This definitive article written by a Windsor law firm and published by the Ontario Bar Association on January 24, 2006 covers everything your lawyer needs on gaining you lawful admission into the US. You can read the entire article here ( PDF ). There are a couple of interesting points. On page 5 for example, there is a piece under Crimes Involving Moral Turpitude ( CIMT ) called the US Petty Offence Exception: Pursuant to the US petty offence exception, a non citizen may be determined admissible, notwithstanding a single CIMT conviction if three essential requirements are satisfied: (1) he/she has committed only one CIMT ; (2) he/she "was not sentenced to a term of imprisonment in excess of six months (regardless of the extent to which the sentence was ultimately executed"; and (3) the offence of conviction carries a maximum possible sentence of one year or less. Unfortunately all 3 don't apply to me (I was convicted of 2 minor offences) but it is worth considering and