, but I hope someone can help. I'm a US citizen living in the states and want to apply for a long stay tourist visa for France. I'd like to spend a year there touring and meet all the visa requirements. But one requirement worries me. I was arrested 8 years ago on a drunk driving misdemeanor charge but the charge was reduced to reckless driving and I was NOT convicted of any crimes. One of the requirements for a French long stay visa is a criminal record report. The state where I live classifies any arrest, regardless of outcome, as a criminal record and does not show my non-conviction. I'm afraid my visa will be denied when the French consulate receives the report. Can anyone offer any advice or help, please? It's a very embarrassing situation for a retirement-age person and I don't look forward to explaining or having to jump through hoops. If I'll be denied outright, well, that's that then. Thanks for any information.

[caribbeangeorge]

Maybe not much of a help, but this is what I found:

Do previous criminal convictions imply automatically refusal of entry or expulsion?

A previous criminal conviction can be taken into account only if they are evidence of personal conduct constituting a present threat to the requirements of public policy. The authorities must base their decision on an assessment of the future conduct of the individual concerned.

Can anyone be expelled for persistent petty criminality?

In certain circumstances, persistent petty criminality may represent a threat to public policy, despite the fact that any single crime/offence, taken individually, would be insufficient to represent a sufficiently serious threat as defined above.

Source:
http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAct ... anguage=en

[Directive/2004/38/EC]

caribbeangeorge - That is only true if the applicant is family member of an EU citizen.

mondays - Exactly what criminal record report do the French want and from who? Have you applied for it already? What does it say exactly?

[mondays]

Sorry I'm late replying to the posters above, but my computer was down.
I'm encouraged by what was posted here, but I'm a US citizen so it may not apply to me. The French Consulate wants a "criminal record" from the applicant's local police agency. I paid for mine thru the local police online service in order to have a look at what turns up, and the report shows the arrest, but nothing else. It does not show the non-conviction. The state where I live keeps arrest records for 75 years, so it's not likely to vanish over time. It'd be extreme to deny a long stay visa on an arrest record only if there's no conviction but I guess it's possible. I've read posts on some forums from people who DO have convictions &want to apply for a Schengen long-stay visa, but unfortunately no one bothered to post their outcome.
Thanks for the replies, and I really hope someone has some more information to share.

[taiwanluthiers]

I think that guide also applies to non EU citizens too... because the fact of public safety applies whether or not the person attempting to enter the country may constitute a threat to public safety.

It seems EU has more reasonable laws though because I know some country like the US pretty much makes it impossible for one to enter the country for any reason if that person has any conviction, no matter how light it may be, and even if the person would not be considered a threat to public safety by any stretch of imagination.

I don't know if this helps, but I have a felony conviction in the USA for gun possession, and I declared it on my application for a long stay visa to Germany, and they still gave me the visa without any unreasonable delay. I don't know if it's because they failed to notice the area (which is unlikely because it's not exactly something that's at the bottom of the application that is difficult to see) or maybe they just don't think it constitutes a threat to public safety. However that is my only conviction.

They don't even ask about criminal convictions in the application for a tourist or Schengen visa.

[Tobiasgar]

Interesting case.. would be nice to know what was the result of this story...hope that the visa was given