Criminal record and obtaining a US visa

[Julesmac]

That is by far the BEST ADVICE that anyone can possibly give for US Visa's and indeed for travelling to most countries. Do not just assume that things will be alright.

I have friends who have spent months planning their US trip for this year. What cities they will go to, where they will stay, what they will do, who to fly yada yada yada. They ignored my continuous please to get their visa first as he has a criminal record but they thought nope, your full of cough, mr know it all, it will be fine.

Now, well lets just say that I can say I told you so. They have just lost a fortune if airfares and pre paid accommodation.

Yes Rok. You can be sure that if it can go wrong it will, and of course your travel insurance doesn't cover this kind of stuff up.A bit like the dopes who don't take out travel insurance...why?????

 

[trayden]

That is by far the BEST ADVICE that anyone can possibly give for US Visa's and indeed for travelling to most countries. Do not just assume that things will be alright.

I have friends who have spent months planning their US trip for this year. What cities they will go to, where they will stay, what they will do, who to fly yada yada yada. They ignored my continuous please to get their visa first as he has a criminal record but they thought nope, your full of cough, mr know it all, it will be fine.

Now, well lets just say that I can say I told you so. They have just lost a fortune if airfares and pre paid accommodation.

What was his situation regarding ESTA

Did he tick YES on the ESTA or go for a visa straight off and tell the embassy of his record ?
Ticked NO on ESTA and refused ESTA on application because of his record he did not declear?
Get turned away from USA for ticking NO on the ESTA with a record?

 

[The Rok]

He declared that he had no record. He clicked NO on the form. The Visa was denied. Clearly they found his record. He followed up with the Consulate and went through all the usual mumbo jumbo. Consulate told him that his criminal record made him inelligible for a US Visa and denied it. His record is from 6 years ago and it was for assault (not sure of the severity of the assault charge). He wouldn't listen to me.

 

[trayden]

He declared that he had no record. He clicked NO on the form. The Visa was denied. Clearly they found his record. He followed up with the Consulate and went through all the usual mumbo jumbo. Consulate told him that his criminal record made him inelligible for a US Visa and denied it. His record is from 6 years ago and it was for assault (not sure of the severity of the assault charge). He wouldn't listen to me.

So this information is really the answer for almost everyone asking questions on this thread.

If you tick NO on your ESTA with a criminal record that involved CIMT you will be denied ESTA and have to apply for a visa at an embassy.

If you tick NO on your ESTA and get confirmation to travel you do not have a criminal record involving CIMT on the Data base of US Homeland security.

If you tick Yes on your ESTA you will be denied an ESTA and may even be denied a Visa even though your crime was not CIMT because you told the US you were a criminal.

Cheers.

 

[cove]

Well done trayden on your quick summary of CIMT (crimes involving moral turpitude).
I was interested to see if they made many/any allowances through their referral system but it appears that the US treats these requests for special treatment as very low priority and no reply is effectively a refusal.

 

[lisaho]

Any news yet honey mooner?

 

[honeymooner]

Nope stilllll waiting!! how about yourself?? They said i could contact them after the 26th of jan if i have not heard! That will be over 12 weeks since the interview!!!!!!

 

[trayden]

Nope stilllll waiting!! how about yourself?? They said i could contact them after the 26th of jan if i have not heard! That will be over 12 weeks since the interview!!!!!!

Hi,I cant remember all your posts but I do remember your partners charge was CIMT at 17 but tried as an adult.

My question is,did he also tick NO on the online ESTA and get denied permission to travel on ESTA or did he just tick YES and get denied straight out before he went through the visa proses.?

Cheers. (hope it comes soon)

 

[honeymooner]

He answered all questions honestly including on etsa. With the question have you ever been charged or arrested..... he answered yes and was automatically denied. Then at the interview they denied him as apparently that is what they have to do and then he was recommended for a waiver and that is what wwe are waiting on.

 

[trayden]

He answered all questions honestly including on etsa. With the question have you ever been charged or arrested..... he answered yes and was automatically denied. Then at the interview they denied him as apparently that is what they have to do and then he was recommended for a waiver and that is what wwe are waiting on.

Thanks for that!

It does seem after reading just about everything I can get on ESTA that there is no point in answering yes to the ESTA question you may as well just apply for a visa straight off if the answer is going to be yes.

If you answer NO on the ESTA and you are turned down because you do in fact have a criminal record then I dont see the point in the question being there in the first place as they must have some sort of data base to work from?

I wonder if anyone has answered NO and been refused ESTA when their criminal record has been Spent (after 10 years) Its obvious if they answer Yes they will be refused!

For the future make sure your partner has his information removed after 10 years through The Police "Information Release Centre" which comes under the Freedom of Information Act.

Again thanks and hope the decision goes in your favour soon.

 

[trayden]

This will be my last post on this subject as i have managed to find out everything I need to know on the subject,one last bit of info that may be useful to others in the future.

I contacted the Australian federal police and have been told that an arrest with no conviction is not on any data base for use by anybody.

A spent conviction is no longer a record and has no relevance to obtaining a US visa.

