Chelsea Ranger

Having paid the $131 for the interview & an extra 70 quid for the ACPO police certificate (i have a conviction from 1993 for Affray) & got everything sorted for the interview, i only just found out, through various sites, not the official US embassy site i might add, that i gonna need to provide documents from my court case, which provide the offence, the court, my conviction etc, i recently got a CRB check from my work place, so would it be ok to take that along, as it has the court, the date, the conviction & what i received (180 hours community service & a £1500 compensation order) can anyone advise me on this as i dont think i got the original documents from the case, was 16 years ago after all.

EDIT:

"Documents relating to your arrest and/or conviction

Applicants applying for visas at the U.S. Embassy in London are required to furnish a police certificate from the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) issued within 6 months of the date of the visa interview. Information on obtaining the police certificate is available from the ACPO website.

This police certificate covers the whole of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and is sent to the address provided at the time of the application.

Please note: The original police certificate will be retained on file by the Embassy. Applicants who wish to have the original document returned to them on the day of the interview should also bring a photocopy of the document and a stamped, self-addressed envelope."

That was on the US embassy London site, it says nothing about court documents there,only the ACPO cert.

fatbrit

Go in person to the court that convicted you and request a memorandum of conviction.

nettlebed

I believe - though I may be wrong - that for non-immigrant visas, the ACPO cert is sufficient. If you CAN get the Memorandum of Conviction (MoC), that is definitely belt and braces. When I applied for my H-1Bs, I needed the MoC, but back then the PNC was crap, and there was no such thing as an ACPO cert.

In contrast, the N-400 form (Naturalization) explicitly asks for all *original docs or certified copies* which is where the MoC IS definitely required.

If you decide to get the MoC, bear in mind that since it is a long time since your conviction, it may be the case that your records have been transferred from the original court where the convictions was handed down.

For example, I had one conviction in Chatham Magistrates' Court, and one in Dartford Magistrates' Court. However, I had to get the MoCs from Maidstone.

Go to the Court Service web site (http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/HMCSCourtFinder), locate your convicting court and call them, and ask where and how you need to apply for your MoC.

In some cases, you can visit the issuing authority and get the MoC on the same day.

When is your interview scheduled for in London? If it was me, I would attend the interview, even if I could not get the MoC in time, especially since the blurb says that you require the ACPO certificate, and doesn't mention anything else. If you can get the MoC in time, that would be a good idea. Mine cost me 16 quid each from Kent Police.

Chelsea Ranger

Cheers folks, i just called the embassy & the character said all i need is the APCO cert, no memorandum of conviction shenanigans, the process is not very clear if ya ask me, cos looking at the site it mentions if ya APCO has on it NO LIVE TRACE (which mine has got) then ya need a VCU1 form & a memorandum of conviction, but another part says just the APCO cert, i feel they may have left stuff on there that need not be there, but the woman on the phone says all i need is the APCO cert & the other items of course (Passport, Visa interview letter & receipt & DS-156 application form), my interview is next thursday (9th July) at 10:30 am, i am planning going to Atlanta, Georgia, later this year & have a place to stay with an American born & bred citizen.

http://london.usembassy.gov/cons_new/visa/niv/b2.html

then click on

http://london.usembassy.gov/cons_new...add_crime.html

This applies to me & as you can all see it just asks for the APCO certificate, unless i am missing something.

ian-mstm

And you're sure you spoke to a staff member at the Embassy and not to a person sitting in their call station in Scotland, right? You should know that, either way, it is the Department of State that issues visas... and no one else! I'll also add here, that the US Supreme Court has upheld that you can *not* rely on, as accurate, anything told you by a US government employee.

I'm willing to bet that the person you spoke to has never actually been through the visa process... and is telling you what you want to hear. Contrast this with the many members of this forum who *have* been through the process and require both the ACPO certificate and the MoC.


Good luck! Let us know how you get on.

Ian

Chelsea Ranger

& so it takes another twist, i should not of even bothered being honest & admitting my ancient case it seems, so why the hell are the US employing UNTRUSTWORTHY people in their embassies, this character sounded Asian, i am guessing a British Indian or Pakistani, can i ask mate, how long ago did you go through the process, was it in London? Also i got a CRB check that states my one & only conviction, what crown court & my sentence (180 hours community service & £1500 compensation order) surely thats ok to take as well as my ACPO thingy, i not getting any sense out of the Americans it seems.

Chelsea Ranger

Sorry to go on, but i am currently going through my old files, amazingly i still have some of the original paperwork regarding my arrest, compensation order & a letter from the court of appeal criminal division, which states my full name, address, date of birth, the court i was sentenced at (i was refused an appeal), surely that is enough & my crb check, with the ACPO i cant keep shelling out money all the time to please paranoia of American authorities!

SarfLondoner

I'm in the same boat as you me old china and my ACPO came back as no live trace even. I have 3 convictions for fighting so all I did was fill in the VCU with my convictions and cautions and I am going to take my CRB with me as well, althougfh it will make no differance at least i have it as proof.
My interview is Monday i'll let you know if what i take does the job. THe forms I have are.
NIV51E with machine readable reciept
DS 156
ACRO
VCU 1 TYPED NOT HAND WRITTEN
CRB JUST IN CASE
DS 157
DS 158
photograph
And a broom to stick up my arse

Chelsea Ranger

Well i gonna do same as you, just with my court of appeal letter, but it states on there my conviction, the sentence, both community service & compensation order, my address, date of birth blah blah blah, plus i have a place to stay out there, if they cant accept all that, then they are just being awkard. Good luck with that mate, if ya could let us know how it went, be blinding, cheers guvnor!!!