It is highly unlikely that anyone has an 80% response rate of hearing back on waivers in the 90-100 day range...esp under Trump.

#1284 We tell all of our clients that it could be anywhere in the 3-9 month mark. There are many factors that the adjudicating CBP officer will use to process a waiver. It will depend on a number of things to include the type of crime, recency of crime, type of rehabilitation included in your packet, who prepared it and etc. This is assuming that you even needed a waiver and did not have an immigration violation.

If you did a sworn statement, then that could also be a factor. It is difficult to give you a clear estimate without knowing more of the case history.

@Bee still waiting here. applied april 23, 2018 and nothing in today's mail.

@Bee I had posted in an earlier thread that i was seeing about 80% within 90-100 days. If it gets past 150 days then email right away. Unfortunately, if it goes into secondary security its taking a LONG time. Many are waiting over a year.

Bee #1280.
I applied April 14 and received approval April 30. See #1270
That would be around 3 1/2 months.
You possibly missed that post due to all the drama in this thread.

#1279 yes it can be a combination of things as such. One thing is that you have to know where to find the relevant information and how to apply it. Each case is essentially different and other factors are involved. Rehabilitation is part of the process that they will look at. I find the big thing is if people are serious about the work to get their cases approved. This tends to be the people with the smaller offences.

Proof of reformation character is indeed important and they don't have a special list that will list what you have to do to achieve this part. We actually developed a character reformation program that we use to show that the person has indeed reformed their character. Again, it works and we have tentatively started applying it to PPT and sex crime cases.

I filed my waiver package at the Windsor Detroit border in April 2018 this is my 3rd waiver currently still waiting. Wondering if anyone has received theirs as of yet

In regards to reformation of character I found this in a different section of the manual:

The following factors may be relevant in assessing an applicant’s current moral character and reformation of character:

•Family ties and background;
•Absence or presence of other criminal history;
•Education;
•Employment history;
•Other law-abiding behavior (for example, meeting financial obligations, paying taxes);
•Community involvement;
•Credibility of the applicant;
•Compliance with probation; and
•Length of time in United States.

https://www.uscis.gov/policymanual/HTML/PolicyManual-Volume12-PartF-Chapter2.html

These...

•Respect for law and order, and good moral character, which may be evidenced by affidavits from family, friends, and responsible community representatives.
•Reformation of character and rehabilitation.
•Community service beyond any imposed by the courts.

I wonder how much of an impact these play, as the guidelines specifically say if the positives outweigh the negative factors they are supposed to approve, provide there isn't a statutory reason (i.e, you didn't fill out the paperwork properly)

Item #1 - obviously the reference letters help

Item #2 - this is unclear. What is "Evidence of reformation of character"? Strictly the passage of time? The fact nothing happened since sentencing? Or all of the positive things you've done since sentencing? Obviously they give little guidelines on how that is examined so I'm curious what others do to show this.

Item #3 - obviously worth doing. In my case I did community service to show the judge I was remorseful but wasn't a requirement, and if I knew it would assist a waiver application I would load up a ton of extra hours (LOL)

For those who do not wish to click the link, here is an easy chart:

Non-Exhaustive List of Factors that May Be Relevant in the Discretionary Analysis

Waiver Eligibility

•Meeting certain other statutory requirements of the waiver, including a finding of extreme hardship to a qualifying family member, if applicable. [6]
​

•Eligibility for waiver of other inadmissibility grounds.
​

Not applicable – Not meeting the statutory requirements of the waiver results in a waiver denial. A discretionary analysis is not necessary.

Family and Community Ties

•Family ties to the United States and the closeness of the underlying relationships.
​

•Hardship to the applicant or to non-qualifying lawful permanent residents (LPRs) or U.S. citizen relatives or employers.
​

•Length of lawful residence in the United States and status held during that residence, particularly where the applicant began residency at a young age.
​

•Significant health concerns that affect the qualifying relative.

•Difficulties the qualifying relative would be likely to face if the qualifying relative moves abroad with the applicant due to country conditions, inability to adapt, restrictions on residence, or other factors that may be claimed.
​

•Honorable service in the U.S. armed forces or other evidence of value and service to the community.
​

•Property or business ties in the United States.

