Trouble with visa?

[silver apple]

My dh isn't eligible for the esta, and last year was given a 1yr visa, which needs to be renewed for our trip next month.

He has gone through all of the motions and after everything beinsubmitted we were just waiting for them tcall tact us with an appointment date. Yesterday he called the advice line as usually you hear within 5working days, to be told that his last email (vabs) form hadn't been recieved

We have tried to send it numerous times since last night, but it keeps getting bounced back. I called the advice line again today to check we had the correct email address and we do. They had no other advice and said that we couldn't post it to them.

As you can imagine I am now starting to have a major panic and was just looking for any advice from anyone who may have had trouble with the visa system??

 

[catherine]

I have no advice about the visa. However the help desk should be able to help you figure out why the e-mail system is bouncing back the e-mail. They should be asking for the text of the bounced email messages, the message headers etc. These will indicate where in the email chain it's getting bounced. If it is the recipient's host system that is rejecting the mail, then they should be prepared to help you by figuring out why their system is erroneously rejecting your mail. (They should want to do this as, if you are using the correct address and still getting bounced, odds are you're not the only one.)

If it isn't their system that's bouncing you, but for example your own ISP's mail server that's blocking it before it gets sent, then they're right, there's nothing they can do for you. (You could theoretically test this by trying to send the same email to another email address belong to you or a family member and see if it is received.)

Hope this helps! Good luck!

 

[silver apple]

Thanks Catherine, it looks like the weight of the attachments is too big, so we have sent part of it as a jpeg, we just hope they will accept this. When we looked back at last years application the documents were the same and were 3.4mb, but this year they were 17mb!

Dh will have a look at them again today and see if he can fix the problem...belt and braces and all that

Thanks again x

 

[crabbie1]

I feel for you I really do. My boyfriend took the decision in the end not to go down the visa route after having the interview etc. A complete rip off and Im so glad he didnt. I dont know what your husbands crime was but DB was a DUI.After a reassuring email from the US boarder control that it was not a moral turpitude we applied for the esta and he was accepted. After a very nervous journey he sailed through security. We spent £400 odd for nothing. Trouble is once in the system there is no other option but have a visa. Hope you get it sorted

 

[epcot.girl]

I feel for you I really do. My boyfriend took the decision in the end not to go down the visa route after having the interview etc. A complete rip off and Im so glad he didnt. I dont know what your husbands crime was but DB was a DUI.After a reassuring email from the US boarder control that it was not a moral turpitude we applied for the esta and he was accepted. After a very nervous journey he sailed through security. We spent £400 odd for nothing. Trouble is once in the system there is no other option but have a visa. Hope you get it sorted

Your post brings up something I've wondered about in the past. Does the US have access to our criminal files (or whatever they are) in the UK anyway? (Excluding notorious criminals and their respective crimes of course.)

I just wonder how many families stress needlessly over information the US may never be able to access anyway.

I don't know the ins and outs of it all, but on the surface at least it just looks like a deterrent.

 

[crabbie1]

I put a thread on here about this about last june as I was soooo worried .It was my 40th birthday trip.After spending so much time and the hassell we had just sending the dam form off and paying nearly £2 a minute to speak to anyone I went on a DUI forum and was convinced by many on there whom had DUI that a visa was not needed. It also stated on the US boarder website that a DUI is not moral turpitude.I emailed the US boarder control and they were lovely and said not to worry and tick no on the esta form in that applicable section. My boyfriend actually went to the interview but was told he needed a medical.The form lapses after 3months anyway . In answer to your question the US do not share files with the US. If someone has a serious conviction then I am sure they would know or be flagged up by their passport number. Even after having the esta approved it doesnt give automatic entry to the US but unless you have more serious convictions you can more or less stop worrying. After a very nervous 8 hours we arrived and DB went through seperatley as we have different names and he was through before me.No mention of anything. There is always someone who has to be right or think they are and the thread got a bit heated. This person did infact turn out to be very wrong Hope this helps.

 

[silver apple]

It certainly is very stressful! My dh doesn't have a conviction and we are hoping for a 10yr visa this year (I'm sure he didn't get one last year as it's a money making scam to get you to pay all over again)

 

[KatyTheFairyPrincess]

We're having the exact same stress at the moment, this "moral turpitude" clause is causing me all kinds of stress! I just want a holiday I think I need to ring up and see is DBF's offence classes as "moral turpitude" as I personally wouldn't think it did but I can't seem to find a definitive answer anywhere.
Part of me is telling me just to chance it and have a very stressful flight on the way there, and the other half is telling me to do the "honest" thing.

 

[maureen4200040]

We had this experience last year with my brother and nephew.

Just being arrested is an excuse for the embassy to make money out of thousands people every year. Filling out that stupid application form is so time comsumming.

