| intrepidtravelleruk19:47 UTC20 Mar 2007 | I'm a 21 year old full-time UK university student. Next year I will be looking at taking my placement year in the US. However, I just looked in the LP USA book and it says that:
"US immigration has a very broad definition of a criminal record. If you've ever been ARRESTED or charged with an offense, that's a criminal record, even if you were ACQUITTED or discharged without conviction."
I was wrongly arrested on suspicion of murder (police procedure rather than based on evidence) 3 years ago. Then bailed and discharged. Re-arrested for the same thing 2 months later. Bailed and acquitted once more.
Will this mean that I will not be able to obtain a student visa to work in the US on my placement year???
Cheers
Dan
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| cybergal19:53 UTC20 Mar 2007 | <blockquote>Quote
<hr>Bailed and acquitted once more.<hr></blockquote>
You were acquiited of murder in a court of law? Or did you mean to say that the charges were dropped? Or you weren't
even charged?
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| intrepidtravelleruk20:04 UTC20 Mar 2007 | Sorry!!! I meant to say that I was not charged, arrested but never charged.
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| altahabana20:21 UTC20 Mar 2007 |
Since this is not a Visa Waiver question you will find out soon enough when you apply for the F-1 Student Visa. Generally if an arrest did not result in a conviction, you will need to provide documentation to show that you were cleared or that no charges were brought. Based on what you posted and without knowing (or wanting to know) the specifics, I think you are going to have a problem. Your documentation needs to be pretty stout.
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| alanr23:42 UTC20 Mar 2007 | In this case it's pretty much essential to follow the advice from the US Embassy in London which requires you to get proof of your (non-)criminal record
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| bannedintheusa00:31 UTC21 Mar 2007 |
Screw the visa.
Who did you kill?
What happened?
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| lomosaltado00:34 UTC22 Mar 2007 | What´s a ¨placement year?¨
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| sneaker_fish09:26 UTC22 Mar 2007 | hate to say it, but i am with bannedintheusa on this one! hehe sorry just my nosey parker nature.
Contact your embassy. Its the only way you can safely check. And get the written proof if they say its ok.
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| ragz14:55 UTC22 Mar 2007 | The key issue is to tell the truth when you apply. Charges that did not lead to a conviction generally don't count in the US. A lack of truthfulness will.
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| ejpiii05:55 UTC23 Mar 2007 | In the US we just wanna know if you sold the film rights!
Yes, check with the embassy. But it shouldn't be a problem. I've had similar issues working in the UK-which uses almost identical protocols, ours having been largely copied from yours-and they might ask a few extra Qs, but thats about it. My less than sparkling youth record hasn't come back to haunt me, but its also never quite been forgotten, either!
Ed
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