Michelle, you are 100% correct. There is actually something that can actually be done in regards to restitution and the business being closed. We would need to get specific information regarding the business being closed though. Perhaps they went bankrupt or maybe bought out and someone else took over the accounts owing? You are in a good position in terms of this. Really would like to see your packet and with a big focus on the letter of explanation.

Now I am not saying this should apply in your case...However, we had cases where their packets had been poorly prepared by a Discount Waiver Company and CBP sent a tough RFE. We decided to let the 87 days expire and then refile the waiver packet later....while taking into account what the old RFE said. Then when we applied, we just addressed the "RFE specifics" in the new waiver packet as well as showing the case-specific relevant rehabilitation. The people ended up getting approved and no other RFEs had been sent since CBP had nothing that they could use against the person. In doing it this way, it is harder for CBP to use the RFE against you since it is addressed in the new application packet. This is a technique that we have used before but you have to know all of the information on a particular case.

There is a special reason why we did this. It is one thing if a waiver is denied for failing to provide the requested information. It is another thing if the requested information provided is either wrong, weak or unfavourable. Then what they do is base the denial letter on the information submitted in the RFE. However, being denied for not responding can be better since they cannot use the argument that the information is unfavourable, lacking or wrong...since nothing was provided. We have had to do this in certain cases. Lately, they have been sending RFEs on drug trafficking conviction cases and sex crimes...which are both our bread and butter and a headache to deal with.

Also, CBP sending out RFEs is something that can be a disadvantage to them since they can indicate what area they are focusing on. This allows us to overcome this in different ways. I think one thing is to overcome the recency of your conviction.

One trick that CBP sometimes will do is at the BC borders is to ask you what happened in your case. They see the letter of explanation in the system. If both stories do not match, then they can try to revoke the waiver. However, there is a way to overcome this problem. So I cannot stress the importance of examining the old packet that was sent in.

If waiver case is denied,then there are ways to turn them around.

@1078, Dan1990: I will step away from this one, as my guidelines are if you have not paid restitution or are not making payments, I do not take the case. (now, in your case, because the business closed, you might be okay). Ken Scott is excellent at what he does, and I am sure he can help you with this. I also agree with Ken, that unfortunately, there are many "bad" business out there, that simply put paperwork together and really have no clue. However, between Ken, John and myself, we are working hard to change this.

For future, if you require a Pardon or Record Suspension, for jobs or volunteering purposes, this restitution will come up and you will not be eligible for a Pardon or Record Suspension due to this.. (again you might be able to work around it because the business closed...it would depend on when you were sentenced and when the business closed.) I am letting you know, in case you hire another company, they will most likely tell you that you are eligible when you are not.

Ok well, Dan, I have a few other things to say....is your girlfriend in the USA on an F-1 school visa or is she a U.S. Citizen? Are you looking to live/move to the USA with her? This is an area that I have a tremendous amount of experience in. If she is going to sponsor you there, then there are some special things that we should go over since you have this conviction. I do not know your waiver company, but based on what you have said here...not enough rehabilitation was shown. The restitution part was an error I think in that it was mentioned. We have a client that is on his 3rd waiver, and he previously owed $15,000 to the BC government as restitution. He only recently paid it and had his prior waivers approved while still owing it. We also have Fraud clients owing restitution now getting approved without CBP even asking about it.

Nothing in your case is your fault since you do not work in the waiver business and probably would not be as familiar with the particulars. This is one of my pet peeves with these Discount Waiver Companies. They slap together a packet, include 2-3 reference letters and add a bit more. They take that CBP list and just think that it will cover showing rehabilitation and getting an approval. This is not necessarily the case. The CBP list is only a basic guide...as you are aware now since they wrote back asking for rehabilitation. Each waiver case is different and we tailor the rehabilitation to each individual based on their circumstances. An example is that let's say that the adjudicating CBP officer in the ARO is looking at 3 waiver cases this very minute:

1. A person has 2 convictions for fondling kids, 2 for being a flasher at a park and 1 for possession of child pornography in 2014.

2. A person has only 1 conviction for stealing S100 worth of meat in 2009(September Letter possible).

3. A person has a conviction for Armed Robbery with an AK-47 of an armoured car delivering money to Scotia Bank in 2010(likely a Surrey BC crime).

There is a high degree of probability that they will be harder on case #1 &#3 as opposed to #2. A few letters of reference might show rehabilitation in #2 but it will definitely not be the case in #1 & 3.

