Hello Mr. Rogers, I have a question. In your experience, if someone has tried to go to the United States and has been refused entry because of their criminal record, is their case processed for a waiver longer than that of someone who has never been refused entry? Thank you.

Guy asked a question and he said his lawyer is trash lol this guys funny lol what a fool

@J Rogers Thank you so much for doing this.
I can see that you’re a top-notch professional, yet people who don’t know anything about this come here every day to challenge or minimize the information you provide, what a waste.
I truly believe the information you post makes sense. It’s the same as when I went through the Canadian immigration process: everything seemed all over the place, but there was always a pattern.
I think, moving forward, the waiver processing time may be faster, given that many Canadians are no longer traveling to the U.S., but this doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to happen

@Chino Varges

You actually posted this

February’s but after asking my lawyer he told me probably untrue

How can you say this when this is an ACTUAL person?

1 year waiver

12/23/2025, 11:33 AM : Status changed to Completed
02/12/2025, 08:30 PM : Status changed to Submitted to ARO
02/04/2025, 04:38 PM : Status changed to Paid
02/04/2025, 04:35 PM : Status changed to Signed
02/03/2025, 07:32 PM : Application Created

The went to the border February 12 and got their waiver December 23. Your lawyer thinks I am faking hundreds of waiver results....that take 11 months?

Its got TIMES. The timeline makes SENSE.

12/16/2025, 07:33 AM : Status changed to Completed
01/14/2025, 01:30 AM : Status changed to Submitted to ARO
01/06/2025, 09:46 PM : Status changed to Paid
01/06/2025, 04:05 PM : Status changed to Signed
12/16/2024, 02:51 PM : Application Created

Here is one where they went to the border on January 14 and got their waiver December 16th. 11 months. See where we get that number? Now show your incompetent lawyer and he will know as much as you do.

@Chino Varges

Your lawyer told you what? I am posting ACTUAL timelines from REAL waiver clients.

February waivers are coming in right now, but there could be hundreds in that lineup. So if you are February, any day now. If your waiver sucks, and a lawyer who told you this obviously doesn't do many waivers, so your application could take longer if it sucks. If your denied...even longer. But he may have done a good job.....too bad he simply doesn't understand the timelines.

If your lawyer can't recognize this timeline and understand what I am posting here, he either is a terrible lawyer, or simply doesn't do waivers.

We are not all the same. I specialize in waivers and do a lot of waivers. That gives me insight to timelines. Read the timelines again and hopefully you understand. Just because you are February, doesn't mean you should have it, although you are LIKELY to get it soon. The average man is 5'8 but some men are taller and some men are shorter. Its an AVERAGE. There are always EXCEPTIONS.

I expect to keep getting February waivers for the next 2-3 weeks. I am still getting the odd January waiver too Please read MORE posts so you actually understand this, not just 1 page and then panic. Also, you WILL get an answer....why panic?

The emails are useless. Everyone who does waivers KNOWS this. When they switched to eSAFE they rarely care because waivers can no "longer lost in the mail" and that is what the email system was for.

I find it comical that anyone thinks the same Government that employs ICE and shot an American Citizen in the face cares about "emails from Canada asking about waivers". These people do not care if you EVER travel to their country. That is why I post so much information, so people can CLEARLY see a path to when and how long the waiver will be granted for. But you have to actually READ through the forum to understand this.

Waiver clients, be careful. They are doing a ton of secondary checks now, much more than before. It helps that 75% less people are travelling.

@Mike Jones I hear they ask for more info last second too

@Mike Jones me too actually I applied on Feb 10 2025 very close to you and I also have heard nothing I’ve emailed the ARO couple times and get a generic message telling me it could be up to 12 months was hoping for somesort of clarity from somebody but all I see is guesses on timelines from what I’ve read on here I’ve seen some stuff they are seeing February’s but after asking my lawyer he told me probably untrue hopefully someone can give me some more clarity on timelines or maybe even someone who has has recently got a approval letter im all ears

@J Rogers hey saw a thread where you said you hearing back from Feb 2025 I applied Feb 8 2025 and have heard absolutely nothing first time applicant

@willbill

I have quite a few overstay clients. They sometimes ask for additional info such as "list all entry and exits form the United States in the past _____ years."

I had one client where they asked for employment clarification as well.

Much less likely for overstay though.

