The experience of a Gazette reporter in almost being thrown out of the US while travelling to the International Bar Association conference in Chicago recently has stirred the interest of reader Steven Evans (see [2006] Gazette, 28 September, 11).

Mr Evans is a partner at Evans Wallace in central London, which he says is the only law firm in the UK to specialise exclusively in US immigration law, and so was intrigued to learn that our man was allowed in despite not having a foreign press visa (a requirement never enforced on several previous trips to cover conferences in the US but actually made clear in the small print of the visa waiver form). Mr Evans says, tongue in cheek, that it is to our reporter's credit that he managed to gain entry 'despite flagrantly admitting he intended to breach the laws of that country' - that is, he told immigration officials the purpose of his visit. 'The usual response to such an admission of guilt would be to detain the intending wrongdoer and throw him on to the first plane home.'


Worse still, Mr Evans continues, having been let in, presumably on an ordinary business visa, 'your reporter has breached the terms of his visa by reporting on the exciting events in Chicago'. The upshot of all this, Mr Evans concludes, is that in future our man should consult a US immigration law expert before attempting to enter the US again. Now, where could we find one?