Flying to the usa

[boink]

Hi i was planning on making a trip to the usa at short notice, and wondered about a visa, ill only being staying 2 weeks at the most. i read on the us embassy site that when you buy your return plane tickets and if your from certain countries a visa is not required. however it also mentioned northern ireland citisens needed one, im just wondering if anyone xn shed some light on this as the page i found was quite confusing and seemed to contradict itself.

oh, im not planning on going as a package of any type, just planning on buying the tickets and going, if this makes a difference

[becky h]

If you have found any fights that suit when you want to go ring the company you found them with and they should be able to give you revelant infromation. If you do not need a visa then you can book the flights while your on the phone so you've sorted both out at once.

[auntiebertie]

Usually UK passengers with full UK passports fill out a visa waiver form on the plane and hand it in when they land.
You now have to have your photo taken and your fingerprints recorded when you land which makes for a lengthy immigration process so be prepared!

[Buenchico]

I'm confused by your post because there's no such thing as a 'citizen of Northern Ireland' as far as international law is concerned. You're a 'citizen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland' and should be treated the same as any other UK citizen. Further, I can find no reference to Northern Ireland on the US embassy website:
http://www.usembassy.org.uk/cons_new/visa/niv/ vwp.html

As long as you've never been arrested for, or convicted of, any offence (excluding minor motoring convictions), you should be eligible for the Visa Waiver Program (which just involves filling out a form on the plane).

If you've ever been arrested (even if you were completely innocent) or convicted, you're not eligible for the Visa Waiver Program and you're required to apply for a visa. This takes at least 5 months. See here:
http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/Travel/Question 289769.html

In practice, the US immigration authorities don't know about most minor offences, since they don't have direct access to UK criminal records. So many people get in by lying on the form. (If you declared an arrest or conviction when you filled the form in, immigration officials would have no choice but to refuse you entry). However, the UK authorities do pass on some information about convictions, so anyone with a conviction for a serious offence (or posibly even some minor offences involving drugs or sexual misconduct) might get caught out if they tried to lie on the form.

So, if you've led a 'blame-free' life - or if you've just never been caught! - you should have no problems getting into the USA. However, if you've had a 'troubled past', you need to think carefully about whether it's likely that the US authorities would have been made awa

[Buenchico]

Aagh. AB's done it again! (It keep cutti off the last part of posts).

However, I think my meaning is clear, so I won'rt bother with the last few words ;-)

Chris

[xanderma]

Just to follw up auntiebertie's reply - we had photos and fingerprints in Orlando, but there were no real delays at immigration, everything was quite speedy. I think it's just luck of the draw as to how many flights are coming in, and how long you're kept waiting - we were told all sorts of horrors ranging up to 4-hour waits to pass through, thankfully nothing so bad!

[Dee Sa]

Have you got a UK passport or an Irish passport ?
UK passport you will be okay just put your home address as somewhere in England, but if you have an Irish passport things might be different.
I remember a while back when I lived in Dubai a pal came over and we didnt give it a thought but she had an Irish passport and they would not admit her, it took us 12 hrs and a lot of begging and pleading for a local Sheik to sign her in.