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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2017
    Posts
    1

    Default Does a Police Caution for Fraud Fall Under the Petty Offense Exception

    Hello,

    As most people in this forum, I'm hoping to travel to the States for some casual tourism, however I unfortunately have a police record.

    Back in 2009 living in the United Kingdom, I was given a police caution for Fraud after altering some exam certificates and handing them in to authorities.

    My crime was clearly a CIMT so I'm wondering if I might be able to use the petty offense exception. It is the only crime I have committed and I wasn't sentenced to any time in prison.

    While I appreciate the US authorities don't recognise the UK's Rehabilition of Offenders Act (meaning my crime has already been 'spent' in the the eyes of UK authorities), do they recognise the difference between a UK summary and indictable offence?

    Section 7 of the UK Fraud Act 2006 states:

    Making or supplying articles for use in frauds

    (1)A person is guilty of an offence if he makes, adapts, supplies or offers to supply any article—
    (a)knowing that it is designed or adapted for use in the course of or in connection with fraud, or
    (b)intending it to be used to commit, or assist in the commission of, fraud.
    (2)A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable—
    (a)on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum (or to both);
    (b)on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years or to a fine (or to both).

    I would argue that because I was only given a police caution, I was tried under section 2 b(a) as a summary conviction. Meaning the maximum imprisonment sentence is 12 months.

    Or would the US authorities ignore this and just see the maximum sentence as 10 years?

    Many thanks!! CN

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Behind a Desk
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    98,846

    Default Re: Does a Police Caution for Fraud Fall Under the Petty Offense Exception

    Were you indicted, such that but for the caution you would have been prosecuted and subject to a possible ten year sentence?

  3. #3

    Default Re: Does a Police Caution for Fraud Fall Under the Petty Offense Exception

    (Sorry for the delayed response)

    If you were arrested for a crime involving moral turpitude, conviction or not (or seen as a conviction or otherwise), that alone means that you must have a visa to enter the United States. The US Embassy in London strongly recommends that you apply for a visa if you have ever been cautioned for any reason. Whether or not you get a visa is up to the embassy, but the Visa Waiver Program does have somewhat stricter eligibility criteria compared to applying for a visa.

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