Expungement?

    30+ years ago my roommate and I had a few too many beers at a local strip club....being in our early 20s and full of P&V we kept our good time spirits going when we left all our girlfriends at the club. On the way home we are laughing and retelling our club adventures when we spy this lovely lady standing on a corner just a few blocks from the club. The light was red so we stopped. He was driving and I was riding shotgun...She looked our direction so I rolled the window down. She says "hey fellas you want a date?"...My friend leans over so he can see her and says "how much for a ...."... She says "how much do you have?"....My friend says "The girls back at the xyz club have all my money"....I said "well, I got a dollar"...haha...At that moment, she runs her hand through her hair, an obvious signal to her compadres....and within seconds our car was surrounded by members of our city's finest VICE officers with guns drawn....We were cuffed and stuffed and taken downtown and were issued a citation and fingerprinted and sent home.....Fast forward, we hire an attorney and tell him the story....he said even though it was obvious it was a jok (I have a dollar), he said it's cut and dry guilty in our state....request/offer....He explained to the prosecutor and she offered us the tiniest slap on the wrist....no jail, $100 fine, no probation...just pay the fine and go back to University...we accept and so did the judge. We plead guilty and paid the fine and it is over....Until now!!! hahaBy letter of law this is a conviction of a crime of moral turpitude...solicitation....I've traveled to Canada, UK, Vietnam, Switzerland, China and a few other places in the last 10-15 years and this has never come up....Now that I want to goto Philippines and have been reading the rules for entry, or more importantly the barriers to entry, I am a bit concerned.I contacted a local defense attorney in the city where this happened and he kind of chuckled at the story but agreed it is cut and dry...he did a quick database search of the county and could not find it in online records and that it is so old it is probably buried in a box in the basement of the courthouse....He also said it is a perfect candidate for expungement....Long story to get to my question gents.....first, what do you think? Will it cause me problems getting in, staying in PH? When it is expunged will it come up then? Every young man must climb "dumbass" hill and I certainly did....I've led a good life and have had great success by my standards and I sure would hate for this to come back now and bite me....I'd like to hear your thoughts...Thank you in advance.        -@Renob96

It seems JRC visa has at least implied in a recent youtube video with some vlogger that they have access to BI derogatory lists. Also, for sex "crimes" which I agree it is not, it is simply government tyrannical bullsh!t to ruin your life because they can, immigration at the airport does check other countries' databases. Maybe contact JRC to know that they think. In my experience for routine passport renewals for wife and me, they are not cheap.

Good lead Dan! Thanks.....Others please comment if you can...much appreciated all!

I *highly* doubt that record would ever be found, or be an issue if it were. After all, you didn't even go through with it, lol. In any case, infinitesimal odds of it causing a problem. We all did crazy stuff when we were younger. They are looking for serious transgressors.

@pnwcyclist

As usual a well balanced and considered common sensical patient response to some naive questions that appear on this forum.

    I *highly* doubt that record would ever be found, or be an issue if it were. After all, you didn't even go through with it, lol. In any case, infinitesimal odds of it causing a problem. We all did crazy stuff when we were younger. They are looking for serious transgressors.
   

    -@pnwcyclist

I think irrational things happen here all the time with government agencies and I personally think a documented sex "crime" like that has odds more than infinitesimal of being caught at immigration. The computers showing any records do not analyze the logic of your conviction and mindless bureaucrats are not paid and may not even be allowed to make the judgement that this is a joke, if they can, realizing that "jokes" in America are so often taken seriously here. Now, there are people who say the odds are infinitesimal so go ahead and take the risk. My recommendation is not that; instead I would say to contact a visa agency like JRC who has a lot if experience in this matter because if you lose the infinitesimal odds, the price can be high. OMO

Dan...I took your advice and had a Zoom with two JRC folks....They both appeared very knoweledgeable. They said that the guys at the airport have more extensive databases than BI...He said that the law is designed for serious crimes and criminals, not a stupid thing like mine. He said the three plus decades that have passed since is another positive. He said he could check the BI and find out what is there, but not the airport databases....He was also unsure if an expungement would help, if it is already present on the databases...The charge to search and get back to me was $500 USD, and Im told will take 45-60 days. I also paid the defense attorney in the county where this happened $700 to begin the expunsion process....which will also take 45-60 days....I'll keep you all posted on what I hear back...