Visa Waiver and Drink Driving

[Madabouttigger]

I'm sure this has been covered in the past, but the threads I've found are from 2004 so I am after a more up to date response.

My Sister is taking her family to Orlando on August 11th. Her son in- law has just been convicted of drink driving, does this mean he is unable to use the visa waiver scheme?? Due to the constraints of time any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

Diane.

[florida4sun]

Unfortunately no one on here can give you definitive answer. Is alcohol and controlled substance? I am not sure it is.

<<Have you ever been arrested or convicted for an offense or crime involving moral turpitude or a violation related to a controlled substance; or been arrested or convicted for two or more offenses for which the aggregate sentence to confinement was five years or more; or been controlled substance trafficker; or are you seeking entry to engage in criminal or immoral activities?>>

Moral Turpide http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_turpitude


<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Madabouttigger
I'm sure this has been covered in the past, but the threads I've found are from 2004 so I am after a more up to date response.

My Sister is taking her family to Orlando on August 11th. Her son in- law has just been convicted of drink driving, does this mean he is unable to use the visa waiver scheme?? Due to the constraints of time any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

Diane.
[/quote]

[SDJ]

Alcohol is not a controlled substance, but I don't have the answer re the visa waiver. I think you need to contact the US Embassy pretty quickly.

[Robert5988]

As Martin states you are not going to get a definitive answer from anyone; let alone on this forum.

It is all down to interpretation of the term 'moral turpitude' and the question on the I94W.

The difficulty is that a crime of 'moral turpitude' is not precisely defined, but there are plenty of examples given on various US websites including the wikipedia link above. All of them state that drunk driving is not a 'crime of moral turpitude'.

The only explanation I have seen given why such a serious offence is not so classified, is that there can be no proven intent to commit the offence i.e. people don't set out with the intent to drink drive. The fact that they might kill someone doesn't seem to be a factor[confused]
There is no point in contacting the US embassy(at £1.50 a min) as they will not answer any questions, but state you must come for an interview, and you will almost certainly not get a Visa in the time scale.

[MJG]

Alcohol as already said is not a controlled substance it is a fully legally available over the counter purchasable item.

By contrast and by way of putting this in context Morphine is a controlled substance as it is only legally available in a 'controlled' manner ie on legal prescription and dispensed by a pharmacist/legally recognised dispenser eg a GP with dispensing rights.

So that brings it back to the morale turpitude thing again.... is drink driving moral turpitude or not???

Well I've just googled " Drink driving conviction and admission to the US " and pulled up a shed load of wildly contradictory information - some posts in other forums saying it will be no problem and some saying it will be and he risks being refused entry and refusal of entry in the future too.

It does seem the only option is for him to discuss with the US embassy to get the definitive response.

Regarding time - the only thing that might help is that I noted on the US embassy web site they are asking people to cancel their appts. if the have H1N1 symptoms - don't know if it's possible but he may be able to bag one of the freed up slots.

Post back and let us know how he gets on - if he has problems getting admission it's one more big incentive (if one were needed) not to D&D.

[Sniff]

As all the others have said on here, whether your son-in-law is required to obtain a visa or not is open to interpretation, and only the US Embassy can give you a definitive answer (and even then I'm not convinced!)

As a secondary question you might ask yourself though...is there any way that US Immigration will know that my son-in-law been convicted of drink-driving...the answer is almostly certainly NO.

As far as I'm aware the UK government do not share this sort of information with the US (tho they do with other European governments in certain circumstances). And why would US Immigration ask you this question when you arrive anyway? And could they verify your answer even if they asked the question?

If it were me, I would go on a visa waiver and be pretty confident that I'd be OK. But that's me...your mileage may vary

[Madabouttigger]

Thanks for your replies, Ill forward them on to my sister,

Diane.

[BIGEYE]

As said, drink driving is not a crime involving moral turpitude. If you phonr the embassy they will tell you that you need to apply for a visa. However, if you answer No (which is a truthful answer) to the question on the Visa Waiver form, who's to know?

[Madabouttigger]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by BIGEYE
As said, drink driving is not a crime involving moral turpitude. If you phonr the embassy they will tell you that you need to apply for a visa. However, if you answer No (which is a truthful answer) to the question on the Visa Waiver form, who's to know?[/quote]Thanks for the advice. I'll pass your comments on, I'm sure it will put there minds at rest.

Diane.

[Tonish]

Discovered this from the US Embassy webchat service. It clearly states that a drink driving conviction makes you ineligible for visa waiver.

The webchat service is at:

http://london.usembassy.gov/visa_webchats.html

and the particular piece about drink driving is on the fourth page of the below:

http://photos.state.gov/libraries/un...transcript.pdf

The actual question is here:

Q. Going back to an earlier question question, as it applies to me, too: Does he *have* to have a
new visa? Couldn't he travel on the Visa Waiver, now that he's British?
A. No, a person who has been convicted of a crime, including drink driving, is not eligible to travel
visa free under the Visa Waiver Program. We recommend that any person who has been arrested,
cautioned or convicted applies for a visa before attempting to travel to the United States.


Of course, then they confuse things by the response to the below question on another of their webchats:

Q. I have a 2 year driving ban. Can I still enter the US on an esta?
A. If you have been cautioned or convicted of a crime, you may require a visa to travel to the United
States. If you are unsure if your driving ban is as a result of a crime of moral turpitude, you may wish
to contact the Embassy's Operator on 09042 450 100 (£1.23/min) for advice


Taking both responses together, it looks as if they may view drink driving as a crime of moral turpitude.