Hey, I'm helping out an older family member with trying to gain entry into the U.S. He's a landed immigrant/permanent resident who's lived in Canada since childhood and got arrested for a minor incident back in the '80s. I looked up entry waivers and came across the eSAFE application. Unfortunately, his status as a permanent resident seems to disqualify him from that program.

I asked elsewhere and was told that he'd instead need a Visa. Does anyone have any experience applying for one with a criminal record? Unfortunately, since he was a kid and it's been decades, he doesn't seem to have his passport (he's never had a Canadian one) or his birth certificate anymore. His "home" country is part of the Visa Waiver Program with the U.S., but I don't think that's relevant since he's living in Canada. I know that means this isn't directly relevant (unless he actually still applies for the I-192) to the forum, but I was hoping someone would still be able to chime in with advice.

He previously hired a firm to do this for him, but they charged him something like $500 and kept him in the dark for months. When he finally got ahold of them, they said he had missed some due date and they wanted more money to continue on. Feeling ripped off after that experience, he's not keen on hiring another one.