For the last and final time,
1. Those members that have claimed they know someone that was sent back from the states, have either said this to scare those of you who are naive or have been misinformed, you don't get sent back from the states straight away for entering on an esta if you have had a criminal record and have lied, committing visa fraud (when entering on an esta, and deliberately lying, this is visa Freud), you face prison time, and are detained. So the fact that all posts by people claiming to have known someone be 'just' removed from the states on the next flight back because they lied on a visa esta, I know through job experience, they are lying. They would only ever just send you on a plane back if they believe you to not be there for other reasons to that, that you claim, for example, you claim to be there for tourism, but you have no money, no luggage, no return flight and our story does not add up.
2. It's illegal to lie on an esta, you have to understand that ultimately although your original crime has you questioning whether or not to get a b1/b2 visa or lie on your esta, if you chose to lie on your esta, this is a crime in itself!
3. The U.S do not have access to the police national computer, there is no magic system that when they scan your prints, and little elf picks up on the fact your were arrested at woolworths for stealing from the pick and mix, or happy slapping some poor innocent person because you were 'drunk'. Your not that important, and there would not be enough man power to constantly be warning the states that joe bloggs who is going to florida for two weeks has a 6 year old record for being drunk and disorderly. The U.S and U.K share high profile crimes, I.E .. If Raoul Moat had been considered a flight risk back in 2010, he would have been made known to Interpol, and the U.S would have 'sent him back on the next plane back'.
4. If you have ever committed a crime in the U.S, this means, if you have ever been arrested in America, America! Not the U.K.. The U.S! This is made available to U.S boarder patrol and immigration as they have access to criminal record databases in the U.S
5. Fingerprint scanning is to sieve out those few who use fake or stolen passport, if you have your fingerprints scanned in the u.s and two years down the line your passport is used by someone else trying to gain entry to the u.s, the fingerprinting system will pick up on the fact someone else is using your passport
Lastly,
I'm not posting this to put your minds at ease, yes you can lie on your esta, and you will get away with it unless you act suspicious when at passport control. It's a no brainer if you act like you have something to hide, they will dig deeper.
You can post and try and justify that you were 19 when your crime took place and you think you don't deserve to be put through the stress of getting a visa to be knocked back, but by lying on your esta, you have technically committed another crime.
Lastly, and the part that I find in my line of work that upsets most people. If your ever wanted to work, or live in the states, previously lying on an esta would probably lead To you never being allowed to do either of these things.
If your going to lie, at least have all the facts, and truly know the consequences
