hi bubbles, thanx 4 the reply, i am in a serious dilemma, i really have no idea in what to do. In 1 hand i dont want to break any laws but in the other i want to be there for my twins first holiday, but to be honest im more towards going to the embassy and telling all, but then this little devil pops into my head saying they wont know unless you tell them!! but i dont wanna pay £1000 and then get told to get the next flight home! All this for being a good friend!!

hi bubble123, you dont have to answer if you dont want to but what was the reason your husband couldnt get a visa, did he have some kind of conviction? just wondering the sort of time i might have to wait till i could apply again, regards

Hello,

i know what you mean, we were booked to go to LA in november 2004 & had the same problem & decided to go to london so he could apply for his visa!! Anyway they said no.... so we had to cancel our holiday & lost alot of money in the process. In the embassy they told him stay in the same job for a few years & then reapply....

We went back in 2008 & this time they recommended him & he recieved a 6 month one entry visa. We have been again since & the same again they have recommended him now just gotta wait. I think the only people who wont have to wait is if you can get a visa there & then & actually leave your passport with the embassy.

For some reason they are taking a while with alot of people, the letter he came out with states the current time for the 2 offices is taking approx 14 - 16 weeks some may take longer. To be honest if you do want to go & get a visa maybe on one of the application forms you could put your travel date about a month earlier, as to have your visa arrive like 3 weeks before your intended date of travel isnt really good.... I asked the embassy & they said once your visa is issued you can use it whenever you like untill its expiery date. As i was allready thinking theres no way were going to be able to go when we have said.

I know that may sound like a lie, but its only an intended date of travel...... A few other people i have spoke to have actually ended going up later as there just not notified in time!!

Anyway yeah my husband has a few convictions, from around 10 years ago when he was like 17 18 & it was crime involving moral turpitude. Not sure whether as because when we went in 2004 it would of only been maybe 6 years & now its like 10, more time has elapsed.... this obviously goes in your favour.

You do have a tough decision really, you can be honest & hope you get a good outcome.... or you can take a chance & tick no!! again you dont want to be turned away, however i have never actually heard of this, unless people tick yes & dont get a visa!! I guess at least if you tick no, theres the hope of a good holiday, where once you have been to the embassy if they say no thats it really!!

I did actually speak to someone in london once some kind of legal type person which helps people get visas, was a while ago though, they told me on the phone, the only way the us know you have a criminal record is if you tell them..... she also told me that my husband would probably never get a visa or find it very difficult in the near future because of his multiple convictions, well im glad she was wrong on that! you see sometimes you just dont know anything!

personally id hate to get to america & turned away when im expecting a holiday of a lifetime!!

you obviously seem settled now, twins etc family so maybe if you were to go in the embassy you would have all this in your favour! Why dont you apply for your police certificate & see whats actually on there? like what dates etc.

Hi there - Just to say that my husbands passport came back on Friday ! - with a 10year multiple entry visa !! So for those of you wanting to know how long it takes , for us it was from June 22nd when we made the phone call to book the appointment to September 4th - so just over 10weeks - or.... 6 weeks for further processing and issue of visa from the interview date..

Wow!! Thats good news for you guys!! You can relax now & plan your holiday!!

Hiya guys
thought i'd fill you in on everything thats happened since my last post way back when lol.

Applied for my visa again in May to go to Florida in Sept, as you know my last one came in 2 weeks but i told them then that my holiday was due to be paid in full that day so i guess they rushed it, anyhow as i said i applied this time in may, heard nothing for 8 weeks so i e mailed them, got the useual response we will let you know closer to the time, about a week later i got an e mail saying send passport for visa to be issued, i sent it on a wed that week and got it back tues the following week everything was fine.

