The reason for the refusal was my son's criminal record for a minor offence back in 1994. But, as this conviction is now ''spent'', we were under the impression that he did not have to declare it on the US entry form.

It now appears that the US does not recognise the UK's Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 in relation to criminal records and spent convictions. It seems that the information the US authorities hold is based on an enhanced search of the UK Criminal Records Bureau database, which shows all convictions.

We are particularly unhappy with Trailfinders' advice on the matter. Its ''important information'' section on visas declares that you cannot use the US Visa Waiver Scheme "if you have a criminal record". We believe this should say, "if you have ever had a criminal record". This would have prompted us to check our son's status in more detail.

We have unsuccessfully tried to recover our son's costs through Trailfinders and our solicitor has told us he does not believe court action would succeed.

Naturally, we are very unhappy with this outcome and would like to highlight our son's plight to help other readers.

Gill Charlton replies
You are wrong to suggest that the US immigration authorities have access to the UK's Criminal Records Bureau database. They do not. This has been confirmed to me by the Home Office. Obviously some information is shared about serious criminals but there is no way the US officials could have known of your son's spent conviction unless he had told them about it.

After speaking to you I realise this is exactly what has happened. Your son applied to the US Embassy in London for a travel visa in 1995 and told the authorities he had a criminal record. Because of this, and because the US authorities do not recognise spent convictions, he will now always have to obtain a visa to travel to the United States.