can I use my canadian pardon as record of criminal charges?

When you have a pardon you can do one of two things:

1.) Your pardon is acceptable to prove what the record was
2.) do a second set of prints under the privacy act (should be about 60 dollars)

You can also obtain a free copy of your pardon from the Parole Board. But you don't have to keep getting a "new copy" just a photocopy of the last two pages is all thats needed. In 1 out of 15 cases they may write back and ask for the prints anyways.

You need to do the entire application, RCMP prints (blank) and at least a photocopy of the record or pardon EVERY time you apply.

They do not recognize the pardon but they do understand its the copy of the record.

Same with court documents. Don't keep getting new ones, just a photocopy is fine. Keep the originals. The court will not always be able to issue originals. Court documents are retained for 15 years for summary offences and 40 years for indictable.

I always have my clients do 2 set of prints, 1 for a travel waiver and 1 for Privacy prints related to a Pardon. I also request a certified copy of the Pardon from the Parole Board. This is included in all my client's applications, therefore, there are no problems or requests later for more information.

Michelle I think the way you do it is the most thorough. I give clients the option and most tend to not want to spend the $$ on the extra set of prints. I have had the odd case where people have waited for the free copy to come, and then got impatient and did the prints anyways.

I may alter my price in the future to make this included, the only problem is that the INFO source prints have to be mailed to the client, not me.

I have never had a client who was asked for the second set of prints as long as their pardon documents were included...yet. It is a good document to have, the only downside is it shows the CHARGES as well as the convictions, unlike a Pardon. I think this is where I decided to not include it, because I would sometimes get letters asking about serious CHARGES that were dropped, withdrawn etc on occasion.

There are two streams or lineups at the Parole Board.

One takes 2-3 months. You have to meet certain conditions for this one and less people qualify.

The other takes 10-13 months realistically although the letter says 6-24 months. I tell people count on it taking a year.

Why is your record not showing? Was it because they were sealed as per the young offenders act? Or did you have a discharge?

ok, well you are a good candidate for a September letter under normal circumstances, except for Donald Trump. They way they are treating trafficking you will have to expand on your personal letter. Your case isn't normal because most "juvenile records " would make you admissible. The unpredictable part is the trafficking.

If the rehabilitation is proven and personal letter is well done:

1.) They might send you a September letter and say you are not inadmissible
2.) They might send you a Waiver
3.) They could reject your waiver altogether.

2 months ago I would have said #1 for sure. Now I don't know, and its not common to file a waiver for someone like you because people in your circumstance are rarely caught.

@Waiver 1 ..I agree with John, if you decide to submit a travel waiver. Did you phone and speak to a Custom officer only? If so, honestly, I am not sure I would worry about it. You could try traveling. Go on a trip to the USA...drive across, fly whatever..and see what happens. I really do not think you will be stopped, because CPIC is showing clear, not even your FPS # will show, unlike a Pardon, where the FPS # shows, and flags the person querying the name in CPIC. Now, keep in mind if you are stopped and asked the question have you ever being charged for a criminal offense you should answer yes, but for youth convictions. If you are denied in the future, then worry about doing a waiver. I give this advise only, as Customs is soooo extremely fussy here in Saskatchewan, and they most likely would not even accept your travel waiver application simply because CPIC is clear and you have not been previously denied. I also cannot guarantee that you will get through, just offering an other option to think about...Good luck, and keep us posted..your case is not common, as John stated.

#11 We are doing the same exact case on someone that had a ppt conviction at 16. We are trying to get him a September Letter. The one thing is that they did not know about it until he voluntarily told them at the border about it. They do have to be prepared a certain way since CBP knew that he was 16 when he had the PPT conviction and the guard just told him to apply for the waiver.

There is a provision that may work to get around it. Just FYI.

Btw you cannot just apply to the border and ask for a September Letter. The packet has to be prepared to show why you do not need a waiver and you have to add in the appropriate supplements to indicate as such. You also have to indicate why you feel that you qualify for a September Letter. This is also based in part upon which relevant government regulation that your issue may fall under. If you do not, then you will not get what you are seeking. This applies to mostly the complex cases where they will issue a September letter for. Simple cases are different where if you have let's say a DUI for drinking or simple assault, you do not even have to go through the process.

These letters are complex to get and you really have to know what you are doing to get them...assuming you even qualify for one.

I spoke to a guy yesterday about something that concerned me. He used a Toronto Discount Waiver Company that guaranteed he would get either a 7 Year Waiver or a lifetime clearance. The issue is that his convictions are for Kidnapping, Extortion, and PPT. They only charged him $650 and his convictions are from 2015. Some of these competitors are taking stuff from our site and trying to make money from it. So, we have developed a new service where we turn around waiver denied cases. I don't want to mention the name of the Toronto company.

