Getting into USA with a Criminal Record

[worried1]

Hi. I got in trouble with the police when i was younger (only the once!), i ended up being arrested and because i kicked the police officer i was charged with assault PC and criminal damage. Now 7 years later i am married with two yong boys and want to take them to disney world in Florida, im terrified i'll never be able to go.

I've read all the posts about whether you should risk declaring it and trying to get a visa or to just tick the no box, but my question is as i have since been married and have a new surname name, also this was 7 years ago and i was only fined in court, would this be flagged up ? should i just book it and tick no on the form when im there ? Also as i have to apply for an ESTA before hand surely this would come back with something if there was a problem ?

My second question is if i apply for a CRB check would this show up on here ? i am about to set up my own business which involves a CRB check being done. I notice on peoples websites they say 'CRB checked' but they don't specifiy that it came back clear, just that they were checked. Does anyone know anything about this ? thanks : )

[chaptazbru]

What's happened to your third 'young boy' ????

[ojread2]

perhaps the 3rd one was adopted?

[ojread2]

The CRB thing, yes it would
If you see on 'people's web sites' CRB checked then it means they have a clean CRB check in place

[chaptazbru]

LOL oj !

[Baldric]

The 3rd young boy turned into an Owl and started collecting for charity

[ojread2]

;-)

Yep, that's a possibility as well

[chaptazbru]

Or moved into HannahJayne's Mum's bungalow ....

[ojread2]

As Eddei Izzard say 'The possibilities are endless'! lol

[AlexBecker]

Hello there,

The first question I have is how old you were when you got arrested? If you were a minor when this happened, then you will have no criminal record and shouldn’t have any issues traveling to the U.S. because it won’t show up anyway. Now, the U.S. border randomly conducts a check into whether or not a visitor has a criminal record, but you’ll be taking a bit of a chance if you have anything on your adult record.

If you’re in doubt about whether or not you have a record, try doing a criminal record check online to see if you have a criminal history and what crimes are listed (if any).

MY next question would be, what was the crime? The U.S. has different admissibility requirements and allows people to enter with certain criminal records, but naturally not everyone can freely enter. If you see anything on your record, do a Google search about whether or not you would be admissible to the U.S. or not with your record. For example, if a person has a DUI on their record, they are admissible, but crimes involving moral turpitude (major fraud offences, sexual assault, murder, etc.) would make a person inadmissible. Under some offences, there are exceptions depending on the sentence given and whether or not there was a conviction and what sentence was given.

Recap:

• Figure out whether or not you were considered a minor
• Do a criminal search on http://www.checkcriminalrecord.com/ to see what charges are listed
• Check of your offences will make you admissible or inadmissible into the U.S.

I hope this helps and best of luck!