US Waiver for Canadians

The zero tolerance policy of the CBP has caught another in its net. This time a university teacher from the Indiana University South Bend. The clock is ticking for Stephen R. Gill. "Come Jan. 8, if there's no resolution, I'll be going back to Canada. I have no choice," said Gill, 61, who until June worked as an IUSB adjunct lecturer in English. ...Gill went to the U.S. Customs & Border Protection station near Detroit each year for the renewal. He had no problem until June 11 of this year. For the first time, a border agent asked him: "Have you ever been arrested?" Gill said he panicked and said "no." With the arrest so long in his background and details hazy, he said he had begun to doubt his own memories of the incident. The agent confronted Gill with evidence of his 1964 arrest. "At that point, I was speechless. It had turned up after 43 years," he said. You can read the full article here: IUSB teacher deported? As the reporter of t...

As crazy as it might sound, the answer is... No. At least for deportation purposes. Exert from an article published by the LA based MetNews - Court Overturns a Deportation Based on Sex With Minor: A person 21 years of age or older who engages in a sexual act with a minor under 16 years of age does not categorically commit a crime of moral turpitude, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled yesterday. In an opinion by Judge Sidney R. Thomas, the court reversed an order by the Board of Immigration Appeals finding Alberto Rene Quintero -Salazar deportable because his conviction under California Penal Code Sec. 261.5(d) constituted a crime of moral turpitude. Quintero -Salazar, a Mexican national, entered the United States in 1990, obtained conditional residence in 1992, and became a lawful permanent resident in 1994. His wife, three children and two stepchildren are all U.S. citizens. In 1998, he pleaded nolo contendere to contributing to the delinquency of a minor, engagi...

If you were denied entry to the US because of a criminal conviction (a crime involving moral turpitude, or CIMT) and you've committed only 1 offense then you might be able to argue that you are entitled to the petty offense exception under INA §212(a)(2)(A)(ii) if you satisfy all the following 3 statements: he/she has committed only one CIMT ; 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 the offense of conviction carries a maximum possible sentence of one year or less. I quickly 'Googled' but haven't found any offenses in the current Canadian criminal code which carry maximum sentences of one year or less ( see this chart that I found ). My original convictions (I had 2) were for "Theft under $1,000" which I was told carried maximum sentences of 6 months each (called a summary conviction offense). But the law has been updated to "T...

It took just over 9 months since submitting my I-192 application and almost 12 months since my process started but today I finally received my I-194 US waiver! For those of you that haven't gotten yours yet. Here is what it looks like: It comes on an ordinary letter sheet and includes a cover letter. The letter was dated November 3, 2006 and reads: Your application for advance permission to enter the United States as a nonimmigrant has been been approved. Enclosed is a copy of form I-194. The terms and conditions are: You are granted multiple entries into the United States at various points of entry as a visitor for business/pleasure/employment for a period of stay to be determined by the admitting officer, provided that you are not inadmissible to the United States under any other section of the law other than Section 212(a)(2)(A)(i)(I) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended. VALID FOR FIVE YEARS FROM THE DATE OF APPROVAL. This letter and the form I-194 must be present...