Travelling with a police caution

If you have ever been arrested, cautioned, warned or issued with a penalty notice by the police, you may be wondering whether it will affect your ability to travel to, work in or move to another country. The answer depends on several factors: the type and seriousness of the offence, the outcome and date of the caution, the country you are applying to, and the type and length of the visa.

A police caution is a formal warning given by the police to someone who admits committing a criminal offence. It is not technically a criminal conviction, but it carries many of the hallmarks of one: it is recorded on your criminal record, and it can be disclosed to certain authorities and organisations, including foreign governments.

This guide explains how a caution can affect travel and immigration, with a focus on the countries our clients most often ask about.

Different countries have different rules on admitting foreign nationals who have a criminal record, including a police caution. Some countries require you to disclose any caution, however old or minor. Some only ask about cautions for certain offences, such as drugs or violence, or about recent cautions. Others do not ask about cautions at all.

Depending on the country and the type of visa or citizenship application, a caution can lead to one of three outcomes:

• Refusal: you may be refused entry, a visa or citizenship on the grounds of criminality or inadmissibility.
• Entry with conditions: you may be allowed in, or granted a visa, for a limited time or purpose, or on conditions such as reporting to the authorities.
• Entry without conditions: you may be granted entry, a visa or citizenship in the same way as anyone else.

The decision is made by the immigration authorities of the country concerned, under their own laws and policies. You may be able to influence it by providing evidence and an explanation of your caution, and by showing why you should be allowed to enter or stay.

If you have lived or worked in the UK and want to work or live abroad, many countries will ask for a police certificate. Police certificates are issued by the ACRO Criminal Records Office. The countries that require one include Australia, Belgium, Canada, the Cayman Islands, New Zealand, South Africa and the USA.

A police certificate shows the convictions, reprimands, warnings and cautions recorded on the Police National Computer, except for records that have been “stepped down”. A record is stepped down according to the type of offence and the time that has passed, usually after 5 or 10 years. For example, a caution for common assault is stepped down after 5 years.

Even after a record has been stepped down, it is still revealed indirectly. The certificate will say “No Live Trace”, whereas someone who has never had a record, or whose record has been deleted, receives a certificate that says “No Trace”. If a “No Live Trace” certificate is produced, foreign authorities, notably the USA, will usually ask for full details of the record.

The USA has particularly strict rules on criminal records. The ESTA form used for visa-free travel asks about arrests or convictions involving serious damage to property or serious harm to another person, and about drug offences. Answering yes can mean your ESTA is refused and you need to apply for a visa at the US embassy instead.

If you apply for a visa, you will usually need to disclose your caution and provide an ACRO police certificate. Some cautions, for example for drugs offences, can make you ineligible for a visa unless you obtain a waiver of ineligibility.

Our full guide covers ESTAs, visas and green cards: United States immigration and criminal records.

China also has strict rules on admitting foreign nationals with a criminal record. If you have a caution for any offence, you may be refused entry or refused a tourist, student or work visa. China does not clearly define what counts as a criminal record or how it affects visa eligibility, but it generally takes a zero-tolerance approach to criminal history.

If your caution is for a minor offence that is not considered serious or violent, such as a low-level public order offence, or you have a single caution from a long time ago, you may still be able to enter China or obtain a visa.

China has very strict penalties for drug offences, including the death penalty. The Chinese authorities can carry out random drug tests on foreign nationals, and you can be prosecuted for a positive test regardless of where and when you took the drugs. If you disclose a drugs-related record on a Chinese visa application, it is very likely to be refused, however old the caution is.

You may be able to overcome a minor caution by providing evidence about it and explaining why it should not prevent you from travelling or living in China, showing that you have no other criminal record, and showing good reasons for your visit. You may also need a letter of no objection from the Chinese embassy or consulate. A caution may also affect a citizenship application, because applicants must show they are of good moral character.

Saudi Arabia has strict immigration policies, and background checks are standard for anyone seeking work or residency. If you are only visiting for a short business trip, a holiday or a pilgrimage, a police caution should not usually cause problems, unless you have a record for offences that suggest a national security risk.

Work visas involve much more thorough vetting. The Saudi authorities will require an ACRO police certificate, and if you have a record they will usually ask for your ACRO subject access report, which is a printout of your record on the Police National Computer. As a result, a Saudi employer may learn about a caution through the visa process, even if it is protected under UK rehabilitation laws.

Roles in finance, healthcare, law, education and government can have stricter requirements, so even minor matters can affect job prospects. Clients have recently reported that the Saudi authorities have become much stricter, refusing visas even for lower-level records. Saudi Arabia takes a zero-tolerance approach to drugs, and we have seen visas refused because of low-level drugs cases. Applications for residency permits receive the same detailed scrutiny.

You may face similar challenges if you plan to move to the United Arab Emirates (including Dubai and Abu Dhabi), Qatar, Oman or Jordan. Each of these countries has its own policy on past offences.

Overseas employers can learn about a criminal record through the immigration process. If your employer handles your visa application, it will often need your ACRO police certificate, which will reveal a past record directly or indirectly. This is a grey area in UK rehabilitation law: the employer has not asked about your record for its own purposes, but if the role depends on an overseas visa, it will inevitably become aware of it.

Employers must not, however, force you to obtain and hand over your own police records. Under section 184 of the Data Protection Act 2018, it is a criminal offence to require someone to provide a “relevant record”, such as a copy of their criminal record obtained through a subject access request, in connection with recruitment, continued employment or the provision of services, unless this is required by law or justified in the public interest. This is known as enforced subject access.

We are aware of third-party background checking companies, working for overseas multinational employers, that insist on new recruits obtaining a copy of their ACRO subject access record. In our view this is enforced subject access and a criminal offence. If this has happened to you, please get in touch.

UK employers can lawfully ask for a DBS check: a basic check for any role, and a standard or enhanced check for eligible roles. Check how long your caution will show on a DBS certificate.

Yes. If your caution is deleted from the Police National Computer, your ACRO police certificate will say “No Trace”, and your DNA, fingerprints and custody photo are deleted with it. Whether you still need to mention the incident on a visa form depends on the questions that country asks, and we can advise you on this.

The police may have wrongly issued your caution, or there may be public interest reasons why it should be removed. We have had hundreds of police cautions and arrest records deleted, including for clients who needed to travel to or live in the USA, China and Saudi Arabia. Once their records were removed, they were able to apply successfully for their visas and residency.

We will give you clear and honest advice on your prospects of success in an initial fixed-fee consultation. If we believe your caution or arrest record can be removed, all our fees are fixed, so you will know exactly what you will pay in advance. We also work alongside immigration lawyers, including a network of specialist immigration lawyers in the USA.

Contact us today to discuss your case.