travel to usa

hubbys mate is planning on going to america, (las vegas) however he has a fairly recent gbh charge. Will they stop him from entering the us?  is he going to need to apply for a visit visa?

I've been researching this because stupid me got caught driving slightly over the limit (alcohol) the other week and I'm in the process of applying for a US student visa. What was previously a simple 1-day process of going to the US embassy and waiting in line for a quick interview has now become a 4-month visa application process.

Basically, the US embassy say that anyone that has been arrested or convicted for anything, whether charged or not needs to get a visa in order to travel to the US and should not use the visa waiver program. Unfortunately, if you have an arrest or conviction, you should also apply for a visit visa 4 months before you travel in order for it to be processed in time.

The VWP I-94 form has a question on it about being arrested or convicted for a crime involving moral turpitude and if you tick 'yes' they may not let you into the US. Something like DUI is not considered moral turpitude so technically I could tick no if I used the VWP, however GBH may be considered a CIMT (you can check on Wikipedia or a similar site) and he may not get into the US on the VWP. If he ticked no to the question and then the GBH charge came up on the system at US immigration, he would most likely be deported and then possibly banned from entering the US for life (it is much more serious to lie on the form than to admit the crime to the IO and may result in permanent exclusion from the country).

It would be best for him to take a look at the US Embassy site or call a US immigration lawyer to find out what to do, but the most likely outcome is that he will have to apply for a visit visa (which may or may not be granted).

thats crap. I dont know of any other country that does that.

I read somewhere that a guy (from UK) got arrested for having pot on him 20 some odd years ago ,served his time and has never been in trouble with the law since..and even he was denied a visit to the US!

i have a minor offence from when i was 17 , here in the UK it is spent , but under US law that does not matter and i had to get a visitors visa to go and see hubby for the first time ever.

Some people go and dont declare, but with the visa process i dont want anything to come back on us, so i am being totally honest.

Ksand24,

I'm utterly shocked that you have been done for DD!

I bet it was the case you had a glass/drink and 'thought' you'd be safe by the time you came to drive but proved to be just over. Similar has happpend to me when drinking knowing I have to drive soon after - luckily I haven't been stopped, but I now only stick to drinks I know the strength of if I have to drive later. I tend to always have something to eat as well just to help absorb the alscohol and always have a glass of water before leaving. Although the food and water intake might only be marginal in helping 'dilute' the alcohol, I just do it in case it's enough for being 'just over' the limit and just under. Good luck with getting the charge sorted out though - hope they don't make it stick as a full DD charge...

My first visit to the US after Sept 11th and I got to the immigration officers section and I was quite nervous and constantly telling myself naa i'll be ok. I went through with no issues at all! being the wrong skin colour at that time wasn't too good for being in the US after all the stuff I heard and saw on telly etc...

I do have an ex work colleague who is a Hell's Angel biker - 95% of the time he's as good as gold and he's a really nice guy - however 5% of the time if he was in a bad mood sparks flew and I would give just as good as I got! he announced one day he'd be off on holiday to see friends in the US. 2 days later he was back at work and I was surprised - he basically was 'clean' in terms of any convictions etc, but at immigration in JFK i think, security and customs pulled him aside right away and just plonked him on the next flight back! he was questioned and all that, but from his appearance and wanting to meet up with bikers from clubs in the US, they just flatly refused him entry! - he lost quite a bit of money in terms of connecting flights, accomodation etc too.

Not so sure if they can do that based simply on suspicion ? but in that case, obviously they can.

for the OP - I think you'd need to research this just like Ksand24 is having to do - maybe support it with good character references etc if needs be. You can take the risk of course just like lilmrsmullen says - if the traveller is someone just visiting the US for a holiday and has no ties there etc, then IF they get caught they'll just be not allowed to visit in the future - if you / traveller are someone with ties in the US - always declare as you dont want to be permanently denied entry into the US.

DtM! West London & Slough UK!

I bet it was the case you had a glass/drink and 'thought' you'd be safe by the time you came to drive but proved to be just over. Similar has happpend to me when drinking knowing I have to drive soon after - luckily I haven't been stopped, but I now only stick to drinks I know the strength of if I have to drive later. I tend to always have something to eat as well just to help absorb the alscohol and always have a glass of water before leaving. Although the food and water intake might only be marginal in helping 'dilute' the alcohol, I just do it in case it's enough for being 'just over' the limit and just under. Good luck with getting the charge sorted out though - hope they don't make it stick as a full DD charge...

You know, I still can't believe it happened - when I passed my driving test 6 years ago I swore I would never get in a car if I had been drinking and I never did - until 2.5 weeks ago, when I went out for a night out with my friends and a number of circumstances led to me getting in my car at 3.15am and driving along 3 roads before I got stopped. It had been almost 4 hours since I'd had a drink, I'd been walking out in the cold air for 90 minutes and thought the alcohol was out of my system (if I had known I was over the limit, I would never had got in the car) - unfortunately it wasn't.

The stupidest thing was that the only reason I was even near my car at that point in time was because I had arranged to stay the night at my friend's house so that I wouldn't drink and drive! Even worse, when I was pulled over, I had only been in the car for 3 minutes and was less than 100 yards from my destination.

Unfortunately, my urine test results came in today and they were over the limit (although not by much) so I will be charged in a couple of days time and will go to court in about 10 days. I will get an automatic 12-month ban and a fine of anything up to £700!

Hopefully though (as long as I get my visa), I will be leaving the country in 4 months and will be living in the US for 4+ years, so the licence ban will only affect me until Christmas. Also, after I've finished my PhD and return home, the conviction will be just about spent on my record here, so my only major worry will be car insurance costs and lack of a clean licence until 2018.

for the OP - I think you'd need to research this just like Ksand24 is having to do - maybe support it with good character references etc if needs be. You can take the risk of course just like lilmrsmullen says - if the traveller is someone just visiting the US for a holiday and has no ties there etc, then IF they get caught they'll just be not allowed to visit in the future - if you / traveller are someone with ties in the US - always declare as you dont want to be permanently denied entry into the US.

After 2 weeks of research regarding visas, I've come to the conclusion that my DD will hopefully not result in a visa refusal as the only grounds they can refuse on are 'criminal conviction' (moral turpitude or controlled substances) or 'mental disorder and harmful behaviour as a result of alcohol abuse' as assessed by a panel physician. DD isn't considered a CIMT so that shouldn't apply and I don't have a mental disorder or an alcohol problem, so I ought to be fine on both counts (the other annoying thing about what happened to me is that I hadn't had a single drop of alcohol in the 3 weeks before the incident, and I haven't had a drop since).