Criminal Law Arrest Warrant

[stella5]

we have booked a 2 week holiday to florida USA next year.

My friend who is coming with us is worried because 2 years ago the police called at her door and said they had some sort of orders to arrest her on behalf of the inland revenue She said they mentioned what kind of arrest warrant it was but can't remember what they said. This was for family tax credits and she was accused of fraud.

There was no one to care for her son so the police said that she had to report to a police station in the morning, she called a solicitor and he arranged it so that she didn't have to go but attended a sherrif court a week later.

After a few months her solicitor told her that everything was dropped.

She has had searches done for employment and she got the job so we are assuming that nothing is on record

Will she need to apply for a visa before we go or can she safely go and not worry about being turned away ?

Thank you in advance

 

[harigupta]

I could not work out what nationality she was. Sounds as if she doesn't have a criminal record for the incident mentioned. If the matter was dropped or it was paid for by way of a fine and no conviction was recorded, she would not have a criminal record. However the safest thing to do would be to apply for a visa. Remember that even a visa is not a guarantee of entry - only the immigration officials at the port of entry can actually permit entry.

People who hold passports for 32 countries and wish to visit the US without a visa now must apply for an electronic visa waiver: see http://www.esta.us/travel_authorization.html?gclid=CO7isIjM7JsCFQoMDQod_RAO5Q
This should spit her out if she has a criminal record in the US.

Cheers

H