Rehabilitation has to be shown in every waiver case and it is not necessarily a matter of 2 letters of reference as they indicate on the list. The rehab is and should always be case specific. An example is that in BC there are a very large number of organized crime rings and ex-gangsters. Vancouver BC is a port city and a major hub for smuggling and trafficking. A lot of these guys have been accused of or have either done things from home invasions, strong arm takeover robberies, drive-by shootings and much more. They have left the game now and want to travel with their families to the USA. Their cases will require showing major rehabilitation. A few reference letters will not cut it.....so the rehabilitation is tailored to each individual. They come into the office and we have to see what rehabilitative pattern will best fit them and then include that and more to the ARO in their waiver packet. This is not even including if we think they can qualify for a September Letter aka lifetime clearance.

Anyway, your case is winnable and perhaps would be a good thing to get our combined help. The only way that it would work would be a combined skype conference call. Also, if you get denied, then it could still be turned around to an approval in a new case showing the proper rehabilitation.

usentrywaiverservices.com

And honestly really really good advise and I appreciate it I will be in contact with you guys through out this process hopefully I get it would mean the world to me as my girlfriend is studying in the USA and we barely see each other, also all this happened as we were headed to Hawaii where I planed on proposing but it all fell apart so fast, I’ve been to the United States over 20 times since I got charged with no issue but this one time in Vancouver the officer wasn’t letting me go through

Thank you for the responses guys I will give you a little more information

So it was credit card fraud at a retailer that no longer exists and restitution was set at around 30,000 dollars. I havnt got any notices or anything to make payments on it so I’ve left it as is

As far as rehab goes I wouldn’t mind signing up for classes if it improves my chances of getting the waiver

And yes I did unfortunately
Use a company to do this and I wrote a very long letter and three references as part of the application and I did photocopy it all and can be brought to a meeting

#1076 Michelle is 100% correct. Dan do not miss that 87-day window. If you miss it, there is a 100% your waiver will be denied. Dan try to get a copy of what you have submitted to CBP. If you used a waiver company, ask them for a copy. It is your right since you paid them to prepare the packet. They should have no issue in providing a copy to you.

It may possibly be a bit tricky if you do not or cannot get a copy since then we would have to base it on whatever you tell us and the details listed on the RFE. However, there are some safety areas that can be used to answer the reply if you are unable to get the copy. Those letters of explanation are highly critical to any waiver case and they definitely closely examine them.

Luckily, you have guidance from the 3 best people in the waiver industry...literally covering all of Canada from the East to the West :).

@Dan 1990, #1072, Yes, I am not surprised they asked for this, I deal with this all the time in Saskatchewan. There are a few things you can do...and you must send info back within 87 days from date of letter, which maybe already a few weeks old. If you do not respond within the timeline, your file will be closed - period..no exceptions. I agree with K Scott, I don't think you provided enough information in your personal letter. That letter must talk about rehabilitation, paying restitution, ect... Court documents may not help you as the restitution was paid to victim, and they don't keep track of that. Both John Rogers and Ken Scott gave you good free advise.

I can help you, but unfortunately, I would charge a fee, as now, you are getting into more specialty area where you need expert advise. If you are interested, please text me at 1.306.8886 or email info@fingerprintpardon.com . At that time, I will ask some for quite a bit of information, ideally, I would like to see copies of your paperwork. I would then provide a quote of the work required. Thanks!

IN the past year we have seen 4 restitution, which were never asked for before. All first time applicants.

One was an Arson and over 200K so not surprised. In one case 17 k in clothing. Again not everyone but the dd one here and there.

IN all cases the people asked had paid it. In one case we had proof so showed the proof it was paid upfront. In that case they made the person "prove" they served probation. Ridiculous and it was a hassle getting the proof. Again, these mostly see like "one offs" and not very common.

Ken, I am not a discount waiver company and have had a couple. Your telling me with the guy who had burned 200K in school buses was your client Homeland Security would have focused on "rehabilitation" and not asked if they guy ever paid for them? (He did by the way)

I think your sample size just hasn't gotten one of these across your desk yet, especially since it only the occasional one.

I am still unsure why this question comes up. We have never had CBP ask us about restitution in any types of cases...whether Fraud or not. In fact, these get approved usually in the 4-month mark. We have a lot of clients that have either ran Fraud rings or did major credit card Fraud and they have never asked this question. I can understand the reformation of the character part since we naturally show it in the initial packet anyway.

It is true about not admitting to the restitution part. I will take it a step further to say that you should not even be mentioning anything about restitution in these packets. Also, did you do your own waiver or did you hire someone? I ask because I often hear things like this happening from these Discount Waiver Companies.

I think it sounds like they did not show enough rehabilitation in your packet. Every waiver case has to essentially show rehabilitation but we tailor the particular rehabilitation to the specific individual. It is not a matter of throwing in 2 letters of reference to show rehabilitation...Not saying that is all they did.

Now you really have to address the reformation of character/rehabilitation in your RFE since you only have 87 days to respond. Also, there is a way to address the restitution depending on your circumstances. I think one thing that may have hurt you is that you applied just over the 5-year window. Generally, the earlier you apply, the more rehabilitation that you have to show.

