US Visa

[bexbradders]

I have booked my Honeymoon in Florida and it wasnt until we had paid the deposit and booked the holiday that myself and my fiance were told that he would need a visa - he has a conviction for Affray and received a 2 year suspended sentence, this was over 8 years ago. Would he be refused a Visa for the US?

[Buenchico]

If your fianc� simply 'forgets' about his conviction, he'll almost certainly get into the USA under the Visa Waiver Program. (The US authorities have no direct access to UK criminal records, so their immigration staff wouldn't know about his conviction).

If he'd rather do things 'by the book' and apply for a Visa, the following applies:

1. The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act does not apply to US visa applications. So convictions are never regarded as 'spent'. However . . .

2. The US immigration service seems mainly (solely?) to be concerned with crimes involving 'moral turpitude'. Affray doesn't come into this category, so it's unlikely that your fianc�'s conviction would be a bar to him obtaining a visa.

Your main concern might relate to whether there's enough time to get a visa. The police have up to 40 days to provide your fianc� with a copy of his police record. While
for it, he'd need to book an appointment at the US embassy in London. The post next to yours is from someone who claims that he can't get an appointment until June, but that's at variance with the information on the embassy website which says the current waiting time is 26 days:
http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/wait/tempvis itors_wait_result.php?post=London&x=49&y=20

Some people seem to get their visas within a few days but others seem to wait for several months. The embassy website indicates that a total delay of 12 weeks might occur in some cases:
http://london.usembassy.gov/cons_new/visa/niv/ index.html
However, some AB contributors have stated that they've waited much longer.

Chris

[JonnoGenie]

Yes

[bexbradders]

We dont travel until 2009 i was wondering whether it was worth paying the �100 plus the travel expenses if this isnt really needed

[JonnoGenie]

I still think in this case that you might not get a visa. I say this because to get a two year suspended sentence, I would have thought that the affray would have to have been more than a bit of fisticuffs in the street.

You don't want to get into the Catch 22 situation of applying for a visa, when you don't really have to, being turned down, and then finding that in fact you could have got in legitimately on the Visa Waiver, but now can't (this has happened to a couple of people here, and it is horrible to witness)

If I were you I'd say you have two choices.
- Be completely clear of what this affray was. Is there anything else on his police record? Any additional records will not be positive. You can judge whether you can get in on the Visa Waiver scheme by seeing if what has been done, amounts to moral turpitude, by using the US's own Foreign Affairs visa manual, here...
http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/86 942.pdf
It is not the easiest of reads. Since your honeymoon is going to such an important event for you, if you are still in any doubt, it could be worth engaging an immigration lawyer for an hour and get their opinion/advice (perhaps over the internet from the US, you will find plenty visa Google).

- Option two, is 'forgetthing the record' and then bricking it right until you you go through the airport. Not exactly a relaxing start to the honeymoon though...

[bexbradders]

If we travel under the visa waiver i have heard that we need to be fingerprinted, therefore wouldnt the US immigration find out about his conviction and we would be sent home anyway?