Visa to USA

gabriel1980

I will be travelling to the USA in a few months. I know you have to apply for your visa online, but I have a slight concern that I will be rejected. Not because I have a criminal record, but because I was a permanent resident in the USA until 2006. Would previous permanent resident status have any bearing on being accepted/rejected for a VISA? I have searched google but cannot find anything that pertains to this.

Voyager2002

You know wrong: assuming you hold a UK passport you do not need a visa, but can travel under the visa waiver program. In order to do so, you apply online for an ESTA that gives you authorisation to use the visa waiver program. People who are not eligible to use this must visit a US embassy in order to obtain a visa.

I suggest that you visit the US embassy web site and look for the conditions governing eligibility for an ESTA.

sheramber

You need to apply for your ESTA as soon as possible as if you are not entitled to an ETSA , it can take months to get a visa. You need to visit the American Embassy and there can be a delay in getting an appointment

Voyager2002

sheramber wrote: »

You need to apply for your ESTA as soon as possible as if you are not entitled to an ETSA , it can take months to get a visa. You need to visit the American Embassy and there can be a delay in getting an appointment

Agreed, but before applying check the rules. No sense in applying (and paying) if you are not going to qualify.

gabriel1980

By VISA I meant the ESTA

Marmaduke123

Did you officially give up your permanent residence status, or has it merely lapsed because you have been out of the country for so long?

If it's all officially documented it appears there shouldn't be a problem. Not sure if you have simply " abandoned" your status. Information from a quick Google revealing threads on various forums.

always_sunny

gabriel1980 wrote: »

I will be travelling to the USA in a few months. I know you have to apply for your visa online, but I have a slight concern that I will be rejected. Not because I have a criminal record, but because I was a permanent resident in the USA until 2006. Would previous permanent resident status have any bearing on being accepted/rejected for a VISA? I have searched google but cannot find anything that pertains to this.

The only bearing would be if you are a current resident of the USA, though as you are a former (10 years) ago would not be a problem unless you were ejected from the country.

Just because you have a VWP doesn't mean you will automatically get an ESTA so the sooner you apply, the sooner you will know whether you need to do request an offline visa.

malkie76

I used to be a resident, and travel frequently to the US under the ESTA/VWP. Just apply online - there is no issue with being a previous resident.