Just how hardcore are USA customs????

[Kolonel K]

I was a bit of a plum last year and managed to get myself arrested with a nice fat bag of MDMA, now i've got some really good mates in LA but i've got intent to supply class A on m' books! Can I get in?

I know the USA are strict but i had a mate who just walked in and he had a bit of record but not for drugs.

How likely am i to be eligable for the "waiver of ineligibilty" you can get to gain entry or how likely am i to just breeze in past the lot of em?!
Does anybody know if i'll EVER be alllowed in with a class A record cus it's really pissing me off!

K :confused:

[rennie]

Sorry but u shouldna tried to take drugs in... no clue if u'll be let in. but best of luck.

[gabi]

If he'd tried to take drugs INTO the states he'd be in Guantanamo by now...

Just lie on the green form, you'll be fine.

[perplexis]

I think this came up a few months back, but I can't remember what the general consensus was.
I'd say don't even try because they're psycho and they probably have enough computer records to know what you had for breakfast on your 11th birthday if they bother to check.

[trashpony]

I think this came up a few months back, but I can't remember what the general consensus was.
I'd say don't even try because they're psycho and they probably have enough computer records to know what you had for breakfast on your 11th birthday if they bother to check.

This is what I wrote to the last person who asked a similar question:

I was convicted of possession and fined but didn't serve a custodial sentence. I never declared it on the US visa waiver forms and it never got found out. They won't let you in if you do declare it! Customs now are fairly heavy in the US but they ask you about why you're there and how long and where you're staying. They'll take your fingerprints and scan your iris.

I've been through LA and New York lots of times and have never been asked about drugs. If you stay cool when you go through customs, you should be fine.

Did they bang you up or not?

[Isambard]

I think the best answer someone gave the last couple of times was:

*) Assume you can't go on the waiver scheme, apply for a visa, be denied it -and barred from the USA for life.

*) Be honest on the waiver scheme form, be denied entry - and barred from the USA for life.

*) mis-fill the waiver scheme form, but if they catch you out, you'll be denied entry and barred from the USA for life.

[boing!]

Sorry but u shouldna tried to take drugs in... no clue if u'll be let in. but best of luck.

Just to clarify (kolonel k is a mate of mine) he wasn't trying to take them into the country, he got arrested in London.

[rennie]

Aha. sorry, i musta misread the into.

[Kolonel K]

Did they bang you up or not?[/QUOTE]

Nope they did'nt bang me up i got off incredibly light actually, 40 hours comm. service, £43 fine and 2 years probation. All that for 11 grams of MDMA a bit of 2CB and a half ounce of K (YIPEEEEEEEEE!!!!).

I was wondering that if you had a chance to explain to US customs the situation surrounding a sentance you could sweet talk your way in.
But I thought this would be pretty unlikely.

Thanks for all your help dude's.

K :)

[Kolonel K]

Did they bang you up or not?[/QUOTE]

What did you get caught with trashooney do you think they may be a bit more hot on the class A SUPPLY charges (unless thats what you got 2).

[Isambard]

I was wondering that if you had a chance to explain to US customs the situation surrounding a sentance you could sweet talk your way in.

Neither should you tick "yes" if they ask you if you intend to overthrow the US Government.

[scott_forester]

I hate going to the States now they have the whole tagging system on the way in. Although once in the shopping is great at 1.8 to the £1!!

[JWH]

Kolonel K - it's not Customs you should worry about, it's the immigration clerks (although they are now both part of the snappily-named ICE - Immigration and Customs Enforcement).

There's a bunch of threads on this issue in the New York/US Forum, use the search button at the top of the pag for "visa waiver" and check there.

[Gavin Bl]

Neither should you tick "yes" if they ask you if you intend to overthrow the US Government.

Or admit to any genocidal war crimes whilst serving the Axis powers in the second world war.

[Kolonel K]

do you think my dad will be refused entry for being drunk in a gutter in 1974! He was fined a pound!!!!!!!
.....Oh drunk and disorderly would have been FIVE pounds! LOL! :eek: :p

[upsidedownwalrus]

Sorry but u shouldna tried to take drugs in... no clue if u'll be let in. but best of luck.

I think he means that he happened to get caught with drugs in the UK, and is worried about how the record will affect him now visiting the US. Not that he actually tried to smuggle them to the uS.

[JoMo1953]

Sounds like you are still on "probation" which means you may very well pop up on the radar here in LA. Keep in mind LAX has the highest security in all of the US, then again if this happened within the past year "homeland security" probably hasn't gotten your name on the list yet.....they are a little behind on the paperwork......

Play dumb on the paperwork, lie like hell and you will probably get in with no problem at all......

