Residency - question about criminal check

[BeraRane]

Hi everyone,

I recently got married to an Argentine citizen and I'm currently applying for permanent residency (currently I'm a tourist who overstayed).

My question is regarding the below requirement for a criminal check..

"Certificado que acredite fehacientemente que no registra condenas anteriores ni procesos penales en trámite, emitidos por las autoridades competentes de los países donde haya residido por un plazo superior a UN (1) año, durante el transcurso de los últimos TRES (3) años, (Solo exigible a mayores de 16 años)."


In the past three years, I've spent 10 months in France, 4 months in the UK, and the rest of the time in Argentina.

My confusion comes from the fact I spent a total of 2 years in France but only 10 months of which were in the last 3 years, would I need one from France in this case or do they only consider the last three years of residency and nothing else?

Thanks everyone.

 

[Alby]

In my (reasonably recent) case I presented the antecdentes penales from the country I where I had resided/spent the entirety of the preceding 36 months. That country was not my home country (i.e., it was not the country whose passport I was using for the application). Even though I had not set foot in my home country in the previous 36 months, during evaluation of my application they requested the antecedentes penales from that country. So, it is highly likely they will require antecedentes from the country whose passport you are applying under (whether that be French or UK antecedentes, or whatever passport you are using), regardless of the time spent in whichever country during the previous three years. I would just get hold of those antecedentes. There is no point trying to explain to Migraciones that, based on what the website says, those antecedentes are not required.

 

[Millie]

I agree because, as we all know, it’s always better to be safe than sorry in terms of covering all your bases with Migraciones… and since things take weeks and even months between getting the ink fingerprints, getting the background check processed , getting it translated, apostilled, and then certified here in Argentina by the translator , much better to have the documents available, than for you to go to Migraciones and find out that additional docs are needed and therefore add months to the process …

 

[Quilombo]

This is such a great example of why Argentina is a mess legally, but not for the reasons Ks are always bellyaching about. We live in a country that, in theory, practices Civil Law, but de jure practices "Whatever the individual ñoqui/civil "servant" feels like on the spot."

The text says "Certificado que acredite fehacientemente que no registra condenas anteriores ni procesos penales en trámite, emitidos por las autoridades competentes de los países donde haya residido por un plazo superior a UN (1) año, durante el transcurso de los últimos TRES (3) años, (Solo exigible a mayores de 16 años" but in practice, as @Alby said, Migraciones in their infinite wisdom is going to ask for your a background check from your country of citizenship and/or birth i.e. I wouldn't be surprised if say, for your example, you were born in Norway, had French citizenship, but lived the last 50 years in Timbuktu, Mali they'd want a background check from Norway and France, and couldn't care less about one from Mali, even though that's the one that's important.

What's the reasoning for this? Pick one: unfamiliarity with requirements, poor training, general incompetence, boredom, lack of accountability (to be fair though, this last point is an Argentine thing that plagues the society as a whole, and is not specific to Migraciones). It's best to get the one for the country of your citizenship, and the others in case, but expect to only be asked about the citizenship one because, well, Argentina.

 

[Millie]

Additionally, but sadly, … like other places in the world, , don’t forget to include as a reason nepotism, in some of these govt jobs ….

 

[Caribbean Cool]

Opinion....just an opinion...I would just conduct yourself as if you are from your home country and don't mention anyplace else. Otherwise, you could be opening a can of worms. And the migration people here probably don't want a can of worms either. Think about what I am saying. If the can of worms gets opened...well...you can always go fishing later.

 

[FrankPintor]

I expect Migraciones will ask for copies of all your passport pages, so there's really no way to hide where you've been. In my case (first temp. residency) they wanted police certificates from more than 3 years previously, and included countries I'd stayed less than a year, plus my home country, so I understand they have discretion to ask for pretty much whatever they like. As Alby says, you're not going to get anywhere explaining their rules to them. Migraciones will decide, once you start the process, not you.

 

[Quilombo]

I expect Migraciones will ask for copies of all your passport pages

Having processed my perm residency at the end of 2021 I can say for me personally they didn't, and thankfully so as it is full of 30+ different countries visas/stamps, (they did however want my passport ID page translated in to Spanish, and to know which countries I liked best).

 

[BAHibs]

.

 

[elhombresinnombre]

You can never be over-prepared for this.

Time to revive an old sketch, I think: -