will convictions 21 years ago for theft shoplifting prevent the person trvelling to us for a hloiday

[vnbg24844]

a family member was convicted of shoplifting 21 years ago,and would like to travel to the us for a 6 days 3 in New York and three in Vegas. will the waiver be acceptable and if not will a b2 visa be allowed and will they be allowed entry to the us for a holiday. this person received fines, but never went to prison, and has never been to prison.

[Buenchico]

(2-part post):

According to the rules on the US Embassy website, anyone who has ever been arrested (even if they were totally innocent of any offence) or convicted for a criminal offence is ineligible to enter the USA under the Visa Waiver Program (using an ESTA). They must apply for a visa. (The process involves applying to the Association of Chief Police Officers and attending an interview at the US Embassy in London).

The USA does not recognise the UK's Rehabilitation of Offenders Act so, for their purposes, convictions never become 'spent'. The US Immigration and Nationality Act states that anyone who has ever been convicted of an offence of 'moral turpitude' is ineligible for entry to the USA. Theft is classed as moral turpitude. (There's an exemption from inadmissibility if the offence was convicted by a person under 18 more than 5 years ago). So (unless that exemption applies) the US Embassy must, in the first instance, refuse to issue a visa. (They have no choice. It's written into US law). However the matter can then be forwarded to Washington as an application for a 'waiver of ineligibility'.

[Buenchico]

ACPO normally take up to 10 working days to provide a police certificate. The current waiting period for an interview at the US Embassy is 15 days. The initial processing time is 4 days. The MINIMUM processing time for a waiver of ineligibility is 16 weeks. (I've read reports,here on AB, of such processing taking well over a year).

Most people around here would recommend that your family member should simply 'forget' about their conviction and enter the USA under the Visa Waiver Program (with an ESTA). The US authorities have no direct access to UK criminal records, so it's probably extremely unlikely that they'd find out about your family member's brush with the law. (However you should be made aware that one AB member has reported that US Immigration staff did seem to know about his criminal past. There can be no guarantees).

Chris