@J Rogers

[ willbill appended this reply on January 8, 2026 @ 3:20 pm ]

Thanks for sharing all these timelines
One thing I don't see as often people that overstay applying for Waiver
My application was Jun 15 2025 still hopeful to get some response by Next month February 2026
Would they ask for any additional document for overstay?

1 year waiver

Again first applicant, and they asked for additional information.

Status History (7)
01/08/2026, 12:03 PM : Status changed to Completed
12/23/2025, 11:03 AM : Status changed to Request for More Information Response
10/24/2025, 09:00 AM : Status changed to Request for More Information
12/02/2024, 04:30 PM : Status changed to Submitted to ARO
11/13/2024, 07:45 PM : Status changed to Paid
11/13/2024, 07:43 PM : Status changed to Signed
10/22/2024, 02:54 PM : Application Created

1993-THEFT UNDER
1989-CONSPIRACY TO TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS -DISCHARGE

Again, another "give us additional info" and another 1 year waiver. Not 100% sure if there is a distinct pattern, but maybe.

@J Rogers - thank you for continuing this thread. As someone who "submitted to ARO" the end of April, I remain optimistic for a first-time applicant. In seeing some of the other criminal charges, the crime of moral turpitude (value of less than $200 for a forged cheque, no time served and over 35 years ago) seems minor. I will be sure to share the timelines once the status is complete.

1 year waiver

First waiver - also note timeline is different because they asked for additional information.

1 year waiver

Status History (7)

01/06/2026, 08:33 AM : Status changed to Completed
12/23/2025, 01:30 PM : Status changed to Request for More Information Response
10/15/2025, 07:33 AM : Status changed to Request for More Information
11/19/2024, 04:19 PM : Status changed to Submitted to ARO
11/14/2024, 09:37 PM : Status changed to Paid
11/14/2024, 09:29 PM : Status changed to Signed
10/29/2024, 07:59 PM : Application Created

2001-ASSAULT WITH A WEAPON
2003-UTTERING, USING OR EXPORTING COUNTERFEIT MONEY

He had a pardon, so although we did submit his pardon, they still asked additionally for a Privacy Act set of fingerprints.

We now tell clients with pardons to do this upfront, since it gets asked for later.

@Josh Campbell

This is NORMAL. I am getting in Februarys right now (new applicants) This is normal for new applications, and if you get a February waiver in January 2026, that is 11 months. Re-applications and considerably faster. All the results I have been posting clearly show 2 distinct lines. One for re-apps (3 months from "submitted to ARO" ) and first time applications, 11 months from that same date.

But these are guidelines. Like the average man is 5'9. But some are taller and some are shorter. So there are always exceptions.

As for "normal"...the US president kidnapped a Leader and is talking about invade in Greenland and possibly Canada. Wondering why "timelines" are out of whack is nothing compared to the instability happening right now.

Just the timelines not matching up with what I been seeing if applies in Feb 2025 I would expect to know something in 11-12 months nothing kind of crazy but maybe it’s normal

@Josh green

Can you elaborate on what you are puzzled by?

@J Rogers none of these timelines make sense

SEPTEMBER LETTER

Big surprise, I wish I could say I "predicted" this, but I was unsure of what would happen.

Client had a 5 year waiver granted in 2023 due to an overstay. 10 year ban, he did overstay between 2005-2014 but not the entire time. Anyways, we applied, and we got a 5 year waiver.

He travelled a lot back and forth and ended up overstaying a bit, but in short visits, and was denied entry, and his waiver was taken away. We applied right away for a new waiver. The official reason was his job gave him a lot of freedom, and he clearly could be away from Canada for long stretches, so he was considered to not "have sufficient ties to Canada".

The client is a very personable, nice guy, so we had many conversations about what could happen. I was hoping I could at least get him a 1 year waiver, he has a girlfriend and dog in California. (this client is on the west coast)

I am stunned he got a September Letter, but it was always unclear about what the US really had a problem with, and also it was hard to know how many days he actually had "over".

Anyways, congratulations! Best result possible.

01/05/2026, 10:33 AM : Status changed to Completed
08/14/2025, 11:00 PM : Status changed to Submitted to ARO
07/30/2025, 10:08 PM : Status changed to Paid
07/30/2025, 10:05 PM : Status changed to Signed
07/24/2025, 08:23 PM : Application Created

@What
Even though the "Submitted" date is later.... It just took time to update. I actually submitted it the same day as it was "paid".

@What It took 3 months from submitted at the border, to results.