HI,

Just wanted to ask a quick question. I'm interested in moving to switzerland (geneva or French speaking side) - can anyone tell me if there is a problem because I have a criminal record? I did some stupid stuff 10 years ago and got a record because of it. Nothing violent, and never went to prison!

taa

you're best off asking the authorities here as to whether they mind. In theory as an EU citizen it should not be a problem but with the level of information you've given and the fact that we cannot give you the definitive answer, you're best off getting the information from the horses mouth.

You might want to search for a thread where IIRC a US citizen with a DUI was asking a similar question.

Some countries have a provision whereby once a certain amount of time has elapsed you can legally answer "No" to a question that asks whether you have a record (in the case on non-violent crimes). This was certainly the case in Australia.

Was your crime DUI? In which case why not have a read of the thread called "getting a permit B with DUI" in the same section as this thread...

This is the same in Switzerland and you need to check the length of time till the crime has "verjahr"ed... If it has then you can answer no with a (not) guilty conscience

Hi,
I asked the same question only last week to Bureau des etrangers in lausanne. reply verbatim-
"Pour vous répondre, il n'est en principe pas requis d'extrait de casier
judiciaire dans la mesure où vous avez la nationalité de l'un des 15 Etats
membres de l'Union européenne (par contre, cette obligation est maintenue
pour l'instant en ce qui concerne les 10 nouveaux Etats membres depuis le
1er mai 2004, qui ne bénéficient pas encore de la libre circulation des
personnes)." .
Not necessary if in EU (old memembers. However not everyone in the department seems to be aware of this cos when I asked initially I was told it was necessary but I questioned it and the girl then asked her supervisor who confirmed it wasn`t necessasry. You can get more info on www.population.vd.ch.
Jo