Criminal record and obtaining a US visa

[flymetothemoon]

This is my first post, but I've been stalking this thread for a while now. Apologises in advance for my long post.

So a little bit about me, I'm in my early 30s and have a criminal conviction for shoplifting in when I was 18. This was for two charges of shoplifting and the items were less then $100. My convictions are now spent. I've been wanting to go to the states for a number of years and planned to go last year in June. I went back and forth thinking should I apply for a visa or just lie about my conviction, but I just couldn't do it knowing the consequences if I got caught. By the time I decided to apply for a visa it was too late.


I now plan to go to the states next year in July. I started my visa application process at the end of November and applied for all the documents the US Consulate require. My certified court outcome document, which arrived in the post a couple of days after my request and a National Police certificate. I didn't apply through the AFP, but the one through the WA Police. I already had a spent conviction certificate.


A couple of days later I applied for the visa online and booked an appointment for mid December. This was to ensure that my Police certificate arrived in time. To my surprise the certificate only took a few days to arrive and I changed my appointment date. They rejected the photo I submitted the afternoon prior to my appointment, but I managed to print another one to take with me to the interview. I had my interview last Thursday, I was there for approximately 30 minutes and it was approved on the spot. My passport arrived today in the post with a 12 month visa.


The interview process was very quick, I firstly went through security and then got escorted to the visa room. I firstly gave my documents and passport to the first guy and got my fingerprint scanned and he told me to take a sit. The documents were passed on to the visa guy and a couple of minutes later this guy called me up.


They only care about the documents regarding your conviction nothing else. He asked me a few questions, why I'm going to the states, where am I only, who am I going with, how long I'm going for, where do I work, how long I worked there for and do I have any other convictions other then what's on the documents. At the end he simply said your visa is approved and you will receive your passport back in the post


I'm still in shock that I got my visa approved straight away.

Interview last Thursday and already have the 12 month visa?? I thought it's taking approx 4 months now for the visas to be approved, unless it's much quicker now. Congrats on getting your visa.

 

[serfty]

Interview last Thursday and already have the 12 month visa?? I thought it's taking approx 4 months now for the visas to be approved, unless it's much quicker now. Congrats on getting your visa.

Approval is given or denied at the end of the interview.

It was approved in this case.

Other cases herein show what happens if the Visa is denied, whereupon a waiver of the decision can be applied for. This latter situation is where the wait times such as '4 months' come into play.

 

[flymetothemoon]

Approval is given or denied at the end of the interview.

It was approved in this case.

Other cases herein show what happens if the Visa is denied, whereupon a waiver of the decision can be applied for. This latter situation is where the wait times such as '4 months' come into play.

Any criminal conviction will be denied on the spot. There is no way someone with a criminal conviction/arrest etc. could be approved on the spot - I know for a fact - even the consulate website states this. Even people on here who have previously had visas and gone for a 2nd or 3rd time had the visa denied on the spot and had to wait. So either the story is not true, or they have changed things.

 

[moa999]

Any criminal conviction will be denied on the spot. There is no way someone with a criminal conviction/arrest etc. could be approved on the spot - I know for a fact - even the consulate website states this. Even people on here who have previously had visas and gone for a 2nd or 3rd time had the visa denied on the spot and had to wait. So either the story is not true, or they have changed things.

Note the convictions were "spent" according to the above poster, so maybe US consulate have changed policy.
Or the officer determined that they did not fit into the definition of moral turpitude (indeed I would have thought in most cases you would not get conviction for something like that)

 

[flymetothemoon]

Note the convictions were "spent" according to the above poster, so maybe US consulate have changed policy.
Or the officer determined that they did not fit into the definition of moral turpitude (indeed I would have thought in most cases you would not get conviction for something like that)

True - after I made the post the only thing I can think of is that the conviction is not "moral turpitude" but I'm sure shoplifting would be. Especially having two charges. Yes, I also would have thought that you would not get a conviction for something like that but conviction or no conviction the U.S still class that as a conviction and you would need to apply for a visa.

 

[jorza]

True - after I made the post the only thing I can think of is that the conviction is not "moral turpitude" but I'm sure shoplifting would be. Especially having two charges. Yes, I also would have thought that you would not get a conviction for something like that but conviction or no conviction the U.S still class that as a conviction and you would need to apply for a visa.

Interviewing officer may have deemed it to be part of the exclusions list which is a single offence, which warranted less than 1 year imprisonment, and resulted in an actual penalty of less than 6 months imprisonment.

