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How long does it take to get a passport and US travel visa?


King Pitcos

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I don't know what you mean by "on there." I don't imagine US immigration has full access to the entire UK fingerprint database, nor the ability to do an instant fingerprint match (considering it takes weeks for fingerprint idents from crime scenes here)... Do they? :/

 

Or is it something that would come up in the passport application process?

I think Simon means that when they scan your passport the system will indicate if the owner of the passport has ever had their fingerprints taken. Though the idea of security attempting to check the fingerprints on every passport against the criminal database is quite amusing.

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When I was in primary school we went on a visit to a Police station and got to have our finger prints taken. I wonder now if it was some sort of ploy to build a database on kids from rough schools. Which isn't a bad idea!

 

Let us know when you're going, Pity, then we can tip them off. is there a reward for that sort of thing?

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How would the system know if the owner has ever had their fingerprints taken?

 

I assume because when you are arrested they take your fingerprints which is then logged on the database under your name. Therefore with the biometrics in the passport when it is scanned it will bring up your database profile which will include fingerprints, indicating that you have been arrested at some point as they took your fingerprints.

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tiger_rick, it's people like you that killed WrestleSlam!

 

How would the system know if the owner has ever had their fingerprints taken?

 

I assume because when you are arrested they take your fingerprints which is then logged on the database under your name. Therefore with the biometrics in the passport when it is scanned it will bring up your database profile which will include fingerprints, indicating that you have been arrested at some point as they took your fingerprints.

But what is this "database profile"? As far as I'm aware, there's no centralised database that includes everything about everyone. I thought that criminal records, dental records, medical records, electoral register, etc etc were all separate. Am I wrong on that?

 

Also I don't see how the biometrics in the passport would make any difference to it. Surely my database entry could just show I've been arrested, I'm not sure why (or how) there'd be a bit that says "fingerprints have been taken by the police" but not include any information on what for. Seems an arse-backwards way to do things.

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I was arrested (not charged!) in 2001 and have been to the USA over a dozen times since. I've never had a single problem at Immigration. That may just be sheer fortune or it may be that the checks aren't as automated or stringent as they'd have you believe. Don't take my word for it, though!

I reckon you'd have a very hard time getting a visa if you needed one now that you've done that.

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I was arrested (not charged!) in 2001 and have been to the USA over a dozen times since. I've never had a single problem at Immigration. That may just be sheer fortune or it may be that the checks aren't as automated or stringent as they'd have you believe. Don't take my word for it, though!

I reckon you'd have a very hard time getting a visa if you needed one now that you've done that.

Nah, I put it on my MySpace page in 2005 and they still kept letting me in :thumbsup:

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Having just been through the US Immigration process to live here permanently, I would not suggest lying to Homeland Security.

 

And there's also the ESTA thing that you have to do before you go, too.

 

https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta/

 

They know who's going to be flying into the US ahead of time.

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Nothing, I just know that they are extremely thorough and do not miss a trick. And are actually quite intimidating at times. Even now when I cross the border to Canada I get questioned even though I'm a Green Card holder. Assume they know everything.

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I was arrested (not charged!) in 2001 and have been to the USA over a dozen times since. I've never had a single problem at Immigration. That may just be sheer fortune or it may be that the checks aren't as automated or stringent as they'd have you believe. Don't take my word for it, though!

I reckon you'd have a very hard time getting a visa if you needed one now that you've done that.

Nah, I put it on my MySpace page in 2005 and they still kept letting me in :thumbsup:

I'm being whooshed again :(

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I was arrested (not charged!) in 2001 and have been to the USA over a dozen times since. I've never had a single problem at Immigration. That may just be sheer fortune or it may be that the checks aren't as automated or stringent as they'd have you believe. Don't take my word for it, though!

I reckon you'd have a very hard time getting a visa if you needed one now that you've done that.

Nah, I put it on my MySpace page in 2005 and they still kept letting me in :thumbsup:

I'm being whooshed again :(

You're not; I think I misinterpreted your first response. I think. I don't know, actually :confused:

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I would suggest, Pity, that you try and do everything above board, if it's your first passport and first time to the US, simply because, if you find yourself getting a taste for going to WM every year (or at least more than once), or even just PPVs, you don't want to risk being barred from entering the country permanently. It's a bit rubbish, but I'd say it's better to be safe than sorry.

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Well, let me elaborate and we'll pretend nothing happened there.

 

If you needed to get a visa, for whatever reasons, then you'd have to go to the embassy. Part of that is that they ask for arrest records. Now again you could say no to that, but they delve a lot deeper on people when issuing a visa (they've been doing background checks on me for 2 months based purely on my occupation!) so you may end up getting called on it.

 

So you may be tempted to own up to it, however at that point they have all the records of your previous entries into the US and will know you lied about it before.

 

Bit of a catch-22 situation.

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