I am a British citizen considering working in the US under an L1A visa. When I was young (16 or 17, I forget which, it was so long ago) I received a police caution. I am now 48 and have not received any conviction since. Will this prevent me from obtaining an L1A visa?

If it was a caution, no. If it was an arrest or a conviction, then possibly.

Cautions don't show up on the police report.

Thanks for your reply.

Don't forget that the US government don't ask for a CRB, they ask for a report under the Data Protection Act (or is the Freedom of Information Act? I forget which now).
So it will still be on the police file, which is of course why the US authorities prefer that method, more information is disclosed to them.

Yes, I know. I've done this twice.

My husband has been cautioned once in the past. we have requested the police report twice - the correct one, as we have been approved twice - and the caution does not show.

I apologise if I gave offence by implying you didn't have the knowledge, it's just that so many people are confused over the difference. I feel a bit better talking to someone who's
been through the same situation as me.

However please understand that I am in serious inner turmoil over this. The mistake of youth never goes away. The shame of what I did will be with me until my grave. To make
matters so very worse, the crime was of a sexual nature (no I didn't rape anyone, you don't get a caution for rape). It is for this that I can't just get a disclosure since my wife may
see it if it *does* appear because the disclosure must be sent to my home address.

Does that have any bearing?

Dude, seriously, it would be wrong to hide something like that from your significant other. You were young and, I'd hazard a guess, drunk and stupid... explain it to her and express your remorse. It can't be THAT bad surely?

Stupid yes.
Drunk no. That's what makes a really bad thing even worse.

However that's in a sense off topic, what matters to me is that would like to live LEGALLY in the US for a couple of years before it's too late, and I need to know now what will appear on that piece of paper that drops on the letter box that she sees.
Please don't be offended by this: I don't want opinion I need fact.

You have to declare it.

But it should make no diference, under 18 is the biggie, and a caution sugests nothing of consequence.

Hmm, well I just got a Person Record: Prosecution/Criminal History report under the Data Protection Act of whenever, which for me was just a single piece of paper that says nothing since I've never had cause to get on the wrong side of the law (yeah I was a boring teen).

But a spent caution shouldn't show up on this kind of report, and even if it did it really shouldn't have any bearing on your ability to successfully obtain a visa. It's difficult to say definately without knowing details but I would be suprised that anything that wasn't serious enough to warrant a conviction should have a bearing on your life. Why don't you pop in to your local police station and have an informal chat with someone there? That would put your mind at rest, because either way you need that report.

Personally I'm more concerned about the mental anxiety this is causing you because you are hiding something that distresses you greatly from the person who you're meant to share everything with. We've all done things in the past that we're ashamed of for one reason or another, and I really think you should tell her for both your sake. You are not the same person that you were then, and maybe if you share the ugliest thing about you with the person who loves you most and you find that she loves you regardless (and I can't imagine why she wouldn't) you may finally be able to put those ghosts to rest.

Hope it works out for you.

That's very interesting because they are visible on the screen when a PNC check is done. I was an authorised PNC operator and supervisor for more years than I care to admit and can clearly remember seeing cautions when doing checks. These were old ones as well as current ones.

They must have a way of blocking them from the printout.

They must do. It was something that made me lose sleep when we applied for the first one, I'll say that - we were quite relieved when it didn't show on the police report!