Visa to the states!

[topogigo]

This may be of help to someone. Being the skinflint i am, i didn't want to pay 200 quid for a visa to go to the US. I was told, go to Canada, being British citizens you don't need a Visa. Well, if you have any criminal record you actually do need one regardless of the queen, but otherwise my idea was to go to Toronto, catch a bus to Detroit and just get a Visa waiver that costs $6. My flight actually went to Detroit and carried on to Toronto, but when i was on the plane, the steward came around with forms to fill in if you had not got a visa for the states. I filled one in and realised i didn't need to go to Toronto. I got off at Detroit, went through border control, they took electronic fingerprints and a photo, gave me a visa waiver and ushered me through. They didn't even charge me $6. I canceled my flight to Toronto and carried on my journey. So, with this in mind, perhaps you may consider how you get to the states from now on. You see, the website for the US embassy doesn't tell you any of this, they want the money.

[dzug]

Not sure what you were trying to achieve in the first place.

You need a visa or visa waiver to enter the US however you arrive there. The land border officials have exactly the same equipment, etc, as those at airports. They do charge $6 - but so do the ones at airports, indirectly. (The airline pay it from the fees and airport taxes element of you fare).

So if you are saying you can get into the US with a minor criminal offence - then people are saying that all the time here. Just that the paranoid and conspiracy theorists doubt them. If you are saying it might be easier to get into the US via Canada - it isn't. It's no different.

And the US Embassy website DOES tell you all this - apart from the don't worry about a criminal record aspect, on which they go overboard in the opposite direction

[topogigo]

What i am saying is, well just read what i have written.
I, previous to going to the US, had encountered all sorts of so called advice, including a solicitor in London who specialises in charging 300 quid for an interview to talk about getting you a Visa. The port authority at Saul St. Marie, sent an email to my friend telling him that i could do what i did, the US embassy never mentioned it. My point is that they do not promote the fact at the embassy, they tell you to get an appointment to apply for a Visa before you go, and pay for it, but you don't have to.

[Anna Conda]

Sorry, I just don`t understand your point either. If you are saying that you should have got a visa because you have convictions and jubbed at paying a solicitor �200 for that reason, why not say so. You go on to say you intended to get a Visa Waiver anyway so so what did you achieve with all your efforts?

[topogigo]

I can't see why this has apparently challenged you. All i am saying is that when you travel to the states you can get the Visa when you get there. this information is not that easy to ascertain. What i can't understand is why you two who obviously know all about US visas, have to just criticize what i have written. It was intended for none know alls to read, in an effort to help someone out. Sorry if it offends your sensibilities.

[Narolines]

As far as I can see, the point is that a UK citizen doesn't need a visa to visit the US anyway..........that's what the visa waiver program is for. So why did you think you needed a visa in the first place?

[bednobs]

sorry top, but i just dont understand your point either - you got into the usa on the visa waiver scheme, and would have done exactly the same if you flew in direct, or went over land via the canaian border. British citezns, as has been stated do not need a visa to enter the usa at the moment, which is clear on the website Visa waiver scheme means that they Waive the obligation to get a visa (ie do away with it). I also dont know why you would have approached a lawyer about it because the travel agents can tell you this information when you book, or as i said before it is on the website! (plus it is daily at least on this website) even if you did need a visa because of a criminal record then you dont have to get it through a lawyer - you can apply directly with the embassy.

It seems you were badly advised by your "friends" etc causing you to have to pay for an extra leg of a flight you didn't use, whereas if you had just read the embassy website correctly, you would have seen you didn't need a visa

[topogigo]

No

[dzug]

All i am saying is that when you travel to the states you can get the Visa when you get there. this information is not that easy to ascertain.

If that's what you are saying it is NOT true. You cannot repeat CANNOT get a visa when you get there. If you meet the requirements then you get in WITHOUT a visa when you get there, but that's not the same thing.

You can land yourself in all sorts of confusion if you confuse a visa with a visa waiver - and your post amply demonstrates this. Rather than being helpful (as I'm sure you intended) it's sadly exactly the opposite.