Having a bit of a discussion at the gym this afternoon and I thought I'd mention it on here. I know there are some well traveled people on here and it would be interesting to hear your opinions and thoughts.
Right... one of the boys wants to go to America on holiday.
He has a spent conviction for a drug possession charge.
For non UK board members that means that after five years in the UK. His conviction is wiped clean and he can say he has no criminal record when applying for jobs etc.
(Unless working with children and some other circumstances.) This does not apply to America however where no 'spent' conviction system is in place. So he can't get the normal ESTA visa from the UK, legally.... Anyway he has two options -
1. Wing it and just turn up with the ESTA
2. Apply for some special visa, that involves an interview in London or Belfast, copies of court papers and surrendering his passport to the US Embassy while they ponder it. If unsuccessful in this process he is then banned for life for America.
Option 2 would be the sensible route to go down but somewhat expensive and inconvenient for our man. Hence the temptation to 'wing it'.
None of us have been to America for some time. How mental has it got since 9/11 to get into America ?
Do you think Officer Cheeseburger in some airport will have access to UK criminal records when he swipes a passport ?