Enjoy your visit and talk nice about us Californians when you get back home!

[JWH]

JoMo: no offence but you don't know what you're talking about. It's irrelevant to his situation whether he was on probation or not. The US government does not have instant access to all criminal records in the UK.

[JWH]

According to the State Dept, "Section 212(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act reads:"

(a) Classes of Aliens Ineligible for Visas or Admission.-Except as otherwise provided in this Act, aliens who are inadmissible under the following paragraphs are ineligible to receive visas and ineligible to be admitted to the United States:

[...]

(2) Criminal and related grounds.-

(A) Conviction of certain crimes.-

(i) In general.-Except as provided in clause (ii), any alien convicted of, or who admits having committed, or who admits committing acts which constitute the essential elements of-

(I) a crime involving moral turpitude (other than a purely political offense or an attempt or conspiracy to commit such a crime), or

(II) a violation of (or a conspiracy or attempt to violate) any law or regulation of a State, the United States, or a foreign country relating to a controlled substance (as defined in section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802)), is inadmissible.

(ii) Exception.-Clause (i)(I) shall not apply to an alien who committed only one crime if-

(I) the crime was committed when the alien was under 18 years of age, and the crime was committed (and the alien released from any confinement to a prison or correctional institution imposed for the crime) more than 5 years before the date of application for a visa or other documentation and the date of application for admission to the United States, or

(II) the maximum penalty possible for the crime of which the alien was convicted (or which the alien admits having committed or of which the acts that the alien admits having committed constituted the essential elements) did not exceed imprisonment for one year and, if the alien was convicted of such crime, the alien was not sentenced to a term of imprisonment in excess of 6 months (regardless of the extent to which the sentence was ultimately executed).

(B) Multiple criminal convictions.-Any alien convicted of 2 or more offenses (other than purely political offenses), regardless of whether the conviction was in a single trial or whether the offenses arose from a single scheme of misconduct and regardless of whether the offenses involved moral turpitude, for which the aggregate sentences to confinement 2/ were 5 years or more is inadmissible.

(C) CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE TRAFFICKERS- Any alien who the consular officer or the Attorney General knows or has reason to believe--

(i) is or has been an illicit trafficker in any controlled substance or in any listed chemical (as defined in section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802)), or is or has been a knowing aider, abettor, assister, conspirator, or colluder with others in the illicit trafficking in any such controlled or listed substance or chemical, or endeavored to do so; or

(ii) is the spouse, son, or daughter of an alien inadmissible under clause (i), has, within the previous 5 years, obtained any financial or other benefit from the illicit activity of that alien, and knew or reasonably should have known that the financial or other benefit was the product of such illicit activity, is inadmissible."

http://www.travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/ineligibilities/ineligibilities_1364.html
Anyone know if this has been rescinded or doesn't actually apply in the case of Visa Waiver Program?

The quickest of searches says that intent to supply class a drugs in the UK has a maximum penalty of life and an unlimited fine!

It's naturally still up to you whether you gamble or not...

[JWH]

I apologize JoMo, I have misread your post: you were talking about the chances of him getting caught if he lied, but I thought you were talking about whether it was legal or not. :o

[walktome]

I hate US customs. We're crossing the border from Canada and, well it was me, my friend, and her parents. I'm white, her dad is black/rastafarian, her mom is Native American, and so she's mixed. They take one look at us, ask how we know each other, ask where we're going, etc etc, then they finally end up making us all get out so they can search the car. :mad: Apparently her dad always has trouble in situations like that.

However, going back to Canada they just ask us where we're going and why and we're whisked across the border, no inquisition and no searching the car. Yay Canadians.

[pogofish]

I know someone who recently got the full work-over & was detained for some time because of a 25+ year old conviction for growing weed - 1 plant! US customs were waiting & had a copy of his UK record. After detention, he was allowed-in with restrictions but by that time, there was only a couple of days left of his trip. He was not denied future entry but it was impressed on him that he had better apply formally next time or he would be ejected & denied future entry.

Sounds like they are being pretty through these days.

[tobyjug]

Did they bang you up or not?

Nope they did'nt bang me up i got off incredibly light actually, 40 hours comm. service, £43 fine and 2 years probation. All that for 11 grams of MDMA a bit of 2CB and a half ounce of K (YIPEEEEEEEEE!!!!).

I was wondering that if you had a chance to explain to US customs the situation surrounding a sentance you could sweet talk your way in.
But I thought this would be pretty unlikely.

Thanks for all your help dude's.

K :)[/QUOTE]


If you even consider using the Visa waiver system and you have a conviction for drug offences you are a complete total and utter idiot. The outcome if you are found out is just not worth the bother.