Punished - Can I get a student Visa? (uscis, certificate)

[stolpioni]

I've only got busted once for possession of narcotics, and I've not been in prison.
Should there be any problems for me to get a student Visa (USA)?

[violent cello]

I replied to this in the General U.S. forum. Short answer: yes, you'd have a ton of problems.

[stolpioni]

Ok looks like I'm ****ed then, guess the best thing to do is pretend it never happened and hope for the best! :P

[STT Resident]

Not a good thing to do. Computers and their linkage are very sophisticated nowadays.

[Penguin_ie]

You need to submit a police certificate to get a visa, so pretending it didn't happen won't work. Depending pon how long ago the crime was, and how serious, you might stil be able to get a visa if you can proof you have been clean.

[Threestep2]

See page 65 "The foreign national must not be inadmissible under
the grounds of inadmissibility, or must have obtained a
waiver for any ground of inadmissibility.".

http://www.uscis.gov/files/nativedocuments/Nonimmigrants_2006.pdf (broken link)