Waiver application processing times

#1487 - John Rogers

Apology accepted as you were gracious in calling out your own, in your estimation, "wishy washy" answer. I wasn't offended in case you may have thought so. I understand there are a number of "contingencies" to these things. It is all in the discernment of nuance.

I have visited this forum for probably about a year. I have most definitely seen it devolve into what appears to me to be random personal attacks. I'm not sure of the necessity of this as I view this forum as a space to ask questions and understand process as it pertains to the landscape of the waiver process.

I have never gotten any inkling that you discriminate on the basis of skin colour. If things were said that I wasn't privy to or missed here on the forum (as I haven't read the ENTIRE contents of the forum) then quite simply I missed them. Otherwise I can't recall that you said anything that would point to you "discriminating on the basis of skin colour".

Having spent a significant portion of my life in America and having travelled through 38 states and lived in 6 American cities there is no doubt that America has a "race problem". Anyone who cannot see that must be living with their head in the sand in Mayberry.

The cards are stacked, monumentally, against people of colour in America. Plain. Simple.

Statistically if you were to line up 12 white guys and 12 Black guys, for example in the state of California, and they all did the EXACT SAME offense as it pertains to marijuana then ALL 12 Black guys go to jail while ONE out of 12 white guys goes to jail.

There's a reason the state of California has more Black and Brown people in jail than the ENTIRE prison population of Western Europe. America has 5% of the world's population and yet 25%-30% of the world's prison population.

Carceral capitalism is what it is and it is at the expense of minorities.

So to expect that CBP (which is a law enforcement agency) to cut a person of colour a break is simply dreaming. There are obviously individual officers who are compassionate and empathetic but the AMERICAN SYSTEM was not set up to benefit anyone really except WHITE MEN. FACT.

So it is nonsensical to admit to something as minor as smoking weed, in the past, if you are white. It is downright INSANE to admit to it if you are a person of colour.

This is not a hard equation to square. The trope of "honesty is the best policy" is for fools and for those who have absolutely no discernment of nuance (which is generally the provenance of law enforcement).

Nota Bene -

Just because there was treaties and "amendments" doesn't preclude the fact that what we're dealing in is stolen land, stolen property and stolen labour.

@Samuel - again, you make a lot of sense.

@jm - a moderator would make a lot of sense. Could we pick someone, even informally, and if they think a comment is "out of bounds" for whatever reason, the person would apologize, retract and delete the comment? I think it would return decorum.

@John Rogers

I am not Annoyed and never was. It just shows how much people are fed up with you. Stop being such a princess and grow a pair.

Enjoy your weekend Johnny Boy!!

@HatsBootsHatsBoots

So you agree with @jm that a moderator would be a good idea?

#1500 I personally want people to ask the questions so they can get the proper information. I do not want anyone on here that will disrupt the flow. Yes, if someone is disruptive I would like them to not post anything. Yes if someone will just pick an argument with people for no reason then they should not post here. Don't know if that will qualify as a kickoff.

I want the bickering to stop as it is stupid. Setting up fake profiles is something that cannot be prevented on this forum so I do not know how this can be fixed.

People come here because they need and want good and factual information. Everything that I state can be shown in the government manuals, regulations, and statutes.

#1486 I will say that 5 years is the minimum waiting period to essentially get your waiver approved. This will mostly mean perhaps the simple cases as the complex ones may take longer. Also, proper rehabilitation has to be shown in any waiver case to get approved.

Now having said that....we have a client that received I believe 1 waiver denials and an appeal denial on his own for a couple of reasons. One big reason was that he filed before the 5 year period. He hired us to address the case and he recently told me that he has now got his waiver approved.

If you file before the 5 year period, then you will have to show major rehabilitation to account for the lack of time. I do not recommend it.

Also, note that CBP has a process in place to address people that are inadmissible and that have an urgent need to enter the USA. It is called Advance Parole and I won't go into detail here since it is something that has to be tailored to the specific case. I will only go into detail regarding it on the phone because caution is warranted in seeking a parole for a number of reasons.

There has to already be a moderator in place.

For the record,

I am not here to provoke nobody. All I am doing here is posting useful information in a respectful manner time to time. If John Rogers views me as a threat and feels the need to use provocative terms like idiot, princess or judge the color of my skin, I think anyone can agree that the individual is the one looking for provocation. I have no association to any of the fake profiles or Ken Scott. John is just paranoid.

I have called out John Rogers several times because he feels the need to correct me or discredit the information I provide by paraphrasing me. Its extremely annoying and unprofessional to attack another person in such a manner.

It seems the individual has a large following on this forum. What he posts is not always right and people can do their waivers by themselves. They don't need to pay 589$ + to do a waiver. I like exposing stupid individuals like this who often will commit fraud by lying or claiming they are experts.