I screened his possible other qualifying areas and told him there is a 100% that he will not get a lifetime clearance for any of those convictions. I also told him that a 7 Year Waiver does not exist and that there is a strong possibility that he will get denied anyway. He was adamant based on what the girl told him. I told him to contact us if he is not happy with the end result from CBP and we can turn around his future denial.

You should absolutely state which company told him this. Is it a Pardon and Waiver place? What they are saying is deceptive and incorrect and they need to be outed. Tell me who they are and I will call them and see if that is what they are saying. Lets make sure the client got his facts straight too.

As an aside, stop calling them "discount waiver companies", its deceptive and manipulative. We are promoting transparency and ethics here. "Discount waiver company" is a term you made up, and its a term to indicate if a company charges less than you, they are "discounted".

I have been doing waiver since 1996. I have always charged a fair price but also what I consider close to the industry standard. If you are charging much more than the rest of the industry you belong to, then your not "the normal price" and everyone else is not discounted.

A Toyota Camry or Honda Accord are not "discounted" cars. My fees and Michelle's fees are not "discounted". If your giving sound advice, there are no need for deceptive language and tricks.

I believe that the name was something like Pardons Canada or something. Also, there is no such thing as industry standard since the industry is not regulated....Hence anyone can charge whatever price they see fit. What really pisses me off is that they tried to take some of our material/knowledge and tried to undercut price by being deceptive like you said. I can say low-cost waiver company I suppose.

Anyway, the big point here is that they 100% lied to this guy and he will get a denial because I know that they will not properly prepare his packet. I won't even elaborate on the fact that it has not been 5 years since his conviction. There is no such thing as a 7-year waiver.

Unless he qualified in other areas(which he didn't), there is no chance he will get a lifetime clearance for Extortion and Kidnapping period. We cannot even get him or anyone a lifetime clearance for those offences, unless a person qualifies in other certain and limited areas. Luckily, I caught another guy that almost fell prey to this scam.

Also, my experience starts from 1998 but perhaps I can backdate it to 1995 since that is when I graduated from the law enforcement academy and worked for and with the feds on these inadmissibility issues. Our experience actually comes from hands-on experience from working in the field for the government with much more complex things besides inadmissibility waivers.

I am mulling over a new policy because of these crooked Toronto waiver companies. Specifically, I am thinking about offering a 100% money back guarantee on September Letter cases only. The person will get a 100% refund of whatever they have paid us if they do not get a September Letter. Plus, their next waiver case will be done by us at no cost. This will also apply if we tell them that they will get a September Letter but they only receive a waiver...Essentially they got everything for free. I am thinking of making this effective in Oct 2018 since our Birmingham UK location should be busy by then. No Toronto business will be able to match/afford to do this.

This is one way to help shut down these crooked Toronto competitors since they are giving the industry a bad name.

This is shoddy. If someone tells me 'wrong information' i get very specific about who is telling the client the information. A 7 year waiver does not exist, and I am surprised you weren't more curious as to the source.

"Pardons Canada..or something" its not Pardons Canada. (On St Clair) They have their own issues, but they don't make up 7 year waivers, they like to pretend there are 10 year waivers.

Scotia Pardons has a main office in BC and one in Oakville and I find they are misleading and their waivers are shoddy. Its not a Toronto thing at all, again, if you have been around as long as you say (and I only heard of you a couple of years ago) you should know the history of the Pardon and Waiver market. Very few companies do "just waivers". Court Agents run by Larry Bendavid comes to mind, and he had a similar structure to yours. High prices, focused on waivers.

Almost all others were structured around Pardons, but also did waivers, which led to waivers being extremely slow and very shoddy in many cases. But there was 'common price point' that most companies hovered around. McDonalds and Burger King don't charge exactly the same price, but you know they are priced similarly. There is no 'regulated' burger price, but you do not got to Mcdonalds and pay $100 for a burger.

@kscott

“Specifically, I am thinking about offering a 100% money back guarantee on September Letter cases only. The person will get a 100% refund of whatever they have paid us if they do not get a September Letter. Plus, their next waiver case will be done by us at no cost. This will also apply if we tell them that they will get a September Letter but they only receive a waiver...Essentially they got everything for free.”

This is actually the only 'ethical' way to do this business. If someone applies for a waiver, they should get a waiver. If they pay because you tell them they will get a September Letter, and they do not, they get a waiver instead, that's not ok. They should get what they paid for, unless cautioned that "your probably going to get a waiver, but you MIGHT get a September letter".

Anyone who applies for a waiver through me, who is not successful gets their waiver re-done free (except for fingerprints and the Homeland Security fee) EVEN if I told them their chances were not good going in. My policy is about "getting what you paid for". Period.