In a nutshell answering NO on the ESTA when there is a spent conviction or arrest only is the correct thing to do and it is not being dishonest. Those with the above who get refused ESTA when they tick NO have other skeletons in their closet that they may not even know about themselves.

Regards.

 

[equus]

A spent conviction is no longer a record and has no relevance to obtaining a US visa.

The above is not really giving the full story, and could lead to trouble. The various spent conviction legislation simply governs whether or not such information can be released, and in what circumstances - it does not remove the information. Immigration inquires will not reveal the information once spent, but it still exists.

What must always be considered, is that the spent convictions provisions only relate to disclosure of the source record from Australia. As this thread relates to US in particular, if they already have information stored in a US database, that will not be covered in any way by Australian spend convictions legislation.

Anybody who has in the past travelled to the US (especially with a Visa) at a time prior to the conviction becoming spent, would be most unwise to rely on an Australian interpretation of whether or not they need to reveal the information when applying to trael to the US - as it is the US interpretation which is going to apply to the situation.

 

[trayden]

The above is not really giving the full story, and could lead to trouble. The various spent conviction legislation simply governs whether or not such information can be released, and in what circumstances - it does not remove the information. Immigration inquires will not reveal the information once spent, but it still exists.

What must always be considered, is that the spent convictions provisions only relate to disclosure of the source record from Australia. As this thread relates to US in particular, if they already have information stored in a US database, that will not be covered in any way by Australian spend convictions legislation.

Anybody who has in the past travelled to the US (especially with a Visa) at a time prior to the conviction becoming spent, would be most unwise to rely on an Australian interpretation of whether or not they need to reveal the information when applying to trael to the US - as it is the US interpretation which is going to apply to the situation.

I agree fully with your last statement because to get a US visa prior to your conviction being spent would involved you disclosing your conviction in the first place or risk having US obtaining your conviction records on request which Australia would be obliged to give anyway.

Your second statement though leads people to believe that the US has information on a data base all conviction even though you may never want to go to USA or if travelling to the USA for the first time after a conviction is already spent!

This would mean that US has details of every conviction in Australia on a data base to keep forever spent or not! this is very unlikely

 

[equus]

This would mean that US has details of every conviction in Australia on a data base to keep forever spent or not! this is very unlikely

Given the penchant for the LOTFAP to collect information, and the ability to store an index forever, along with the concern for "security" and the known occurences of "no fly list" compilations, I can't really say how likely or not it would be. The question is, would you bet that there is not such a database?

 

[The Rok]

Well I can tell you that at my last interrogation at MIA the nice young gentleman from the FBI informed me that I had an FBI file. "I have one+ I asked? "Yes" he replied, "everyone who enters the United States has one". Good thing there was nothing to put in mine, but they did manage to find my speeding fine from 3 days earlier and advised me to pay it.

 

[Peterpan]

Does anyone know if the same rules apply going to the U.K (as a starting point for a Europe trip) ?????

Charged, but no conviction recorded - charge dismissed. (I've been told its recorded like a caution/warning only and not available to anyone other then the police)

 

[Flashback]

Does anyone know if the same rules apply going to the U.K (as a starting point for a Europe trip) ?????

Charged, but no conviction recorded - charge dismissed. (I've been told its recorded like a caution/warning only and not available to anyone other then the police)

The UK has different entry requirements to the US so best to check with the relevant embassy/consulate.

Sent from my Transformer TF101 using AustFreqFly

 

[lisaho]

Hi honeymooner, it's been a good 4 months since I was told I would get a response for the waiver that was to take 4-6 weeks and still no news. Was wondering if yours has come?

 

[honeymooner]

Hi Lisaho,

We got his back early February after applying in mid october. The outcome was not good, he was rejected. I was absolutely shocked by this and angry that the process took so long just to get a no. I seriously don't understand how their system works. They have knocked back a good, honest, sensible guy who commited an offence as a bloody child of 17 yrs old but charged at 18! What a joke is all i can say. Goodluck with getting yours back. I'm sure you will get a visa soon : )

 

[Skyring]

Just like to point out that there is a discrepancy between what the legislation forbids (CIMT with no political motive) and what the forms ask (have you ever been arrested). Answering YES on the form doesn't mean that you aren't eligible for a visa waiver, but it looks like the system treats it as such.

Applying for a visa seems to involve a lot of time and gathering of documents, especially if it is for an arrest during childhood for which records may have been lost or difficult to retrieve. There may have been no conviction recorded, or no case to answer.

Looking at anecdotal evidence on this and similar threads, it looks like minor and childhood and spent crimes aren't tracked by the USA, with people untruthfully declaring that they have never been arrested being allowed entry. The kicker would be the online check, as I can't imagine that for a normal person the information available to an immigration agent at the gate would differ from that available to the automated web system. Answer NO and it approves entry online, you will very likely get in.

If, however, you have a serious or recent crime under your belt, I would advise not even trying the online route. Look up Section 212 of the legislation and the manual for guidance.

My understanding is that crimes committed more than five years ago and under the age of 18 are not counted, but be warned, it's fairly heavy going. My eyes started to bleed after a few minutes.