A domestic violence record stays on your record permanently. There is no expiration date, no automatic drop-off after a set number of years, and nothing that quietly removes it in the background. Whether the entry comes from an arrest, a filed charge, or a conviction, it stays visible unless a court orders it expunged or sealed. Clearing it is possible in many cases, but eligibility and results depend heavily on the outcome of the case and the state you’re in.
Why the Record Doesn’t Go Away on Its Own
Criminal records aren’t like negative items on a credit report. They’re government-maintained histories of your contact with the justice system, and they persist until a court says otherwise. More than one record can exist from a single incident. An arrest generates a record even if the prosecutor never files charges. If charges are filed, the court creates its own record regardless of the outcome. A conviction, misdemeanor or felony, produces a permanent entry in your criminal history. Someone whose charges were dismissed can still have an arrest record and a court record surface on a background check.
What Shows Up on Background Checks, and for How Long
Federal law treats arrests and convictions differently. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, a background check company cannot report an arrest that didn’t lead to a conviction if more than seven years have passed since the arrest date. Convictions have no federal time limit and can be reported indefinitely.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 U.S. Code 1681c – Requirements Relating to Information Contained in Consumer Reports
So a dismissed domestic violence arrest from 15 years ago should eventually stop appearing on commercial background checks. A conviction from 15 years ago can show up as clearly as the day it was entered. Some states cap conviction reporting at seven or ten years, but the federal baseline lets convictions be reported forever.
Most employers, landlords, and licensing boards rely on third-party background check companies that follow these federal rules. Even an old conviction will keep appearing unless a court has ordered it expunged or sealed.
Consequences That Last as Long as the Record Does
Firearm Rights
Federal law makes it illegal for anyone convicted of a “misdemeanor crime of domestic violence” to possess, purchase, or transport any firearm or ammunition.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts The ban covers misdemeanors, not just felonies, and there is no exception for military personnel or law enforcement. It is also retroactive: a conviction that predates the 1996 law still triggers the prohibition. The qualifying offense must involve the use or attempted use of physical force, or the threatened use of a deadly weapon, against a spouse, former spouse, co-parent, cohabitant, or dating partner.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 921 – Definitions
Expungement can potentially restore firearm rights. The statute says a person is not considered “convicted” if the conviction has been expunged, set aside, or pardoned, unless the order expressly restricts firearm possession.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 921 – Definitions This area is heavily litigated, and the result depends on how your state’s expungement mechanism interacts with the federal definition. Treat firearm restoration as a separate legal question, not an automatic byproduct of an expungement order.
Immigration and Travel
For noncitizens, the deportation risk from a domestic violence conviction has no statute of limitations. Federal immigration law classifies any conviction for a crime of domestic violence, stalking, child abuse, or violation of a protective order as a deportable offense, regardless of when the conviction occurred.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1227 – Deportable Aliens A misdemeanor is enough to trigger removal proceedings. Violating a protective order can independently make a noncitizen deportable under the same provision.
International travel can also be affected. Canada treats assault convictions as grounds for finding a person criminally inadmissible, and a person with a domestic violence conviction may be turned away at the border unless they have been deemed rehabilitated or obtained a temporary resident permit.5Government of Canada. Overcome Criminal Convictions Other countries with strict entry requirements, including Australia and Japan, may impose similar restrictions.
Employment, Licensing, and Housing
A conviction creates friction that keeps recurring. Federal guidance from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission requires employers to conduct an individualized assessment before rejecting an applicant based on a conviction, weighing the nature of the crime, how much time has passed, and the nature of the job.6EEOC. Enforcement Guidance on the Consideration of Arrest and Conviction Records in Employment Decisions The EEOC’s position is that an arrest alone should not be a standalone disqualifier because it doesn’t establish that criminal conduct occurred. Even so, the arrest can still appear on a background check and raise questions.
Professional licensing is often a steeper obstacle than general employment. Healthcare, education, law enforcement, and childcare positions commonly involve state-mandated background checks with specific disqualifying offenses. Many states automatically bar people with certain assault or violence-related convictions from working in schools or healthcare settings.
Housing is another pressure point. Domestic violence survivors have federal protections against housing discrimination under the Violence Against Women Act, but those protections do not extend to applicants with domestic violence convictions. Landlords and public housing authorities routinely screen for criminal history, and a violent-offense conviction can result in denial.
Child Custody
A conviction can reshape custody proceedings for years. Most states have laws creating a presumption against granting custody to a parent with a domestic violence conviction, especially when it is recent. That often translates into supervised visitation rather than unsupervised time, and sole custody for the other parent instead of a shared arrangement. Older convictions can still resurface in family court, because judges have broad discretion to consider a parent’s full history when deciding what serves the child’s best interest.