However, I know I have beaten and I don't have no time to waste on this ridiculous individual. I will not post on this forum any longer. It seems my information is not welcomed here. So I'm not helping nobody when it is dominated by individuals like Ken Scott and John Rogers.

I just hope that one day John Rogers gets exposed for what he is.

I also want to say that HATS BOOTS is correct. He has no association with me and I have nothing against him as I like his level of knowledge. I don't know though HATS BOOTS if John has as large a following as people call me from the forum and say the opposite.

HATS BOOTS is absolutely no threat as it is good to find someone experienced with the process but in particular the statutes. I do admire this attribute that he does possess and I think he is probably a nice guy.

HATS BOOTS I request that you keep commenting as your point of view is well taken by me. Same goes for JAZZ SAX and Samuel. Open dialogue is the key to effective communication.

I would like to thank Ken Scott for encouraging me to post here.

@Samuel

Yes there is a race problem in the USA. Nobody will ever deny that but it's getting better. They had a president of colour although of mixed racial background and now many scientists of colour. Unfortunately, the African American community over there is involved in a lot of gang related violence and law enforcement has become quite biased with a lot of prejudice. It's up to the African American community to change the perception and continue the fight by helping young people out of the streets.

The American system is beneficial to the wealthy population, that's it. The majority of the white population is poor and for some, extremely religious. A minority belongs to marginal groups who have direct influence in politics unfortunately. There are not too many college graduates in the US. What can you possibly expect from many Americans who are poor, uneducated and brainwashed into thinking a certain way.

We all know that the land belonged to Native Americans before and white Europeans took over eventually. However, what does this bring to the forum here. You need to acknowledge also that most African Americans where brought over here from Africa. In a sense, they also took over the land of Native Americans.

When I say honesty is the best policy, this is the best policy to follow regardless. When I say that you have to use your judgement when answering to authorities, I believe you can read between the lines. To make it simple: if a CBP agent asks a Canadian if they have ever smoked weed? The obvious answer will be NO!! If you have weed in your car and answer NO, what do you think will happen when you cross the border? Don't look for trouble when you can easily stay out of it. It's that simple.

@HatsBootsHatsBoots

I also encouraged you to post here. More than once.

Do you think a moderator would be a good idea?

Please note, for the second time, I have asked you a polite question, with no provocation.

@wishbone

Do think picking a moderator would help? A moderator would tell "ABC" that "whatever comment" was off topic, or insulting, or whatever, and the person would remove it.

This would answer your concerns. Everyone thinks the room must get better, a moderator would eliminate the things you just expressed you don't like. What are your thoughts?

I too..do not visit this site as much..simply because I am so busy and because I have gotten little business from it..which is the ultimate goal for me. While I dont mind providing some free advise..I run a business and getting paid for my expertise. .is the way I make a living..while I have learned alot from others..there has been some advise given..by others I dont agee with or dont provide the same service..but I am not going to argue..I feel that if u r helping a paying customer..u better know what u r doing and provide a positive service..if not..u r going to get called out on ur service..maybe instead of a moderator. .let real clients talk about their paid experience in detail. .who they hired..what happened and if they got their waiver. .

Just to add as free advise..I tell each and every one of my clients this..I have been involved with waivers for 15 years..and have seen all sorts of strange decision made by customs..in my opinion there are no set guidelines..each waiver application is unique..even renewals with the same person..I have clients with 300k outstanding restitution get a 5 yr waiver first time and another client who had 20k restitution be denied and given the worst difficult time..still on going 4 years later..I tell my clients no garantees..but I will help u until u do get it..95 percent of my wsivers go through. .but the other 5 percent is a guessing game...this is just being honest..USA plays by their own rules and u are along for the ride..

I have messaged the actual owner of the forum and have advised him as to what is going on with it since this has become extremely stupid. I have not checked my email to see if he has replied. The forum itself can indeed be a great tool if done properly.

I personally do not like or go out of my way to insult anyone as It is not my personality. I have asked more than once to not pick at me and I will do the same. Yet a certain person seems to take pleasure in it and I know with 100% certainty he would not do that if I were in his face.

So I just ask everyone(including me) to stick to the spirit of the forum and not unnecessarily argue with anyone. if someone has a low self-esteem problem then that is his problem and it should not come out here on the forum as such.

HATS BOOTS please continue to post as I always welcome your answers and still extend the invitation to reach out to me if you so desire.

John stop picking fights with people here as you are not the know all of the waiver business. I have already said that you can say what you want to me to my face or on the phone. Let's try to keep the forum clear so people get good info and not get ripped off by certain waiver companies.

It is time for the stupidity to end.

#1515 you are 100% correct and we were very close to 100% for our waivers until Trump took over as we had a few denials for PPT since he came in. We have resubmitted those and hope that they will be approved. I admire your knowledge and respect you as a person since you are indeed a good person at heart...and your love of horses.

