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You know, the more I read that question on the I-94W the more confused I get. I still read it as (arrested or convicted) for an offense or crime involving moral turpitude ... so ...

Have you ever been (arrested or convicted) for an offense or crime involving moral turpitude ...

rather than

Have you ever been arrested? Or have you ever been convicted for an offense or crime involving moral turpitude ... (my wording change to illustrate the point!!!!!!)

Wouldn't it be great if the INS reworded that question to make it clear one way or the other.

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Yes, for the punch up, if it involved one of these apparently:

Assault (this crime is broken down into several categories, which involve moral turpitude)

Assault with intent to kill, commit rape, commit robbery or commit serious bodily harm

Assault with a dangerous or deadly weapon

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9 FAM 40.21 Notes Page 4 of 27 U.S. Department of State Foreign Affairs Manual Volume 9 - Visas
Crimes committed against governmental authority, which would not constitute moral turpitude for visa-issuance purposes, are, in general, violation of laws which are regulatory in character and which do not involve the element of fraud or other evil intent do not involve moral turpitude. The following list assumes that the statutes involved do not require the showing of an intent to defraud, or commit other evil:
(1) Black market violations;
(2) Breach of the peace;
(3) Carrying a concealed weapon;
(4) Desertion from the Armed Forces;
(5) Disorderly conduct;
(6) Drunk or reckless driving;
(7) Drunkenness;
(8) Escape from prison;
(9) Failure to report for military induction;
(10) False statements (not amounting to perjury or involving fraud);
(11) Firearms violations;
(12) Gambling violations;
(13) Immigration violations;
(14) Liquor violations;
(15) Loan sharking;
(16) Lottery violations;
(17) Possessing burglar tools (without intent to commit burglary);
(18) Smuggling and customs violations (where intent to commit fraud is absent);
(19) Tax evasion (without intent to defraud); and
(20) Vagrancy

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Originally posted by Robert5988

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If a person has ever been arrested, he/she cannot travel to the US under the Visa Waiver Program. Even a person with a spent conviction requires a visa. He/she cannot travel under the Visa Waiver Program

Nilay

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I wonder if you could also comment please on a couple more points.

Most people on this site are aware of the entry on the US Embassy website for UK that clearly states if you have ever been arrested you need to apply for a Visa.

However there is of course absolutely no requirement for anyone to look at the website, or even know it exists; and in any case I understand it doesn't have similar wording about arrests in some US Embassy websites for other countries.

The vast majority of visitors simply look at the relevant question on the Visa Waiver form(I-94W) with its reference to "crimes of Moral Turpitude' and 'sentences of confinement of 5 years or more'.

Reading that question it is competely reasonable to answer No even if you have been arrested for a minor offence(or found not guilty). If the form meant "any arrest", why refer to crimes of Moral Turpitude and confinement?

Wading through the US regulations

http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/id_visa/business_pleasure/vwp/vwp.xml

There is nothing that I can see that stipulates an arrest of any sort disqualifies a visitor from entering under a waiver.

So my question:

Are you aware of any regulation that states unequivocally that any arrest means you cannot enter under a waiver? Obviously excluding the guidance(not regulation) in the US Embassy website for UK.

There is of course the suspicion that the US Embassy need to justify their staffing levels and unnecessarily dragging us to London(or Belfast) achieves that aim.

I did write formally to the US Embassy with that question and after promting got back a reply that completely evaded my question. Along the lines of "if you cannot understand the waiver form and regulations you should attend for an interview"

There are plenty of anecdotal tales of US Immigration officials at the point of entry simply not believing that people had applied for a Visa because they got arrested 30 years ago for a minor offence and were not even charged, or found not guilty.

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Originally posted by nshalaw
The I-94W also is silly because I believe that it does not state anything about spent convictions. Therefore, even if you are committed of a crime involving a moral turpitude and is now spent. A person who otherwise would have said yes may not because it is spent. According to English law, this conviction does not "exist". It is treated as it never happened. A person may not need to discolose this conviction.

Unfortunately, there was a death in my family. This is the reason why I did not respond.

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Why else would it ask if you are or have been a member of a terrorist organisation or if you have been involved in terrorist activity? It is hardly a question that anybody trying to enter the Country is going to answer yes to is it?

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If a person has ever been arrested, he/she cannot travel to the US under the Visa Waiver Program

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(2) Criminal and related grounds.-

(A) Conviction of certain crimes.-

(i) In general.-Except as provided in clause (ii), any alien convicted of, or who admits having committed, or who admits committing acts which constitute the essential elements of-

(I) a crime involving moral turpitude (other than a purely political offense or an attempt or conspiracy to commit such a crime), or

(II) a violation of (or a conspiracy or attempt to violate) any law or regulation of a State, the United States, or a foreign country relating to a controlled substance (as defined in section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802)), is inadmissible.

(ii) Exception.-Clause (i)(I) shall not apply to an alien who committed only one crime if-

(I) the crime was committed when the alien was under 18 years of age, and the crime was committed (and the alien released from any confinement to a prison or correctional institution imposed for the crime) more than 5 years before the date of application for a visa or other documentation and the date of application for admission to the United States, or

(II) the maximum penalty possible for the crime of which the alien was convicted (or which the alien admits having committed or of which the acts that the alien admits having committed constituted the essential elements) did not exceed imprisonment for one year and, if the alien was convicted of such crime, the alien was not sentenced to a term of imprisonment in excess of 6 months (regardless of the extent to which the sentence was ultimately executed).

(B) Multiple criminal convictions.-Any alien convicted of 2 or more offenses (other than purely political offenses), regardless of whether the conviction was in a single trial or whether the offenses arose from a single scheme of misconduct and regardless of whether the offenses involved moral turpitude, for which the aggregate sentences to confinement were 5 years or more is inadmissible.

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The trouble is though Robert the only definitive answer seems to be that there is no definitive answer, it's down to how the person dealing with the case on the day interprets it. This is why the advice has always been from here, that we aren't experts in this field and that you should contact the people who will decide if you can or not have entry/visa if required etc. and that's is the US officials.

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