 

[flymetothemoon]

Interviewing officer may have deemed it to be part of the exclusions list which is a single offence, which warranted less than 1 year imprisonment, and resulted in an actual penalty of less than 6 months imprisonment.

Very true. It certainly is a very rare case as personally I have never heard of this happening but good on the OP for not having to now wait the extended period of time to get their visa!

 

[Maca44]

Or, perhaps on this occasion the Immigration Officer conducting the interview had some brains

 

[Sirene]

Hi there, new on these boards.

I am writing in regards to my partner, in 2007 a scene took place where he went into psychosis at his parents farm (which have guns). A big siege took place, he didn't touch the guns, instead went hiding in bushland and was found, after the police escorted him to a mental health facility were he spent two months. A few months later he went to trial over the siege, the judge gave him a two year good behaviour bond, yet the judge also denied him getting a gun licence until 2013 which I think is a gun conviction. He was not jailed for the siege.

Myself I have been with my partner for ten years, I have my passport all ready to go but my partner is reluctant to try to renew his passport and feels he will be denied entry to the countries he wants to travel to because of this gun conviction. He is rather depressed about it and I try to keep his spirits up by saying at least we can travel around Australia.

What can he do so he is not denied to enter any countries?

 

[flymetothemoon]

Hi there, new on these boards.

I am writing in regards to my partner, in 2007 a scene took place where he went into psychosis at his parents farm (which have guns). A big siege took place, he didn't touch the guns, instead went hiding in bushland and was found, after the police escorted him to a mental health facility were he spent two months. A few months later he went to trial over the siege, the judge gave him a two year good behaviour bond, yet the judge also denied him getting a gun licence until 2013 which I think is a gun conviction. He was not jailed for the siege.

Myself I have been with my partner for ten years, I have my passport all ready to go but my partner is reluctant to try to renew his passport and feels he will be denied entry to the countries he wants to travel to because of this gun conviction. He is rather depressed about it and I try to keep his spirits up by saying at least we can travel around Australia.

What can he do so he is not denied to enter any countries?

You would have to look at each countries entry requirements. I don't believe he would have any problems entering any South-Eastern Asian countries or some Europe countries but would definitely have to apply for a visa to New Zealand, U.S.A, Canada and the U.K and other countries as well. If there is a specific country you want to visit I suggest looking at their embassy website and there will definitely be information there.

 

[Want to TRAV US]

Hi,

My fiance attended an interview on 31st July 2013 at US Consulate, the interviewing officer requested a waiver of ineligibility for my fiance, (his offences were 10 years old) and we are still waiting hear to back from DHS 25 weeks later.....sometimes I wonder if honesty is the best policy, considering I've heard of heaps of people with criminal record getting through with no problems at all....

 

[Gavin Pearce]

Is the current wait time really more than 6 months has anyone had a wavier issued sooner lately I applied in October but are meant to travel end of march starting to think may not come in time.

 

[cove]

Just don't book anything until you have the travel approvals and this will help avoid the delay stress. The USA isn't going anywhere. It still appears to be a very slow process and it was about 6 months for our staff member who wanted to get married in Las Vegas.

 

[cbvortex]

Hey folks,
I'd love to hear from anyone who has been granted an exclusion and then travelled to the U.S.
How did you go getting through customs and immagration?

I have recently been granted my b1/b2 visa under an exclusion
I was originally denied 12months ago, but tried again in December and have just recieved it.

My only criminal record is for dangerous / neg driving.

However I was arrested for prohibited goods ( A class drugs ) and goods in custody. All charges were withdrawn though.
The charge / arrest records date back 5/6 years approx.

I know I will be grilled when I arrive at the airport. I am just crossing all fingers toes etc that I am given a fair go and allowed to have my holiday.

Appreciate any feedback.

Cheers,
CB

 

[flymetothemoon]

Hey folks,
I'd love to hear from anyone who has been granted an exclusion and then travelled to the U.S.
How did you go getting through customs and immagration?

I have recently been granted my b1/b2 visa under an exclusion
I was originally denied 12months ago, but tried again in December and have just recieved it.

My only criminal record is for dangerous / neg driving.

However I was arrested for prohibited goods ( A class drugs ) and goods in custody. All charges were withdrawn though.
The charge / arrest records date back 5/6 years approx.

I know I will be grilled when I arrive at the airport. I am just crossing all fingers toes etc that I am given a fair go and allowed to have my holiday.