I have consistently said that the 3 of us combined resources, it could be a good thing as that would be years of combined experience. You both have the advantage of the fingerprint business and I will say both of you probably know more about pardons and fingerprinting related things than us since we focus on resolving border crossing issues and U.S. Immigration related things to include TN Visas. Both of you definitely have those advantages.

I have had the advantage of having worked on removal cases, worked on complex border problems and the other things in my bio on our website. We also have the advantage of having locations in 4 Canadian cities and 1 in London, 1 in Yorkshire and 1 in Estonia. I also have guys that have worked for the system and can still contact old working colleagues for any questions not available on the internet.

Michelle has the advantage of formerly working for Edmonton PD and that is something that we do not have...Although we have a guy that formerly worked for CBSA. We wish that we had someone that formerly worked for a Canadian local police agency as it will help us with an expansion that we will be doing fall 2019.

John, I am not sure of your accomplishments and I am not saying it to do a trick. I just simply do not know.

I do think that in another post, perhaps we can each individually list all of our accomplishments as I suspect people would be interested to know who they are dealing with as such. It could also be a fresh start to put the nonsense behind us all...

Here's my take

1) Michelle, John, and Ken are all in the business. I have talked to Ken and John either by phone, or text, or both> I have only talked to Michelle on here. I do think all of them are worth working with based on different scenarios

2) Each is building their business in their own way, with their own focus. John is flat rate, clean cut, Ken is interested more in the tougher cases as they are worth more cash in his opinion. Michelle takes very specific clients only.

3) Pride. Everyone has a bit of pride. This is the internet. Sorry, but some of you (including HatsBootsHats, who does post some good info) need to get over the squabbles. Doesn't make you look good. That said, I personally wouldn't have issues working with someone just because of them fighting online. Just tells me a bit more about their personality.

I want someone who will be honest and blunt, tell me what I need to hear, and get the job done. In the end if their personality is one of a bulldog, that's fine if the job gets done. I don't want wrong answers, I want reality.

I have been given the *same* answers by phone and by text on very specific things to my case, along with how to rehab from both John and Ken. I wouldn't hesitate to work with them in a heart beat.

Personality wise, I'm a blunt, to the point, tell it like it is person. I can handle it. I can also handle fights on a forum, and can read through them to see when people are being defensive or territorial, or are honestly just passionate about what they do.

You have many options of people you can work with. Just ignore the arguments and pissing matches, ask your questions, see the responses and make your decisions.

John will still be John, Ken will still be Ken, I will still call them both out or make fun of their football preferences (hahaha!) but I trust their work on principle.

Happy Sunday

@Jazzsax well said.

I have done my best to ignore the recent comments directed my way that were negative because I thought people had a genuine interest in making the room better, and had complained about the lack of decorum.

But when I made a constructive suggestion, to have an impartial moderator, it has been ignored. I literally refrained from rebutting comments from Ken and Hats, to keep it civil, and politely asked their "opinion" on a moderator. No reply. Ken got closest by ignoring my suggestion and saying he emailed the person (s) who run the group. Its clear they do not want to moderate, or they would have.

How can you whine, to the point of "oh, dear, I can't handle bickering, I must now leave" but not simply reply "yes lets have a moderator", or "no lets not have a moderator".

@JM,.@Annoyed @Really Annoyed you literally had your say on this then when a solution was put forward, ignored it. So you read all the fighting, all the stuff you didn't like, but no time to comment on something that MIGHT fix the problem? I can't stand people who love to whine, but offer no opinions on solutions.

HATS and Ken, you have both complained over and over, and no comment on appointing our own moderator? Not even "I disagree because........."?

Why? I will ask again, what do you think of appointing our own moderator? We would all abide by his/her decisions and they could call people out who were being inappropriate?

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THIS IS JUST FOR KEN SCOTT
@KenScott On a personal note, I am not sure why you started with this.

“John stop picking fights with people here as you are not the know all of the waiver business. I have already said that you can say what you want to me to my face or on the phone.”

I don't know why you keep implying that I would not say "something to your face". Do you ever see me shy away from standing up for my opinion? Secondly, since your playing "tough guy", while you are at the pub, I am in the gym, my hobby is MMA and BJJ. Yes, fighting is a passion of mine. My ears look like shit, but if you met me, the LAST thing I would be is scared. You saw my facebook page, I have no clue how you missed this.

And that doesn't mean I would ever hurt you. I prefer a fast tongue. I played rugby most of my life and when we have talked there have been times I have enjoyed your english humor.
But face to face, be advised I am very direct.

So lets keep it to "words" and not "implied threats".

@John Rogers

I don't mind a moderator and asked for a moderator from the beginning. Unfortunately, we have other things to do than look at this forum constantly. I apologize for my late reply.