A felony conviction stays on your record permanently. There is no automatic expiration under federal law and no point at which the conviction ages off on its own, so the question of how long a felony stays on your record has a simple baseline answer: forever, unless you take specific legal steps to change that. Expungement, record sealing, vacating the conviction, a pardon, and in some states automatic Clean Slate clearing are the tools that can shorten that timeline or hide the record from public view.
How Long a Felony Shows Up on Background Checks
The Fair Credit Reporting Act caps most negative information at seven years on consumer background checks, but Congress wrote an explicit exception for criminal convictions. The statute says no consumer reporting agency may report any adverse item older than seven years, “other than records of convictions of crimes.”1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681c – Requirements Relating to Information Contained in Consumer Reports A felony conviction can legally appear on a background check indefinitely at the federal level.
Non-conviction records are different. Arrests that did not lead to conviction, dismissed charges, and acquittals fall under the seven-year limit, and the clock runs from the date of the arrest rather than the date the charges were resolved.2Federal Register. Fair Credit Reporting – Background Screening
Roughly a dozen states go further than federal law and cap how far back background check companies can report convictions, most of them using a seven-year lookback. If you live in one of those states, a felony older than seven years may not appear on a standard employment background check, even though the conviction itself still exists on your record. State rules vary, so checking your state’s consumer reporting statute matters.
Legal Ways to Clear a Felony
Three main tools change a felony’s status on your record. They sound similar and get used interchangeably in casual conversation, but they do different things, and not every state offers all three.
Expungement is a court order destroying or removing records of the conviction. In most jurisdictions, an expunged record is treated as though it never happened, and you can legally deny the conviction on most applications. The scope varies. Some states physically destroy records; others remove them from public view but keep internal copies that courts can still access for sentencing in future cases.
Record sealing hides the record from the public without erasing it. Sealed records will not appear on standard background checks, but law enforcement and certain government agencies can still access them, typically with a court order or under specific statutory exceptions.
Vacating a conviction is different again. A judge reopens the case, withdraws the guilty judgment, and dismisses the underlying charges. After a conviction is vacated, you can legally state that you were not convicted of that crime. You cannot say you were never charged, and the court file often remains publicly accessible unless it is separately sealed.
The practical difference shows up on applications. With a sealed record, you technically still have a conviction, but employers running standard background checks will not see it. With an expungement, the record is gone from the court system. With a vacated conviction, the conviction itself no longer exists, though the paper trail of the case may still be visible. Which option is available to you depends on your state’s laws and the offense.
Who Qualifies to Clear a Record
Eligibility differs by state, but most jurisdictions weigh the same core factors.
Offense type is the biggest filter. Violent felonies, sex offenses, and crimes against children are ineligible for any form of record clearing in most states. Non-violent felonies like drug possession, theft, and fraud are far more likely to qualify, though some states limit eligibility to specific offense classes or exclude certain drug trafficking charges.
Waiting periods are the second hurdle. You cannot petition the day your sentence ends. States require a set number of crime-free years to pass after you complete your full sentence, including probation and parole, and those periods range from roughly three to ten years depending on the state and the severity of the offense. Any new arrest or conviction during that window typically resets the clock.
Most states also require that you have finished every piece of your sentence before applying. That includes completing probation or parole, paying all fines and court fees, and satisfying any restitution to victims. An outstanding balance or incomplete supervision term blocks a petition in nearly every jurisdiction. Many states further limit record clearing to first-time offenders or people with no more than two convictions.
Automatic Clearing Under Clean Slate Laws
The traditional expungement process requires hiring a lawyer, filing a petition, paying court fees, and waiting for a ruling. That barrier keeps most eligible people from ever clearing their records. A reform movement called Clean Slate addresses this by making record clearing automatic for qualifying offenses once the waiting period expires.
As of 2025, more than a dozen states and Washington, D.C. have passed laws that automatically seal eligible criminal records without requiring the individual to file a petition.3The Clean Slate Initiative. Clean Slate in States The specifics vary. Some of these laws cover only misdemeanors and arrests; others extend to certain non-violent felonies. Waiting periods for automatic sealing typically mirror or slightly exceed those for petition-based expungement. If you live in a Clean Slate state, checking whether your conviction qualifies is worth doing, because the sealing may happen without any action on your part.
How to Petition for Expungement or Sealing
In states without automatic clearing, you file a formal petition in the county where the conviction occurred. The court’s forms typically ask for details about the conviction, your sentence, and your life since. Many courts also require a copy of your criminal history record, which you may need to request separately from your state’s law enforcement agency.
Filing fees generally range from under $50 to $400 or more depending on the state and the type of relief. Fingerprinting fees may apply on top. Fee waivers are available in many courts for people who cannot afford the cost, though you usually need to file a separate financial affidavit to qualify.
Once you file, the prosecutor’s office is notified and given a window to object, commonly 30 to 60 days. If there is no objection, many courts will grant the petition without a hearing. If the prosecutor objects, the court schedules a hearing where a judge reviews the case and decides whether granting the petition serves the interest of justice. Judges weigh factors like how long ago the conviction was, your behavior since, evidence of rehabilitation, and the nature of the original offense.
