Editor’s note: This story was originally published here Live and invest abroad.
Mystery. I have some. I understand everyone does this.
Well, secrets sometimes need to be revealed, explained or clarified – especially if the secret has anything to do with the criminal record you submit with your application for a visa to travel to Portugal to establish residence.
Does it seem like I have a story to tell you? The story shows something important. Be proactive when you submit the requested documents to apply for a visa to immigrate to a foreign country – in this case to relocate from California and retire in Portugal.
An application requirement for our D7 residency visa was a recent (no more than three months old) FBI criminal record for me and my husband. It seemed straightforward.
Oh…but wait. A few years had passed since I turned my criminal record over to anyone. Twenty years had passed since I was an applicant for a resort owner’s liquor license. That application required my FBI criminal record. My secret was revealed. Of course I had forgotten about it.
a strange explanation
You guessed it… it took a lot of convincing for me. I wish I had explained this to the owner before reading it.
The thing about secrets is this: If I don’t tell anyone a secret, I eventually forget there is a secret. I forgot that anything had happened.
This was the case with liquor license applications in 1999. This was the situation in 2020 when I applied for my D7 visa and Portuguese residency. The secret is so well guarded that I didn’t even remember it! I’m sure a therapist would enjoy chewing on it with me.
No doubt you are curious. “What’s in Jooch’s FBI criminal record?”. You might be asking. “What’s your secret?”
This is just a misdemeanor.
What the legal assistant tells you will not raise any red flags or interfere with your application being approved. This is not a crime.
rape with a story
But there’s a story attached to my misdemeanor… and the misdemeanor is in a category that could cause some problems with a residency visa application… or a liquor license application.
A long time ago. I was 26 or 27 years old. I lived in Salt Lake City and worked in the marketing offices of a nearby ski resort. My younger brother also worked in the same resort. We rented a duplex together. We hadn’t been roommates since I left home for college at age 18.
He was a night auditor working the graveyard shift. I worked during the day. We were like ships passing through the Panama Canal.
In this story, on a September night, I was drinking and dancing at a nightclub with friends while my brother was working. When my drunk friends and I came out of the nightclub, my brother was balancing the numbers.
My brother was unaware that I thought it would be funny to put a statue of the Angel Moroni on the moon on top of an LDS temple. The Mormon policeman at the end of the block none of us saw didn’t think it was funny to moon over Angel Moroni.
I was arrested, spent the night in jail and was released on bail only after I had enough time to work.
My brother never found out. No one knew that I appeared before a judge, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of indecent exposure, paid a reduced fine of $250, and was not sentenced to jail. I believe the judge saw the humor in my situation.
to be active
Important part of my story: Be proactive when applying for a residency visa and submit clarification letter along with requested criminal records portugal If you have an item listed on that record. There is no mention of providing an explanation letter in the list of required documents.
I’m telling you, it was the best advice we got from our lawyer. It is understandable that a Portuguese employee at the consulate would deny a visa to an applicant with a criminal record with a label stating, “misdemeanor indecent exposure.”
What would I be remiss if I didn’t mention that Live & Invest Overseas, Inc. at one of their conferences in 2019? It must have been my fault if the employees had introduced us to their lawyer. This is the best thing ever. (If you need you can do this Contact them here.)
I’m Woodruff, so of course I had to ask my lawyer if the Portuguese would understand what I mean when I say, “I put Angel Moroni on the moon?” I continued, “Is there a Portuguese word for moonday?”
Our lawyer explained patiently, “Just write that you dropped your trousers and exposed your derriere in the direction of the statue. We will translate the entire letter into Portuguese.”
That’s what I did. No denial or delay. Our visa was issued immediately. After moving to Portugal there were no questions when we went to our residency appointment with immigration services. Wow! The crisis was averted.
This is six years later. Our Portuguese citizenship applications are being reviewed and processed. Yes, you got it. Last time I had to submit a new clarification letter with the new FBI criminal record. That secret crime that keeps requiring explanation.
This may be required for applications for foreign citizenship
Here’s one final piece of information about criminal reports. Applying for citizenship in Portugal also requires a Portuguese criminal report.
Golly, this report was very easy to get.
We just went to the nearby town hall office. We waited maybe five minutes before being called to the clerk window. We showed proof of our address. We paid 5 euros (I think). We chatted with the clerk (no more than two minutes) while she processed and printed our official Portuguese criminal records.
Easy.
I guess I shouldn’t keep my Salt Lake City misdeed a secret. My brother will probably read this… I hope he’s in a forgiving mood.