US Visa with a Criminal Record...Need help!

MentalMinnie

My husband and I plan to go to the US next Sept/Oct for a holiday. He was convicted 10 years ago for posession of class A drug (acid) he was 18 at the time. He's had no further run ins with the police since. He will need a class B2 visa as he isn;t eligible for an ESTA.

What i'm wanting to know is if anyone has been through similar, and also once granted, how long the visa is valid for, for entry into the US?

Thanks

geoffky

Just enter as a tourist as usual as a friend of mine declared his record and had to go to the embassy in london and was refused after spending a fortune on fares and hotels down there..There is a very small slight chance he will turned back but i think its a chance very many take..good luck and do not worry..

Voyager2002

MentalMinnie wrote: »

My husband and I plan to go to the US next Sept/Oct for a holiday. He was convicted 10 years ago for posession of class A drug (acid) he was 18 at the time. He's had no further run ins with the police since. He will need a class B2 visa as he isn;t eligible for an ESTA.

What i'm wanting to know is if anyone has been through similar, and also once granted, how long the visa is valid for, for entry into the US?

Thanks

Obviously you have plenty of time, but since there is a long wait for a visa appointment at the embassy you should start the process fairly soon. Search this forum for accounts by others of what was involved, and so on.

If you decide to do as the other poster suggests and lie to US immigration, you might or might not get away with it. Would you enjoy the holiday if you were worrying about perhaps being refused entry?

A better solution would be to choose a different holiday destination: why not Ibiza? I'm sure that your husband and his pharmaceutical interests would be more than welcome there.

MentalMinnie

And if he get stopped at border control in the US and refused entry, we'll lose thousands!

MentalMinnie

Voyager2002 wrote: »

A better solution would be to choose a different holiday destination: why not Ibiza? I'm sure that your husband and his pharmaceutical interests would be more than welcome there.

That's uncalled for. He was young and stupid.

Furthermore, who are YOU to judge someone based on their past?! You don't know him, nor do you know him now. Bore off...

geoffky

If you apply at the embassy as my friend did your family may never see America as they told him not to bother sitting down for the interview because the answer was no...he goes to Mexico.
I know someone who must of been in and out of America and Canada 20 times with a prison record and he has never been refused..

They do not have access to the Police National Computer for the UK or indeed for all the other European countries..

CAN i point you to this

http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/13707/response/41038/attach/html/3/09%2008%2003%20Final%20reply.doc.html

interstellaflyer

If a minor possession charge is enough to get an ordinary person refused entry, how the hell do rock stars get in, I mean Paul McCartney, Keith Richards, Mick Jagger, Eric Clapton, the list is far too long, double standards surely?

peachyprice

interstellaflyer wrote: »

If a minor possession charge is enough to get an ordinary person refused entry, how the hell do rock stars get in, I mean Paul McCartney, Keith Richards, Mick Jagger, Eric Clapton, the list is far too long, double standards surely?

Because of this

geoffky wrote: »

They do not have access to the Police National Computer for the UK or indeed for all the other European countries..

It's only people convicted of international drugs crimes, terror suspects, fugitives, big time bank robbers and the like and that other countries have informed them of that they will have on their computers.

damo24

I've been to America many times (fortunately I do not have a criminal record of any sort) however if this conviction is classed as being "spent" in this country this should help his cause.

I would STRONGLY advise you to do this by the book and declare it if required at the visa application process. If he is caught lying to American immigration if he is lucky he will merely be put on the next flight home (at his own expense) however there is the possibility that he will face charges in America for not declaring it and I have no doubt that no insurance policy will cover those legal expenses.

As a final thought, if he is turned away at American Immigration for lying to them I would suspect that in this modern day computerised society his name will suddenly be added to other black lists too causing even more problems.

At the end of the day, if he can demonstrate that this was a one-off mistake many years ago and that the offence was possession and not supplying drugs he might just get a sympathetic hearing.

Either way, he would know now before the holiday is booked.

Good luck, I hope you manage to get there as America has some amazing places to visit.

mgdavid

MentalMinnie wrote: »

That's uncalled for. He was young and stupid.
.......

at 28 he is still young....

claire16c

Im sure someone else posted on here not long ago about having a criminal record for theft and they came back to say they had got their visa sucessfully.

Of course every case is judged on its own.

Im not sure how long the visa lasts.