NJ_Dave

Hi, when I was 14 years old I was arrested in the UK for stealing a bicycle. I was not not convicted, did not have to go to court, and only received a police caution (which usually stays on record for 5 years, as far as I'm aware). Now I am 23 and plan to move to the USA next year to marry my long term American girlfriend. My problems are as follows:

>I have been to the US seven times on the visa waiver program, even though I only recently realised that I was uneligible to travel under the VWP, and have therefore entered the USA illlegally on several occasions

>Theft can be considered as a crime involving moral turpitude, so technically I have lied on my I-94w seven times now, which is probably a criminal offence

I am conducting my visa application through a US immigration attorney which shows my intent to do everything by the rules but I'm concerned that my K-1 visa will be denied because of rules that I have broken without even knowing it. Does anybody else out there have a similar problem, and what should I expect to face at my visa interview in London?

pedro66

Hi

I should say that missuse of the VWP should not be taken lightly as most people keep telling me, However I am in the same position as you with CIMT Juvinile convictions for bits and bobs along with one silly adult one (Luckily not a CIMT). I was so worried I went to see a Lawyer in London who told me that I should of put the convictions on the VW form, but as they were not grounds for refusing addmission (as they were under 18 and not CIMT) it would not be a problem, I may get told I was wrong and should of declared them at the interview but in his experience they may not even mention it.

You may find that when you get your Police certificate that the caution doesn't show and you may choose not to mention it, I don't recomend that you do this but you could. Plus I got one certificate with no convictions that then went out of date and the next certificate had them on, which just shows it all depends on who processes the police certificate.

In short tell the truth and don't sweat it you will be fine.

NJ_Dave

Hi, thanks for the reply. I actually received my police certificate a few weeks ago and, as expected, the offence did not show up on the document. I doubt that the arrest itself will deny me entry into the USA, however my previous abuse of the VWP could cause problems.

pedro66

As I said the use of the VWP is apparently acording to my Lawyer an issue when the offences you dont declare are grounds for exclusion.

crg

You have nothing to worry about.

If you were 14 years old then it doesn't count. There are exceptions for those who have murdered someone and been tried in adult court. You can still use the visa waiver program with a clear conscience. If you apply for an actual visa, you should disclose the arrest, but it will have no bearing on if you get the visa or not.

People think that any arrest at all can prevent them from using the visa waiver program, but it's not true.

Amanda

dbickle <member28143@british_expats.com> wrote in message news:<[email protected] om>...
    > Hi, when I was 14 years old I was arrested in the UK for stealing a bic-
    > ycle. I was not not convicted, did not have to go to court, and only re-
    > ceived a police caution (which usually stays on record for 5 years, as
    > far as I'm aware).

If you were not convicted, there was no arrest, right? So, you didn't
violate Waiver program illegally.


If you do not have arrest record at this point, I don't see why you
would need to disclose aboutt hat event in your visa application.

L D Jones

Amanda wrote:
    > dbickle <member28143@british_expats.com> wrote in message news:<[email protected] om>...
    >
    >>Hi, when I was 14 years old I was arrested in the UK for stealing a bic-
    >>ycle. I was not not convicted, did not have to go to court, and only re-
    >>ceived a police caution (which usually stays on record for 5 years, as
    >>far as I'm aware).
    >
    >
    > If you were not convicted, there was no arrest, right? So, you didn't
    > violate Waiver program illegally.

I tend to doubt it. A person can be arrested and not convicted, correct?

crg

If it's not written down, it doesn't mean that it didn't happen. That's dangerous advice. The question doesn't ask "do you have any arrests that we will find out about".

The arrest did happen, but it has no effect on if the visa is approved or not so there's no reason to lie. I'd check "yes" to the arrest and write "received caution for stolen bike at 14 yrs old" in the margin. The visa officer may just cross it out right there but at least you can sleep at night.

Matrix

"Amanda" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected] om...
    > If you were not convicted, there was no arrest, right? >
Wrong!
Not all arrests result in conviction although it's most likely that you
can't be convicted and not arrested.

Amanda

"matrix" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected] om>...
    > "Amanda" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    > news:[email protected] om...
    > >>
    > > If you were not convicted, there was no arrest, right? >
    > >
    > Wrong!
    > Not all arrests result in conviction although it's most likely that you
    > can't be convicted and not arrested.

I was half asleep and got confused between arrest and conviction.