Waiver application processing times

SRL...what did they say when they asked for the letter and RCMP check? What did the request say?

@John Rogers

Do you know how this or if this pertains to waivers for Canadians as well?

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cbc.ca/amp/1.5158841

@Adelaide

I am not sure to be honest. My assumption would be that they have already denied you entry, therefore no need to look for another reason.

I better stop bashing Trump on my Facebook! LOL

#1723

@John Rogers

Well I figured if anyone would know it would be you. Thanks for the reply. Is this something you could conceive they may add on to the new waiver form or possibly in adjudicating the waivers may add it on as a request for evidence?

If one has been denied entry already I really don't see why the Trump Administration would not look for ADDITIONAL reasons to not let one back into the country even through the waiver process.

@EVERYONE

My apologies to whoever it was that said they thought the G325-a was no longer needed. (Michelle also speculated on this)

This is from the Homeland Security Website:

“Form G-325A is not needed when filing the most recent version of the Form I-192. However, the ARO will continue to accept older versions that still require a Form G-325A completed and signed by you”

I am a little worried about the border knowing about this, and since my clients have to travel an hour to Niagara Falls I am going to continue to give them a G325-a until the end of June. But starting in July, I will omit this document from the package.

#1725, Thanks John, I am still using the old forms, but am switching this week, I have been hesitant to not send the G-325 with the new form, but will now delete it from the package this week also.

Update: Unfortunately, none of my clients have received any replies to trace emails since the beginning of May. If anyone is still receiving replies to their traces, could you please let me know. Thanks!

I had 2 clients go to the Rainbow Bridge yesterday. (Niagara Falls)

It was very busy (client said 3.5 hours.) This is very unusual. I have never heard of anyone waiting before.

most interesting was that this client is very chatty and friendly and the Homeland Security officer told her that the idea with the new forms is to make the submission digital in July.

According to her:

-You would scan the package to Homeland Security.
-If accepted they would call you to come and get fingerprinted (and I assume pay)

I have no idea if this is true, or she misunderstood, or this will be the way to do waivers in the future.

Has anyone heard or read anything like this? Again, this is ONE client, from yesterday, relating what a friendly officer told her.

@Sonia

Phone at work
905-459-9669

Cell phone
416-843-1371

Email at work
pardon.experts@rogers.com

email to my phone
pardonguy2@gmail.com

Waiver time periods.

I have 3 clients who all got their waivers in June/July.

Client 1 April 27 handed in 5 year waiver dated June 17

Client 2 Handed in May 14 5 year waiver July 3

Client 3 handed in May 16 5 year waiver July 3

All three were straight forward and under 60 days. Since fingerprints are nice and fast (2-4 weeks) unless you NEED Court documents (and in most cases you do not) you could possibly get a waiver in 3-4 months (conservatively) or even faster.

John were these renewals? First time? How long post conviction?

@Jazzsax1 They were typical waivers. Straight forward and obviously not something they needed to send to secondary security.

"Typical" can mean anything lol. Be more specific please. :)

@Rose @Jazzsax1 I posted this to point out the timeline, not the fact they were able to obtain waivers. In all these cases they handed in waivers that I fully expected to get 5 year waivers and no delays because they were simple. No sexually based offences, no trafficking and offences at least 5 years old.

You cannot take these cases and apply them exactly to your circumstances and draw exact conclusions.

Here are two surprising cases that illustrate my point.

Case#1 Client tried to get asylum in the United States in 2004. Rejected. Stayed 5 more months and then came to Canada. Only became a Canadian Citizen in 2019. Denied entry in 2019. I explained that he might also get stuck with an I-212 application, but lets only apply if asked. To complicate things, he is legally blind. I would go and pick him up at home, and bring him home when we were done, and his friends had to take him to the Rainbow Bridge. So he requires a lot of care. My prediction was a 5 year waiver. (but maybe an expensive I-212 as well) Well instead, he got a September Letter. We were thrilled for him but did not see that coming.

Case#2 Client had the following: 2005-04-01 (1) Disguise with Intent (2) Armed Robbery (3) Forcible Confinement (4)Break and Enter with Intent (I changed the month and day on the record but not the year) He applied in 2017 and in 2018 was rejected for a waiver.
We applied in 2019 and I explained although I was 80% sure he would get a waiver I would not be surprised if it was only for a year. (The offence circumstances were pretty serious) He ended up getting a 5 year waiver. (and was thrilled obviously)

In case#1 I think the fact his asylum claim was rejected but the country in question is Haiti and the fact he is now blind may have been factors, but he was very hazy on details because of his PTSD because of his time in Haiti. Now if someone from India or Pakistan (more typical of clients I get for this type of application) assume they will get a September Letter because they also had an asylum claim rejected etc, they would be wrong.

In Case#2 i was able to write a better personal letter because I could directly answer the reasons he was rejected in the first place. I actually was able to respond to every reason they had said no, and leading up to this waiver he was able to work on getting proof he was rehabilitated, mainly because we knew that was part of the issue going in.

So instead of inserting your circumstances into a case you see, remember that your situation has its own set of unique circumstances. Offence severity, length of sentence, proof of rehabilitation, time since the offence and even what documents are available are all key factors in making a waiver successful. These two examples show that despite my expertise, I am not always right, and that not all applications have the same chance of success. If I listen to YOUR circumstances, and give you my opinion, its tailored to exactly what you are telling me. That is much more accurate that trying to compare yourself to some information you see here, where you don't know ALL the facts.

Yes John, but again, we like to know more details when you say they got 5 years. It's not always a bench mark, but can often give a good idea of what CBP might be thinking.

@jazzsax1 I had those three on my desk and had to file them and also put them in my spreadsheet, (so I could follow up in 4 years) so I wanted to illustrate how fast homeland security was. To look up each, to write about all 3 separately would have led to 5 more questions from people trying to compare themselves to those people. And as pointed out above, no 2 people are EXACTLY alike.

So the point was simply, if you have a straight forward waiver, it should be granted in 60 days or less. 85% of clients fall in this category. Anyone can call me and ask my opinion. 416-843-1371.