Advice - Stupid Mistake
Jan 6th 2020, 8:14 pm
#32
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Jun 2017
Posts: 521
Re: Advice - Stupid Mistake
Well you need a lawyer on side to start with, that's prepared to assemble an argument against the concept of misrepresentation from your answers to the ESTA questions. That should be fairly easy as it relies on the ambiguity of the questions and simply demonstrating that if you did misrepresent, it was not willful. It's easy enough to achieve with the right wording.
Reviewing your thread though, I'm a bit unclear around your cannabis related charge. It almost sounds a bit like a street caution or something similar. Do you have any more information other than the photo your provided?
What USICS care about is whether you admitted to law enforcement that you were in possession of a controlled substance. Even if you don't have a formal conviction, if any sort of agreement you took from the police (a caution is what we most commonly see here) involved you saying "yes I did what you are accusing me of", and the accusation is that you were in possession of cannabis, then from the perspective of US Immigration, you essentially have something equivalent to a conviction. That is how they judge it - I know it sounds ridiculous - but think of it the way they do and getting your head around the restrictions placed on someone like you becomes a lot easier. (There is a minor distinction, cautions/admissions pre July 2008 are not regarded as convictions, see here for more info: https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/wi...-us-imm-30599/ - yours happened in 2014 so it's of no use to you but I put it here just for background info)
So we need to establish exactly what you accepted via that document you photographed. Scottish law doesn't come up here all that often so it's hard for me and probably others to speculate. Are there any more details on it that can give insight?
Beyond this, there's two/three paths:
1. You didn't admit to possessing a controlled substances - but you have an arrest for something else that may or may not be a CIMT
1a. It is a CIMT - you can probably still get a visa but it'll require a waiver of inadmissibility. This will be recommended by the consular officer (or not) during your visa interview. You are technically ineligible for a visa and not allowed to visit the USA. If you get recommended, you will very likely receive a visa but it could take up to 6 months for the waiver to be processed. Companies often don't want to wait around for this. ESTA could be a problem if this is the case.
1b. It isn't a CIMT. You should be eligible for a visa assuming there are no issues with you having used ESTA (if you have a non drugs, non CIMT arrest on your record related to this, then the ESTA won't be an issue either). In essence, this is best case scenario and your visa would be processed as normal.
2. You do have a possession arrest which you admitted to but weren't convicted on - this would probably be perceived as equivalent to a caution I think, and you'll need to go down path 1a, you'll need a waiver to get anywhere. ESTA may be a bigger issue down this path as the arrest question regarding drugs is an unequivocal yes, which you answered no to.
Your ACRO isn't going to get any useful information. Whilst you don't have to provide a Subject Access Report, because of the confusion around what you actually got put on record for, it might be worth getting as it could help determine whether 1b is an option for you.
Regarding the chastising you are receiving for feeling 'sick to the stomach", don't take any notice of it. Some people on this forum feel the need to berate those who are trying to learn. I remember the feeling when I started to understand the impact of what felt like insignificant events in my life - it's not pleasant - but moving to a more pragmatic mindset and removing the emotion will help in the process of actually trying to move forward.
Reviewing your thread though, I'm a bit unclear around your cannabis related charge. It almost sounds a bit like a street caution or something similar. Do you have any more information other than the photo your provided?
What USICS care about is whether you admitted to law enforcement that you were in possession of a controlled substance. Even if you don't have a formal conviction, if any sort of agreement you took from the police (a caution is what we most commonly see here) involved you saying "yes I did what you are accusing me of", and the accusation is that you were in possession of cannabis, then from the perspective of US Immigration, you essentially have something equivalent to a conviction. That is how they judge it - I know it sounds ridiculous - but think of it the way they do and getting your head around the restrictions placed on someone like you becomes a lot easier. (There is a minor distinction, cautions/admissions pre July 2008 are not regarded as convictions, see here for more info: https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/wi...-us-imm-30599/ - yours happened in 2014 so it's of no use to you but I put it here just for background info)
So we need to establish exactly what you accepted via that document you photographed. Scottish law doesn't come up here all that often so it's hard for me and probably others to speculate. Are there any more details on it that can give insight?
Beyond this, there's two/three paths:
1. You didn't admit to possessing a controlled substances - but you have an arrest for something else that may or may not be a CIMT
1a. It is a CIMT - you can probably still get a visa but it'll require a waiver of inadmissibility. This will be recommended by the consular officer (or not) during your visa interview. You are technically ineligible for a visa and not allowed to visit the USA. If you get recommended, you will very likely receive a visa but it could take up to 6 months for the waiver to be processed. Companies often don't want to wait around for this. ESTA could be a problem if this is the case.
1b. It isn't a CIMT. You should be eligible for a visa assuming there are no issues with you having used ESTA (if you have a non drugs, non CIMT arrest on your record related to this, then the ESTA won't be an issue either). In essence, this is best case scenario and your visa would be processed as normal.
2. You do have a possession arrest which you admitted to but weren't convicted on - this would probably be perceived as equivalent to a caution I think, and you'll need to go down path 1a, you'll need a waiver to get anywhere. ESTA may be a bigger issue down this path as the arrest question regarding drugs is an unequivocal yes, which you answered no to.
Your ACRO isn't going to get any useful information. Whilst you don't have to provide a Subject Access Report, because of the confusion around what you actually got put on record for, it might be worth getting as it could help determine whether 1b is an option for you.
Regarding the chastising you are receiving for feeling 'sick to the stomach", don't take any notice of it. Some people on this forum feel the need to berate those who are trying to learn. I remember the feeling when I started to understand the impact of what felt like insignificant events in my life - it's not pleasant - but moving to a more pragmatic mindset and removing the emotion will help in the process of actually trying to move forward.
