US Tourist VISA's & arrest/conviction

[bizflyer]

Any advice (or re-assurance) would be welcome.

Am due off on the family holiday shortly to sunny Florida, a good friend of mine and his family are joining us, he realised after we booked and paid for everything that due to an arrest and conviction 10+ years ago (non-custodial sentence) he should get a visa (even though he's been to US several times before with no problems), I supported this idea as it seemed a disaster waiting to happen (excited kids turn to tears when Daddy is refused entry) so he applies in London and is told he's going to be recommended for a visa by the consular official but it needs the sanction of someone else in the embassy (more senior) and the department of homeland security. So he's sent on his way (with his passport) and told to wait for a letter confirming the visa. Now this chap is starting to really panic, the process started at the embassy on the 7/2 and we are all due to travel out on the 3/3. The consular official apparently ' indicated ' that an attempt would be made to process the visa in time for the trip but no promises could be made.

Does anyone have or know of a similar experience...PLEASE no US bashing replies as I think we can all form our own opinions, many of which have been expressed elsewhere, but just some advice. I keep telling him that the US are keen to get tourist's in and so it should all be OK?

[bealine]

Telephone the US Embassy and ask if it might be quicker for the fella to appear at the Embassy in person.

There's a whole posting here about the BA crew's having problems with visa applications (which if you ignore the US bashing threads) the latest posting advises "Get there early - the queues build up after 07.30!"

http://www.pprune.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=162719&perpage=15&pagenumber=1

[bizflyer]

bealine - sorry if i was unclear, he's already been for an interview on the 7/2

[bealine]

Oh! Drat! My apologies - I assumed it was a British Consular official he'd seen! :\

[Bealzebub]

It has only been a week but I appreciate your concern. He could write to the consular section and ask for an update on the application and asking if any further information is required.

It is interesting to note that you don't need a conviction in order to encounter these sort of problems, you only need to have been arrested. Even if that arrest was erroneous and the police apologised , it doesn't matter. The US state department actually asks the question "Have you ever been arrested ?" They then state "Even if subject to a pardon". So it doesn't matter why or in what circumstances the arrest took place, you are still required to declare it. If you attempt to enter the US on a "Visa waiver form" you will be required to give a ticked answer to this specific question. If you enter on a "visa" you will not be asked, as the question was addressed on the visa application form.

[slim_slag]

The INS have a form which asks

"Have you EVER committed a crime or offense for which you were NOT arrested"

(Their emphasis)

[manintheback]

I believe it was Noel Coward who had the perfect response to aforesaid visa form and he still managed to get in

[mutt]

Slim Slag.

"Have you EVER committed a crime or offense for which you were NOT arrested"

I can truthfully say that i commit a crime most days, in fact today i committed two! :):) I just hope that they arent talking about Islamic LAW!


Mutt.

[bizflyer]

Just posting this in case someone trawls the forums looking for answers to a similar question at a later date.

After a bit of chasing around and research the following as of now (Feb '05) seems roughly correct.

If you do not qualify for the VWP and need a visa from the London Embassy allow 2 to 3 weeks to get an interview and then 5 to 7 days for issue of the visa - if it's straightforward.

In addition to the above, if you have an arrest (any arrest/conviction for anything at any point in your entire life it makes you permanently ineligible for a visa to the USA however you can still apply for a 'waiver of ineligibility') allow 14 to 16 WEEKS for the Embassy to process the application via the department of homeland security - this assumes that the embassy official makes a recommendation to the DHS to issue a 'waiver' of ineligibility, however the final say so is with the DHS. THAT said, the DHS claims on its web site to be processing applications in 20-30 days however this should be taken with a large pinch of salt.

It's a tough one to take a view on as I understand the need for the process - given my personal knowledge of my friends history it does seem very draconian and extreme, one would have thought the DHS could ease it's own workload by allowing the Embassy to filter out less significant applicants and make a decision on their own - hence making life a little easier for the re-formed tourist.

The bottom line is that the people who go to the Embassy and declare themselves as ineligible are surely less of a threat than the many more who just turn up under the VWP and take a chance that they’ll get in.

[Globaliser]

The thing that produces most hollow laughter from behind this keyboard is the following fact: If you claim to be a US citizen, you can enter the US after disembarking from many cruise ships while holding only two documents of certain types. Neither is required to be a passport or a visa.

With a gaping security hole like this, just what is the point of all the other elaborate measures?

[slim_slag]

Used to be able to get in with just a drivers licence and a funny accent when they asked you where you were born. A colorado licence plate was good enough on many occasions when crossing the land border, they would wave you through (but I look the part)

Just a question, but how can the US embassy find out if you have an arrest record if no such record exists?

[bizflyer]

Slim_Slag

Answer: It seems to me they can't, but are relying on 'honest' people like my mate turning up and declaring they have a record - hence the long wait for the visa.

He would have been better off just turning up under VWP and not bothering with the visa application, by being honest he has basically cancelled himself and his family out of a not very cheap holiday which in this case - he's already paid for. What a shame & they say honesty always pays - bo%%ocks

[RatherBeFlying]

On the Canadian border, the Yanks can keyboard your name and have it checked against Canada's law enforcement database -- and vice versa.

So how likely are the Yanks to sniff out your conviction (or arrest or presence in an investigative file) when arriving from overseas?[list=1] They have to have a computer link with a country that shares criminal data
Your name has to be checked against said database.
[/list=1] Since 9/11, there has been quite a big drive to make this all happen automatically. Machine readable passports are one key piece. But putting sufficient readers at all entry points and hooking them up into a worldwide database is a truly massive task.

So it is quite possible that you may sail through one year and get picked off the next as things get tightened up.

There are likely lawyers in the UK who are experienced in US visas who can provide more specific answers.

As far as data sharing is concerned, I suspect that only unpardoned convictions would be shared as there are considerable political impediments to more than that.

So far, I have only discussed criminal information. None of this counts if your name is Yousef Islam or matches anybody else on their watch list.

[chrisbl]

So he's sent on his way (with his passport) and told to wait for a letter confirming the visa.

If he was sent on his way with his passport then he will have trouble getting a visa. They keep the passport to put the visa in it.

He might be told to wait for the waiver of ineligibility and then submit his passport again etc.

[treadigraph]

I have the same problem - merely fined £100 after an RTA many years ago, offered a quick trip to Washington this weekend, looked into requirements for visa - told by the embassy (who are charging me £1.30pm for the call!) that, yes, I need a visa, application for which will need to be supported by a memo relating to the offence (an accident which ever way you look at it) from the convicting court. At which point I wilted and my interest in a weekend in the US went west...

[bealine]

Just a quick, unofficial, note after an "off the record" chat with a UK police sergeant.

Apparently, if anyone is arrested but not formally charged, no "official" record is kept. (A written record would be held at the police station in case a complaint or claim for wrongful arrest was subsequently made, but outside agencies (particularly the US authorities) would have absolutely no access to these!)

So, although technically the US ask "Have you ever been arrested?", the only records they would be able to see, would be those of people formally charged (even if subsequently acquitted!)