D visa and ACRO police certificate

Welcome to expat.com @tutisservis!

I don't know, but I'd be surprised if any country would be massively bothered by a non-custodial sentence from over 30 years ago. Although it might depend on the category of severity of the offence (A, B, C in UK terms, but probation suggests it was probably a C anyway). So I would encourage you to apply, and hope for the best.

I'm not even sure it would appear on your ACRO certificate because of the "stepping down" process, which omits older/less serious offences. In this case, it would say "no live trace", rather than "no trace", and I'd guess that most wouldn't even spot the difference.

If you've been in Hong Kong for many years, and you've been good, I suppose you could also consider getting a criminal record check here instead.

On what grounds would you apply for D visa? Retiree? This is the easiest.

Many thanks for your reply Gwynj... I've been in Hong Kong 10 years and no issues here, but is that long enough record... ?
yes intend to retire... even bought a house. We were aiming for next Apr.

If you've got a house in Bulgaria, and you can show a nice pension and some savings, I'd guess they'd be happy to have you. Getting the D visa, and then residence, is probably easiest for retirees.

Bulgarian minimum pension is about 250 leva (per month), while the minimum wage is about 600 leva (per month). This gives you a pretty good idea of how well you can live here, and also some context for what a "nice" pension or savings look like.

If you're a Hong Kong resident, and you're applying for your D visa in China, then I think there's a logic to getting your criminal record check there. If it's clear, that's the main thing.

When I started teaching here, and they needed a criminal record check. I went to the court house in Plovdiv, and they gave me a clean certificate. At the time, I'd only been here a year, so I thought for sure they'd demand I got a proper one from the UK. But, no, they were able to check the "has a clean criminal record" box, and everybody was happy. :-)

If you want to cover all the bases, I suppose you could get both. Then if it did show something on the UK one, you have a more recent clear one. Depends if they're easy to get, I guess. :-) From what I recall, getting the ACRO cert is pretty easy as it's online... but it should be legalised after, I believe, so you've got an extra step.

Have you got the notary deed for your house to include with your application?

And the Medical Insurance for Foreigners policy? I think there are a couple of places where you can order online now, and they'll email you the policy certificate.

Thanks so much... appreciate your time. 😁

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