the big apple at xmas

Welcome to the land of the free, my friend!
Certainly, the border guards, who 'welcome you' to the US of A welcome you with a stern look & a loaded side-arm, not a 'howdy-do'.
There is mounting criticsism of their stance, but 911 gives them carte-blanche to be omnipotent & armed, not welcoming. Anyone who visits the American embassy in London, even if its for just a visa will be treated in much the same manner. Rude & bullying with a gun on the hip.
The Police of the world can very easily become the bullies of the world.
I'd still say its a good place to go, once you've got through the airport.
Matt.

UPDATE:

Seems theres no easy way around it ! according to the us embassy in london
even if your previous conviction is as trivial as a driving offence or as mines a football related "crime" you definatly have to go to your local police stn and get a form for : SUBJECT ACCESS STATEMENT (which must be no more than 6 months old)
then make an appointment to go along to be interviewed at the embassy to apply for a visa which could then take around 8 weeks.
all in all from start to finish could take about 3-4 months before you actually get the visa. according to the embassy without this access to the us will be denied.
I DOUBT IF ILL BOTHER NOW !!
scotty

I find this very hard to believe. I cannot imagine that all the people with minor offences get turned back, because this would happen every single day!! I understand what the rules are, but I don't think that they would be implemented unless you give them good cause, or it was something more serious.

I've just remembered my carpenter, who I use a lot, once went to prison for one year for buglary when he was young - over 20 years ago. He is always going to the States and in fact has only just come back after being there for a couple of months. He seems convinced that records are clear after say 5 years, so he considers that now he has nothing against him. It has certainly never caused him any problems. I really think you are worrying over nothing. Personally, I certainly wouldn't make them aware of it as they may not actually have the means to find out about it if it was yonks ago. If you bring it up now now write it in your records.

rasher,

like you i would just say bollox and go BUT my missus is a born worrier and with my luck they could refuse me entry at xmas then my life would be hell and vacation ruined. SO heres what you MUST do according to the us embassy in london to make sure you get in trouble free. the passports now have barcodes so they can tell immediatly at airports if youve lied on the form on the plane.
get new access visitor form from your local nick £10. could take 4 weeks
book appointment at embassy in advance $100 non refundable.
download visa application forms.
download and fill in non immigrant app forms
us suppliment visa form
download machine readable visa app form (barcoded)
download and print receipts. confirm appointment in advance.
take: passport all forms ,photos, and all above forms.
queue on specified date not before 15 mins specified time.
do not take rucksack or backpack, mobiles or ipods etc.
and after all that you just might get a visa in 2-4 weeks.
by which time all the cheap holiday packages will have gone up by 50%.
great eh !!

rendered you all speechless
me too !!

But what if all records of your past has been erased or lost? How long ago was it? I can't help but think that dragging it all up again is only going to get you a life-long black mark, and this time with modern technology, it's going to stay with you.
Why not go on your own in the next few weeks for a weekend just to try it out and see what happens? Then, if they don't bat an eyelid, book the break for December.
I tend to think that if you're bold it'll be alright, but if you expect problems then you end up inviting them.
You're not seriously suggesting never visiting the USA in your life because of some stupid football stunt? It doesn't equate! We only have one life and we have to do everything we can in the time we have (except get arrested).

How long ago was the indiscretion?

Remember how the Soham chappy had his relatively recent incidents forgotten

pitch encrouchment october 2002 and its definitely on my record.
court appearance with a fine but no ban etc.

p.s. im not saying i wont ever go near the states again. believe me i want to go BUT it just seems a helluva pallava for a short visit.
theres rumours that the yanks may relax these visa laws for us brits soon. but then again its only a rumour.

relatively recent - good chance that the authorities are still using the same computer system today and have not lost data as they migrated to a new system.

Looks that way. What a shame, and all for such a silly mistake.

quote:

it did go to court where i was fined for "pitch encrouchment"

Don't worry New York and L.A. are miles apart.
(I'll get my coat)

Have not read all the post here yet but did spot the "its a bit like London" I found this to be totally wrong! Its like London turned up to eleven - you will have a brilliant time.

Martin

thats IF i ever get there

Someone I know has unknowingly travelled to the USA 3 times on a WVP.Having been arrested and cleared of an offence,not realising this non-offence would result in needing a special restricted visa.

the decision has been made !!
the missus is right -im not giving in easily.
went to cop shop and had a chat which resulted in me giving them £10 to get this access permit thingy (could take 4 weeks)-although i already have a disclosure form which was recently issued to allow me access to schools (wont go into that but its for my job)
showed them several I/Ds
phoned us embassy and made an appointment for 29th august another $100 !! YES $100 - NON REFUNDABLE ! (could take another 4-8 weeks for decision).
downloaded all forms (there are 4) then after 2 hours of carefully answering all questions went to local woolworths to get photos done (another £4)
SO HOPEFULLY BY AROUND LATE SEPTEMBER: i should know IF i can book the holiday which would then have gone up in price by several hundred quid !
now all this has made me rather bitter for these reasons................
1, ive been to the us twice before
2, its becoming time consuming
3, paid out around £65 and may still be refused entry.
4, feckin terrorists seem to have NO trouble getting around the world.
5, the yanks are supposed to be our friends/allies - they click their fingers and we jump ! did we put a block on them when the ira were terrorising us !!

end of moan......BUT DONT CALL ME A QUITTER ! I STILL WANT TO GO.
scotty -

scotty - i have a feeling it will all work out. it's all the same for us here, dealing w/ our fekkin' gov't the keyword seems to be "nonrefundable." now you'll have to somehow put up w/ new yorkers - ! know what you mean about the ira - most of their $$ came from the u.s., it seems. best of luck

thanks fidelio and i honestly wasnt yank bashing. as i said ive been to the states twice and had a great time and found the americans very hospitable.
scotty

will keep you all informed of developments.

i read the thread derek mentioned a good few weeks back , and someone posted on there saying that the american authorities had no access to our criminal records held by our authorities
heres one for you scotty , i know someone who was arrested in the states 2001 , pleaded guilty by post ,was fined and upon another holiday in 2004 was asked to return to court for fingerprints to be taken as first set was held by police .
after fingerprints judge said " have a nice holiday "

neil

knowing my luck itll be "have a nice custodial sentence" !

Just keep remembering what a great time you'll have:

cheers rasher

Just want to motivate you

to be honest i dont need motivating as ive done as much as possible and can only now wait and see. (appointment on 29th aug)
does anyone know how long a visa lasts ? hope its bloody longer than a year ! wouldnt want to go through this comedy everytime i want to visit the u.s.