Well guys the time has come - i'm flying out on friday 14th Jan with an ESTA and a drink driving conviction and also a few other arrests for minor things (Public disorder, etc.)
For anyone interested on this subject (Because I researched this for months before booking.) i'll let you know how I got on.

I take it you put no on the ESTA form? lol.. Hope you have a fab holiday

please let me know how you get on, I'd be interested to find out. Hubby has an old driving convicion from around 10 years ago and a few other minor things as well but didn't delcare anything on the ESTA

Hope you enjoy your hols

Yes I put no on the form.
I've read horror stories on here and other forums of people coughing up 'x' amount of money and 'x' amount of time (Large amounts.) and then having to be interviewed and be suspected everywhere they go.
Then on the other hand there is a larger majority who bluff it and get waved straight through.
I've even looked on an official american website which states only crimes of moral turpitude.

Anyway, I dont want this to turn into a rant about the US embassy.

Fingers crossed for me and let you know how I got on. I'm back at Gatwick Tuesday 25th of Jan so ill post up.

See you soon

Im the same as you, but because it's a birthday suprise I can't expect him to go and sort out visa's etc if he doesnt even know hes going lol

I'm guessing the lack of reply from Enfield would indicate he's in Florida?
Hope he's having a great time, do let us know your exp when you get back Enf

Jords

Hi everyone. I'm flying to America from the UK in 9 days time and really stressing out, so any help would be greatly appreciated.

I'm flying with Delta airlines and I booked through Thomas Cook. When I first booked the woman gave me a website to enter my API between 3 months and 7 days before flying. I tried this and it didn't work so I went back into the store to ask why and they told me they'd made a mistake, giving me the website for Thomas Cook airlines by accident and that I didn't need to enter API online.

However I've seen some websites say you do, or you can't fly, while others say they can collect it at check in, as long as I have my ESTA? The Delta website has space for Secure Flight Passenger Data, which I'm told is different. I've attempted entering that although I'm unsure as to whether it's gone through..

Any experiences, information or advice would be amazing right now.
Thank you x

The best advice I can give is phone the airline, I did this and the details were taken and I think then forgotten and had to fill in a form again at the airport but I would phone them and check as we were with United, Delta may treat it in a different way

Just returned yesterday and im now back in work sitting at my office after a lovely 10 days in florida.
Lovely and hot out there up to 81 degrees we had!

Anyway, the bit you would all be most interested in hearing is -
I walked straight through no questions asked! No need to worry.

It didn't help that Virgin Atlantic have a free bar and free food so had a few heinekens on the plane and turned up a bit worse for wear at Orlando airport. Bit silly of me, but the most important thing is that the customs agent only takes your fingerprint, picture, and then your free to go.

Anyone in the same boat as me, should NOT go through the visa process. Waste of time, effort & money.

Best regards everyone.

To HBK -

I can only talk for Virgin Atlantic but they hand out them forms on the plane. There very straightforward to do with questions like 'Are you transporting soil? Etc...'

In my opinion the Airline should hand them out but take that with a pinch of salt. There quick to fill out so you can fill them out when you land.

(In orlando they provide the API in the security bit of arrivals. so dont worry.)

Just to clarify. They no longer hand out the Visa Waiver forms on the flight as the information is now collected via the ESTA. The blue form that they do hand out on the flight is a Customs Declaration which had nothing to do with the ESTA/Visa Waiver.

luci

Hi,on my flight to Newark last October with Continental they were handing out two forms. One was the blue customs declaration, the other was a white form it appeared was for people with US visas to fill out. I only discovered this when I was being interogated by Homeland Security as to why I had a visa, and where was my white form? I had to fill this in
in front of the officer. No one with an ESTA had to fill in the white forms.
As I've said before on this forum a US Visa is a liability, I wish I'd chanced it like Enfield.
One question I did pose in my earlier rant about US Visas is if anyone had ever managed to get a second British passport WITHOUT the
US visa for use in the rest of the World. I know some business travellers can do this with a covering letter from the employer, but I'm
now retired.
Deka

Hello,

Enfield to florida.. Glad you enjoyed your holiday & had no troubles..

When we went to LA last year, we had to fill in the forms on the plane, My husband with a visa had a white form & i with an ESTA had a green visa waiver form, these were handed in at the immigration desk where our fingerprints & photos taken, my husband then goes off for secondary questioning, i had to wait outside this time, but all was totally fine & he was out within a couple of minutes, no problems..
We then handed our blue customs form in on the way out after collecting our suitcases..

Deka have you encountered problems entering other countries with your us visa present in your passport?

Hi Bubble,
So far it's only been when I was crossing the border from the USA to Canada.
The first Canadian official spotted the visa and wanted to know what I had done wrong
to require a US Visa.
I gave him basic details but this didn't satisfy him so I was taken aside and grilled by another
official who was annoyed I couldn't give exact details of the offence and Court dates from
20 years ago! I didn't think they were going to let me in, and I was on a coach tour with 20+
other people who had to wait whilst I was interviewed...very embarassing!!!
I was told if I ever came back to Canada I must carry FULL details of the offence, Court dates
and verdict before they would/may, let me in.
I've been to China and some European countries since I first had the visa with no problem but
the Canadian incident shook me up badly and I don't want to go through a similar situation again!
Deka

Hey,

Oh dear, doesnt sound very good.. sorry for your experience.. I guess to some countries having the US visa does set the alarm bells ringing.. I wonder if it should be the same process with a criminal record on entering canada then & if people should declare the convictions.. and get a canadian visa? To be honest i`ve never properly looked at going there.. Interesting point though as some people may like cross the border or wish to for a few days to go to Niagra falls or something. Thats been a thought of mine before..

Yes it is possible to have 2 passports. People who work overseas usually have 2 passports, one for business and one for leisure.

luci

Canada actually has far stricter rules about entering with a criminal record that the US does - only they do not routinely ask British (and most other) tourists about them on entry so the issue rarely arises.

In this case I suspect they saw the US visa, knew that a criminal record is often a reason for getting one and started asking questions.

We have a separate topic about visa/entry requirements for Canada:
http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=76345

David

Afternoon all

I'm flying out to Vegas in April and also have a minor conviction (not drugs related) from over 10 years ago

From the insane amount of research I have done on the subject, I am also following Enfield to Cant Remember The Name of The City's method and chancing it

I'm almost 100% certain that the US Customs Agency do NOT have access to any criminal records, regardless of anything else it would be totally illegal for them to

They are able to see if you are wanted by Interpol, but if that is the case then I doubt very much you'd be trying to travel anywhere anyway

The only way they can find out whether you have a record is if you tell them

Anyways, I'll report back on this thread once I've had a go