hi im new to all this and am planning my families first holiday to florida in march , i have been told that due to me being cautioned over an incident over 5 years ago now i will need to apply for a visa to vist , is this true can anyone inform me ? thankyou x[high5]
There are many threads discussing this. If you use the search facility above looking for convictions or something similar you will get a shed load to pore over.
It is an absolute can of worms.
As said above the whole area is a minefield.
On piece of firm advice, don't bother ringing the US Embassy(at £1.50 a minute) they will only give you the stock reply "if you have any doubts apply for a Visa"
Many cautions in UK are for drug possession???? and the USA are quite strict on 'controlled substances' - if that applies. For Visa waiver purposes they use the term 'violation related to a controled substance' - which would appear IMO to cover a caution for drug possession.
You want to read the various threads and make up your own mind, the important points(if non drug related) are 'arrested or convicted for an offence involving moral turpitude'. You have not been convicted if you received a caution, and it would be unusual to have received a caution for an offence of Moral Turpitude as these are serious offences.
I would agree that if you have not been arrested then you can travel on the waiver. In July we had a friend of my son's travelling with us who had recieved a reprimand from the police and he was allowed to travel on the visa waiver without any trouble.
As has been said the US Emabassy will go with the stock reply of "get a visa if unsure" which what they told my son's friend.
Jan and Lee
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