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ESTA Travel with future husband...


ESTA Travel with future husband...

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RoxL
RoxL
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Hi all!  I think I already know the answer to this but just wanted to get this off my chest and get the personal advice......

I am getting married later in the year and going to Canada (2 nights) and USA (10 nights) on honeymoon.  Hopefully   My husband to be has previous convictions, a few drunk & disorderlies and one more unpleasant one but he only had a 6 month sentance and they were over 10 years ago.  They were also before he was married the first time round.  The reason this is pertinant is because he took his ex-wifes name when he got married due to family issues with his dad, so his record is also in his previous name.

Stupidly without thinking I sorted USA ESTAs, and the Canadian equivalent without even considering his convictions, cause he's not that person to me, and has always been honest, never hid any of it from me.

I had a panic attack on Friday when a friend of mine shared a news report about Trumps latest craziness on travel, thought I'd do some reading and read myself into a right state!

It sounds from what I've read on here as the UK doesn't share police database info routinely with the US we should be fine?  I spoke to him about it and he hadn't realised I hadn't declared his convictions but is happy given the no sharing of info thing to go for it.  I considered the apply for a proper visa route, but I am worried that given he has an approved ESTA (my fault) it would look really dodgy applying for a visa and would likely result in a decline if the embassy clocked the initial lack of disclosure.........

What's your guys thoughts / experiences?  Thank you so much, I'm so worried about what I've inadvertantly done here!!
Debbie Sadler
Debbie Sadler
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RoxL - 13 Mar 17 6:31 PM
Hi all!  I think I already know the answer to this but just wanted to get this off my chest and get the personal advice......

I am getting married later in the year and going to Canada (2 nights) and USA (10 nights) on honeymoon.  Hopefully   My husband to be has previous convictions, a few drunk & disorderlies and one more unpleasant one but he only had a 6 month sentance and they were over 10 years ago.  They were also before he was married the first time round.  The reason this is pertinant is because he took his ex-wifes name when he got married due to family issues with his dad, so his record is also in his previous name.

Stupidly without thinking I sorted USA ESTAs, and the Canadian equivalent without even considering his convictions, cause he's not that person to me, and has always been honest, never hid any of it from me.

I had a panic attack on Friday when a friend of mine shared a news report about Trumps latest craziness on travel, thought I'd do some reading and read myself into a right state!

It sounds from what I've read on here as the UK doesn't share police database info routinely with the US we should be fine?  I spoke to him about it and he hadn't realised I hadn't declared his convictions but is happy given the no sharing of info thing to go for it.  I considered the apply for a proper visa route, but I am worried that given he has an approved ESTA (my fault) it would look really dodgy applying for a visa and would likely result in a decline if the embassy clocked the initial lack of disclosure.........

What's your guys thoughts / experiences?  Thank you so much, I'm so worried about what I've inadvertantly done here!!

Hi RoxL

Welcome to theForum. 

From what you've said it looks as though 'officially' your future hubby might have needed to apply for a Visa.  

However, as you're  already aware, the UK does not  generally share any criminal record information with the US and therefore, unless he discloses his record to an Immigration Officer you should be OK. The US can request information from Interpol but they'd need to have a really good reason to do so (for example have concerns that he'd committed an offence in the US or was likely to do so). 

If he applies for a visa now having already applied for an ESTA, this could raise concerns. However, if you're looking to live or work in the US at any stage in the future, it's probably worth dealing with the oversight now. I imagine it would be easier to explain the mistake if you haven't used the ESTA rather than have to try to explain why you have. You'd probably need to travel on the ESTA for any future holidays.

We hear from many people who travel on an ESTA when they should have applied for a visa without any consequences. Likewise we do hear from those who, when randomly questioned by an Immigration Officer have disclosed their conviction and are sent back to the UK immediately.

I think you've probably got a good idea of the route you're going to take - all I'd say is also take into account your longer term plans rather than this one visit.

Hope this helps but would be good to hear what others experiences have been.

Debs 

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Edited
7 Years Ago by Deb S
serpico
serpico
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Deb S - 14 Mar 17 9:02 AM
RoxL - 13 Mar 17 6:31 PM
Hi all!  I think I already know the answer to this but just wanted to get this off my chest and get the personal advice......

I am getting married later in the year and going to Canada (2 nights) and USA (10 nights) on honeymoon.  Hopefully   My husband to be has previous convictions, a few drunk & disorderlies and one more unpleasant one but he only had a 6 month sentance and they were over 10 years ago.  They were also before he was married the first time round.  The reason this is pertinant is because he took his ex-wifes name when he got married due to family issues with his dad, so his record is also in his previous name.

Stupidly without thinking I sorted USA ESTAs, and the Canadian equivalent without even considering his convictions, cause he's not that person to me, and has always been honest, never hid any of it from me.

I had a panic attack on Friday when a friend of mine shared a news report about Trumps latest craziness on travel, thought I'd do some reading and read myself into a right state!

It sounds from what I've read on here as the UK doesn't share police database info routinely with the US we should be fine?  I spoke to him about it and he hadn't realised I hadn't declared his convictions but is happy given the no sharing of info thing to go for it.  I considered the apply for a proper visa route, but I am worried that given he has an approved ESTA (my fault) it would look really dodgy applying for a visa and would likely result in a decline if the embassy clocked the initial lack of disclosure.........

What's your guys thoughts / experiences?  Thank you so much, I'm so worried about what I've inadvertantly done here!!

Hi RoxL

Welcome to theForum. 

From what you've said it looks as though 'officially' your future hubby might have needed to apply for a Visa.  

However, as you're  already aware, the UK does not  generally share any criminal record information with the US and therefore, unless he discloses his record to an Immigration Officer you should be OK. The US can request information from Interpol but they'd need to have a really good reason to do so (for example have concerns that he'd committed an offence in the US or was likely to do so). 

If he applies for a visa now having already applied for an ESTA, this could raise concerns. However, if you're looking to live or work in the US at any stage in the future, it's probably worth dealing with the oversight now. I imagine it would be easier to explain the mistake if you haven't used the ESTA rather than have to try to explain why you have. You'd probably need to travel on the ESTA for any future holidays.

We hear from many people who travel on an ESTA when they should have applied for a visa without any consequences. Likewise we do hear from those who, when randomly questioned by an Immigration Officer have disclosed their conviction and are sent back to the UK immediately.

I think you've probably got a good idea of the route you're going to take - all I'd say is also take into account your longer term plans rather than this one visit.

Hope this helps but would be good to hear what others experiences have been.

Debs 

Are you saying? If convictions are spent you do not need to declare them on an ESTA application on line?
BenS
BenS
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serpico - 25 Mar 17 5:36 AM

Are you saying? If convictions are spent you do not need to declare them on an ESTA application on line?

Officially, you do need to declare them (the US has no concept of "spent"), unofficially no you don't; they have no way of accessing UK criminal records unless they do a specific Interpol request (as Deb said, they need very good grounds for doing so, not just a random check) or you volunteer the information.
Edited
7 Years Ago by BenS
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