I'd love to book another stateside holiday as it's the thick end of 20 years since I was there (apart from LAX on the way to/from NZ) but I recently heard something that concerned me.

I was told that the waiver programme excludes anyone who has ever been arrested even (as in my case) there was no substance to the allegations and no action ever followed - it was January 2010

Other forums seem to give conflicting views but I was just wondering if JY/TS/P&M have had to deal with this.

I know I could call/contact the US embassy in London, but that rather smacks of putting my head over the parapet and drawing attention to myself.

On the other hand, this is dealt with at the US airports rather than UK and I wouldn't want to be turned straight back onto a return transatlantic flight

Not even sure how their computer would have this info if it was a piece of malice that led to these circumstances

I asked our visa team and they said that you will need to apply for a visa as your arrest prevents you being eligible for the visa waiver programme.

It does seem unfair if you weren't charged with anything but apparently the US is usually strict about this and you wouldn't want to go all that way and be denied entry.

Kind regards,

Olly, your editor