Any chance of living in Spain?

@cordwell3356 It was  a long time ago. If it was your first offence and you have no other criminal record, it will be removed from the UK  Police Records.

@rogerroberts22

Thanks for your input Roger.

I was under the impression that this would always be on my record and that if I requested an ACRO it would come up as having a 'Live Trace'.

Affray on paper sounds bad when in reality I was just an 18 year old caught up in the midst of a drunken scuffle in town.

Being my only conviction however (and so long ago) I thought there would be a chance to reform like we have in England.

I guess by requesting an ACRO and paying the fee I will be able to truly see what comes back.

@cordwell3356

It's a long time ago, I'd suggest in won't be an issue.

Moreover, I'm not even sure that you'll need a criminal record check if you get residence by FAMILY REUNIFICATION for a family member of a Spanish citizen (if I understood correctly your "girlfriend is from there" comments). In theory, you can do this as unmarried partners, but it's a whole lot easier if you're already married.

https://www.inclusion.gob.es/en/web/mig … pe-hi-102-

I would get a 2nd opinion from an immigration lawyer to confirm my view. And/or read the above pages and see if you can find any reference to a criminal record check. :-)

@gwynj

Thank you gwynj, very helpful.

Yes she was born and lives in Spain. We were always planning to get married anyway, so if this makes it a lot easier, we will speed up the process.

We were just hesitating on having kids and marriage because of course I didn't want to be told I couldn't live with my new family (she has a good job and properties in Spain)

An immigration lawyer is what I need, I will start looking for someone who can help.

Thanks a lot

@cordwell3356

The family reunification step is not super difficult, I did it for me and my partner without any lawyer assistance.

But to put your mind at ease, I'd suggest a quick (15-30 minutes) phone/online consult with an experienced immigration attorney just to confirm whether FAMILY REUNIFICATION for the HUSBAND of a SPANISH CITIZEN needs a criminal record check or not. (And if it does, what impact does your specific offense from many years ago have.)

I did a quick look at BALCELLS website (good immigration firm) which has lots of info on these issues. And they do consultations too.

This clarifies that there are TWO options that apply in your case: family reunification of EU citizen (which includes Spanish) and family reunification by ARRAIGO of Spanish citizen. Some immigration offices allow you to choose either/or, and some insist on Arraigo only. I believe the former does NOT need an ACRO but the latter DOES.

One of the Arraigo pages says this: "You must not have criminal or police records, both in Spain an in any other country where you have lived for the past 5 years." The UK ACRO might show further back, but hopefully the clear 5 years will taken into consideration.

https://balcellsgroup.com/family-member-eu-citizen/

https://balcellsgroup.com/family-arraigo/

@cordwell3356

Dear Cordwell

I'm Faida a law office manager at a lawyer's office..

I will ask the lawyer Mr. Hassan to give you a response to your request.

Have a nice day...

@Faida albayati

Thank you very much. I appreciate that.