Holiday in USA

Rotty said:
yep , though it is actually "as long as you have never been arrested" , even if you've been arrested and never charged then you still have to apply for a visa , really fair that is :mad:
Click to expand...


That's not actually true, I have been arrested a few times in the past and I have been up in front of the courts (in my younger days), but that hasn't stopped me travelling to the U.S last year. They way I see it is that if you don't declare it they don't know, as the yanks do not have access to the British databases, so unless you have done some bird (which I haven't), or your part of a dodgy gang that's been red flagged, don't worry about it :)
 
mysticsniper said:
That's not actually true, I have been arrested a few times in the past and I have been up in front of the courts (in my younger days), but that hasn't stopped me travelling to the U.S last year. They way I see it is that if you don't declare it they don't know, as the yanks do not have access to the British databases, so unless you have done some bird (which I haven't), or your part of a dodgy gang that's been red flagged, don't worry about it :)
Click to expand...
That's also true. The authorities can impose all sorts of rules if they wish, but implementing them effectively, and enforcing them is entirely another matter. In the absence of of full access to police databases, I can't see how they could know if you've been arrested.

Of course, if it came out while you were there, you could well find yourself being arrested again, detained and deported, and that would make it very hard to get back in again. It does seem unlikely, however, that it would come out.
 
Just remember that Customs/Immigration/Security at airports in the US have zero sense of humor. I mean non. Not a trace. It was bad enough before 9/11, but now it's scary. Don't even consider joking about anything.

I've been through US immigration loads of times and I still find it terrifying - I always feel like they're gonna trip me up with some question and I'll be thrown back onto the plane....or worse :D
 
Curio said:
Just remember that Customs/Immigration/Security at airports in the US have zero sense of humor. I mean non. Not a trace. It was bad enough before 9/11, but now it's scary. Don't even consider joking about anything.

I've been through US immigration loads of times and I still find it terrifying - I always feel like they're gonna trip me up with some question and I'll be thrown back onto the plane....or worse :D
Click to expand...


Last time i went through i forgot to take a note of the address i was staying at, i thought they were going to kick me out of the country with all the fuss they made :eek: they were like "we'll be nice and let you in if you leave a phone number"...gee thanks guys :p


Edit* oh and regarding the visa arrest thing, i can understand why they have it as you can get some seriously dodgy people who have never been convicted, since peadophilia and rape are quite hard to prove. Admitedly its a bit harsh on someone who was wrongfully arrested or was arrested on a minor offence. But then again thats why they do it, instead of a blanket ban they make you apply for a visa where they can assess you more thoroughly than at the airport. Harsh but its probably the fairest way to do it.
 
Last edited:
I got a conviction before I went to New York but we already had it booked so I lied on the forms... I wasn't going to lose out on the holiday. How long does it usually take to get a visa Rotty?
 
Curio said:
Just remember that Customs/Immigration/Security at airports in the US have zero sense of humor. I mean non. Not a trace. It was bad enough before 9/11, but now it's scary. Don't even consider joking about anything.
Click to expand...
Definitely true on the joking front - it's an offense over here to make jokes about bombs and so forth, so it probably is in the US - but that doesn't mean you can't talk to the immigration folk, heck, one *huge* guy hanging around started talking to us, asking where we were going, and so on...then again, 5 Brits each with a matching suitcase and with three huge sombreros, one of which is pink, I guess we looked a little crazy :D
 
When I went to California on a skydiving trip a couple of years ago one of the guys was arrested and deported back to the uk. The reason? He overstayed his visa last time he was here, rather than apply for a visa he thought he was being clever by using his Irish passport instead of his british one - however they still clocked on to him... I think he's now got no chance of getting a visa for many many years...
 
Is it not true that Passport holders that don't have the new Passports that are machine readable must have a Visa.

Not sure when the new Passports came into place but there are quite a few folk I reckon that don't have machine readable Passports.
 
Freefaller said:
When I went to California on a skydiving trip a couple of years ago one of the guys was arrested and deported back to the uk. The reason? He overstayed his visa last time he was here, rather than apply for a visa he thought he was being clever by using his Irish passport instead of his british one - however they still clocked on to him... I think he's now got no chance of getting a visa for many many years...
Click to expand...
Oops :eek:
 
SaBBz said:
How long does it usually take to get a visa Rotty?
Click to expand...

I'm no expert as I have never needed to apply for one cos I'm a good lad :) , but I believe it is a minimum of 4 months
 
Roughneck said:
is this arrest thing new

as last time i went to the states i didnt have a visa and ive been arrested and charged before the holiday
Click to expand...
I couldn't put an exact date on it, but it's certainly been several years at least.

But you illustrate the main problem with the policy .... how would they know?

It seems to me it's largely an honour-based thing. But, of course, if you get held for some reason and they do a check with the UK authorities and it turns out you've been arrested (let alone charged), you give the Immigration people a perfect excuse for just booting you out, which will then make even getting a visa in the future problematic.
 
Scream said:
Is it not true that Passport holders that don't have the new Passports that are machine readable must have a Visa.

Not sure when the new Passports came into place but there are quite a few folk I reckon that don't have machine readable Passports.
Click to expand...
Yes, it is true, and has been for about 18 months. But the UK has been issuing machine-readablr passports for years. It changed, IIRC, when they went from the old large blue ones to the smaller "european" red ones, so that, at least, shouldn't be an issue for UK citizens.

For recently issued passports, they must also have a digital photo (i.e. printed on, not glued or laminated on). From October this year, passports will need to have biometric chips in them. That is, passports issued after October (26th) this year.

So, if you're planning to visit the US in the next few years, and don't want to have a passport with biometric data on a chip, get your passport renewed before October, 26th.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom