Newsstand - Martha Stewart Refused Entry To Britain

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/20/usa1?gusrc=rss&feed=networkfront

I'm a bit confused about this? As a US Citizen, I didn't think she would need a visa to enter the UK? Other articles mentioned she was warmly welcomed in Poland, so she had no trouble entering that country. What would have happened if she hadn't even attempted to get a visa, and just showed up with her US Passport as every other US citizen does, would they have been able to see her convictions on the computer screen at Immigration ??

Was she carrying illegal knickknack shelving?...

It sounds like she was planning to do some work, which would require a visa. For an analogous situation reversing countries, Lily Allen was also denied a work visa (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20185239/) before, but was able to enter on a tourist visa.

I doubt they would have been able to pull up her convictions at immigration (you're giving them an awful lot of credit! ;)). Frankly, it sounds like someone at border patrol just wasn't thinking when they pulled up her file that day.

Serious criminal offences that the UK immigration authorities know about is grounds to deny entry even to people who would otherwise be entitled to enter with or without a visa.

The more interesting question is how much information does the UK have about non-UK and non-EU nationals who have been arrested and convicted in another country (like the US in this example)?

I am wondering what would have happened if she had tried to enter into the Republic of Ireland first and then made her way to the UK using the UK+Ireland common travel area arrangements to get her to the UK still, especially if spending more time as a tourist in Ireland than anything else.

This kind of post-incarceration punishment -- domestic and international -- seems to be part of a sort of trend that can be quite awful if expanded to parking tickets serious enough to amount to jail time.

Now if there is only some way to deny her entry into the U.S. :D

This is actually very common. US does it all the time - denying entry for minor crimes (25 year old pot possession, etc...). If you are a "felon", you generally need a formal waiver from the country. Canada is starting to deny entry more often as well since the databases go both ways (US to Canada and vice versa).

When I've entered the UK (most recent entry April 2008), the immigration officers do not have computers at their desks and they don't appear to scan your passport into anything. So how would they know of arrest histories?

When I've entered the UK (most recent entry April 2008), the immigration officers do not have computers at their desks and they don't appear to scan your passport into anything. So how would they know of arrest histories?True, but if you're Martha Stewart they will probably know.

I don't remember -- do they have a form for for UK visa waivers that asks about criminal history?

Next time she'll bring some baked goods or something hand-knitted to bribe them with.

I don't remember -- do they have a form for for UK visa waivers that asks about criminal history?

On the standard form, no. When I enter the UK using my US passport for ordinary tourism/social purposes or for attending a meeting in the UK, the British government form I ordinarily fill out and submit at passport control does not inquire about criminal history.

It has already discussions existing this original thread in the OMNI forums. Here it is:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=836534

Please follow this original thread where the posts will be exact. Thank you for your understands and Pizzaman, you can locked this original thread for me. Thanks, Pizzaman! :)