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.

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 

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...

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.

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.

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

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).

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!

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.