USA visa with prior trip to Iran in previous passport: can I get away with omitting any mention of the Iran trip? [duplicate]

If one had been to Iran after March 2011 but one's passport was replaced in the meantime, how risky would it be to visit the USA without mentioning said trip to Iran? Let me clarify there's no sketchy motives here. The reasons for the question are: 1) Avoiding a $160 visa fee; 2) Decreasing the risk of being rejected on entry, despite having a visa just because visiting Iran could raise flags.

To put it differently: is there any way of telling you've been to Iran other than having a stamp on your passport?

Best Answer

No, there is not.

Also, a Iranian stamp should be no reason to reject your entry into USA when you have a valid visa. The Trump travel-ban only targets Iranian passport holders. That being said, border officials can basically deny you for any reason (e.g. your Iranian entry stamp; your weirdly shaped nose; your shirt), so there is never 100% certainty.

If you want to use the visa waiver programm (ESTA) it will indeed by a problem as you are not eligible anymore, see this information from a US embassy: https://se.usembassy.gov/united-states-begins-implementation-of-changes-to-the-visa-waiver-program/

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Can I travel to USA If I have visited Iran?

If you hold a visa for the USA then there is no issue in travelling there after visiting Iran. The current rules (in so much as they effect tourists) do however mean that you cannot enter the USA via the ESTA system if you have travelled to Iran (or a number of other countries in the past five years).

Can I travel to USA with Iranian passport?

Iranian citizens seeking a nonimmigrant visa for a temporary stay in the United States can apply at the U.S. Embassy Ankara, where Farsi-speaking officers are available. It is highly recommended that you apply three to four months in advance of your trip.

Can I travel to Iran with expired Iranian passport?

Iran will not permit a traveler to enter this country unless the passport is set to expire at least six months after the final day of travel. So, it's highly recommended to renew your passport before it expires.

Can you travel to USA If you have been to Iraq?

In early 2016 the US introduced a ruling which makes anyone who has visited Iran, Iraq, Syria, Somalia, Libya, Yemen or Sudan since 1 March 2011 no longer eligible for their visa waiver programme.

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Answer 2

If you simply want to visit the US once, then that's your call and your risk. I'm not going to advise you to take that risk.

But be aware if you might ever apply for a H-visa/F-visa/naturalization, the H-visa application form (post-2004) requires you to list all countries you have visited in the last ten (10) years, and that lying (/omitting/misrepresenting) can cause your visa/naturalization application to be denied (/revoked at a later date). I do not know if they retrospectively check this against prior VWP/ESTA/visa applications, and how closely, but just because they might or mightn't do something today, is no guarantee they will not start doing it in the future. So, if getting denied or excluded from the US for potentially 10 years up to the rest of your life is something that potentially matters to you, personally I wouldn't, just for the sake of saving $160 visa application fee and the time and trouble of applying for a visa instead of VWP.

Be aware that they radically changed the H-visa application form back around ~2004, prior to that IIRC it only asked for the previous 5 years. Noone can guarantee you they won't change it again and ask for say 15-20 years travel history, or to list all trips in your lifetime to a specific watchlist of countries.

And by the way for naturalization they ask for scans of all passports dating back to the date you were admitted (although they might even want them back to the date you applied for whatever US visa you first came in on). And again, maybe they'll change that to be even further retrospective. Noone can guarantee you they won't.

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