Mr_pringles

Hi, I have been going out of my mind recentley trying to find answers to problem I have concerning the VWP. One and a half years ago I was arrested for having a stun gun which used to belong to my brother (I apologise for yet another criminal record question), anyway it layed dormant on my shelf for quite some time and I never had any intent on hurting anyone with it.

The police gave me a caution for it, there reasons were "You openly admitted the offence and handed over the stungun, you have no previous problems with the police and are of good moral character". I was fingerprinted and had a swab done, I never spent anytime in a cell or jail, I was just told that I have recieved a caution and they released me within 20 minutes. I desperatley need to know that if I tick the box saying "no" on green form will I go through customs un-harrassed or will I be turned back (my worst nightmare).

I have no intention of ever emmigrating permanently to the US so I dont want to risk applying for a special visa and then getting denied, not just that, but I leave for florida shortly and would be pointless given the timescale it takes to get one of these so called "special visas". Im a good person and dont want a stupid mistake to ruin my expensive holiday in florida if the information of my caution is electronically shared with US customs.

Also is there anyone else on the forum who has got through customs fine, who have recieved a caution or conviction?

Thanks for reading and any replies will be gratefully recieved, also you can email me at [email protected]

crg

The specific crime that you describe is not a crime involving moral turpitude or a drug related offense and it isn't multiple crimes resulting in 5 years suspended or served. It appears that you can answer "NO" to the question on the VWP. However, if asked by the officer if you have ever been arrested, then that is a "YES". It shouldn't matter for immigration purposes. You may want to have any record of the incident available if asked.

Kevin Keane

Mr_pringles wrote:

    >
    > Hi, I have been going out of my mind recentley trying to find answers to
    > problem I have concerning the VWP. One and a half years ago I was
    > arrested for having a stun gun which used to belong to my brother (I
    > apologise for yet another criminal record question), anyway it layed
    > dormant on my shelf for quite some time and I never had any intent on
    > hurting anyone with it.
    >
    > The police gave me a caution for it, there reasons were "You openly
    > admitted the offence and handed over the stungun, you have no previous
    > problems with the police and are of good moral character". I was
    > fingerprinted and had a swab done, I never spent anytime in a cell or
    > jail, I was just told that I have recieved a caution and they released
    > me within 20 minutes. I desperatley need to know that if I tick the box
    > saying "no" on green form will I go through customs un-harrassed or will
    > I be turned back (my worst nightmare).

Given a caution is not something that I can clearly interpret. It could mean
any number of things, ranging from "they informally told you not to do it
again, but didn't even charge you with anything" to "you formally pled
guilty, but the government refrained from imposing a sentence". It sounds
like it is the former.

In any case, if the question is about *arrest* you would of course have to
check "yes". If it is about conviction, and assuming that it was just an
informal statement from the police, I'd say that "no" is the appropriate
answer - but, again, it depends on your specific circumstances.

Obviously, there never is a guarantee that you will go through immigration
un-harassed, but my guess is that as long as it doesn't count as a
conviction, at worst, you'll be sent to secondary inspection, questioned
for an hour, and then allowed to go to the USA.

    > I have no intention of ever emmigrating permanently to the US so I dont
    > want to risk applying for a special visa and then getting denied,

That has nothing to do with planning to immigrate. Immigration makes it more
likely that it would come out, though.

--
Please visit my FAQ at http://www.kkeane.com before asking a question here.
It may answer your question. Remember, I am strictly a layperson without
any legal training. I encourage the reader to seek competent legal counsel
rather than relying on usenet newsgroups.