I was to travel to U.S with my fiancee (an American citizen) to further plan our future. On arriving at Newcastle airport we were advised that I could not travel to the U.S without some form of visa. Yes very nieve of us to have not checked on this status before our departure. We were then advised by a desk assistant with BA that we could quickly apply for an ESTA visa. We jumped at the chance, having only minutes before we were due to fly. The advisor told us that we could not complete the forms ourselves as the online pay per use systems in the airport were down. He told us that he should not be doing what he was about to do, but in our case he would fill out the form for us and for an additional fee of £10, in cash (which he called administration fee) he would provide me and my fiancee with a printout of the visa. That he did. Now I do have a criminal conviction for drugs which was served in prison here in the U.K over 15 years ago. The BA advisor never asked me this question, I never thought that would be an issue as it was never asked. Had that have been asked... I surely would have answered in all honesty. Result of his incompetancy resulted in me arriving in the States, with my fiancee only to be torn from eachother and for me to be thrown into a federal jail in Atlanta before deportation. I feel that this could really have been stopped at the gates of Newcastle if we had not been so poorly advised... all for the sake of £10. Me and my fiancee are now truly in tatters, and feel wholly that this individual deserves to be repremanded.
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