> In message <+E7+kN7T07NIFA0k@perry.co.uk>, Roland Perry
> perry.co.uk> writes

>> In message , at 07:35:52 on Sat, 24
>> May 2008, Martin Edwards yahoo.com> remarked:

>>>> Funnily enough, a chap I know went to Boston a couple of months ago,
>>>> for a six-month fellowship at Harvard. Couldn't get a visa appointment
>>>> in London within any reasonable time-scale so had to fly to Belfast
>>>> and stay overnight.

>>

>>> The last time I went to the States, only about a year and a half ago,
>>> you didn't need a visa. Has this changed?

>>
>> Were you going as a tourist or to a business meeting, and for no more
>> than three months?
>>
>> Those are the usual qualifications for not needing a Visa.

>
> AND being a citizen of one of
>
> Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium Brunei, Denmark, Finland, France,
> Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg,
> Monaco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino,
> Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom
>
> BUT not
>
> holding a passport indicating that the bearer is a British Subject,
> British Dependent Territories Citizen, British Overseas Citizen, British
> National (Overseas) Citizen, or British Protected Person
>
> AND
>
> travelling on a valid, machine readable or e-passport with an electronic
> chip
>
> PLUS
>
> if entering the United States by air or sea, holding a return or onward
> ticket and entering the United States aboard an air or sea carrier that
> has agreed to participate in the visa waiver program
>
> OR
>
> if entering the United States by land from Canada or Mexico, in
> possession of a completed form I-94W, issued by the immigration
> authorities at the port of entry, and a $6.00 fee, payable only in U.S.
> dollars
>
> AND NOT
>
> being a person who has been arrested, even if the arrest did not result
> in a criminal conviction, with criminal records, (the Rehabilitation of
> Offenders Act does not apply to U.S. visa law), has certain serious
> communicable illnesses, who has been refused admission into, or has been
> deported from the United States, or has previously overstayed on the
> visa waiver programme
>
> So there are many reasons why someone might need a visa.