•Absence of community ties.

​

Criminal History, Moral Character

(or both)

•Respect for law and order, and good moral character, which may be evidenced by affidavits from family, friends, and responsible community representatives.
​

•Reformation of character and rehabilitation.
​

•Community service beyond any imposed by the courts.
​

•Considerable passage of time since deportation or removal.

•Moral depravity or criminal tendencies reflected by an ongoing or continuing criminal record, particularly the nature, scope, seriousness, and recent occurrence of criminal activity.
​

•Repeated or serious violations of immigration laws, which evidence a disregard for U.S. law.

•Lack of reformation of character or rehabilitation.

•Previous instances of fraud or false testimony in dealings with USCIS or any government agency.
​

•Marriage to a U.S. citizen or LPR for the primary purpose of circumventing immigration laws.
​

•Nature and underlying circumstances of the inadmissibility ground at issue, and the seriousness of the violation.

•Public safety or national security concerns

Other

•Absence of significant undesirable or negative factors.

•Other indicators of an applicant's bad character and undesirability as a permanent resident of this country.

B. Discretionary Determination
When making a discretionary determination, the officer should review the entire record and give the appropriate weight to each adverse and favorable factor. Once the officer has weighed each factor, the officer should consider all of the factors cumulatively to determine whether the favorable factors outweigh the unfavorable ones. If the officer determines that the positive factors outweigh the negative factors, then the applicant merits a favorable exercise of discretion.

Homeland Security employee manual.

No indication of how to deal with Waiver clients.

http://www.theblackvault.com/documentarchive/department-of-homeland-security-dhs-employee-manual/

Here is the Homeland Security Policy manual, specifically the part dealing with "Discretion" which would be exactly what Homeland Security "considers" when granting a Waiver.

https://www.uscis.gov/policymanual/HTML/PolicyManual-Volume9-PartA-Chapter5.html

Here is a scary article about Homeland Security monitoring social media and forums like this one.

https://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/23/us/house-questions-homeland-security-program-on-social-media.html

#1273 5 years is the minimum that CBP would like to see to show rehabilitation and possibly get an approval. This also depends on the type of conviction. If you apply earlier, you definitely run the risk of rejection because honestly 3 years is not really a lot of time to show that a person's life has changed around for the better.

I have also seen cases where they said that 5 years did not show enough time. I am going to try and find the 5 years preference in the immigration manual and may post it to our site. I have seen it there before years ago but have to find it again.

@jazzsax I haven't seen enough to indicate they are more lenient than they were. My advice is still the same, waiting 3 years gives you a "fighting chance" but waiting 5 years is ideal.

@John - asked above but didn't see a reply... have you seen any luck recently with people in the 3 to 5 year range post conviction? Last time we chatted you told me to ask you later in the year. :)

(fingers crossed)

@Adelaide Alberta is no problem.

$536.75 includes the taxes, you may start with a deposit of $250.00

Call me at 905-459-9669 during business hours, if I am not in the office it automatically goes to my cell phone.

also my email is pardon.experts@rogers.com

John Rogers.

@John Rogers

I'm located in Alberta. Have an overstay and was banned for 10 years.

I know you're located in Ontario but do you do cases for people in Alberta? You seem to know what you're doing/talking about.

What would be your fees for doing a waiver for an overstay?

Thanks for any feedback.

Received my fourth 5 year waiver.
April 14. Applied YYC AIRPORT
July 30. Approved
Aug. 3. Received in mail

Related to a misdemeanour possession charge in New York
State 1972. Went undetected for 31 years.

#1262. Yes, Michelle, you are indeed very helpful and knowledgeable. Plus you are just naturally a nice person. Sorry, we also have just been busy with a new service that we are offering and Summer months are the busy season here. We have not been here as much either.

@John Rogers - sorry for delay..thanks very much..I have not had time to come on here lately.

Any luck with people applying in the 3 to 5 year range post conviction? (LOL, you knew I was going to ask...)

Possession of narcotics, assault, theft. No trafficking. Not very complex.