Travelling to US with a criminal record in the UK

The ACPO certificate must be dated no more than six months before the date of an interview.

I cannot say whether your passport will be returned in time. Under conventional wisdom probably not, but they might be able to do something to expedite its return given the urgency. All you can do is ask on the day.

Just to let you all know i ended up going for my visa interview today ang guess wot???????
i was rejected for "crimes involving moral turpitude!" these are "permanent ineligibilities"
but i can if i recieve special permision to obtaian a visa known as a "waiver of ineligibility"
has anyone else come across this and did they get one?

Read Post #24.

Cheers,
Terry

Going to jump in again i'm afraid as i'm confused (easily done)...so bear with me....

My initial post was regarding my "theft from an employer" conviction from over 10 yrs ago. The advice was not to worry too much about it as whilst i was convicted and fined about 70 quid, i got a 6 month conditional discharge.

However the advice now looks to be that i should apply to the police for the data they hold on me?

Additionally, a friend of mine visited NYC at easter and they were fingerprinting everyone upon entry...surely if i had my prints taken way back, the purpose of them scanning your prints at customs is to flag up anyone with a conviction....otherwise my question would be why do they do this?

Thanks for any input in advance

Read Post #22.

Cheers,
Terry

Quoting CheersT

Read Post #22.

Cheers,
Terry

May I ask what type of back ground your from?

Just it may help people trust in the information you provide if you actually have experience in this field?

No disrespect or anything like that Sir. I just think it would be useful to know where your knowledge on this topic comes from.

Peace

After being arrested for thieft from employment 7 years ago when I was 20 years old I decided it was probably best for me to do the right thing and apply for the Visa as opposed to take the risk and applying for the Visa Waiver. I got the National Police Certificate (I am from Australia) and completed the interview on Thursday 12th May 2011 at the US Consulate where because even though I was never convicted of anything and I have a clear Police Certificate I was still found ineligable for a visa according the the notification I recieved due to "Section 212 (a)(2)(A)(i)(I) Which prohibits the issuance of a visa to anyone who admits to or has been convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude"so even though throughout the application process and all the copy of thier website mentions anyone who has been arrested once you have admitted freely you have been arrsted in then changes to "admitted" to a crime involving moral turpitude which makes me think maybe I could of got away with it if I didnt. but the way I think is if you do get caught lying about this type of stuff you're probably showing you are still not of sound character because you lie about it. but I guess its risk that some may see worth taking and I would imagine you are probably better than 50% chance of getting away with it.

Anyway I was hoping that someone on here may have an idea as to how long it takes for the Visa to be approved? So at the moment after I was found ineligable the consulate official has applied for a waiver of my ineligability and applied for a 5 year visa which means some froms have been sent to Washington DC and sit in a world wide cue to be process and what I have been told is that there is no way this process can be expidited and I have been told this from a US Senators and US Congressmans office who have partioned on my behalf and on behalf of frineds who are US citizens to have the process speeded up as I was hoping to leave on Wednesday this week (2 weeks after my interview).

So in short I was wondering if anyone had any recent knowledge on how long it has taken for this process to take from interview before the passport is returned with Visa approved? On this US website it says it can take up to 60 days but the consulate officials tell me it should take 3-4 weeks. Obviously it depends on specific circumstances however I am hoping mine should be a fairly simple straight forward case and wont take to long but yeah would be interested to hear other people experiences and how long it takes for it to come through.

In closing, if you are wanting to go to America and have been arrested for crimes drug related or involving turpitude I would apply really really early to the US embassy for your Visa and it doesnt matter if you dont have all your paper work in order ie Police Check they will still interview without it as you need to sign a sworn statement outlining the crimes you commited and you can provide the Police Certificate down the track, but I would advise get the ball rolling as early as possible as its a long drawn out process that cant be speed up.

Hope my experiences helps someone out there and hope that someone might be able to help with any timeframes to get a visa.

Hi iwent to the embassy on monday (read thread at top of page) and they told me i needed a "waiver of ineligibility" and it would take 2-3 days i thought yeah yeah ok but on thursday got a email saying
Please be advised that we are now in a position to issue your U.S. visa. Please resubmit your passport to us for visa issuance. Note that you have three months from the date indicated above in which to resubmit your passport.

very very shocked but every cloud has a silver lining
good luck

WHAT??? It only took 4 days? Are you UK based? Surely it would be the same process if you are from the UK or from Austraia? Is there any way you got the process expidited? I have been told it will take me 3-4 weeks and I have no idea when its going to come through.

So to be clear, they email you once the Visa has been approved? They already have my passport you reckon I will still get the email or they will just send me my passport back?

yes it only took 4 days I am UK based as i said i went in on Monday they refused my visa there and then gave me my passport back and said we will let you know in 2-3 days by email or phone and they were true to there word.