[cs02rm0]

The travel forms to visit the US ask if people have ever been involved in espionage, at least they did, I'm not aware that it's changed.

You can guarantee the many people who work for intelligence agencies of US allies aren't admitting to that when they travel to the US.

It's all a bit of a game.

[binarymax]

The reasoning for some of these questions is that if you are caught, it’s sometimes easier to charge you with fraud (lying on the form) than the actual thing (such as espionage).

[4gotunameagain]

Wouldn't they need the be able to prove that you are a spy in order to argue that you lied ? In which case who cares about the form ?

[pbhjpbhj]

But they're required by laws of their own country to lie, presumably. There are certainly game-like aspects.

[dcminter]

"Do you seek to engage in or have you ever engaged in terrorist activities, espionage, sabotage, or genocide?"

Quite.

[swiftcoder]

Those forms also ask if you've ever been a member of a communist party, and basically everyone over 35 in all of Eastern Europe would have to check that one (they don't, if they want to enter the US)

[selkin]

Every statement in the above comment is wrong:

People born in the 90s wouldn’t have a chance to be old enough to belong to any group other than a preschool before the collapse of the Soviet and Soviet aligned regimes.

For those who were adults before 1990, while they may have been party members for reasons unrelated to political ideology, it wasn’t as common: in the late 80s, only ~10% of adults in Warsaw pact countries were communist party members. Far from “everyone”.

And even if you check that in the DS-160 visa application form, you are allowed to add an explanation. Consular visa officers are very well familiar with the political situation at the countries they are stationed in, and can grant visa even if the box is checked.

[midtake]

Do you mean everyone who was 18 by 1989, or 55 today?