I would like to work in Poland, but cannot because I stole some beer 27 years ago when I was 18 years old. It was a minor offense. I only got fined. But Poland will not issue me a work visa because of this minor criminal offense from 27 years ago. Go figure! All I wanted to do was teach English for a year.
In Poland (just like in the USA and probably many other countries) there's an expungement of your offences from the criminal records after a certain period.
So if you were Polish this theft would be long gone from your data, but I guess they're more strict with foreigners. I have no idea about the immigration rules and laws.
