Hi y’all,
When I was around 16, I ordered something online from France thinking it would also be legal here, little did I know, it wasn’t, so I had to show up to juvenile court which I only had to pay a small fee and had two years of Sursis or a suspended sentence.
I went to Bern to check my Vostra (electronic criminal records database) data, it is empty, and the clerk informed me that I can continue my naturalization.
So my question is, if I’m asked if I had issues or faced judges in the past. Should I tell them or simply respond how my criminal record is clean ?
Thanks in advance
I’d be careful here, those are two different things. A clean VOSTRA record just means nothing is currently listed, but if the question specifically asks about past legal issues or court appearances, that’s broader.
If in doubt, it’s usually safer to answer honestly rather than risk problems later for withholding info. You could also ask the authority for clarification on what exactly they expect you to disclose.
How long ago was it? Most minor misdemeanours expire after a number of years.
As mawiss12 indicated, honesty is the best policy here (plead ‘mea culpa’ as a minor :). If you inquire with the authorities, they may say ‘everything’ and perhaps start wondering ‘why are you asking? what are you hiding?’ etc …
The incident was as a ‘minor’. More likely that they will appreciated the honesty and take that into consideration. Provide information and records so they are aware of this. If you run into any ‘negative’, then their decision can be appealed and addressed accordingly.
Personally speaking, it looks worse on a person if they try to hide and then the authorities find out afterwards.
Honesty reflects positively on a person as an adult.
The swiss system runs on policy of ‘honesty’ at many different levels. Based on my experience/information, a bad swiss is someone a) who does not pay his taxes, b) is dishonest (many excuses/justification), c) goes against the grain most of the time, d) does not recycle …
I recall the case of a gentleman in kanton schweiz (who effectively lived there most of his life) was grilled at his swiss citizenship interview with completely esoteric questions related to his integration and subsequently denied citizenship by the locals - why? the locals had a beef with him because he was ‘difficult’ … he had to appeal the decision …
All the best …
It has been 9 years now. I’m pretty sure juvenile sentences are not harsh as adult ones
IIRC, VOSTRA holds data that is in the past and present, all of this despite having clean criminal record, it’s sort of an archive. The question might be legal issues in the past and how to answer them despite having clean slate
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It might also depend on what kind of application you are going for. If you are planning to work with children or in healthcare, they might ask you about ALL convictions, spent or otherwise. If you are going for bar job, probably not.
In the end, you’re right, honesty is indeed the best policy, I won’t go into detail unless I’m asked specifically. If push come to shove, appealing would be the way, but not a sweet one. Thanks for the advice
This is for naturalization process, not work related
This is hot territory. As the process is very subjective, if you ordered a weapon it may damage your chances and it may be worth to lie about it. However, if they find out somehow you will damage your chances even more.
And as the process is subjective it all depends on the committee. If they are weapon fans (as many are here) you probably won’t have a problem. Was it even a weapon?
Maybe a question for an immigration lawyer and not for a forum…