Jan 8th 2020, 11:26 am
#33
Just Joined
Thread Starter
Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 22
Re: Advice - Stupid Mistake
Well you need a lawyer on side to start with, that's prepared to assemble an argument against the concept of misrepresentation from your answers to the ESTA questions. That should be fairly easy as it relies on the ambiguity of the questions and simply demonstrating that if you did misrepresent, it was not willful. It's easy enough to achieve with the right wording.
Reviewing your thread though, I'm a bit unclear around your cannabis related charge. It almost sounds a bit like a street caution or something similar. Do you have any more information other than the photo your provided?
What USICS care about is whether you admitted to law enforcement that you were in possession of a controlled substance. Even if you don't have a formal conviction, if any sort of agreement you took from the police (a caution is what we most commonly see here) involved you saying "yes I did what you are accusing me of", and the accusation is that you were in possession of cannabis, then from the perspective of US Immigration, you essentially have something equivalent to a conviction. That is how they judge it - I know it sounds ridiculous - but think of it the way they do and getting your head around the restrictions placed on someone like you becomes a lot easier. (There is a minor distinction, cautions/admissions pre July 2008 are not regarded as convictions, see here for more info: https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/wi...-us-imm-30599/ - yours happened in 2014 so it's of no use to you but I put it here just for background info)
So we need to establish exactly what you accepted via that document you photographed. Scottish law doesn't come up here all that often so it's hard for me and probably others to speculate. Are there any more details on it that can give insight?
Beyond this, there's two/three paths:
1. You didn't admit to possessing a controlled substances - but you have an arrest for something else that may or may not be a CIMT
1a. It is a CIMT - you can probably still get a visa but it'll require a waiver of inadmissibility. This will be recommended by the consular officer (or not) during your visa interview. You are technically ineligible for a visa and not allowed to visit the USA. If you get recommended, you will very likely receive a visa but it could take up to 6 months for the waiver to be processed. Companies often don't want to wait around for this. ESTA could be a problem if this is the case.
1b. It isn't a CIMT. You should be eligible for a visa assuming there are no issues with you having used ESTA (if you have a non drugs, non CIMT arrest on your record related to this, then the ESTA won't be an issue either). In essence, this is best case scenario and your visa would be processed as normal.
2. You do have a possession arrest which you admitted to but weren't convicted on - this would probably be perceived as equivalent to a caution I think, and you'll need to go down path 1a, you'll need a waiver to get anywhere. ESTA may be a bigger issue down this path as the arrest question regarding drugs is an unequivocal yes, which you answered no to.
Your ACRO isn't going to get any useful information. Whilst you don't have to provide a Subject Access Report, because of the confusion around what you actually got put on record for, it might be worth getting as it could help determine whether 1b is an option for you.
Regarding the chastising you are receiving for feeling 'sick to the stomach", don't take any notice of it. Some people on this forum feel the need to berate those who are trying to learn. I remember the feeling when I started to understand the impact of what felt like insignificant events in my life - it's not pleasant - but moving to a more pragmatic mindset and removing the emotion will help in the process of actually trying to move forward.
Reviewing your thread though, I'm a bit unclear around your cannabis related charge. It almost sounds a bit like a street caution or something similar. Do you have any more information other than the photo your provided?
What USICS care about is whether you admitted to law enforcement that you were in possession of a controlled substance. Even if you don't have a formal conviction, if any sort of agreement you took from the police (a caution is what we most commonly see here) involved you saying "yes I did what you are accusing me of", and the accusation is that you were in possession of cannabis, then from the perspective of US Immigration, you essentially have something equivalent to a conviction. That is how they judge it - I know it sounds ridiculous - but think of it the way they do and getting your head around the restrictions placed on someone like you becomes a lot easier. (There is a minor distinction, cautions/admissions pre July 2008 are not regarded as convictions, see here for more info: https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/wi...-us-imm-30599/ - yours happened in 2014 so it's of no use to you but I put it here just for background info)
So we need to establish exactly what you accepted via that document you photographed. Scottish law doesn't come up here all that often so it's hard for me and probably others to speculate. Are there any more details on it that can give insight?
Beyond this, there's two/three paths:
1. You didn't admit to possessing a controlled substances - but you have an arrest for something else that may or may not be a CIMT
1a. It is a CIMT - you can probably still get a visa but it'll require a waiver of inadmissibility. This will be recommended by the consular officer (or not) during your visa interview. You are technically ineligible for a visa and not allowed to visit the USA. If you get recommended, you will very likely receive a visa but it could take up to 6 months for the waiver to be processed. Companies often don't want to wait around for this. ESTA could be a problem if this is the case.
1b. It isn't a CIMT. You should be eligible for a visa assuming there are no issues with you having used ESTA (if you have a non drugs, non CIMT arrest on your record related to this, then the ESTA won't be an issue either). In essence, this is best case scenario and your visa would be processed as normal.
2. You do have a possession arrest which you admitted to but weren't convicted on - this would probably be perceived as equivalent to a caution I think, and you'll need to go down path 1a, you'll need a waiver to get anywhere. ESTA may be a bigger issue down this path as the arrest question regarding drugs is an unequivocal yes, which you answered no to.
Your ACRO isn't going to get any useful information. Whilst you don't have to provide a Subject Access Report, because of the confusion around what you actually got put on record for, it might be worth getting as it could help determine whether 1b is an option for you.
Regarding the chastising you are receiving for feeling 'sick to the stomach", don't take any notice of it. Some people on this forum feel the need to berate those who are trying to learn. I remember the feeling when I started to understand the impact of what felt like insignificant events in my life - it's not pleasant - but moving to a more pragmatic mindset and removing the emotion will help in the process of actually trying to move forward.
