Flagged as a future offender, without a hearing
A Green Notice warns other countries that you are likely to offend again. It is a forecast made by one country's police and accepted by the rest — without a court deciding it, and usually without you knowing.
The basics
What it is and who requests it
A Green Notice is requested by the police of one member country. It warns the others about a person's criminal activities, where that person is considered a possible threat to public safety.
The assessment is national. It usually rests on previous convictions, sometimes on police information that never reached a court.
In practice
What it changes in practice
A Green Notice follows you into every check that relies on police information.
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01
Entry refused
Border officers may refuse entry to a person flagged as a risk, with little room to argue on the spot.
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02
Residence permits
Applications are refused or existing permits reviewed, often without the reason being stated.
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03
Closer control
Secondary checks and questioning on every trip, regardless of the purpose of travel.
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04
Banks and employers
Background screening, licences and regulated roles are where the consequences reach your work.
The argument
Why it is challenged differently
A Red Notice rests on an accusation. A Green Notice rests on a forecast — so the argument is about the forecast itself.
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01
Proportionality
Is a worldwide warning justified by what the person actually did — and by when they did it?
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02
The evidence behind the forecast
A prediction needs facts. Old, isolated or unproven conduct is a weak basis for calling someone a threat.
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03
What has changed since
Years without offending, rehabilitation, a settled life elsewhere — all of it goes to whether the forecast still holds.
Old convictions
Spent and annulled convictions
Many Green Notices rest on old convictions. That is often where the strongest argument lies.
If a conviction has been spent, expunged, annulled or overturned, the basis for the forecast may no longer exist under the law of the country that imposed it.
The documents that prove it — court decisions, rehabilitation certificates, extracts from criminal records — become the core of the file.
Next step
Have documents about an old conviction? They may be enough to start.
Three steps
How to find out and how to file
A Green Notice is not published, so the work starts with establishing what is recorded.
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1
Access request
The Commission is asked what data about you is held. How a data access request works.
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2
Assessment of the basis
What the forecast rests on, and whether those facts still stand.
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3
Deletion request
Filed with the Commission on the grounds that fit. How the CCF procedure works.
Your attorney
Who handles your case
Dmytro Konovalenko
- Status
- Attorney-at-law
- Bar Certificate
- No. 001156
- Membership
- International Bar Association
- Focus
- Requests from post-Soviet states
More than five years defending against Red Notices and extradition requests. You work with me directly, from the first assessment to the decision.
Full professional backgroundCan I be arrested on a Green Notice?
No arrest is requested. The notice is a warning; its effect is on entry, residence and checks.
Is a Green Notice public?
No. It is shared between police services only. An access request is the way to see it.
My conviction was many years ago. Does it still count?
It depends on whether it has been spent or annulled under that country's law, and on whether a worldwide warning is still proportionate. Both are arguments for deletion.
Can a Green Notice exist without a conviction?
It usually rests on convictions, but not always. Where it rests on unproven information, that weakness is itself an argument.
How long does it take?
The Commission's rules set four months for an access request and nine months for a deletion request, counted from admissibility.