When did ur profile show awaiting decision after doing biometric at the border @Steve2725

How long after biometric does it show awaiting decision from paid @Miles

Yes. You get a PDF to download. TWO PAGES. Pretty much same I got for my first waiver but different ARO officer approved. You can access the PDF anytime to redownload. I suggest keeping a digital copy of it in your e-mail or something if you lose it on a travel.

@albiz Congrats!

Question: Did you receive a cover letter and I-194 waiver? (aka 2 pages?)

and

is the waiver downloadable and printable from the portal?

Just got second WAIVER APPROVED TODAY for 5 Years B1/B2. Took 21 Days.

Actual cut and paste from e-safe portal of status progress.

Documents Shared With You
ARO Decision
Please review the documents

Status History (5)
2/12/2020, 07:00 AM PST : Status changed to Completed
1/21/2020, 09:30 AM PST : Status changed to Submitted to ARO
1/14/2020, 07:03 PM PST : Status changed to Paid
1/14/2020, 07:02 PM PST : Status changed to Signed
10/27/2019, 10:23 PM PDT : Application Created

@J Rogers and Michelle

Thanks for the info. So it's relatively a quick process once the ARO has received the application? In older posts, there were people who had been waiting a long time.

@John and Miles, no changes in my timelines..3 - 4 months for me to gather the paperwork, (depending on court houses)..and 4-6 months from time of deliver to US Customs to receive waiver - very few - less 1% arrive sooner..(speaking for Saskatchewan area)..Had a lady deliver to Edmonton International last week..will advise when she receives her waiver...

@Miles not if the waiver is granted and its fairly straight forward. 60 days once it is handed in in Ontario. eSAFE is even faster. Out west may take longer because as Michelle has said, we think they may not submit them immediately. I am not sure if that is every port or just some. Michelle can update us and let us know if that has changed.

Nobody waits for a long time nowadays?

This site has been so helpful!

Filed with e-safe on Dec 27, 2019. Visited the good folks at Rainbow Bridge the first week of January and received my waiver two days ago. Very efficient!

The only concern in my case is the birth date year is incorrectly 2019. Any thoughts on who to contact to have that changed?

@jazzsax1

You can email me at kiwicanuck123 at gmail dot com

@Kiwi super interesting. Would love to discuss further with you as I'm actually a tax accountant and you're one of the first I've heard that got charged for failing to pay CRA. I have clients who owe them 200K plus and have judgements against them but CRA never took court action other than registering tax liens.

What was your actual charge? Was it under the criminal prosecutions program?

I had a fraud charge with a similar sentence as you (2 years less a day conditional, with 18 months house arrest and probation), so in October I am 5 years post conviction. I have a need to travel to the USA for some business interests, my clients will write glowing letters, I have been making large payments towards the restitution (i didn't actually take any money --- long story) but I'm worried they will be jerks when I apply. My charge was completely unrelated to accounting and was from an isolated incident unrelating to my current work.

John / Michelle / Ken et all suggested I wait until October to apply but all felt we would have a good chance at succeeding depending on how the letters are written.

Too bad we didn't have a private message option here, I'd love to discuss your circumstances further (especially as it might relate to my clients too)

@jazzsax1 re:post #12

I was sentenced in Sept 2013 and got an 18-month conditional sentence.
Even though my charges were not criminal in Canada (failing to make a payment to CRA) the USA considered it a Crime of Moral Turpitude, as they consider it the equivalent to Tax Evasion.
I paid everything owing to CRA plus the court fine and waited till I was almost 5 years post-sentence before applying, I wanted to get the application in before the fees went up, so that's why I applied a few months early.

The approval letter states the "basis of favorable action" Humanitarian.

I prepared the application myself, spent a lot of time on the personal letter, especially the proof of rehabilitation part which was difficult to get right without sounding insincere.

Good luck to you.

@Kiwi - how much time was it post conviction? (ie, when were you sentenced) and what was the charge?

I applied using eSafe on Jan 2nd, 2020 and got my waiver today, 4th Feb., so about 33 days.

The visa waiver is good for 1 year, I'll refile in 7-8 months and hope for a 5 year waiver and hopefully the cost has not gone up by then.

I had applied back in 2014 and after waiting 27 months got a denial letter.

It had been 4 years and 10 months since my sentence was completed when I filed the application.

@John Rogers ... I'm going to surmise that your comment at #9 was meant for @USWaiver and not directed to me. Am I correct?

@Adelaide I didn't go this last Tuesday, but I have been there most Tuesdays. Did you see me in the lawn chair at Pearson Airport? And your case seems very typical in terms of how long esafe takes.

@Adelaide

Applied in in Pearson airport, the whole process took less than 30 minutes, today my Waiver has been approved for an year, first time applicant. (took ~ 1 month)

@Steve 2725...Thank you for sharing your story..I learned something new also..I have never had a waiver refused or revoked for a client..and I have had them do some "goofy" things, where there was threat of "revoking" a waiver. So, I was very surprised to learn of your situation. Could you explain bit more about the Immigration part. Does your waiver allow you to travel and have other benefits? Were you attempting to live/work in the USA? Sorry, I am just confused and very curious...Thanks!!!

@Steve2725 Thanks for sharing your experience and congratulations! It's encouraging to know that E-Safe processing times are so efficient. I'm sure there will be many questions from the other contributors on this forum. I have a couple. How long did the December 10th application interview take? What was the complete cost?