Also, what was your restitution amount? Yes, I think you should verify that no one has taken over the operations of the former business. What was the name of the giant retailer? The proof of character reformation is the easier part. Also, hopefully, you kept a copy of your application that you submitted. You should go to that and examine what was shown as rehabilitation and just build more upon that. Understand that this is a bit trickier since we do not have a copy of your packet in front of us hat was submitted to CBP.

These restitution have only been a factor more recently.

Most importantly, respond. No matter what BEFORE the 87 days.

If you did not pay the restitution, do not admit to that.

-Since the retailer is out of business, still go to the court in question (Unless you did this in your original submission) and get court documents
-go online and prints out whatever you can find showing the store is out of business and make sure you highlight the dates etc.
-write a letter explaining you are responding and detail what you have gathered etc. In my opinion, your best chance is to say "I can no longer get proof I paid the restitution because of...."

If you tell them "I didn't pay them because they went out of business", you might not get the waiver....ever.

Don't forget when you pay restitution, its usually NOT to the store anyways, its the insurance company that covered the losses. I bet they are still around.

Hi,

Quick question for any one who can help/give me advice

I applied for a waiver back in February for a fraud over 5000 charge convicted in 2012 I had a resituation payment to the retail giant who went bankrupt and isn’t around any more

So I get a letter from home land asking me to provide all evidence pertaining to my reformation of character and any rehab or counseling I attended.

And also proof or resituation payments or payment plan.

So what do I do know is my question

Thanks for any input on my situation greatly appreciated and maybe some
One else has something to learn from
This or has gone through a similar scenario

@JOHN ROGERS and @K SCOTT

Thank you both very much for your input.

And yes I'm aware there are most likely no absolute answers pertaining to these things... I'm just trying to suss out a general guideline here. Knowledge is power and I appreciate getting an "education" here.

Cheers to you both!

Yes, the overstay is an overstay...simple as that. Now what might factor in is what they have said in the sworn statement. It is one thing if they overstayed 2 years and just stayed at home watching grand kids..It is another thing if they overstayed15 years are were running multiple businesses without authorization. So your big thing will be the sworn statement.

An example is that we have a client that overstayed in USA for 40 years. He also made a false claim to USA citizenship which is very difficult to get a waiver for. We got him a 5 Year Waiver after his lawyer said he was not eligible for one. Plus we had to account for the 40 years to show that the time period should not be used against him. He is actually on one of our internet radio shows as a guest.

Another client overstayed by 5 years to be with his 6-year-old son since the mum was a "witch"....and would not bring the son to see him in Canada unless he paid $15,000 a month in child support... instead of the $10,000 a month that he had already been paying..CBP was really harsh with him and only gave him a 6 month waiver. Also, it did not help him that he worked as a business professional without a visa during the 5 year period.

Again, the point is the severity will be determined by what they have admitted to in the sworn statement and the case-specific circumstances.

The overstays can have degrees of severity yes. But more significant is the existing ban or time from the actual overstay.

Samuel, there are no absolute answers to your question. Risk the $585 and find out for sure, or simply wait until the 10 year ban is up and apply then.

Still looking for some input on this:

Are there varying degrees of “severity of offence” in overstays as it pertains to the adjudication of waivers?

For example if you got a 10 year bar for an overstay and your overstay was 18 months is an overstay of (for example) 48 months looked upon as “more severe” an offence and thus lessens your chance of getting a waiver?

Or is a 10 year bar looked upon as a “blanket case” regardless of how long the overstay was beyond the 1 year that triggered the bar?

Just spoke with Michelle this morning and she was SO helpful! I will be going through her this fall to start my waiver application! Thanks for referring her!!!

Ok sounds good. My number is 1 888 908-3841 or 604 332-9213. Btw...this is the reason why they are hard on waiver cases under the Trump administration. The reading is very dry and long. I know that this is long and very dry...However, this is essentially the reason why it is harder and more work getting us entry waivers under Trump.

usentrywaiverservices.com #usentrywaiver

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-enhancing-public-safety-interior-united-states/

:: @K SCOTT added on 22 May ’18 · 14:02

We are in Surrey BC, Burnaby, Winnipeg and Europe.

For me at work is 905-459-9669 and my cell is 416-843-1371.

I am in Brampton.

Alright all this is good to know. Initially when we had gone to speak to them they said we can give ti at shot and even said they have a 80% success rate. they took forever to review the file and was only able to speak to the receptionist through out the process which should have been a red flag all along. I will definitely peruse for a refund if it doesn't go through. How long should we wait to reapply? Also how can i get in contact with either of you?

@1062 Nicole234, Hi, my contact info is info@fingerprintpardon.com or 306.205.2532 or you can text 306.531.8886. Also check out our website at www.fingerprintpardon.com

Thanks J Rogers and K Scott for the referrals...