Looking to travel to the US? You need to know if your offence is classed as “a crime involving moral turpitude”?

‘Moral turpitude’ is a legal concept in the US and is important when trying to work out whether you can travel under the Visa Waiver Scheme (ESTA) or whether you need to apply for a visa from the US Embassy.

The information that’s available from the US Embassy can make it difficult to match your UK offence with a US equivalent, and so it’s not always easy to work out if your offence would be deemed to be a “Crime Involving Moral Turpitude” (CIMT). This confusion can mean that people who would be eligible to travel with an ESTA go to the unnecessary time and expense of applying for a visa. Likewise, some people can end up mistakenly travelling on an ESTA when they should have applied or a visa.

To try and help with this, we’ve published some new information which sets out a list of the 80 most common UK offences and those which, in our opinion, would be deemed to be a CIMT.

As this information is new, we’re keen to get your thoughts. Let us know what you think of it and how it could be improved by emailing us at feedback@unlock.org.uk or completing our feedback form.