ESTA'S and driving convictions

[aneka]

hey all registered yesterday and have so many questions sorry

i have applied for our ESTA'S last month and i asked my partner if hes had any convictions and he said no

well we just got a summons to court today for driving with no insurance

he has insurance fully comp but the car he drove was his friends and aparently his friend has no insurance on his car therefore techniquly my partner's fully comp insurance didnt cover it as the car must be insured already for it to work

well any how he got a letter with his criminal record and oh my god he has 10 convictions of mostly being lazy and not going into the station to produce his liceansce and some speeding convictions and one conviction for not passing a breathiliser

all these convictions are more than 10 years old when he was stupid

but im worried does this mean he has to apply for a visia now ?

thanks guys for any advice im a bit worried

 

[pascalstongue]

My understanding is that the question on the Esta is "have you been arrested/charged for an offence involving moral turpitude?" A minor driving offence is not considered to be moral turpitude.

 

[aneka]

thank you so much for that

 

[wilma-bride]

Hi and to the UK Trip Planning boards

The question asked on the ESTA application is as follows:

Have you ever been arrested or convicted for an offense or crime involving moral turpitude or a violation related to a controlled substance; or been arrested or convicted for two or more offenses for which the aggregate sentence to confinement was five years or more; or been a controlled substance trafficker; or are you seeking entry to engage in criminal or immoral activities?


If your partner can honestly answer 'no' to that question, he shouldn't have any problems receiving authority to travel under the Visa Waiver programme. It is worth noting, however, that this does not guarantee entry to the United States at the other end but, as long as his convictions are related to driving, there shouldn't be any issues.

 

[aneka]

thanks hun for recomending me to coe onto this section

and thanks for the advice

 

[MrRomance]

hey all registered yesterday and have so many questions sorry

i have applied for our ESTA'S last month and i asked my partner if hes had any convictions and he said no

well we just got a summons to court today for driving with no insurance

he has insurance fully comp but the car he drove was his friends and aparently his friend has no insurance on his car therefore techniquly my partner's fully comp insurance didnt cover it as the car must be insured already for it to work

well any how he got a letter with his criminal record and oh my god he has 10 convictions of mostly being lazy and not going into the station to produce his liceansce and some speeding convictions and one conviction for not passing a breathiliser

all these convictions are more than 10 years old when he was stupid

but im worried does this mean he has to apply for a visia now ?

thanks guys for any advice im a bit worried

Most driving convictions are not considered criminal offences for the purposes of an ESTA. They are only a problem if they are for drink driving, failure to stop, or involved injury through dangerous driving. However, you said that they are "mostly for being lazy" but all of the convictions will be taken into account. The drink driving one could be a problem. Did he get approved for his ESTA? If so, then I wouldn't worry, there is clearly nothing on the system that prevents him from the waiver.

 

[aneka]

yes we got the esta's aproved the other month

i suppose we will just go and see wot happens and hope they dont make a fuss over the drink driving charge, he did only get 3 penelty points for it

fingers crossed

il get the ds (7) to learn the american anthan and if there's a strict boarder patrol get him to sing to them and win them over

 

[wilma-bride]

yes we got the esta's aproved the other month

i suppose we will just go and see wot happens and hope they dont make a fuss over the drink driving charge, he did only get 3 penelty points for it

fingers crossed

il get the ds (7) to learn the american anthan and if there's a strict boarder patrol get him to sing to them and win them over

It can't have been an actual drink driving conviction if he only got penalty points. You won't need to declare his driving convictions when you enter the country. I appreciate you are only joking about your DS singing the National Anthem but I wouldn't advise that either

However, if you are renting a car, be aware that the rental company might be a bit concerned if he has too many points on his licence. You might want to double check with the car rental company whether they have any stipulations about points on the licence.

