+xHi everyone. My criminal record is as follows: 2000 reprimand for shoplifting (then aged 16) 2004 caution for shoplifting (then aged 20) Not so much as a parking ticket since. I have booked a family holiday to New York in 3 months time, staying for a week. I have completed the ESTA application honestly & it was accepted. I have since read that I should have applied for a visa. I’m really unsure what to do. Apply for visa & risk being turned down- if I need a waiver of admissibility I will not be able to go on the holiday. Or do I risk travelling under ESTA. Have we any concrete answers as to whether US customs have access to the UK PNC or whether anything would flag up if my fingerprints are taken? Many thanks in advance. The way I understand it is that visas are issued by the State Department, who go by answers to the questions. The actual border control is run by Homeland Security, who are the people who want to know your full history. Either way, the ESTA is issued by the State Department, and their questions are there to weed out people who need a visa. If you can answer the questions truthfully and still get an ESTA then that is good enough. On the Unlock website here, they advise working from the questions. The Unlock page here says that the government has confirmed that they don't share that sort of information with the US or anyone else. The recent news about sharing information was about US citizens convicted in the UK and UK citizens convicted in the US. You might well get a visa in time to go to New York, but why take up all that time and money to get something the US authorities have already said you don't need?
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If you are to punish a man retributively you must injure him. If you are to reform him you must improve him. And men are not improved by injuries. (George Bernard Shaw)
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