﻿<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"><channel><title>theForum » Travel » Travelling to the USA » Travelling on an ESTA  » Plan to travel on an ESTA having previously held a VISA?</title><generator>InstantForum 2016-2 Final</generator><description>theForum</description><link>https://forum.unlock.org.uk/</link><webMaster>theForum</webMaster><lastBuildDate>Fri, 17 Apr 2026 20:55:25 GMT</lastBuildDate><ttl>20</ttl><item><title>Plan to travel on an ESTA having previously held a VISA?</title><link>https://forum.unlock.org.uk/FindPost34030.aspx</link><description>In 2014 I travelled to the US on a non-immigrant holiday visa - I was granted a 10 year VISA, which is technically still in date but on a passport that has expired and I no longer have.&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;I believe that I never really needed a VISA, so I applied for an ESTA for my forthcoming trip, which &lt;span style="text-decoration: underline;"&gt;I have been granted.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;I was &lt;span style="text-decoration: underline;"&gt;cautioned&lt;/span&gt; for criminal damage (under £500 - private property) in 2006.&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;I am now concerned that when I go through US Border Patrol and get fingerprinted, it is going to alert staff of my previous trip to the US on the VISA (technically still in date)&amp;nbsp;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;If Border Patrol ask me about why I had a VISA (and now don't have one) what do I say?&amp;nbsp;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;I am very anxious about the situation, but genuinely believe I can honestly say that I have not been convicted of a crime that would rule me out of an ESTA. Looking at the list of crimes of moral turpitude I don't believe this fits the bill&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;Your advice and thoughts are extremely welcome. Should I apply for a VISA?&lt;aside class="text-right" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-align: right !important; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Verdana, geneva, lucida, &amp;quot;lucida grande&amp;quot;, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.33px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"&gt;&lt;div id="gpt-adslot-3" class="am-adslot" data-adtext="" data-google-query-id="COP9y8m8hoADFQzj7QodQakPPA" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; min-height: 250px;"&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/aside&gt;</description><pubDate>Thu, 13 Jul 2023 12:24:56 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>J23</dc:creator></item><item><title>RE: Plan to travel on an ESTA having previously held a VISA?</title><link>https://forum.unlock.org.uk/FindPost34037.aspx</link><description>&lt;div data-id="34030" class="if-quote-wrapper" unselectable="on" data-guid="1689246847981"&gt;&lt;a class="quote-para" unselectable="on" style="display: none;" href="#" data-id="34030" title="Move Cursor Below" contenteditable="false"&gt;&lt;span unselectable="on"&gt;+&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a class="quote-delete" unselectable="on" style="display: none;" href="#" data-id="34030" title="Delete Quote" contenteditable="false"&gt;&lt;span unselectable="on"&gt;x&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span unselectable="on" class="quote-markup"&gt;[quote]&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div unselectable="on" class="if-quote-header" contenteditable="false"&gt;&lt;div unselectable="on" class="if-quote-toggle-wrapper"&gt;&lt;a class="if-quote-toggle quote-link" href="#" data-id="34030" title=" "&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;span unselectable="on" class="quote-markup"&gt;[b]&lt;/span&gt;J23 - 11 Jul 23 11:48 AM&lt;span unselectable="on" class="quote-markup"&gt;[/b]&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="if-quote-message if-quote-message-34030"&gt;&lt;div class="if-quote-message-margin"&gt;In 2014 I travelled to the US on a non-immigrant holiday visa - I was granted a 10 year VISA, which is technically still in date but on a passport that has expired and I no longer have.&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;I believe that I never really needed a VISA, so I applied for an ESTA for my forthcoming trip, which &lt;span style="text-decoration: underline;"&gt;I have been granted.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;I was &lt;span style="text-decoration: underline;"&gt;cautioned&lt;/span&gt; for criminal damage (under £500 - private property) in 2006.&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;I am now concerned that when I go through US Border Patrol and get fingerprinted, it is going to alert staff of my previous trip to the US on the VISA (technically still in date)&amp;nbsp;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;If Border Patrol ask me about why I had a VISA (and now don't have one) what do I say?&amp;nbsp;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;I am very anxious about the situation, but genuinely believe I can honestly say that I have not been convicted of a crime that would rule me out of an ESTA. Looking at the list of crimes of moral turpitude I don't believe this fits the bill&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;Your advice and thoughts are extremely welcome. Should I apply for a VISA?&lt;aside class="text-right" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-align: right !important; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Verdana, geneva, lucida, &amp;quot;lucida grande&amp;quot;, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.33px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"&gt;&lt;div id="gpt-adslot-3" class="am-adslot" data-adtext="" data-google-query-id="COP9y8m8hoADFQzj7QodQakPPA" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; min-height: 250px;"&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/aside&gt;&lt;a class="if-quote-goto quote-link" href="#" data-id="34030"&gt;&lt;span class="goto"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;span class="quote-markup"&gt;[/quote]&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br/&gt;Well, if you don't have the passport anymore, you can't use it, obviously. However, if you disclosed your caution for the previous visa then they already know about it, so that might be an issue, but if it is an issue, why did they give you an ESTA? It sounds like you weren't arrested for an offence that resulted in serious harm to property, so it might be that they have seen your record and are OK with you having an ESTA this time. Having said that, you have a valid visa in your name, just not in your current passport. You could always email the embassy and ask them what to do, as if you comply with what they say, they can't hold that against you. They might say you have to transfer the visa to the new passport, but it should still be easier and quicker than making a new application, as you shouldn't need an interview.</description><pubDate>Thu, 13 Jul 2023 12:24:56 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>AB2014</dc:creator></item></channel></rss>