usa visa????

[handbagqueen]

I really want to go to the USA next year on our honeymoon but I am confused about the visa req? I was int rouble with the police in 2000 and fined �300, I have been to the USA since and had no trouble but people are saying now that any passport which is issued after this october will req a visa if travelling the the States. How do you go about getting this.? once you have a visa do u have to get one each time you travel to the states or does it last a while? Will I be ok to travel there??
please help I am so confused with all the other web sites.

[dzug]

People are confusing you and themselves. If you have had no trouble visiting the US you will continue to have no trouble.

The change this October is that any NEW passport issued after then must be a biometric passport in order to qualify for visa free travel. The UK is on course to issue biometric passports by then - some have been issued already.

Your old passport will continue to be OK until it expires. When you renew it, you will automatically get a biometric one.

So you have nothing to worry about.

Biometric means it will contain a chip containing a digistised version of your photograph, maybe your fingerprints and an iris scan - not sure which of these are actually going to be there.

[Buenchico]

OFFICIAL ANSWER:
Irrespective of the type of passport you hold, you're not eligible for the Visa Waiver Program, so you must obtain a US visa prior to travel.
http://london.usembassy.gov/cons_new/visa/niv/ index.html

This involves making an appointment to attend the US Embassy, in London, for an interview. (The waiting time might be several weeks).

You must attend the embassy in person. (Postal applications are not accepted). The whole process takes most of a day. You'll either have to pay US$100, by debit/credit card, at the embassy or you'll be given a form to take to a local bank so that you can make a sterling payment.

The minimum time to hear whether you'll get a visa is '14 to 16 weeks'.

UNOFFICIAL ANSWER:
As Dzug states, if you got in before, there's no reason to think that you won't get in again.

Chris

[Dee Sa]

If you already have an entry stamp in your present passport just go for it, declare nothing.