Visa type question?

[soupyspencer]

hi,
ive been told this is the place to ask me and my family are taking some friends with us to the world but i found out that one of them has a criminal record he recived a £300 fine i told him that he has to get a visa but he insists that the british police do not share there records with the americans only for major drug dealers and terrorists and that he will use the visa waiver scheme
He has phoned a solicitor who seems to back him up.
I just dont want him to be refused entry and spoil the holiday for us all.
So can will the american customs see his record when they scan his passport??

thanks soupy

 

[AlanUK]

Hi Soupy

Welcome to the DIS and UK Trip Planning

I am not going to attempt to answer your question except to say that if it was me I would be tempted to get a Visa anyway as I'd hate to get all the way over there only to be denied entry at immigration because I had decided to take a risk

 

[mikki.young]

I think the Visa Waiver form asks questions about criminal records so I suspect he cannot go that route.

 

[alisonbestford]

Many years ago (about 20) DH hit his mate for running off with his, then, girlfriend, went to the police station to own up, was charged with ABH and then given a discharge (I think this is what it was )

We travelled to the US at least three times before the visa waiver became better understood/explained with no problems, on the waiver.
On the fourth time I understood more, panicked, and made DH call the Embassy, got him to contact the court, etc, etc!

The court came back with nothing and the guy at the Embassy told him that, if he'd already travelled to the US on a waiver and was now applying for a visa he'd probably get turned down as they'd think he'd been lying previously!!

So, we travelled, once again, on the waiver form - with my heart in my mouth all the way.
Once again, no problems.
Last year DH was working in schools so a police search was done, on which the ABH appeared.
We've just returned from Florida, again on the waiver form, with no problems so I'm not certain what information, if any, the US customs hold
Maybe things will change with the new biometric passports?

I did, at one point, post on another forum and was told, by a Florida resident, that the customs/police don't have access to criminal records.

I'm not suggesting he travel on the waiver scheme but am simply relating our experience.

 

[paulh]

have known plenty of people with records and not declared them and got in my advice just do it.Even on the visa waver form asks if you have mental illness and again i know people who have and have ignored it they dont have accecs to police or health records
Paulh

 

[steve_rob]

I've done a lot of searching on the US Department of Homeland Security website (and the ninety million-odd others it links to!) and I think you should be okay.

It turns out there are very few conditions that will prevent citizens of the UK who are eligible for a US Visa, from using the Visa Waiver Program - and most of those relate to not having a machine readable passport.

As long as you have one of those, and can answer the seven questions on the back of this form with a "No" in each case, then you're eligible.

Take a look at the form - the only thing it mentions about a criminal record is if you've had one that ended up with a prison sentence of more than five years, or if it was a "crime of moral turpitude", which looking at the list on this page makes it look like only incredibly serious stuff.

So basically, your friend is fine.

 

[foxylady]

I would suggest you check the Embassy website or ring their helpline to check. If in doubt, get a visa. I would hate to go all that way and then be refused entry. If that happens, you've got no chance of ever getting back into the USA.

 

[wicket2005]

I think if you ring the Embassy the automatic answer would be he needs a visa. Personally I do not believe the USA has total access to all our records, after all if they did why do you have to go down and show them what criminal activity you have been up to, surely they would already have access to the activity on their computer.