My brother got a 10 year visa (arrested on a jump up charge by an off duty policeman) the police station let him go a 1hr after arriving as there was no charge to answer.

My nephew got a 2 year visa (arrested for drink driving). He had to go for a medical at the embassy, went into the room and was asked less that 6 questions and that was it £120 quid for basically doing nothing. He wont be apply again.

Its a joke, the amount of money people have to pay out is disgusting.

 

[oceanscape]

We had this experience last year with my brother and nephew.

Just being arrested is an excuse for the embassy to make money out of thousands people every year. Filling out that stupid application form is so time comsumming.

My brother got a 10 year visa (arrested on a jump up charge by an off duty policeman) the police station let him go a 1hr after arriving as there was no charge to answer.

My nephew got a 2 year visa (arrested for drink driving). He had to go for a medical at the embassy, went into the room and was asked less that 6 questions and that was it £120 quid for basically doing nothing. He wont be apply again.

Its a joke, the amount of money people have to pay out is disgusting.

"JUST" being arrested? Sorry, but I happen to think being arrested is a pretty big deal and I totally understand the US being so strict about their visa requirements. I'm glad people who have been arrested have additional hurdles to go through.

 

[silver apple]

The problem is that even if you are wrongfully arrested you need to go through this which does seem a little harsh

 

[KatyTheFairyPrincess]

"JUST" being arrested? Sorry, but I happen to think being arrested is a pretty big deal and I totally understand the US being so strict about their visa requirements. I'm glad people who have been arrested have additional hurdles to go through.

I had the exact same view until my BF made a major mistake and now he's the one jumping through hurdles. Karma I suppose lol

 

[crabbie1]

It certainly is very stressful! My dh doesn't have a conviction and we are hoping for a 10yr visa this year (I'm sure he didn't get one last year as it's a money making scam to get you to pay all over again)

If he doesnt have a conviction why is he applying for a visa? Sorry just curious.

 

[epcot.girl]

The problem is that even if you are wrongfully arrested you need to go through this which does seem a little harsh

But how would the Americans even know if you'd been previously arrested without charge? Surely they only find out if you apply for a visa and tell them about it - I doubt they'd find out if you just filled out ESTA and the immigration forms.

I'm genuinely curious about this.

 

[silver apple]

On the esta form, you have to apply for a visa if you have ever been arrested, even if you are released without charge/mistakenly arrested (it does happen), and being the law abiding citizens that we are we declared it. We were told by immigration in the states that we should have just ticked no, but we didn't want to risk being refused entry. Now that we are in the system, we have no choice but to continue having a visa for visits to the USA.

 

[epcot.girl]

On the esta form, you have to apply for a visa if you have ever been arrested, even if you are released without charge/mistakenly arrested (it does happen), and being the law abiding citizens that we are we declared it. We were told by immigration in the states that we should have just ticked no, but we didn't want to risk being refused entry. Now that we are in the system, we have no choice but to continue having a visa for visits to the USA.

I get that you are a law abiding citizen and don't want to lie and are now stuck in the system, but my point is around the bolded part - does the US even KNOW about arrests without charge or minor convictions in the UK? Because they're not going to refuse entry if they're not even aware of it.

I just wonder how many people fret and spend so much money on something that, at the end of the day, doesn't even really matter.

 

[silver apple]

We know this now epcot girl, and had we known then what we know now we wouldn't have gone down the visa route, but he is stuck now needing a visa.

I don't regret being honest though, we do like everything to be above board and we had nothing to hide.

 

[howlongtillsummer?]

My DH has a ten year visa too. I agree that it is very misleading and that he probably didn't need one. It is worth it to us to have it done correctly though. Would be a long old flight worrying and the immigration desks are frightening enough at the best of times

 

[epcot.girl]

I don't regret being honest though, we do like everything to be above board and we had nothing to hide.

We're (BF and myself) are exactly the same. It's always the honest people who get punished for their honesty it would seem!

Would be a long old flight worrying and the immigration desks are frightening enough at the best of times

You've got that right!

 

[crabbie1]

Believe me tell u from me it was soooooooo stressful. I felt sick but DB wz through security quicker than me and DD. I was adamant he went for a visa till i had conformation frm the US boarder control and a letter they told me to print and bring saying a single DUI is NOT moral turpitude. If its a DUI u do not need a visa so dont waste ur money or time.I cannot howeve speak for other offences . I hope u sort it out and do the right thing for you. You will always get someone who has to make you feel guilty and think because a mistake was made or not in some peoples cases tht are wrongly arrested then they deserve to not go to the US. Lets hope they never get accused of something or gets arrested for something they never did after all an arrest is an arrest whether found guilty or not right!