US Waiver for Canadians

Note: Starting July 1st 2014, the RCMP will only accept electronic fingerprint submissions for the purposes of obtaining a waiver or other civil cause. Processing times currently range from 22 weeks for paper submission to under 3 business days for electronic submission. Contact one of the accredited companies or police services to submit your fingerprints electronically. See notice on the main page of the Canadian Criminal Real Time Identification Services site:  http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/cr-cj/fing-empr2-eng.htm

A man says he was turned away from the U.S. because a police officer caught him smoking marijuana when he was 17, more than two decades ago.  After years of travelling south without issue,  he was  pulled aside by Homeland Security and told he was convicted of narcotics possession. 24 years earlier, he was caught smoking a joint of marijuana in an Oakville, Ont. park. He and a group of friends were given a fine, but didn't go to jail or face any other punishments. U.S. officials have been requesting more criminal information from Canadian authorities in the last few years, leading to more people being denied entry. Familiar story? Read more: Man turned away from U.S. for 24-year-old drug charge

Note: this is an update on the process of determining and obtaining an I-194 waiver of inadmissibility. How can a Canadian citizen apply for a waiver to enter the United States if they have been or are likely to be denied admission either because of their criminal history or because they overstayed a previous visit? There are many reasons a person may be ineligible to enter the U.S. The legal descriptions are lengthy and complex, so to help you understand them, I am providing a general description of the most common ones. This list should not be taken as a complete list of reasons to be excluded from entry. In general, you might be denied entry if you have a communicable disease, if you have a criminal record for crimes of moral turpitude (age 18 or older) , for possession of or trafficking in a controlled substance, if you have any involvement with terrorism or terrorist organizations (no waivers can be approved for this category) , if you have trafficked in persons, been invol...

Haven't received your I-194 waiver yet? There is hope. Humanitarian parole is used sparingly to bring someone who is otherwise inadmissible into the United States for a temporary period of time due to a compelling emergency.  Humanitarian parole is granted by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). USCIS may grant parole temporarily: To anyone applying for admission into the United States based on urgent humanitarian reasons or if there is a significant public benefit For a period of time that corresponds with the length of the emergency or humanitarian situation Humanitarian parole can also be issued by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) if the traveler seeking the parole is at the U.S. border.  As each parole issued by CBP is issued at the discretion of the Port Director, please contact the specific Port of Entry where the parole will be sought to inquire about procedures.  If a traveler requires an extention of a parole granted by CBP, he or...

A B.C. woman named Jess Goldstein was denied entry into the US and barred for life, for admitting to US customs officials she had smoked marijuana in the past. Her car was searched, she was questioned for six hours and told she could never enter the US again. She owns a cabin in Washington state and her father is American so she used to cross quite often. Now she can cross the border only because she was granted an official waiver, which cost her $600 + in fees, and has to be renewed again each year. Meanwhile, Rob Ford, the fool mayor of Toronto, an admitted smoker of crack cocaine, has crossed the border into the US to appear on American TV. How come the US customs officials let him cross the border? Where is the punishment for Rob Ford? How come he does not have to pay $600 + a year to visit? The hypocrisy of US CBP.

We travelled down this past Saturday with Sunwing. Interestingly, there was no pre-clearance (does Sunwing not use the US pre-clearance facilities?) and when we arrived in Orlando we went through US customs. The line up was miserably long and the CBP officer seemed like he'd never dealt with an I-194 before. Although he didn't send our family through to secondary, he kept shuttling back and forth to ask questions of his superiors. After some electronic finger printing, a mug shot and 1 hour and 30 or so minutes, we were finally waved through.

A B.C. woman who was denied entry into the U.S., and barred for life, for admitting she’d smoked marijuana can now cross the border again thanks to an I-194 waiver. Jess Goldstein was asked at one point by the US border guard if she had ever smoked marijuana and admitted to smoking pot the week before. Despite having no criminal record, Goldstein was questioned for six hours and her car was searched, before she was told she could never enter the U.S. again. Now Goldstein can cross the border but only because she was granted an official waiver, which cost her $585, $75 for finger prints and has to be renewed again next year. There were likely addition fees not mentioned in the article, as Goldstein went through a lawyer. See the rest of the article:  B.C. woman who told U.S. border guards she smoked pot must pay $600 to cross again