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usa holiday drug conviction
6 Answers
class a conviction 11 years ago, due to go to florida in 5 weeks. thought it was ok cos it was spent, i knew nowt of the visa stuff till a fewdays ago and now panicking. Lawyer said 50/50 chance anyone had anything like this. sorry if a repeat question..
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(2-part post):
It's certainly a repeat question. I've been a member of AB for about 20 months and there's hardly been a single day when something similar hasn't been asked. Unfortunately, despite all of those questions and answers, your chances of getting into the USA still remain uncertain:
Fact 1: The provisions of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act don't apply outside of the UK. Unless other countries have similar legislation in place, your conviction will never be regarded as spent as far as foreign governments are concerned.
Fact 2: The US embassy website states that you require a visa. (It states that anyone who's ever been arrested, even if totally innocent, is ineligible for the Visa Waiver Program).
Fact 3: You've no chance of getting a visa within 5 weeks. (It takes up to 6 weeks to get hold of a copy of your police record, several weeks to wait for an interview at the US embassy and anywhere between 8 and 16 weeks to wait to hear the outcome of your application).
Fact 4: The Visa Waiver form, which is completed on the plane only asks about convictions for crimes of 'moral turpitude'. Many travellers with minor convictions can truthfully answer 'No' to that question . However, any offence which would, in the USA, be covered under federal law by the Controlled Substance, Drug, Device and Cosmetic Act (or similar offences under state legislation) is classified under 'moral turpitude'. If you want to try to get into the USA, you'll have to lie on the form.
It's certainly a repeat question. I've been a member of AB for about 20 months and there's hardly been a single day when something similar hasn't been asked. Unfortunately, despite all of those questions and answers, your chances of getting into the USA still remain uncertain:
Fact 1: The provisions of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act don't apply outside of the UK. Unless other countries have similar legislation in place, your conviction will never be regarded as spent as far as foreign governments are concerned.
Fact 2: The US embassy website states that you require a visa. (It states that anyone who's ever been arrested, even if totally innocent, is ineligible for the Visa Waiver Program).
Fact 3: You've no chance of getting a visa within 5 weeks. (It takes up to 6 weeks to get hold of a copy of your police record, several weeks to wait for an interview at the US embassy and anywhere between 8 and 16 weeks to wait to hear the outcome of your application).
Fact 4: The Visa Waiver form, which is completed on the plane only asks about convictions for crimes of 'moral turpitude'. Many travellers with minor convictions can truthfully answer 'No' to that question . However, any offence which would, in the USA, be covered under federal law by the Controlled Substance, Drug, Device and Cosmetic Act (or similar offences under state legislation) is classified under 'moral turpitude'. If you want to try to get into the USA, you'll have to lie on the form.
Fact 5: European legislation prevents EU governments making their databases of criminal records freely available to other governments. i.e. US immigration staff do not have direct access to UK criminal records.
Fact 6: The UK is permitted to, and does, pass on specific information about individuals where there is a 'justifiable cause' recognised under UK & EU law.
Fact 7: Nobody on AB knows for certain exactly what is passed on.
After all of the facts, here's where the guesswork has to start:
It would seem obvious that the UK notifies the US about anyone convicted of smuggling drugs (of any class). It seems likely (but not certain) that they would also pass on information about a conviction for supplying drugs (particularly Class A). It's possible that they might adopt a blanket approach and notify US officials of all convictions for possession of Class A drugs. (A lawyer might argue that this contravenes the rules on 'justifiable cause' but lawyers can't argue about things they're not told about).
My opinion is that you probably stand very little chance of being admitted to the USA if you were convicted of supplying Class A drugs but quite a good chance if you were only convicted for possession
Chris
Fact 6: The UK is permitted to, and does, pass on specific information about individuals where there is a 'justifiable cause' recognised under UK & EU law.
Fact 7: Nobody on AB knows for certain exactly what is passed on.
After all of the facts, here's where the guesswork has to start:
It would seem obvious that the UK notifies the US about anyone convicted of smuggling drugs (of any class). It seems likely (but not certain) that they would also pass on information about a conviction for supplying drugs (particularly Class A). It's possible that they might adopt a blanket approach and notify US officials of all convictions for possession of Class A drugs. (A lawyer might argue that this contravenes the rules on 'justifiable cause' but lawyers can't argue about things they're not told about).
My opinion is that you probably stand very little chance of being admitted to the USA if you were convicted of supplying Class A drugs but quite a good chance if you were only convicted for possession
Chris
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