Hi I have always wanted to go to America and I have a family holiday booked in may 2026, I have one previous conviction for stalking in June 2020, because of this when I done my esta visa form recently I put no on the do you have any criminal convictions question. My ESTA visa got approved in about 1 hour and it looks all good.

However my brother is concerned that they will still find out about my record and deny me entry is there still a good chance for them to find out about my record by looking on the internet about me for example or am I very likely to get through if I act normal at the immigration desk when flying. Any advice would be appreciated as I also know they take fingerprints at the immigration desk.

What makes you think they have the time or resources to check out every single ESTA applicant from all the countries that use the system? They don't have access to our criminal records system, so unless you are arrested while you are there, or break down and confess at immigration on arrival, they won't know. There is no link between your passport and your criminal record.

=========================================================================================================

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)

On the time and resources point. I would assume that any such checks could be automated, if they wanted to. Using AI chatbots they could find details of a conviction in seconds, if it is the public domain. But that does not mean they will necessarily bother looking. The rumours around them checking 5 years of peoples social media history, would also rely on someone being curious enough to check, but in theory could be reduced to an automated search for certain key words.

There is also the 5 eyes intelligence sharing to consider. The USA does share details of all its SO with other countries. Britain, so far as I know, does not return the favour.

In the case of European ETIAS, they list all the various databases that they can check automatically online. Individual countries criminal record systems are not checked, presumably because they are not linked together. But in theory, if they had the money, they could link them all together and search them all. Who knows if that will happen in future.

I'd have to say that the USA doesn't share details of all its SOs with other countries. There was a notorious case earlier in the year where it emerged that one of the defendants was an SO in the USA, but his record had been sealed. Possibly a one-off, but you never know.

=========================================================================================================

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)

We also have to consider that the US system is very different to our own - States can have their own sexual offences registers/notification requirements and some States implement policies of publishing public notices of certain groups of offenders. 

The UK does not routinely share criminal record data with other countries. The passport "marker" some refer to is only seen by UK Border Officials. Outside of this, the only mechanism for disclosure of conviction information would be an Interpol Green Notice - which, according to the College of Policing, should only be issued for offenders classed as posing a "High or Very High" Risk of Serious Harm (ROSH) score, or to any offender travelling to a Section 172 country. The College of Policing says that officers should assess individually whether green notices are needed for cases involving Low/Medium ROSH individuals, but that these should only be issued where there is evidence to suggest the offender is travelling with the intention to commit an offence.

Travelling abroad | College of Policing

To the OP: you stated your conviction is for stalking and was in 2020 - so I assume you are of course not subject to any sexual offence notification requirements, for example, that might require you to notify travel abroad. Whether or not you are managed as a "MAPPA Nominal" will depend on the legislation that was in force when you were convicted and whether the police may have had concerns to enable Category 3 MAPPA registration. In any event, if you're not subject to notification requirements, the police would have no information about your travel abroad, and so of course wouldn't notify the Americans of your criminal record. We also don't share biometric information with the US - so I wouldn't worry about the fingerprints issue.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

All views, opinions & contributions are my own and do not represent the views of Unlock unless specifically stated.

If the US authorities ever find out that an ESTA was granted on false information then the applicant would be banned from the US for life. I assume you've decided to take a gamble despite knowing this, but it's something for readers to bear in mind.

Hi everyone thanks for the advice it’s much appreciated I thought they wouldn’t have any way of checking and seeing as my ESTA has been granted I am confident that I will be able to get in in next may so this has eased my fears a lot thank you everyone