Winning the petition is not the last step. Once the judge signs the order, it is your responsibility to make sure the order reaches every agency that holds the record, including state police, local law enforcement, and the court clerk’s office. Those agencies then have a set period, often 60 days, to comply.
Private Background Check Databases
Here is where people get tripped up. Even after a court orders your record sealed or expunged, private background check companies may still have old copies of the data in their systems. These companies scrape court records regularly and store the information in their own databases, and a court order does not automatically reach them. It can take months or years for their records to catch up. If an employer or landlord runs a background check and your old conviction still appears, the FCRA gives you the right to dispute the inaccuracy, and the company must investigate and correct its records. But this takes initiative on your part, and you may need to dispute the record with multiple companies.
Pardons
A pardon is a separate tool. It does not erase the conviction or hide it from view; the record stays on your criminal history. What a pardon does is officially forgive the offense and, depending on the jurisdiction, restore civil rights you lost because of the conviction, such as the right to vote or serve on a jury.
The President can pardon federal offenses only. The Article II pardon power extends to “offences against the United States,” which federal courts have consistently read to mean federal crimes as distinguished from state crimes.4Legal Information Institute. Scope of Pardon Power For state convictions, you need a pardon from the governor of the state where you were convicted, or from that state’s pardon or clemency board.
Federal pardon applicants must wait at least five years after release from confinement before filing, or five years from the date of conviction if no prison sentence was imposed. You generally should not apply while still on probation, parole, or supervised release.5eCFR. 28 CFR 1.2 – Eligibility for Filing Petition for Pardon Federal petitions go through the Department of Justice’s Office of the Pardon Attorney. State processes vary but typically involve a formal application to the governor’s office or a clemency board, supported by evidence of rehabilitation, community contributions, and good conduct. Pardons at every level are discretionary.
What a Lingering Felony Affects
Even while the record sits there, federal and state law shape what it actually costs you.
Employment
The EEOC’s enforcement guidance prohibits employers from using blanket policies that automatically disqualify anyone with a criminal record. Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, a hiring policy that screens out applicants based on criminal history can be illegal discrimination if it disproportionately affects a protected group and the employer cannot show the policy is job-related and consistent with business necessity. Employers are expected to consider the nature and seriousness of the offense, how much time has passed, and the nature of the job before rejecting an applicant.6U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Enforcement Guidance on the Consideration of Arrest and Conviction Records in Employment Decisions Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act
The Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act of 2019, the federal ban-the-box law, prohibits federal agencies and federal contractors from asking about arrest or conviction history before making a conditional job offer.7OCWR. Fair Chance Act (Ban the Box) Many states and cities have their own ban-the-box laws extending similar protections to private-sector jobs. Certain industries remain restricted regardless: federal law bars people with felony convictions from working in areas like banking under FDIC regulations, airport security, and some healthcare roles. Professional licensing boards in most states run background checks and can deny licenses based on criminal history.
Firearms
Federal law makes it illegal for anyone convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year in prison to possess, receive, or transport a firearm or ammunition.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts This is a lifetime ban that applies whether the conviction was violent or non-violent. It kicks in automatically upon conviction and does not expire.
Restoring firearm rights requires either a presidential pardon, a successful expungement that fully removes the conviction, or a direct application to the Attorney General for relief from the firearms disability under 18 U.S.C. ยง 925(c). The Attorney General must be satisfied that the applicant is unlikely to endanger public safety and that granting relief would not be contrary to the public interest.9Regulations.gov. Application for Relief From Disabilities Imposed by Federal Laws With Respect to the Acquisition, Receipt, Transfer, Shipment, Transportation, or Possession of Firearms Convictions involving violence, sexual offenses, robbery, arson, kidnapping, or use of a firearm in the commission of a crime are presumptively disqualifying with no time limit. For drug distribution convictions, the waiting period is ten years after completing the full sentence including supervision. For other felonies, the waiting period is five years.
Voting
Voting rules after a felony are entirely state-controlled and vary widely. A handful of states allow people to vote even while incarcerated. Most restore voting rights automatically at some point, either upon release from prison, upon completion of parole, or upon completion of the full sentence including probation. A small number require an additional step like a pardon or a petition to the governor, and a few impose permanent disenfranchisement for certain offenses. Contact your state’s election office directly, because rules shift frequently and the answer depends on where you live and what you were convicted of.
International Travel
A felony conviction can block entry to other countries even after you have served your sentence. Canada treats a foreign criminal conviction as grounds for inadmissibility, and if your offense has a Canadian equivalent punishable by ten or more years in prison, you generally need to apply for individual rehabilitation, which requires waiting at least five years after completing your sentence.10Government of Canada. Overcome Criminal Convictions Australia’s character test bars anyone sentenced to 12 months or more, even if the sentence was suspended. Japan generally bars anyone convicted of an offense punishable by a year or more, with no statute of limitations. The United Kingdom refuses entry to anyone who received a sentence of 12 months or more, regardless of how long ago. Beginning in late 2026, travel to Europe’s Schengen Area will require an ETIAS authorization that asks about criminal history, with lookback periods of up to 20 years for certain offenses. Confirm current requirements with the destination country’s consulate well before booking.