Hi,
I have been to the USA 9 times in the last 7 years, i have a criminal record for theft which goes back 30 years now, i served 6 months in Borstal as a 15 year old but have been a model citizen since then, the 1st few times into the states was easy, i went to Florida in november 2010 the guy looked on the screen asked questions, then walked off and discussed something with another officer, came back and stamped the passport i was in, i went back last week to NYC with some friends as it was one of the parties birthday, i handed over my passport with a polite hello, the guy looked at it then me, scanned it, then asked have you ever been arrested? to which i replied Yes a long time ago, what was it for ? theft i said, what was the sentence? i said 6 months as i didnt think he would know what Borstal was.
He played around with the keyboard, and asked me to put my 1st fingers on the finger print scanner, then he put my passport in a clear envelope and said i would need more questions, and to follow him this i did, was told to take a seat, he past on my passport to another officer, who then passed it onto another,
He sat down and played on his keyboard, he then asked for my ESTA form (which i had completed 2 years ago) it expires next month, i told i didnt have it so he asked if i knew the 16 number to which i said no, but perhaps my partner had it as she had all the documents, travel insurance and such like, it was obviously easier for him to look up using the 16 part numbers to find me, he then called me over and asked if i had ever worked in the USA, to which i said no, i then mentioned that i had been the states just last november and in 2009 on my Esta, to which he replied welcome back and stamped the passport, upon getting up he said the reason for stopping me was due to my surname which is common, and that it flagged up on their system, i am not sure what to make of it as the 1st questioning me about being arrested makes me think they do infac