Nonimmigrant Visas

Arrests & Convictions

How they affect your application for a nonimmigrant visa

A previous arrest or conviction will affect your entry into the United States. In most cases, it makes you ineligible for the Visa Waiver Program which means you must apply for a visa instead. In some cases, a previous arrest or conviction might also make you ineligible for a visa, although, depending on the nature of the offense and its outcome, a consular officer may find it appropriate to recommend a waiver of this ineligibility.

In all cases, you should gather any documents already in your possession that relate to your offense and any subsequent conviction, including court records, arrest sheets, and charge sheets. If you are applying for a visa, you should also be aware that during the course of your application, you may be asked for further documents, such as a current Police Certificate based on a fingerprint check. Acquiring these records, and the processing of any subsequent request for a waiver of your ineligibility by the Embassy, will require several weeks, so it is important to apply for a visa well in advance of your proposed travel dates.

I had a drunk driving charge. Can I still travel to the USA?

If you had only a single drunk driving charge, and if you were not sentenced to any time in jail as a result of that single charge, then you may still travel to the USA under the Visa Waiver Program. When completing the Visa Waiver Program questionnaire given to you on the aircraft, you must answer "yes" to the question "have you been arrested or charged?" Consequently, you will need to carry with you documentation (e.g. court records) to show that you were not jailed. If you do not have this documentation, it is advisable to apply for a visa.

When applying for a visa at a U.S. Embassy or Consulate, please answer "yes" on the visa application form to the question that asks if you have ever been arrested, and please be sure to bring with you to the visa interview any documentation (such as court records) that describes the charge anc your sentence. 

In addition, if you have had a single drunk driving arrest within the last three years, or two or more drunk driving arrests over any period of time, then your visa application will be placed on hold and you will be asked to submit to an examination by an Embassy-designated doctor.  The doctor will examine you to determine if you have any kind of mental disorder that manifests itelf as alcohol abuse, since this may be grounds for visa ineligibility.  If the Embassy-designated doctor certifies that you do not have such a disorder, and that therefore you do not pose a danger to yourself and to others, then you will be cleared for visa issuance, if you are otherwise qualified.

I was arrested/convicted of a crime years ago. Do I need a visa?

Anyone convicted of, or punished for, a crime involving moral turpitude (defined below) -- regardless of how long ago and even if the record has now been expunged -- is ineligible for the Visa Waiver Program and must apply for a visa. If there is any doubt regarding the nature of the offense, it is advisable to apply for a visa.

A conviction for a statutory offense will involve moral turpitude if one or more of the elements of that offense have been determined to involve moral turpitude. The most common elements involving moral turpitude are:

1. Fraud;
2. Larceny; and
3. Intent to harm persons or things

Extra requirements when applying for a visa

In addition to the usual requirements for the visa type you seek you should complete an additional PDF form on which you can provide further information in relation to Question 38 of the visa application form DS-156. You must provide information on each offense, including the type of offense, your court date, and the outcome of the case. If your police certificate says "no disclosable court outcomes" but you have committed a crime, you must provide court documents reflecting the charge.

In most cases, particularly those involving multiple offenses or drugs, final consideration of the visa application cannot be completed until we receive an official police fingerprint check.

Please note that obtaining court records or a police certificate does not guarantee that you will be granted a visa, and you must bear any expenses involved in the further processing of your application.

It is your decision whether to obtain court records and/or a police certificate based on a fingerprint check in advance of your visa appointment, or to wait until after your interview for confirmation of what you will need to submit. You will need to weigh the costs and time involved in acquiring records beforehand against the possible delay in processing your visa application if you wait until after your visa appointment to apply for records should they be required. Also bear in mind that, once you submit records of your offense, we may then need to request a waiver of any visa ineligibilities for you from the United States (see below), requiring several weeks additional processing time for your application.

Requesting a Waiver

In cases where the nature of your offense means you are ineligible for a visa, the consular officer may find it appropriate to recommend that a waiver of your ineligibility be granted by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Our ability to issue a visa in such cases is based on decisions made by DHS in the United States. In general, DHS views recent and/or multiple convictions unfavorably.

Once we receive any required documentation from you, we will request a waiver of your ineligibility from DHS, authorizing your temporary admission into the U.S. Only DHS can approve this waiver request. The processing time for obtaining a waiver is approximately 4-8 weeks from the date we receive your police clearance (if required) and any other requested documentation.

Obtaining a Slovene Police Certificate

To obtain a record of minor offenses, or for proof that you have no criminal record at all, please follow the instructions on the website of the Slovene Ministry of Justice, here (in Slovene only).

For more serious offenses, you will need to contact the court that heard the case in order to obtain an official record describing the disposition of the case.

 

The PDF form on this page can be downloaded using Adobe Acrobat Reader.  If you do not have the latest version, you can download it for free here.