materialcontroller

You're not immigrating to the UK, so you're just going to have to deal with the fact that your crimes are a cause for concern to other countries.

I believe that most crimes are actually not considered "spent" until 7 years anyway, not 5 as you've stated.

mikelincs

The rehabilitation of offenders Act does NOT impact the fact that the US needs to see details of ANY criminal acts you have been involved in, an ACRO check will show the result as 'no live trace' which means that there is a criminal hostory there, and the US people will need to see just what those crimes are, so you would need to get the information from the courts, they would then decide whether they will deny the visa totally, or deny it but put it forward for a waiver, that will then means waiting 6 months before you will get the visa, once you are recommended for a waiver it's pretty certain that you will get one, eventually.

albanks2542

Your DNA profile will likely be on the DNA database for life and your fingerprints likely on the english Police National Computer for a very long time. So your convictions are hardly forgotten about are they? And the PNC is something the americans have wanted to get their hands on for a long time. That data is protected by EU law to my knowledge but with Brexit upcoming who is to say what could happen in the future.

albanks2542

I am surprised witness intimidation is not considered by U.S government as an attempt to undermine the criminal justice system. Some states take it very very seriously with jail sentences running into the 20 year mark.

Kirstyb

Hi,

Just thought I'd let you know my experience as I found it hard to find much information.

I have a criminal record from 2012 armed robbery ( assecory to) and receiving stolen goods. I had a good behavior bond. Having any Crime of moral turpitude makes you ineligible for an esta straight away. You will then have to make an appointment at the embassy.

I hired a lawyer which I would not recommend as they didn't look at or take any of his work into consideration he also over looked the type of record check I needed. When I went into the embassy they recommended me for a waiver of ineligibility and applied for a 5 year multiple entry visa, which has to be approved by DHS in Washington. I was advised this would take 6 months but had to email in the right record check and the process would start until I had done so. This was 27th October, my holiday booked for 14th April. I applied for the right check which took 20 days. After being told 6 months I had little hope in being able to visit the states.

I sent in criminal record on the 22nd November.

22nd March received an email saying I had been approved! 4 months after sending in my record, which is meant to be super fast. Sent my passport off to be stamped, won't know how long the visa will be until I get it back! This takes 7 days leaves me with just over a week left to my holiday. Best of luck anyone going through this as it's a really tiring process as you won't get any information on where your at in processing!

ian-mstm

With respect - I'm not sure why you did. A lawyer can't change the past.


The latter comment was likely a direct result of the former. Had you not booked the holiday, there would have been very little stress, aggravation, and anxiety.


Correct. For the US, it's a matter of national security.

That all said, congratulations on getting the waiver approved so quickly. In this day and age, 4 months is remarkably fast!

Ian

materialcontroller

Four months does seem to be about the norm recently Ian. I've been keeping a close eye on various quoted timescales in the NIV Waiver thread (principally because I also have a pending waiver decision ongoing at present).