 

[crabbie1]

From first hand experience(not me my ex partner) I would not worry. My Ex (who sadly passed away last year) had a drink driving conviction his reading was 101 which is app very high, had a fine of around £800 but had he no points. He was banned for 12 months though. He had also been arrested for assault but it was dropped as we were in holiday when his silly ex wife said he had hit her. We started the whole visa thing but it was ridiculous and very expensive so he decided to take the risk. His esta was approved and had no issues. He was at greater risk as he had started the visa process so please do not worry.
Some people will tell u he will need a visa but he wont. As the above posts have said it is not classed as moral turpitude. Have a great holiday

 

[Lucys dad]

yes we got the esta's aproved the other month

i suppose we will just go and see wot happens and hope they dont make a fuss over the drink driving charge, he did only get 3 penelty points for it

fingers crossed

il get the ds (7) to learn the american anthan and if there's a strict boarder patrol get him to sing to them and win them over

Don't take this the wrong way, but I find that quite astonishing he would have only got 3 points on his licence for a drink driving charge. Might be worth checking the paper section of the licence that lists exactly what the convictios are and maybe then check up if he is OK. It would be awful to get refused entry if he has inadvertantly not been entirely accurate with the convictions.

 

[bex7583]

i spent ages stressing about this my dh has drink driving conviction plus others as a teen non of which fall in to the related categories asked on the esta so he will also be traveling only on a esta his choice after spending months reading loads documents online , i will admit its a constant niggling worry and i hope we dont regret not following the visa process

good luck

 

[bex7583]

Don't take this the wrong way, but I find that quite astonishing he would have only got 3 points on his licence for a drink driving charge. Might be worth checking the paper section of the licence that lists exactly what the convictios are and maybe then check up if he is OK. It would be awful to get refused entry if he has inadvertantly not been entirely accurate with the convictions.

my dh didnt get any points for drink driving as he didnt even have a licence in the 1st place !! just community service

i have emailed car hire companys about the car hire and have only recieved a response from dollar so far they said as long as both parts of the licence are present and valid then points wont be a issue , non of the others have replied yet

 

[crabbie1]

i spent ages stressing about this my dh has drink driving conviction plus others as a teen non of which fall in to the related categories asked on the esta so he will also be traveling only on a esta his choice after spending months reading loads documents online , i will admit its a constant niggling worry and i hope we dont regret not following the visa process

good luck

Bex U was like u if u read my above post. I cant hence enough please do not worry he will get through. My boyfriends step dad has just retired from customs and boarder control and even he said unless u have murdered carried drugs not to worry. I remember having an email off the boarder and customs control stating they have no access to any petty crime (their words) or any information from files related to UK citizens unless they have committed a serious offence.
There will be people on here who will insist u need a visa but from an ex-employees words u will mot have an issue.
I felt sick all the way there and believe me it was nerve wracking but he sailed through.

 

[aneka]

thank you all for the replies

im just going to leave it as is and go through with our esta's

it will be me driving in orlando (im a much better driver lol) so no worries about car hire

 

[epcot.girl]

Bex U was like u if u read my above post. I cant hence enough please do not worry he will get through. My boyfriends step dad has just retired from customs and boarder control and even he said unless u have murdered carried drugs not to worry. I remember having an email off the boarder and customs control stating they have no access to any petty crime (their words) or any information from files related to UK citizens unless they have committed a serious offence.

This. Honestly, unless someone has committed a really serious crime (well, all crimes are serious, but I couldn't think of a better word!), along the lines of murder or drug trafficking, ESTA is nothing to worry about.

 

[bazzanoid]

This. Honestly, unless someone has committed a really serious crime (well, all crimes are serious, but I couldn't think of a better word!), along the lines of murder or drug trafficking, ESTA is nothing to worry about.

Yup. This.

The only information shared on people with the US government is for those on registered sex offender lists, those who have been held on suspected or actual terrorist charges, those convicted of drug trafficking, murder, and the like, or if you've somehow managed to end up on a no-fly list through one of the above or through taking your own child outside of custody arrangements either in the UK or abroad and the police got involved*, US immigration doesn't know you from Adam and can only see the information provided by you to the airline and on the ESTA before you fly.



*disclaimer: list not exhaustive, but you get the idea!