A sealed record is hidden from the general public, but it is not erased, and several categories of agencies and officials can still access sealed records: police, prosecutors, and courts; the FBI and federal criminal databases; security clearance investigators; immigration authorities; many professional licensing boards; law enforcement and sensitive-position employers; and foreign border agencies. Commercial background-check companies sometimes report sealed records too, even though they are not supposed to.
For routine purposes, though — a job application at a private employer, an apartment rental, a college admission — a sealed record is invisible, and the person can generally answer “no” when asked about criminal history. The exceptions are what matter, because misreading them can create a bigger problem than the original offense.
What Sealing Actually Does
A sealed record still exists in government databases. Law enforcement can retrieve it, and a court can reopen it. It is a file moved to a restricted cabinet rather than thrown away. Because the record survives, prosecutors in many jurisdictions can reference a sealed prior offense when arguing for harsher sentencing on a new charge.
Expungement is a stronger remedy. In most states it treats the record as though the arrest or conviction never occurred, and some jurisdictions require the physical or electronic destruction of the file. Not every state draws the same line between the two terms, so the practical effect depends on local law. The access rules below describe sealing specifically; expungement often, but not always, cuts off more of these pathways.
Who Can Still See a Sealed Record
Police, Prosecutors, and Courts
Criminal justice agencies keep full access. If the person is arrested again, investigators and prosecutors can pull the sealed file during the new case. That is one reason a sealed conviction can still influence sentencing on a later offense, and in some jurisdictions the file becomes available to the prosecution automatically once new charges are filed.
The FBI and Federal Criminal Databases
The FBI maintains its own criminal identification records under federal authority, and those records are not automatically updated when a state seals a file.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. United States Code Title 28 – 534 The National Crime Information Center and Interstate Identification Index compile data submitted by state and local agencies across the country. When a state court orders a record sealed, the state must separately notify the FBI and ask it to update the federal database. That notification doesn’t always happen promptly, and a sealed record can remain visible in federal systems for months or longer. Federal regulations require contributing agencies to keep submissions accurate, but enforcement is uneven.
Security Clearance Investigators
Anyone applying for a federal security clearance fills out Standard Form 86, which instructs applicants to report all arrests “regardless of whether the record in your case has been sealed, expunged, or otherwise stricken from the court record, or the charge was dismissed.” The only narrow exception covers certain federal drug convictions expunged under specific provisions of the Controlled Substances Act. Clearance adjudicators do not follow state sealing rules. Failing to disclose a sealed record on the SF-86 creates a credibility problem that is often treated more seriously than the underlying offense itself.
Immigration Authorities
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services requires full disclosure of sealed records on immigration applications. The instructions for Form I-485, used to apply for permanent residence, state that if an applicant has “EVER had any arrest or conviction vacated, set aside, sealed, expunged, or otherwise removed” from their record, they must submit copies of the arrest report, charging documents, and the court order that sealed the case.2U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-485, Instructions for Application to Register Permanent Residence For non-citizens, a sealed record can still affect admissibility, deportation proceedings, and naturalization. People get tripped up here often, because the instinct after sealing is to treat the record as gone.
Professional Licensing Boards
Many professional licensing agencies can access sealed records and require applicants to disclose them. This is common for healthcare professions, law (state bar admission), education, and financial services. The specific disclosure rules vary by state and board, but the pattern holds: if the profession involves public trust, vulnerable populations, or fiduciary responsibility, expect the application to ask about sealed records and expect the board to have authority to review them. Answering dishonestly on a licensing application can result in denial or revocation of the license, even if the underlying offense would not have disqualified the applicant.
Law Enforcement and Sensitive Government Employers
Sealed records are routinely accessible during hiring for law enforcement positions, jobs involving children or elderly populations, and roles within intelligence agencies. These employers operate under statutory exceptions that override the normal privacy protections of a sealing order. Firearms licensing applications also commonly require disclosure.
Foreign Border Agencies
Foreign governments are not bound by a U.S. state’s sealing order. Canada’s border agency, for example, has access to the FBI’s NCIC database. When a U.S. passport is scanned at a Canadian port of entry, it can be checked against criminal records that include information the traveler believed was sealed. A sealed DUI or drug conviction can result in being denied entry. Lying to a border officer about a criminal history that shows up in their system is far worse than disclosing it honestly.
When Sealed Records Show Up on Commercial Background Checks
Sealing a record removes it from official court databases, but it does not instantly scrub every commercial background-check system. When someone is arrested, each agency involved — the police department, the jail, the court, the prosecutor — generates its own record. Commercial screening companies scrape and purchase data from all of these sources. Older snapshots of arrest or booking data can persist in private databases for years after a court seals the file.
Federal law pushes back on this. The Fair Credit Reporting Act requires any company that prepares a background report to “follow reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy” of the information it reports.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. United States Code Title 15 – 1681e When a screening company reports public records for employment purposes that could hurt the applicant’s chances, it must either notify the applicant that the information is being reported or maintain strict procedures to ensure the data is complete and current.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. United States Code Title 15 – 1681k A record that has been sealed is, by definition, no longer current public information.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has reinforced this directly, stating that screening companies’ procedures should “prevent the reporting of public record information that has been expunged, sealed, or otherwise legally restricted from public access.”5Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. CFPB Addresses Inaccurate Background Check Reports and Sloppy Credit File Sharing Practices If a sealed record appears on a background check, the person has the right to dispute it with the screening company, which must then investigate and correct or remove the entry. Filing a dispute in writing, with a certified copy of the sealing order attached, is the most effective approach.
When You Still Have to Disclose a Sealed Record
Once a record is sealed, the instinct is to treat it as though it never existed. For most purposes that is exactly right. For a routine job application or apartment rental, a sealed record is nobody’s business, and the applicant can legally say no.
For the specific situations above — security clearances, immigration applications, certain professional licenses, law enforcement hiring, firearms licensing, and federal employment — denying the record is the wrong move. On the SF-86, nondisclosure is treated as a judgment and integrity problem rather than merely a legal one, and adjudicators view it more harshly than the underlying offense. On immigration forms, failing to disclose a sealed arrest can be treated as a misrepresentation that jeopardizes the entire application.2U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-485, Instructions for Application to Register Permanent Residence When in doubt about whether a particular application falls into the disclosure category, legal advice before answering is worth the cost.
When a Sealed Record Can Be Reopened
Sealing is not always permanent. Courts retain authority to unseal a record under certain circumstances. A new arrest is the most common trigger. When someone with a sealed record picks up a new criminal charge, prosecutors can ask the court to open the old file to establish a pattern or argue for enhanced sentencing. In some jurisdictions, a sealed record is automatically made available to the prosecution when new charges are filed, without requiring a separate motion.
Outside the criminal context, media organizations or public interest groups can sometimes petition to unseal court records by arguing that public access outweighs the privacy interest. This happens most often in civil cases involving public officials, large corporations, or matters of significant public concern. Most sealed records stay sealed, though. The burden falls on whoever wants the record opened, and courts take the original sealing order seriously.