US visa for my UK DH

I have already searched the forum and couldn't find anything.  If this type of thing has already been discussed, please point me in the right direction....

I (US citizen) recently married my British DH.  I'm trying to figure out how to get him to the US.  We aren't planning to move there just yet, but we are planning a few trips to various places.  A normal person would be able to go to the US quite easily with just a British passport....but my DH has a criminal record (it was 10+ years ago).  It says on the US Embassy website that any foreigners wanting to travel to the US with a criminal record need to apply for a visa....which isn't a problem per se. 

My question is this....are we going to need to apply for a visa every time we want to go to the US (since the visa is only valid for a short period of time)?  Is there a way to make him a citizen or natualize him or something now that we are married...other than physically going to the US and living there? 

The thought has crossed my mind to just book a trip to the US and not worry about it....how are they going to know that he has a record?  But, it would be just my luck that we plan this wonderful trip and they deny him access into the US because of some international database that holds information about everyone from around the world.  My DH hasn't done anything like murder, rape, planning terrorist attacks or anything like that....so i'm pretty hopeful that they won't deny him access to the US full stop....but still.  We have to request a copy of his record, fill out two separate forms, schedule an interview (you can't apply for a visa by post if you have a record), go to the interview in london....and then wait 40+ days for them to review everything.  I don't want to have to go thru this process every single time we want to go to the US.  That's why i'm wondering if a) there is a way around it now that we are married and/or b) we can just get the visa once and he'll be ok every other time after that to travel without it.  It doesn't make much sense to me to apply for the visa to visit the US, and then have to go thru the entire process again when we want to visit again, especially since there hasn't been any changes in his record for 10+ years....

Anyone have any ideas?

Depending on what kind of crime he has done..even a visa won't get him in. We have a friend here that has a brother that was convicted of a drug crime and he wanted to go to the USA and he went and applied for a visa and it was denied.

So you need to speak to the US embassy. Call the hotline I know it cost a bit of money. Better to know definitly than not.

Good idea.  I just hope they have answers for me....especially since i'll have to pay to wait while on hold for them.

Anyone who has ever been arrested, for whatever reason, cannot travel under the Visa Waiver Program. 

newcomer link: http://london.usembassy.gov/cons_new/visa/niv/arrests_and_convictions.html [nonactive]

He needs to get a visa. 

Depending on what type of crime you do...you might not even get a visa....some crimes they just say NO!