Appreciate any feedback.

Cheers,
CB

Can I ask why you were denied 12 months ago? Was it under the 5 year waiting period? Congrats on getting your current visa. I can only speak from experience in Los Angeles. You will be asked to stand aside once the customs officer finishes up processing your passport, visa etc. Then you will be taken into a large waiting room where they could be many or few people waiting. Once there you just have to sit and wait until your name is called out. Once it gets called out the interviewer will just ask you a few question about what you did and explain to you about why you have been taken aside and what it means for future travel etc. You then will get told you can leave. It's a pretty painless procedure except if you have to wait a while. I think the whole procedure took about 1/2 hour for me. It's more painful for your travel buddies waiting for you on the outside. As long as you are honest everything will be ok because they have all the info on their computer from what you told the officer originally when you applied for your visa.

 

[cbvortex]

Hi Flymetothemoon,
Thanks for the reply.
At the 1st interview, the lady wasnt at all helpful or forthcoming with information.
I was denied the visa under the 214(b) clause.
Which basically says I either didnt have strong ties to my country or I did not fit the criteria in which I was applying for the intended visa.

Very generic letter. Didnt explain anything in regards to my case at the time, coupled with the lack of info from the interview officer, I was left pretty dazed and confused about the whole scenario.

After alot of reading it would seem that is a pretty standard denial to be given.

I didnt really do anything any different for the 2nd interview, even though I was alot better prepared, but fortunately was given the oppurtunity to apply for the exclusion.
So yes possibly it had something to do with years since last interaction with the law.

I hope it goes as smooth as you have stated. Iv heard some horror stories.
So am praying for a good interaction and transit.

Im looking to avoid LAX and DFW so that I avoid the big queues and potentially bad mannered staff.

Cheers,
CB

 

[4vdean]

Hey folks,
I'd love to hear from anyone who has been granted an exclusion and then travelled to the U.S.
How did you go getting through customs and immagration?

I have recently been granted my b1/b2 visa under an exclusion
I was originally denied 12months ago, but tried again in December and have just recieved it.

My only criminal record is for dangerous / neg driving.

However I was arrested for prohibited goods ( A class drugs ) and goods in custody. All charges were withdrawn though.
The charge / arrest records date back 5/6 years approx.

I know I will be grilled when I arrive at the airport. I am just crossing all fingers toes etc that I am given a fair go and allowed to have my holiday.

Appreciate any feedback.

Cheers,
CB

are you saying you had your interview in december 2013 and have just received your visa on 7th february 2014, a potential maximum waiting period of approx. 10 weeks (if interview was 1st december)

that sounds like a very quick turnaround compared to all other posters in the last 2 years, cause for a celebration.......

cheers

 

[cbvortex]

Interview was late Dec and had it back by late Jan.
The interview officer said to allow between 4-8 weeks, but more likely 4, which he was right.
Maybe as mine had been previously declined, it was different process / procedure.
Not sure, certainley not complaining!
Will be celebrating when im on there soil

Cheers
CB

 

[4vdean]

cool...............

 

[fordlover]

Hi guys,

I've read through most posts and was after a bit of advice.

In 2003, I was found guilty of theft as a servant (over a $15 DVD). No conviction was recorded and obviously moved on with my life and not been in any trouble since.

In 2009, I went through the Sydney consulate and obtained a B2 Visa via the Waiver of Ineligibility. I received confirmation of my visa within 1 week of my interview.

In 2011, I went through the same process and obtained my B2 Visa via the Waiver of Ineligibility. I received confirmation of my visa within 1 month of my interview.

On 19th December 2013, I attended the Sydney consulate for my B2 Visa interview (as usual). I am intending to travel in mid-April for my honeymoon and, based on my previous experience, assumed 4 months was plenty of time to process my Visa. I've since discovered that the wait period is 4 months or more - obviously making planning my honeymoon and extremely stressful experience for myself and my bride.

So I can get some sort of idea of where I am in the queue, I've attempted to contact the Department of Homeland Securities (DHS) at every available contact point on the internet, but no response from anybody. Given my history of approved Visas, and lack of criminal history, you can understand my, and my bride's, extreme frustration at what should be the most exciting time in our lives.

Does anybody have any contacts, ideas or experiences on how I can get an update on my waiver of ineligibility? And if there's any experience of techniques to try and get the Visa approved within the next 6-8 weeks?

Thanks all, really appreciate any advice.