Thanks again for the response. I totally agree with your post. Do you have any experience with the waiver of inadmissibility? Is it actually glued into your passport or is it a paper copy you keep with you. I might apply for one but having it glued into my passport or in my carry on concerns me when I travel to other countries. I worry about passport control noticing the visa and potentially denying me entry into countries I have no issue entering. Although connecting in the USA would save me about 5 hours on some trips, this is a concern if I apply for a waiver.

Thanks again!

The sad truth about this whole data sharing business between countries is that Canada's CBSA was unable to access FBI records when Americans crossed the border unless they pulled them in for secondary. Recently, they were given access to them. CBSA filled a complaint.

To what extent they were given access too only the US government knows. Considering many US politicians have been convicted and have rose to power makes you wonder how convoluted the whole US justice system seems to be.

It's kinda sad to think that many Americans were coming here without ever being pulled into secondary while Canadians have been denied entry to the US for trivial matters such as simple accusations that have been dropped or that didn't result in a criminal conviction whatsoever. We can congratulate the brilliant politicians we have.

Way to go to Canada!!!

Hello,

Thank you for the response. I appreciate your insight. I searched myself on Interpol and it displays zero results. I do not have serious charges like sexual assault, murder or drug related offences. I have flown to Central and South America many times from Europe. I have zero reason or motivation to enter the United States.

It's incredible how difficult it is to ascertain general information related to these matters.

Thanks again.

From my understanding, you should be fine as long as you don't have an arrest warrant against you, you don't land on US soil or your name is not flagged up by Interpol for serious crimes (being a sex offender, a drug trafficker or murderer for example). Having a pardon is a plus because your conviction is erased from CPIC and if other countries ask for info, they see nothing. That being said, your info may have been given to Interpol even if you get a pardon especially when you have an active warrant against you.

The US is different because they have full access to CPIC without Canada's permission, getting a pardon does not help here. Having full access to CPIC means that your criminal record after receiving a pardon will show as sealed. The Americans may have also downloaded your record before you received your pardon. There's a lot of things governments and police forces don't tell us. You can thank Harper for giving them full control, but I'm pretty sure any other ruling party would have done the same. Since 9/11, North American society is driven to punish people for petty crimes while the true criminals seem to get all the help to restart. A lot of civil liberties were thrown out and many people are fighting to get them back.

That being said, the 72 hours requirement is only required by DHS (the Bush administration's idea). George Bush Jr. himself had a record, but he became president.

The US tried to convince all countries to participate, but a lot of country simply did not cooperate. You have too understand most South American countries rely heavily upon Canadians to boost up their tourism industry. The US government does not realize it's harming it's own industry. Applying for a waiver is nothing more than a money grab and many people refuse to go to get them for this reason.

That being said, there's always a risk, so be prepared. Take a direct flight that avoids landing in any US city and make sure that your name is not on Interpol's database.