kittentravel

I Am Taking My Wife And Daughter To Florida In October But Noticed On The Invoice About Declaring Criminal Records.8 Yrs Ago I Was Prosecuted For Theft And Had To Do 180 Hrs Community Service.do I Have To Declare This Conviction And Will It Stop Me From Entering The Us.

Any Advice Would Be Appreciated

CarlM

You might get a better response posting in the Visa section.. youll get nothing but abuse from this lot - theyre a bunch of animals!

BigDavyG

Best to ask this question in the VISA forum.

There have been lots of conflicting reports on this. Technically you do have to get a visa (though this only takes about 3 hours and £40 I think) but if you don't get one the US have no way of finding out about your conviction as the British Government has stated that they won't shred this info with other countries.

Its up to you, but if you want to potentially ruin your trip (odds of this happening about 7/1 imo) for the sake of £40 and 3 hours of your time then that's up to you.

BigDavyG

Take that back

CarlM

Shant

Manc

I dunno, it depends on what is classed as moral turpitude.
I reckon a call to the US embassy maybe in order.

BigDavyG

It is moral turpitude, there is no question of that (it is a ridiculously vague term mind you). However me point still stands. For a crime like this if you don't tell them they have no way of finding out that you have a conviction.

Obviously if you tick yes in response to the question on the form that you fill out on the plane and then go through immigration when you arrive without a visa they will pull you and 99 times out of 100 they will stop you from entering the country as they will apply the law to the letter, with no exceptions.

Manc

probably,
However the OP has plenty of time to sort this out. I reckon a quick simple B-2 application may be the best bet just to be on the safe side.

Ray

Theft is most case is probably a CIMT.. but there are various degrees

Lewd or lascivious offenses to anyone under 16 is most definitely a CIMT
just for all the perverts here ...

A B-2 is the safe way ...

BigDavyG

I guess we need to know if this is for a holiday or on a more permanent basis.
If you're going for a few years and hence getting a "proper" visa you will probably have to produce a police report which will show the conviction. However its highly unlikely that such an offense would prove to be a bar to your entry.

BigDavyG

Yep - if the max punishment you could have gotten did not exceed 6 months inside (i think) the offense can fall under the "Petty Theft Exemption" which basically means that it alone cannot be used to deny you a visa or entry.

MInd you, if you lie on the landing form that will enable them to turn you away if somehow they knew about your crime (incredibly unlikely) and furthermore good luck to you if you try to claim the PTE at the airport without a Visa.

Bob

B2 would be the way to go, safest thing and all that...though it'll take more than a few hours, normally takes a few weeks to get and around £60, plus cost of courier to send the passport back..