U.S.A Visa nightmare!!

[ash6605]

HELP! I'll cut to the chase,we are going to disney florida in 5 weeks time,a last minute thing.

booked this afternoon,managed to get a really good deal.

BUT i have a problem with my visa.i was arrested last year(see my post in the Maxine Carr thread) so was told AFTER we booked that i'd need a special visa to enter USA-it was only an arrest FFS! but can't get an appointment with the embassy until end of may-two weeks after we are due to travel.problem is i've already told the kids we are going,they are now excited,ive only just realised about the visa or i would never have told them.

so i either cancel the hol altogether(delaying is not an option)or i take my chances when i get over there.people in RL are saying just go,deny any arrests or convictions and there are loads of people on here who have done it but these are for arrests/convictions from years ago not recently. exactly what happens when you arrive,i know they scan your fingers and take a photo but why? would that then show up if you had a record?when i was arrested they did my fingerprints and took a photo and i'm wooried that they can catch me out that way.

shit shit SHIT i really don't know what to do i've had the year from hell,lost both my parents and a baby and really need this hol,HELP! sorry for the long post

now that visa waiver program thing looks a bit more promising.if you look at the green form that you fill in on the plane it asks you to declare if you have been arrested for drugs crimes-which i havn't or if you have been arrested more than once-which i havn't.so going off that i shouldn't have a problem.
but the u.s embassy and the embassy in london say different,they say you have to declare EVERY arrest even if it didn't result in a conviction.

im confused!!

You really need a friendly mumsnetter near an airport or who travels regularly to the US to pick you up a copy of the latest visa waiver form.

SOrry, just whiling away even more time on this....

Visa waiver wizard says arrested for anything.

??????

God, it just gets harder and harder to even think about a holiday in US. Holidays are meant to be fun, not this stressful. They cannot be very worried about their tourist industry

I would find somewhere more friendly to go holiday.

That visa wizard thing is very good. Apparently you cannot go if you've ever had a mental illness and felt suicidal

Can you go to the Embassy in Northern Ireland?

When they first brought out this new rule about visas there was a bit of an uproar in Scotland and there are no embassys up here and if I remember correctly, which I may not be doing I'll admit and I'm prepared to be corrected, they said that Scottish people would have to travel to either London or Belfast to apply for their visas.

Could you maybe try them for an appointment? Then of course you'd need a cheap flight to get there etc but could be worth a try?

Please don't just try to get in because if they find out you'll be deported and might not ever get back in on a future trip.

So what will be worse:

1. Cancelling and getting money back and rebook at a later stage

2. Go without visa get caught out, send back without using holiday and loosing all your money and take the risk of not being allowed back into the USA to retake holiday.

My advise, keep your nose clean, your a guest in their country , it is their discretion to allow you entrance.

Alternatively go back to embassy, ask for emergency travel documents and beg.

themoon-that really rules me out then!!
was suffering with mental health problems when i was arrested,attempted suicide just after my arrest.looks great for me doesn't it things just get better and better.now i have to go and tell the kids their mothers a criminal so we cant go see mickey mouse,and worse still its all thanks to their effing grandad!!

have you spoken to the travel agent and see what the situation is re a refund??

hubbys on phone now asking if they can postpone florida till end of year,giving me time to get visa through but also find us a last min hol to spain or somewhere for the original date we would have been going,obviously its going to cost us more but we all REALLY need a holiday.
i can't even talk on the phon,im in tears and so is ds.

i am sorry..hope it works out for you all xxxx

and i can't even spell now

When I used to go with family, we worried as the forms said that anyone with a mental condition or "handicap" would not be allowed in. Downs Syndrome was listed and my Aunt is Downs. The immigration folk used to treat her the same as everyone else and let us through with no problems.

Not the same but I think it depends on how strictly they want to take it.

that is ridiculous,HAPPYDADDY in this day and age when disrimination is supposed to be a thing of the past.what happened to equal opportunities? most people suffer with some form of mental health problem during their lives,pnd etc. does that mean they can't travel? my daughter has glue ear maybe she won't be allowed in??!! lol

US immigration does have access to UK police records and they do know if you are lying. Dh has a visa now because he has a speeding conviction from many moons ago. Belfast is a good option for speedy turnaround of applications. FWIW US embassy did apologise to dh for dragging him all the way from NE Scotland to London to discuss his speeding - still had to be done though.

Talking of daft procedures though, one of our bf travelling with us to NY had huge hassle getting in because he couldn't give a fingerprint of his left forefinger (he had blended it with a hand blender and there was only scar tissue); there wasn't a protocol for what to do if the stipulated finger wasn't available for printing and they couldn't accept another finger!!! In the end they got enough of a partial print from the side of the finger to allow him through but it was a stressful 15 minutes.

My DH has a criminal record.

We went to the USA - and to be honest didn't give it a thought.

We never had a problem (ignorance is bliss and all of that?)

Ah now my dh had the same problem re fingerprinting. He is missing part of that finger (axe wielding accident ), and can only give a partial print.

Gosh they must've clamped down since I was last there 4 1/2 yrs ago. They never took pics or fingerprints then.

I wouldn't go without the proper stuff. They are super thorough (sp?)

Call the embassy and explain????see if you can get seen earlier.

yes you are right califrau,we have cancelled it.well delayed till later in the year.

which brings me to my next problem........
left forefinger also blended in hand blender!!how wierd is that??

i can't believe i am having this much hassle over an arrest,i was let off FGS!

anyway,as you say the kids have been through enough without building the hopes up for a holiday then being turned away once we get there.when i was originally arrested,it was in front of the kids.hubby was at work i was alone with kids.it was awful-i would not do that to them again.

does annoy me though when i hear people who have gone without a visa,despite having a full blown criminal record and they get in no bother.but this is me and my luck is non existent!

I think you've made the right decision, better seeing Mikey Mouse at some point rather than never!
I hope your alternative holiday goes well and you all have a smashing time.

Hand blenders should be sold with large health warnings . Hope you get alternative hol fixed up.