Trying to Move From US With Expunged Background

Hello! My husband & I have always wanted to live in Japan, but are running into trouble. He took the fall for his friend possessing marijuana many years ago so that his friend wouldn’t be kicked out of the US (his friend was here on a student visa). My husband didn’t serve time & his record has been expunged for several years now. We’ve been looking at moving outside of the US, but have been asked for a federal background check. The record doesn’t come up on a state background check, but it does on a federal level. Does this mean we’ll never be able to move to Japan? If so, that would be devastating as it’s something bc we’ve wanted since we were kids. Also, even if we were able to move to Japan would he ever be able to teach children?

2 comments
  1. You should consult with a local lawyer to have the federal record expunged. Drug convictions are one of the automatic disqualifiers for visas.

  2. We have talked to several lawyers & they all say that you can expunge it at the federal level but it will still show up that it was a drug misdemeanor but it will say expunged next to it. I don’t think that would be counted as a clean record. Are there any instances where Japan asks you for a state criminal record instead of federal?

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