usa visa questions

[mermaid83]

Does anyone know where i can find info of anyone whos been to the U.S without a visa?

Also do U.S immigration have details of the UK criminal records yet. I have a conviction for Fraud in 2006 and im looking to go Florida 2009 so im not sure weather im going to apply for a Visa yet, i know by LAW i should apply for one.

Many thanks :)

[Buenchico]

The UK is prohibited from making criminal records generally available to other governments under EU privacy laws. The UK can only pass on specific information where there is 'justifiable cause'. There's no fixed definition of 'justifiable cause' but it's likely that it is mainly interpreted as relating to 'cross-border' crimes, such as drug-smuggling, people-trafficking and child-sex tourism. It's extremely unlikely that the US authorities would know about a conviction for fraud (unless, of course, it related to something like fraudulently obtaining a passport).

Several AB contributors have posted here to state they've entered the USA, under the Visa Waiver Program, by simply 'forgetting' about their convictions.

If you applied for a visa, it's likely that you'd be refused. (It's hard to work out exactly what crimes result in the refusal of visa applications. As an example though, someone posted to state that their partner waited 6 months before being refused a visa because of 2 convictions for driving without insurance).

Chris

[aims1202]

You wont be refused if you dont tell them and they will not know about it. How could they possibly have that amount of information! There will be thousands of people with criminal records going to the US. I have a criminal record for drugs possession it was a long time ago. I went to Australia in 2006 and only found out a few days before leaving that i was meant to apply for a different visa because of it. It would take 3 months for that visa. I wasnt going to hold it off, i still went on a normal visa and was fine.

[puggtiracer]

Take it from me, you'll be fine, so long as you're not on a watchlist - ie major international crime - sex tourism, terrorist etc.

I'm sat in a webcafe in San Francisco now and I'm here till April. I have a record for fraud amongst other (minor) stuff and I walked through easily.

When you get the green I94w form, tick NO to all the boxes. I was expecting to get the form on the plane but they gave it to me at the airport. Just don't sweat too much and you'll be fine - trust me I'm living proof.

[jno]

just to clarify - as you've probably gathered from the other posts - if you don't apply for a visa (and almost everybody does not) you're given a visa waiver form on the plane to fill out; fill it out as puggtiracer says. At immigration they may ask you what you're there for (holiday), where you're going (have your first night booked and tell them where it is), how long you're staying (tell them when your return flight is). This is normal.

[munchie63]

I must be one of the elite few who actually bothered to apply for a visa.
before the interview I was naturally nervous about it all, but the actual interview only lasted 3 or 4 mins, and I was told immediately that my Visa would be issued.
3 days later my passport and 10yr visa arrived.

the whole process took 12 weeks (from applying for an interview, CRB check etc to visa being issued).

yes it was stressful, but not as stressful as it would have been had I been separated from my wife and kids and flown home on arrival. What would they do ? carry on without me ? who'd drive the car etc ?

people ignore things like that - 'won't happen to me' is the theory.

who do you think actually gets refused entry ? Is it just drugs barons and major gangsters ?

It's a pain, but the US have the right to decide who to let in. I wouldn't advise anyone to try and blag it nowadays. The way I look at it is, we never know whats around the corner, and in 'the war on terror' who knows what info/access could be shared. It's amusing when people say 'the US are not legally allowed to access UK crime info'. Yep, and we can't bug lawyers talking to their clients in prison either eh ?

[JonnoGenie]

Agree with Munchie on this. And remember the top guys at Enron got 25/30 years for white-collar fraud. That means they will serve 25/30 years by the way. That is 3-4 times what you'd serve for murder in this country.

So don't underestimate how seriously the US takes a criminal record and crime.

[mermaid83]

Thankyou for all your comments.

Im no way involved in any of the crimes mentioned above. My crime was retaining a wrongful credit.

I have a few months to think about what i want to do.