In August '08 my wife and I booked a holiday to L.A in March '09. As alot of people were foolish to do, we did not realise the level of difficulty there would be in obtaining a Visa for me to travel with my criminal convictions.
I have a conviction dated back to 2002 for Theft, deception, fraud. I stole a Giro cheque and stupidly cashed it. There isn't a day that goes by where i dont regret my actions on that day, i was living in a hostel after being homeless and it was the lowest point in my life.
I sorted myself out shortly afterwards and have been fully independant since, i am a model employee and have a very good job.
I declared this conviction to the U.S embassy in London aswell as obtaining an ACRO Police certificate before my embassy appointment. After my interview the declared my application had been declined but they would refer it to the DHS in Washington for approval.
The appointment was Nov 7th '08. I am aware that these things can take up to 12 weeks (more in some cases) of which it has only been about 9 weeks so far. I phoned the embassy this morning but as expected they cant track applications and are waiting to hear back from DHS, they advised me to phone back towards the end of this month to obtain an email address if i hadn't heard anything by then.
My main concern is really wether my Visa will be granted based on the convictions i disclosed??
I would not take the risk of boarding the plane and lying as i sure i'll get caught and it's meant to be our honeymoon as we married in in December '08.
Has anybody had a similar situation happen to them or can anyone offer any advice on the likelyhood of getting a Visa in tiime??
It seems to be kind of hazy as to whether or not they grant it, it's completely at their discretion and they reserve the right to deny any visa application. It seems crazy to me that they would deny you a tourist visa over such a minor offence. If you had been convicted of drug smuggling, murder, armed robbery or something of equal severity I could see it happening but for you it seems unlikely. It's really hard to say though as I guess it could go either way. It must suck hanging on the end of a line like this, I know how you must feel. I'm currently waiting for important disclosure documents to come back, for my job and until then I cant be officially employed and it's looking like i won't get paid at the end of january, which sucks when you've got rent and bills to pay etc etc
but anyway, I really hope that it comes back positive and you have an awesome honeymoon.
the laws for vistas are very hard, this is very noticeable when it comes to musicians trying to cross over from canada to us, and vice versa. lots of bullshit, and if it's a work related visa, more bullshit.
one particular pain, is in canada if you're under a certin age your crimes will not be diclosed, young offenders act it's called. you can have your name in the papers, you can't be charged as an adult either.
the united states of America looks at all drug crimes, disclosed or not disclosed. they do not allow anyone with any drug related crimes, i think it's part of their war on drugs.
if you get drug charges as a child in canada, they are not disclosed, and as such cannot be pardoned. they don't exist. the united states looks at the charges and see that even after 5 years they are not pardoned.
even then after 5 years and a pardon they can even still deny visa if it's severe.
i am not 100% accurate on the whole system, because after 9/11 you can be on the no-fly list into usa, for any random reason and cannot check in advance if you're on that list. god help you that your plane doesn't make a stop off in any us controlled parts of the world, including puerto rico which, even thought to be a separate country, is united states.
i have heard of horror stories from friends about tour ships landing in there. they had drug charges from over 5 years ago that were pardoned. almost got stranded there.
to be honest, don't take this the wrong way, fuck going to usa,
scotlands nice... i dunno. it's easier to get to most countries then usa. they are nazi's, right? i have family living there with official documents for immigrations that got detained by homeland security in detention centers that do not follow habeas corpus, the right for legal representation. if you get into ANY legal troubles at all, even mistakenly, you will not be processed by police but by Homeland Security, AKA gestapo.
you will probably not get any trouble at all, but if you do, there's a system to take you out. it's a 3rd world country, treat it as such, even if it's technologically advanced.
__
Latest Songs of filth and taboo depravity SpankMyFilth on SoundCloud
She's got a nasty mouth... FREE DOWNLOADS
This post has been edited 1 time(s), it was last edited by Halph-Price: 20-01-2009 18:00.
sorry to hear that mate, i'm afraid i can't really give any advice as i haven't been to the US since i was like 4 years old, but it does seem really stupid to deny a visa based on such a small offence as has already been said
hope it works out with the honeymoon man (i'm getting married in aug and we may postpone the honeymoon if i can't get the bloody time off)
I'm praying that a positive response will come through from the DHS (Department of Homeland Security) in Washington with enough time get my passport stamped and sent back to me. I'd happily travel up to london as i get free train travel in my job just to speed up the process but judging from my previous contact with the US Embassy in London ( a bloody fortress!!) its by appointment only!
I would've chose a different holiday destination if i was clever enough to know the problems that would arise in applying fo this damn Visa!!
Originally posted by Halph-Price
...god help you that your plane doesn't make a stop off in any us controlled parts of the world, including puerto rico which, even thought to be a separate country, is united states.
i have heard of horror stories from friends about tour ships landing in there. they had drug charges from over 5 years ago that were pardoned. almost got stranded there....
??? explain
puerto rico , i always known this as a chill country with nice weather , do you mean the police is very bad there or the whole country is bad ?
Ez mate, it's kinda up to them. Can't really say either way.
When I was workin in the restaurant we used to do a yearly BBQ @ the American Embassy, me being sous-chef @ the time I was put forward to do it.
You had to agree to an FBI check which I was a tad nervous about as I haev a conviction from when I was 16 for attempted assault, carrying of deadly weapons and breach of the peace (very long story, I'd rather forget it, was a dumbarse teenager).
Needless to say, we got a fax back from the FBI stating that I had not and would not in future be accepted for entry into the American Embassy.
Whether that goes for entry into the country I'm not sure (not planning on going there anyway) and as your crime was a little less awful sounding maybe it'll be ok?
Anyway, best of luck mate and I tip my hat to ya 'n' all
All the best
__
Astrocyte - Kill em All, Track #10 from Team_174 "Off World" LP (FREE)
will do it now
hope it works out with the honeymoon man (i'm getting married in aug and we may postpone the honeymoon if i can't get the bloody time off)
