theForum » Travel » Travelling to the USA » Applying for a Visa » Travelling to Usa

Travelling to Usa

scotboy — Thu, 09 Mar 2017 20:03:50 GMT

Has anyone taken a chance and travelled to USA while on the register?

RE: Travelling to Usa

scotboy — Thu, 09 Mar 2017 20:03:50 GMT

I was granted an ESTA.......but the more I thought of it the less appealing it became,I didn't want to travel all the way to US and be refused entry.

RE: Travelling to Usa

Yankee — Sun, 26 Feb 2017 21:19:24 GMT

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[b]JohnL - 23 Feb 17 10:24 AM[/b]

Also interested in this, but from the point of view of someone who no longer has to register as of 3 months ago.Have family in USA and want to see them. I travelled to Malaysia last year with no problem whilst still on the register so don't think a green notice was put on me, but I did have a problem with a family holiday to Italy (few extra questions at Italian passport control), so suggests that I had an article 36/EU SIS notice put on me.Thinking of applying for an ESTA in the hope that all is ok, just worried about getting turfed off the plane in the UK or sent back when at border control in Florida...

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In theory when you provide advanced passenger information (API) to the airline, it will be scanned by the US authorities. If you flag up for any reason, the airline should prevent you boarding as they would be liable for the costs of flying you home if you are denied entry.

I'd apply for an ESTA anyway and see whether it gets approved - it doesn't guarantee entry but if it's rejected you can be fairly sure you're on a US database somewhere

RE: Travelling to Usa

JohnL — Thu, 23 Feb 2017 10:24:48 GMT

Also interested in this, but from the point of view of someone who no longer has to register as of 3 months ago. Have family in USA and want to see them. I travelled to Malaysia last year with no problem whilst still on the register so don't think a green notice was put on me, but I did have a problem with a family holiday to Italy (few extra questions at Italian passport control), so suggests that I had an article 36/EU SIS notice put on me. Thinking of applying for an ESTA in the hope that all is ok, just worried about getting turfed off the plane in the UK or sent back when at border control in Florida...

scotboy — Tue, 21 Feb 2017 20:53:03 GMT

Anyone any new information on travel to USA while on the register....I've posted before, I was granted an esta but decided not to go.

If you are granted an esta is it safe to go? I was concerned that once I registered my travel details the police would inform border control or

the American authorities and I would be stopped either from leaving or barred at the US side...thanks.

RE: Travelling to Usa

BenS — Thu, 01 Dec 2016 12:48:55 GMT

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[b]scotboy - 14 Oct 16 9:36 PM[/b]

Yankee, I did apply for an ESTA and it arrived a few weeks later

This itself is telling, because 95% of the time, a positive ESTA decision is made automatically within seconds.

Taking weeks would suggest that it may have been diverted for manual processing and that it was then decided by a human being to approve your application.

RE: Travelling to Usa

JohnL — Wed, 30 Nov 2016 16:23:08 GMT

Very interested to hear if anyone has successfully applied for an ESTA and travelled to the US trouble free after coming off the register. I came off it 12 months ago and may have to travel for a conference with my boss (so obviously very nervous and trying to get out of going...). PPU when I came off the register said that my Visor record would be archived but not deleted, so if a copper did a search it wouldn't likely flag as me previously having a visor record but it would state achieved rather than live. The HOWI (UK watch list) is linked to Visor. When I was on the register and travelled (before the article 38 notices started on us all after the UK joined SIS2, UKBF on return would see a flag but the EU countries didn't. So it prompts some questions - 1) am I still on the HOWI even though my Visor record is archived? 2) Has the U.K. ever shared my details with the US, meaning that my name and DoB etc may now be on a US watchlist? 3) If I change my passport and get a new passport number, if number 2 has happened would I still have problems with a new passport number? Quite worried about travelling to the US with the boss, if I get an ESTA at all! Since coming off the register I have travelled on holiday to Abu Dhabi and a few times to the EU without any problem either landing or on return, but it depends what the US does and doesn't know.

scotboy — Fri, 25 Nov 2016 16:26:21 GMT

rme123....have you had any replies regarding US travel? I have just returned from Dubai without any problems.

RE: Travelling to Usa

BenS — Thu, 27 Oct 2016 14:23:01 GMT

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[b]rme123 - 27 Oct 16 11:54 AM[/b]

I'd also be really interested to know if anyone else here has been to the US after their notification ended. It's inevitable that I will have to travel there as part of my job, and I seriously doubt the visa route would work out for me. It would be reassuring to know if anyone has made it through!

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Personally, once off the register, I would fly from another country (France, Germany, etc.), and not a connecting flight as part of the same journey. E.g. go to Paris "on holiday" then a few days later, go to the US on a return France-US flight. Basically to avoid letting the UK know that you are visiting the US, avoiding passing UK passport control on a trip to the US and having the UK telling the US on the sly about your record. I am cynical when it comes to the authorities taking you off the register automatically upon the expiry date of your order, and have heard stories of people still being stopped and asked the normal spiel after no longer being on the register, unless/until the police are explicitly asked to take them off it by the ex-offender or their solicitor.

I had previously recommended flying through Ireland (as they have US pre-screening on Irish soil, so once you arrive in the US it's like coming on a domestic flight and there is no passport control), but now Ireland and the UK have stated they are to share immigration data, so the Irish might know as much as the UK know about you (this https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/moving_country/moving_abroad/freedom_of_movement_within_the_eu/common_travel_area_between_ireland_and_the_uk.html released last week).