Expungement Versus Sealing
The two terms get used interchangeably but describe different outcomes. Expungement means the record is destroyed or deleted as if the arrest or case never happened. Sealing means the record still exists but is hidden from public view, accessible only through a court order or by specific agencies like law enforcement. Sealed records can sometimes resurface in ways expunged records cannot. A sealed record may still be visible to prosecutors if you are charged with a new offense; a truly expunged record would not be.
Which option is available depends on your state. Some states offer only sealing, some offer full expungement, and some use the word “expungement” for what is closer to sealing. For everyday background checks, the effect is often similar. For federal purposes, particularly firearm rights and immigration, the specific mechanism your state uses can make a real difference.
Who Qualifies to Clear a Domestic Violence Record
The outcome of your case is the biggest factor. If charges were dismissed or you were acquitted, you have the clearest path to removal. Most states allow expungement of arrests and charges that didn’t result in a conviction, and some have made the process automatic or nearly so.
Convictions are harder. Many states don’t allow expungement of domestic violence convictions at all, and those that do usually limit eligibility to less serious misdemeanors. A felony domestic violence conviction is almost never eligible, though some states allow a felony to be reduced to a misdemeanor first, which can open the door.
Where conviction expungement is allowed, you’ll typically need to satisfy several conditions:
- A waiting period, often five to ten years after you complete your entire sentence, including jail time, probation, and any court-ordered programs.
- A clean record during that waiting period; a new conviction will almost certainly disqualify you.
- Full compliance with the original sentence: fines, restitution, court costs, and any mandated classes or counseling.
- No repeat offenses; some states specifically bar expungement if the domestic violence conviction was a second or subsequent offense.
Other convictions on your record may make you ineligible even if the domestic violence charge itself qualifies.
How the Petition Process Works
Start by gathering the details of your case: the full case number, the court, the specific charge and criminal code section, the date of arrest, the arresting agency, and the final outcome with its date. You’ll also need documentation showing you completed every requirement the court imposed, including proof of completed probation, payment receipts, and certificates from any mandated counseling or classes.
You then file a petition with the clerk of the court that handled the original case. Court filing fees for expungement petitions typically range from $0 to $500 depending on the jurisdiction. Attorney fees, if you hire one, generally run from a few hundred dollars for a straightforward dismissed-charge petition to $5,000 or more for a contested conviction case. Some jurisdictions offer fee waivers if you can’t afford the filing cost.
After filing, a copy of the petition must be served on the prosecutor’s office that handled the original case. The prosecutor then has a window, often 30 to 60 days, to review and object. If no objection is filed and the petition is complete, many judges grant the expungement without a hearing. If the prosecutor objects or the judge has questions, you’ll appear at a hearing and make your case. The judge weighs the nature of the original offense, your behavior since the case ended, and any prosecution arguments.
If granted, a court order is issued directing government agencies to update their records. That order is what removes the entry from public view and, in most situations, allows you to legally state that the incident did not occur when asked on job or housing applications.
What Remains After an Expungement
The court order isn’t the end. Government databases generally update within a few weeks to a few months. Private background check companies are a different story. They maintain their own databases, often built from periodic downloads of court records. If a company pulled your conviction record before the expungement, that data can persist in their system even after the court record is cleared.
Under the FCRA, background check companies must follow reasonable procedures to ensure maximum possible accuracy. Reporting an expunged record violates this standard, and a company that does so can be held liable for actual damages, statutory damages, and attorney fees.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 U.S. Code 1681c – Requirements Relating to Information Contained in Consumer Reports If an expunged record appears on a background check, you have the right to dispute it directly with the reporting company. A failure to correct is itself a potential FCRA violation.
Some records can survive even a successful expungement. Fingerprint records and DNA profiles collected during arrest are generally not destroyed through a standard expungement order in most states. If removal of biometric data matters to you, ask whether your state requires a separate petition for that. Law enforcement agencies may also retain a confidential internal record of the expunged case.
The practical effect of an expungement varies by context at the federal level. It can potentially lift the federal firearm ban if the order does not expressly restrict firearm rights.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 921 – Definitions For immigration, the picture is less favorable. Federal immigration authorities are not bound by state expungement orders in the same way, and an expunged conviction may still be treated as a conviction for deportation purposes. If you are a noncitizen, consult an immigration attorney before assuming an expungement resolves your exposure under federal immigration law.