Nigella Lawson in London after she was prevented from flying to the U.S., whose embassy has now invited her to apply for a visa'
At the trial of her and ex-husband Charles Saatchi's personal assistants, the self-styled 'domestic goddess' admitted taking cocaine.
TV chef Nigella Lawson has been invited to apply for a visa to travel to the US just days after she was stopped from flying to Los Angeles.
The 54-year-old celebrity cook was prevented from boarding a flight at Heathrow Airport on Sunday, following her admission, during the trial of her former aides, that she has taken drugs in the past.
The U.S. Embassy in London said today that Ms Lawson has now been invited to apply for a visa, but experts warned the star could face a drug test by U.S. doctors.
The mother-of-two told jurors she took the Class A drug twice - once with her late husband John Diamond when he found out he had terminal cancer and again in 2010 when she claimed she was being 'subjected to intimate terrorism' by Mr Saatchi.
But she told the court: 'I have never been a drug addict. I've never been a habitual user.'
It is thought her comments were behind a decision not to let her board the flight to LA last weekend, when she is believed to have been turned away after checking in and passing security.
An eyewitness said: 'She didn't seem to say much but she did not look happy. She could not get on the flight so she had to turn around and leave.'
But US authorities appeared to change their position today when a spokesman for the embassy invited Ms Lawson to apply for a visa.
The lifting of her travel ban could mean Ms Lawson is free to resume her TV career in the US, where she is a judge on talent show, The Taste'
Ms Lawson admitted taking cocaine when she appeared at the trial of her and ex-husband Charles Saatchi's personal assistants'
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The embassy spokesman said: 'There are several ways of legally travelling into the United States and Ms Lawson has been invited to come to the embassy and apply for a visa for travel to the U.S.
'We understand she has professional requirements for US travel and these matters are generally handled routinely and expeditiously, so stand by.'
The spokesman said the embassy was unable to comment on the reasons that someone might be turned away.
Sources say Ms Lawson will have a team of expensive lawyers looking into the matter.
It came after lawyer Susan McFadden, who specialises in US immigration law, suggested Ms Lawson may have to undergo a medical examination by U.S. embassy doctors to establish if she is ‘drug free’ before being allowed back in to the States.
She said: 'She can go to the embassy where a consular officer will evaulate the visa application.
'He may send her for a medical examination, via a doctor attached to the embassy, and they will ask question about her drug use and her state of health.
'If the doctor decides she is clean she could then receive a visa.'
Ms McFadden said Ms Lawson could have been unlucky because her fame had drawn attention to the comments in court about drugs.
She explained: 'In order to travel to the States without a visa on the visa waiver programme one has to obtain authorisation.
Ahead of her planned trip to LA, Ms Lawson tweeted a pictured of her travel 'essentials', including a sun hat, Colman's mustard and a sachet of salt'
As she appeared outside her home in central London this week, Ms Lawson's representatives refused to comment on the travel saga'
'As part of that one has to answer questions about whether one has been arrested or convicted for an offence involving moral turpitude or in relation to a controlled substance. Someone in Ms Lawson's circumstances could tick no.
'But the problem comes when one also has to answer a question as to whether you are a drug abuser or addict.
'The question of who is a drug user is a difficult one and is supposed to be directed by regulations set out by the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
'Typically any person who has used drugs within the last year can be considered a drug abuser or addict.
'It could be because she is unlucky enough to be famous and her admission of drug use made the newspapers.
'It could be that someone said 'hey, if she has used illegal drugs in the past year she could be classed as a drug abuser'.'
Other British celebrities said to have found it more difficult to gain entry to the U.S. as a result of drugs issues include Amy Winehouse, Kate Moss and Russell Brand.
Ms Lawson was prevented from boarding a flight to LA after arriving at Heathrow Airport's Terminal Five on Sunday morning'
A spokesman for the US Embassy said staff understood Ms Lawson has 'professional requirements' in the U.S. and her case would be 'handled routinely and expeditiously'
After hearing of the travel ban, campaigner Danny Kushlink, director of drugs reform charity Transform, accused the U.S. Immigration Service of 'pious grandstanding'.
He said: 'Why pick on Nigella Lawson? Many high profile celebrities experience problems with their drug use.
'If this law were to apply to everyone who had ever used drugs, half the Cabinet would not be let in, including David Cameron.
'The irony is that Nigella Lawson’s exclusion coincided with the US leading the world in its drug policy by decriminalising and regulating the possession of cannabis in some if its states.
'It is relaxing its prohibition in its own country while at the same time excluding people who have taken drugs from coming in.'
Police reviewed the allegations of drug use which emerged during the trial of Elisabetta and Francesca Grillo, but Scotland Yard said no further action would be taken.
But while Ms Lawson has not been convicted for any drug offence, it appears that U.S. officials still decided to deny her entrance to the country.
The Grillos had been accused of fraudulently using company credit cards, spending hundreds of thousands of pounds on designer goods for themselves while working as personal assistants to the celebrity couple.
But the Italian sisters claimed every purchase had been approved by their then-bosses and they were found not guilty after jurors deliberated for nine hours.
Ms Lawson later told Good Morning America that having details of her acrimonious split from millionaire art dealer Mr Saatchi discussed in court under the glare of the world's media was 'mortifying'.
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