RE: Travelling to Usa

rme123 — Thu, 27 Oct 2016 11:54:46 GMT

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[b]scotboy - 23 Oct 16 5:15 PM[/b]

Thanks BenS.I think waiting until I no longer have to notify would be best.it would be interesting to know if anyone on the forum has been to US after their notification ended.

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scotboy — Sun, 23 Oct 2016 17:15:34 GMT

Thanks BenS.I think waiting until I no longer have to notify would be best.it would be interesting to know if anyone on the forum has been to US after their notification ended.

RE: Travelling to Usa

BenS — Mon, 17 Oct 2016 08:57:15 GMT

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[b]Yankee - 13 Oct 16 11:18 AM[/b]

Unless you jump on a p[lace and try, you'll never know - the worse that can happen is you get turned back and lose a few hours of your life flying.

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You would also be permanently barred from entering the US (both on an ESTA and a visa) if found out.

From reading online forums, it seems that people with criminal records have managed to enter the US with no problem. Don't know about SOR though. Personally I have not been since my conviction, and would wait until no longer required to tell the authorities whenever you're going abroad.

scotboy — Fri, 14 Oct 2016 21:36:11 GMT

Yankee, I did apply for an ESTA and it arrived a few weeks later that's why I was going to chance it,I had told the PPU that I was going to go and asked them various questions about travel to the USA unfortunately they couldn't give me any definite answers.
About six weeks before departure I had a visit from them and they told me it might not be a good idea as I might not get out of the UK, I asked how Homeland
Security would know and was told it was on my passport.
I decided not to go and went to Dubai instead not before checking out whether the Interpol Green Notice would apply to me and was told it would not, I went to Dubai and had no bother.

RE: Travelling to Usa

Yankee — Thu, 13 Oct 2016 11:18:40 GMT

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[b]scotboy - 21 Sep 16 7:40 PM[/b]

[quote]

[b]BenS - 19 Sep 16 7:54 AM[/b]

Thanks BenS I was going to chance it a couple of years ago but was warned off by PPU but not in a nasty way,I went to Dubai instead and had no problem so I'm assuming the digital mark doesn't apply to every country.I was a wee worried as my passport was scanned but nothing was said. Went toTorremolinos two weeks ago they didn't scan passport just a quick look and a wave through,no drama when I came back to UK.

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[b]scotboy - 17 Sep 16 9:06 PM[/b]

Has anyone taken a chance and travelled to USA while on the register?

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When you register your foreign travel with your local police, they put a digital "mark" on your passport, which is visible to the authorities of the country you are visiting (which is why they take a longer look at your passport when you get to their passport control). I imagine this would be no different for the US as it is for European countries that use the Schengen Information System (which the UK is part of despite not being in the Schengen zone).

For this reason, I would advise not to visit the US until you are off the register. EU countries might take a longer look but cannot (for now) legally forbid you from entering - quite the opposite for the US!

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No one knows exactly how the system works, but the comment about a digital mark is not correct.

When any border agent in any country swipes your passport, the number is checked against their own systems to see if any alerts flag up. In the case of the EU/EEA, your PPU raises an alert on SISII, which is an EU wide computer system linked to border control. Therefore, when you enter an EU country and they swipe your passport, the border official sees a flag on his screen that there is an alert. That's usually a section 36 alert which asks the border official to make a discrete check on who you're travelling with and where you are going to/from.

When you land in the US and they swipe your passport, the number is checked against US databases (FBI, Homeland Security etc.). Only if there is an alert on the US system would you be flagged up.

So the real question is this - do the UK provide information to the US systems? This is how it's meant to work - if your PPU considers you a risk and that the foreign country should be notified, they have to raise an Interpol green notice - this goes to every country including the US. Of course, some countries get the information but don't have the computer systems capable of processing or using it.

So in theory, you should only be flagged in the US if an Interpol notice is issued.

Now the scary bit. If you have to notify, you will be on the ViSOR database in the UK. This database is synced with the Home Office Warnings Index (HOWI) - this is the database that UK border use when they scan your passport back in the UK.

If you apply for a US visa, the US can ask to cross reference the details with HOWI. I don't know if the ESTA process can also do this. If you apply for an ESTA while you are notifying and get it, it would suggest that the link is not there.

And finally, you have to provide advanced passenger information to your airline before you fly to the US. The US and UK authorities screen this against their own databases. In theory, the US database would not have your information on it unless an interpol notice has been issued.

What we don't know as citizens, is what really goes on behind the scenes in the name of public protection. Despite the official rules, does the UK give ViSOR/HOWI data to the US to put into their databases?

Unless you jump on a p[lace and try, you'll never know - the worse that can happen is you get turned back and lose a few hours of your life flying.

scotboy — Wed, 21 Sep 2016 19:40:54 GMT

[quote]

[b]BenS - 19 Sep 16 7:54 AM[/b]

[quote]

[b]scotboy - 17 Sep 16 9:06 PM[/b]

Has anyone taken a chance and travelled to USA while on the register?

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RE: Travelling to Usa

BenS — Mon, 19 Sep 2016 07:54:08 GMT

[quote]

[b]scotboy - 17 Sep 16 9:06 PM[/b]

Has anyone taken a chance and travelled to USA while on the register?

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