I will be travelling to the US soon and am from a visa waiver program country. My question is - will I be allowed entry into the country (for business purposes only)without applying for a visa?
The details to help explain this question further are as follows:
Over 10 years ago I was in the US for business and ended up in a very strange situation. I went shopping at a shoe outlet and tried on a couple of pairs of shoes. I then put them back in their boxes and proceeded to pay for them. After I had paid for them I was picked up by the store police and taken into a questioning room and was told I had stolen a pair of shoes. What I had in fact done was accidently put the wrong shoes in the wrong box and proceeded to pay for them. As it turned out the shoes were more expensive and I had paid the lesser amount without realising. I was then taken to a police station, fingerprinted and photo's taken. I was then asked to appear at some sort of petty court hearing where I went before a judge and asked me whether I accepted to having done the offence. I said to her that I accept to having done it but I also told her that I had pleaded this way because I wanted a quick ending to the situation as I was there for business and needed to get back to work. I also stated to her that I had accidently mispacked the shoes, and that I had been told that the quickest way to end the court procedings was to plead guilty afterwhich I would only pay a fine. I then paid my fine and all the rest is history. I asked one of the attorneys in the court house whether this was the right thing to do previously and he said it would be ok and said it wouldn't constitute a criminal record.
A month after the event I travelled to Canada to visit relatives and was worried if I was able to get back in the US - however there was no problem in getting back in.
So my question is, would I have any problems this time (keeping in mind I have never been in trouble with the law apart from this event) in getting into the US via the visa waiver program, and also would this information appear on records at the immigration desk on entry?
Thanks for your help.
The details to help explain this question further are as follows:
Over 10 years ago I was in the US for business and ended up in a very strange situation. I went shopping at a shoe outlet and tried on a couple of pairs of shoes. I then put them back in their boxes and proceeded to pay for them. After I had paid for them I was picked up by the store police and taken into a questioning room and was told I had stolen a pair of shoes. What I had in fact done was accidently put the wrong shoes in the wrong box and proceeded to pay for them. As it turned out the shoes were more expensive and I had paid the lesser amount without realising. I was then taken to a police station, fingerprinted and photo's taken. I was then asked to appear at some sort of petty court hearing where I went before a judge and asked me whether I accepted to having done the offence. I said to her that I accept to having done it but I also told her that I had pleaded this way because I wanted a quick ending to the situation as I was there for business and needed to get back to work. I also stated to her that I had accidently mispacked the shoes, and that I had been told that the quickest way to end the court procedings was to plead guilty afterwhich I would only pay a fine. I then paid my fine and all the rest is history. I asked one of the attorneys in the court house whether this was the right thing to do previously and he said it would be ok and said it wouldn't constitute a criminal record.
A month after the event I travelled to Canada to visit relatives and was worried if I was able to get back in the US - however there was no problem in getting back in.
So my question is, would I have any problems this time (keeping in mind I have never been in trouble with the law apart from this event) in getting into the US via the visa waiver program, and also would this information appear on records at the immigration desk on entry?
Thanks for your help.
