Last updated 11/10/2008

Current Canada Pardon Application Processing Times

At this time it is taking 3 to 6 months to assemble a Pardon application and courier it to the National Parole Board. Currently, the NPB is working on applications that were received in April of 2008 or sooner. If your application was submitted last year, it could take the NPB 12 months to grant a Pardon for multiple (4 or more) Summary offenses, and up to 15 months to grant a Pardon for one or more Indictable offenses. However, since February of 2008, applications with only 1 to 3 Summary offenses, or 1 or 2 old Indictable offenses, that are prepared by our office and have no recent charges on the applicant's Local Police Record Check, are usually processed by the NPB within 2 to 3 months, after the file is opened. Note: Emailing or calling our office (or the NPB) will NOT help speed up the processing of your application.

Note: we recently confirmed that NPB staff are still working overtime and on weekends, in an effort to catch up.

One reason why the NPB got so far behind in 2006 and 2007 is because in the Fall of 2006 they reduced staff levels, while at the same time tens of thousands of applications were sent in from people who mistakenly believed they needed a Pardon in order to receive a Passport, and who in rushing their applications, made several errors and omissions in their applications. Unfortunately, all other applications that were done correctly were mixed into the same "sludge pile".

Current U.S. Waiver Application Processing Times

At this time it is taking 3 to 10 months to assemble a U.S. Waiver application, primarily due to significant delays in receiving Certified Records and Pardoned Records from the Ottawa RCMP. Processing times by U.S. Customs/Homeland Security can take anywhere between 6 to 15 months, largely depending on what you were convicted of.

Note: Most U.S. Waiver Applications are now being sent to a fairly new central processing facility (Admissibility Review Office) located in Herndon, VA. Due to this office's interpretation of existing Privacy Act Laws, this office will no longer respond to our update requests. Clients can submit an email request after 3 months, and again after 6 and 9 months, however, such requests will not speed up the process, and are often ignored by the ARO. If you do not receive your Waiver after 6 full months, please contact our office and we will email you an inquiry form to formally request information as to the status of your application.

Note: Last year Homeland Security increased the screening procedures and the required documents for all applicants who have been charged with multiple offenses and any indictable offense(s) within the last 15 years. If you were convicted of illegal drug possession, sexual assault, assault, theft over $1000, fraud or any indictable offense(s) or crimes involving moral turpitude within the last 15 years you will receive a letter from the ARO instructing you to submit Certified Court and Police Records for all convictions, within 87 days, or else your application will be forfeited. Our fee to obtain Certified Court and Police records is $60 each (plus GST) plus per-page court transcript fees (if required).

Note: On July 30th, 2007 Homeland Security increased the I-192 Department of State Filing Fee from $265.00 USD to $545.00 USD. Due to the revenues now being generated, as opposed to the Waiver applications being granted, we expect another increase soon. Also, some U.S. Customs offices are once again charging a $70 cash fee for FBI biometric fingerprinting.