@Moozee1 - Thanks for the response. I was just so confused since before they replied in hours, and now its been days :( ugh. I'm going to assume at this point getting back home to visit for Christmas will be a no go.

@kristina well if you read my past comments on this thread you will see that this process is an absolute nightmare! I cannot believe the atrocity of all of this. I have NOT received a response in weeks from the ARO. I wish you very much luck in your process honestly. The ARO EMAILS are a complete waste of time.

Quick question that I can't seem to find an answer for. My husband applied for his 1st waiver in July at Edmonton Airport. After the 120 days emailed ARO for status - they responded within hours. A few weeks later sent another request for status (yes we are an impatient bunch lol) and again responded by the end of the day. Last week sent a request and never received a reply back. Has anyone had ARO respond very quickly sometimes and other times just not at all?

I simply cannot believe it. Well over 8 months since I applied for my waiver renewal. Second one expired early September. I used to get updates saying processing etc from the ARO now in the past couple of weeks I have sent 3 requests and they have not responded at all! Has that ever happened to anyone else. Because I am extremely upset and wondering what's going on with my Waiver renewal. My first waiver took just over 90 days.

@magees, some 20 years ago I over stayed in US.

Emran, if you would be willing to share your reason for requiring a waiver that would be greatly appreciated.

@Emran - thanks for the info. I guess there is hope for all of us waiting. Have a great day!

Hi Everyone, my name is Emran and I am from Toronto and like to share my 2 cents / update on this topic.

Last year I applied for my first waiver at Pearson airport and was completed in less then 90 days which was valid for 1 year.

This year On Jun 15, I applied for the renewal of my second waiver at (Queenston Lewiston bridge) and today I got my renewal which is valid for 5 years and it took almost 5 months to complete.

One thing I noticed that both waivers were processed at 2 different offices in Virginia. So processing time greatly depends on which office your wavier goes for processing and how much work load they have.

I would like to wish "Good Luck" to everyone waiting for their first or second waivers and hopefully thing will work out.

Thanks.

@kiwi - good plan. Certainly hope you get your first waiver soon. My first one tool just over 90 days. It's my 2nd one as in my renewal that's taking a very very long time. Good luck to you and everyone else waiting. Still keep us posted.

Hopeful, you do have me beat, and yes this is my first application.
Mine was filed Dec 9th 2014.

Now that my RCMP criminal record check is older than 15 months, I will apply again shortly as that took about 5 months to get first time around.

When I get my first I194 Visa Waiver, I will then re-apply within 3 months to start my 2nd application to ensure (or hope for) no gap between waivers..

Kiwi

@Hopeful and @kiwi - this must be your first Waiver application I would assume. Nevertheless your wait times are ridiculously long. I hope for the best for all of you and all the rest of us to receive our Waivers or Waiver renewals. But taking almost 1 year ... Wow! There should be a phone number to call. But I believe there is not! Have a great day. Keeping my fingers crossed daily.

@KIWI, I think I've got you beat, by about a month...
On November 17th, it'll be a full year of waiting for me!

Similar to you, I've inquired a few times, and got these responses:
- it's on file, pending review (March 2015)
-it's on file, pending security checks (June 2015)
- it's currently pending further review (October 2015)

@stark416 - I would research local Pardon Services/Waiver offices in the GTA. Read reviews and call and ask them questions. Don't be fooled by the 1-800 numbers who can guarantee you a waiver in 3 months or less. As you can read on this forum ... It's takes at the very minimum 4-6 months to obtain a Waiver. But you must go through a few very necessary steps and pay a reasonable fee and then make an appointment at Homeland Security at the closest airport (perhaps Pearson) and pay a $585 US currency filing fee and then the wait begins. Read up on how to prepare your Waiver application as it can be done by yourself! Good luck.

I am from Toronto, ON, Canada. I was hoping to recieve information about a good company to go through for a waiver. I've heard some horror stories about people being scammed. Thank you!

@Kiwi - all I can say is that is ridiculous. 11 months. Well I know easy to say but let's all stay positive. I have went through emotional Hell and back over this. More so since it's my 2nd Waiver. But nevertheless I believe that the ARO makes their rules and truly doesn't seem to accommodate us Canadians who have made mistakes when we were younger and have paid our dues and not too mention years of remorse for petty crimes in my case. But you can commit assault and not aggravated assault several times and require NO WAIVER. believe me I know someone like that. Makes me sick. No crime should be abolished from
Their rules. Moral turpitude is apparently the worst. Have you read the Waiver rules. It's a good read on the US website. Yea okay. Well good luck to you. Have you ever received more promising auto respondes from the ARO? Cheers!

Maybe I'm the winner, longest wait for a first visa waiver on this forum.

11 months next week, I got an added message with my last inquiry, see below.

“Further, it is important to note that the DOS database used for processing visa applications and associated waivers of ineligibility, Consular Consolidated Database (CCD), has experienced significant and ongoing technical issues. These database issues have caused substantial delays in the CBP-ARO processing of DOS waiver recommendation, causing current processing times to extend to approximately 180 days.”

Good luck to everyone still waiting, I would love to have mine before end of year but not sure if that's going to happen at this rate.

Cheers.

@Tits Magees - you have been waiting a long time ... That's for sure. And you have only enquiried about your status 3 times? It's okay to enquire more I would think. I have enquiried a lot and get various responses similar to yours. I certainly wish you well. Hopefully your a Waiver comes soon. Everyone makes mistakes in life and when you have turned your life around several years ago that's a great accomplishment for yourself. I think that the ARO wait times have changed this past year and that has affected the wait times. Good luck and keep us all posted as to when you receive your Waiver.

The wait i going to be 10 months for me at the end of the week. First filling submitted jan 8, 2015 and i included everything. Three inquiries with three quick responses (processing x 1 and awaiting required security check x 2). Only one charge 12 years ago. Class A felony where i serve time in prison and came home 11 years ago as of Nov 4. Completely different person from that time as I'm now a husband of 6+ years, father of 2, homeowner, active member in our community and hold a long term career of trust. Hopefully all of this wait is for good reason.

@Abigail-- if you read my comments throughout this Forum and everyone else's it appears anywhere from 4 - 6 months and some are much longer. This is my renewal and I am over 7 months in the wait game. My first waiver took just over 3 months. It appears that there is no correct answer and the ARO will not give you a time frame. Has your husband sent an enquiry to the ARO to request an update and if so what did their response say? Good luck ... This year seems to be a mess.

We've been waiting 9 months for my husbands waiver to be approved. Any idea how long this process can take?