Most of this discussion pre-supposes that your husband’s ‘criminal record’ prevents him from using the visa waiver.
Look at the question on the I94-W and read the US immigration regulations. If he can truthfully answer ‘No’ then there isn’t a problem. These are the important regulations.
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:http://www.travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/ineligibilities/ineligibilities_1364.html
To save you going to the link, below is the relevant quote on criminal grounds; there are further sub-paragraphs on terrorism and controlled substances:
quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(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.[/quote]
If he can’t answer ‘No’ or isn’t sure, then it is up to him what sort of risk he feels it is worth taking.
In all probability the chance of them finding out about a criminal record 25 years ago are minimal, but nevertheless it is a risk.
There is absolutely no point in asking the Embassy as they will refuse to discuss the matter in writing or on the telephone. So he will have to go to the Embassy for interview and he needs to obtain a memorandum of conviction from the court.
For many offences that in itself creates a problem because courts and the police are not very good at keeping records for 25 years and the UK Rehabilitation of Offenders legislation further complicates matters(and as said above that act does not apply in the USA)
If he has difficulty finding his Memorandum of Conviction, perhaps he can ask US Immigration if they have a copy, as some on this forum seem to think that the USA have access to all UK citizens criminal records
[msnwink]