We went to Florida and everything this time was even better than before re immigration, they sent me to that room again but a guy sat at a desk thats now been set up in that office asked if i had been sent there cos i had a visa, i told him yes and he said oh ok i'll sort it for you, went away for 2 mins came back typed a few things into his computer (whilst he was having a chat to a fellow co worker about the birth of their baby lol) then told me i could go, never asked me a thing, i was there max 3 mins, in total flight landed at 2, we were out of the airport by 2.45, it was fantastic, they treated me really well. i know some have had bad experiances with immigration but i have nothing but praise for them, they have treated me well both times and at no point did they make me feel singled out or intimidated.
Hope your next trip is as fantastic as ours was it really was fantastic Hope this helps put some minds at rest.
All the best
Jords
Jords

Thats great news Jords, really pleased everything worked out for you again.... So how long do you think you were waiting for the email for alltogether? Weve been waiting just over 5 weeks this time but as i said before i dont expect to hear anything untill next year as that`ll be nearer our intended date of travel. Did you get another 12 month visa? Also when you went to the embassy last time, did they stamp something on your previous visa? Thanks.

Hi Bubble
i waited 8 weeks, heard nothing then e-mailed them, then got mail same day saying dec will be made closer to date of travel which was sept 12, that was end july, then on 5 aug got mail saying send passport, so in total i waited 9 weeks, but i realised my old visa did'nt expire till 14 july so i guess thats why they wait, they didn't do anything to old visa it's same as was they just put new one on another page.

Jords

Thanks Jords

Hi

Me and my friends are travelling to Las Vegas in November to watch a boxing match at the MGM and two of us have criminal records with 1 conviction each. I have a conviction for drink drinking and a caution for theft. My friend has a conviction for affray. Will we both have trouble getting through immigration?

I recently visited America in May and had no problems but I have just applied for a new passport which has a chip in it and this has made me paranoid as I believe all my criminal record history is stored on that. I may very well be wrong.

Anyway we are travelling from England and looking for any advice we can get concerning this issue. We have payed a fortune for this holiday and I can't afford anything to go wrong. I have filled out our visa waiver program forms and they were sucessful but I am still unsure about my friends conviction.

Any help is much appreciated

I'm no expert but I don't think your criminal record is contained in the chip in your passport. However, I think if you have a record you're NOT supposed to fill out a visa waiver. I think you're supposed to apply for a visa from the US embassy.

If you have a criminal conviction you cannot fill out the visa waiver form and must apply for a visa at the American Embassy, I very much doubt that there is enough time between now and November to obtain one as I believe it takes weeks. The chip does not contain details of criminality.
There is a dedicated topic for US visas on HT, perhaps the mods can provide you with a link.

As Judith mentions there is a dedicated topic for US visas and this is the link http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=148 you might wish to read throught that topic and also perhaps duplicate your question in it.

However I would strongly advise you to contact the US Embassy directly ASAP for the most current and accurate advice and information -
http://www.usembassy.org.uk/ukaddres.html

Graham

Not sure how the chip works. My passport has one but at no time during the trips in or our was it used. They scanned the didicode thing along the bottom but that was all.

Well after a bit of thought I have decided to just go and get on with it as taking things further with the US Embassy might make things worse for me.

Having said that my friend decided to ring the US Embassy up in London and has now landed himself an interview this weekend to try and obtain a visa. He said it's costing him around $120.

What a joke

Its best to get it sorted here before you go,than be turned back at the airport when you get there.

Its best to get it sorted here before you go,than be turned back at the airport when you get there.

I fully agree with you Jay Trip, better to spend a few £'s here and get it sorted in advance rather than flying out there just to be refused entry and detained by the Department of Homeland Security at McCarran International Airport until the next seat is available on a flight back to the UK.

Graham

Actually even if you are granted a visa for 6 months etc, it is still up to the officials at passport control. If they don't like what you have done, they can still send you packing back home !

Drugs offences are most definitely moral turpitude. The main reason that the US Embassy advises anyone with a conviction to apply for a visa is the the British public's tendency to think 'minor' offence, therefore not 'moral turpitude'. Offences can very easily be both

They have the potential to prevent you getting a visa - and at best to make the issuing process long drawn out.

As to what access US Immigration have to UK records - at one time it was none, but recent agreements seem to mean that fairly widespread data sharing is on the way. Exactly what that will be, I don't know.