Crminal Record and Travel

I am travelling to Europe and have a record for theft with cash handling.
I paid my fines straight away and never was jailed for it.
I am not needing a visa anywhere and going from Oz to UK then Eastern Europe and back to Oz.

Will I be ok to get to London and then Europe? I am also stopping in Bangkok for few hrs stop over..

Please help..

Thanks Alex.

If you don't need a visa anywhere, there's no problem. I seem to recall that technically, the Schengen countries oblige you to inform the authorities that you have a criminal record upon entry, but since you are exempt from visa application, this is not of much consequence to you anyway.

Which countries in Eastern Europe are you planning on visiting?? I only ask - because if the border guards scan your passport and something comes up (doubt it will though - unless mad serious), you might have a bit of a tough time before being let in. Especially in Russia (where you will definately need a visa), Moldova, Albania, Georgia, Armenia and Turkey, Croatia and (especially) Serbia.
I haven't checked your visa requirements for the other countries mentioned, but believe me - the authorities can be nasty if they find out something about you they don't like - and even more so if you've tried to conceal it. I'd check with the Consulates in Australia before you leave.
Good luck.

I am going on a Contiki Tour and they have said nothing about a visa which means I obviously wont need one.
I thought drugs and drink driving and weapons etc are the bigger ones that they stress about??

What about when Im at the australian airport to checkin they wont give me a hard time there will they? Bit scared with family being around and if they say something infront of them.. It happened a year ago and I feel sick that it happened, but it did and I have to realise its stuffed me up a bit. But I havent done it since and like I said I paid it all back.

Either way - Im going to Bangkok for few hrs, then London then paris, rome, croatia, dubrovnik, mykonos, amsterdam, venice, places like that.. No russia at all.

Do you think it will be alright? Very scared its going to embarrass me infront of all these ppl im in tour with.

Such a tough one to answer. I've seen TV docs on Australian airports and they give incomers a very hard time, just for bringing in a bag of peanuts or an apple (but rules are rules). How they treat you on an outgoing flight, I've no idea. I'm with Bentivogli all the way on this - meaning the countries Consulates would appreciate being told, plus they'll give you the nod either way, for just a phone call.
I wish you good luck. Tough 1.

The only people checking your passport when you exit most countrys are the airline staff at check in. They wont be interested or able to pull up any criminal records. You'll be fine.

Mind you Post#6#.... What about when they get to their destination??

Quoting Redpaddy

Mind you Post#6#.... What about when they get to their destination??

Do you really think governments are going to hand over simple criminal charges records to other governments?

A criminal record for theft with no jail time is not going to be a problem in Europe.

As Aussie you don't need a visa to visit most of Europe for tourism, so you don't have to fill out any visa applications. (Better state the countries you want to go to though.) As long as you don't fill out any visa applications it is unlikely the authorities in the European countries will be concerned or informed.

Governments do share information about criminals, but they are mainly concerned about sex crime offenders (especially those who like children too much) and real big wheelers in crime (people who are wanted for bank robbery, murder, theft of several million AUD/EUR/USD, ... )

They got those people pretty quick I think:
http://newsbizarre.com/2009/05/huan-di-zhang-and-hui-gao-couple-flee.html

[ Edit: Edited on 06-Jun-2009, at 19:40 by t_maia ]

Dodger, I can tell you from experience there ARE countries that share information.

I lost my British pasport then found it again and flew to the US. I was stopped and detained for 3 hours as they thought I was travelling on a stolen passport. I was told that sort of thing is GLOBAL so you never know what is shared and what is inconsequential.

As to the original post, if it was not a Federal crime, you didnt go to jail and it was only a fine and/or probation issue, you are probably ok, but of course passports are checked at points of entry.