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Canadians who are inadmissible to the United States may require advance permission before attempting entry. Common issues can include certain criminal records, previous U.S. immigration violations, misrepresentation, prior removals, or previous refusals at the border. Not every Canadian with a criminal record necessarily requires a waiver, which is why the underlying reason for inadmissibility should be identified before applying.
A criminal record (even minor or old offences)
Previous U.S. immigration violations (overstays, misrepresentation)
Been denied entry at the border
A Past removal or deportation order
A general timeframe in which some applications may receive a decision.
A safer practical range to allow when planning ahead.
Every U.S. Entry Waiver application is considered on its own circumstances.
Could your decision arrive sooner? Yes.
Could it take longer? Yes.
These timeframes are practical planning estimates, not guaranteed CBP processing periods.
This is why it’s difficult to answer the question of How long does it take to get a us entry waiver approved.
A U.S. Entry Waiver is not simply a document moving through a system according to a stopwatch.
The government is reviewing an individual person and an individual set of circumstances.
That distinction matters.
Consider two applicants who submit waiver applications at approximately the same time.
One applicant may have a single theft conviction from more than 30 years ago, no subsequent criminal record, stable employment, and substantial evidence demonstrating rehabilitation.
Another applicant may have a much more serious criminal history, several convictions, recent conduct, previous immigration violations, a prior removal from the United States, or a previous waiver denial.
Those are not the same applications.
They do not involve the same history.
They do not necessarily require the same amount of review.
And there is no sensible reason to assume that both applicants must receive decisions on exactly the same timetable.
That is why a processing estimate should never be confused with a guaranteed decision date.
The government may also need to consider the applicant’s criminal history, including what offences can make you inadmissible to the United States, together with the age and seriousness of the conduct, rehabilitation, immigration history, and supporting evidence.
In practical terms, some waiver applicants may receive decisions within approximately six to nine months.
But that is not a promise since absolutely no one can accurately answer the question of how long does it take to get a us entry waiver approved.
At U.S. Entry Waiver Services LTD, we believe our U.S. Entry Waiver Canada applicants should plan more conservatively.
A safer planning range is:
Approximately 6 months to 2 years
Again, this does not mean every application will take six months.
It does not mean every application will take two years.
And it does not mean two years is an absolute maximum.
It means applicants should allow themselves a broad enough window that they are not depending upon an artificial deadline that may have little relationship to their particular application.
Some files move more quickly.
Some fall somewhere around six to nine months.
Some take a year or longer.
More complicated applications can take substantially longer.
The central point is that every case is different, and local Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers do not evaluate or render the final decision on a us entry waiver application.
Applicants sometimes encounter very specific processing figures online.
Those numbers can create the impression that once a particular number of days has passed, the government should have made a decision.
That is not a safe assumption.
A published estimate should never be treated as a guarantee that a particular applicant’s case will be decided within that period.
The most important distinction is:
An estimated processing period is not a guaranteed processing period.
Your case may be straightforward.
It may be complicated.
Additional information may be required.
The government’s workload may change.
The individual facts of the application matter.
Every waiver has its own history, and this is another reason why the question of how long does it take to get a us entry waiver approved cannot be answered accurately.
One person’s documentation may be relatively straightforward.
Another applicant may have decades of records involving several courts, police agencies, immigration encounters, previous refusals, or previous applications.
The complexity of the material that has to be reviewed can therefore differ considerably.
Factors that may affect the complexity or overall timeline include the number and seriousness of offences, how long ago the conduct occurred, subsequent criminal history, availability of court and police records, rehabilitation evidence, previous U.S. immigration problems, previous waiver applications or refusals, requests for further information, the grounds of inadmissibility involved, and government workload.
This is why comparing your application with someone else’s application can be misleading.
Their case is not your case.
It can affect the complexity of the application and the amount of information requiring review, but there is no reliable formula assigning a particular number of months to a particular criminal offence.
There is no legitimate timetable assigning a specific number of months to theft, drug-related convictions, sexual offences, or any other category of offence.
That is not how applicants should understand the waiver process.
A person with one isolated conviction from decades ago and no subsequent criminal history presents substantially different circumstances from someone with repeated, recent, or particularly serious conduct.
That does not allow anyone outside the government to predict an exact adjudication date.
It simply illustrates why case-by-case review matters.
Not automatically.
The amount of time that has passed since an offence can be relevant, particularly where an applicant has lived for many years without further criminal conduct.
But the age of the conviction is only one part of the overall circumstances.
The government may also be considering the original conduct, subsequent behaviour, rehabilitation, employment history, family circumstances, reasons for travel, previous immigration history, and the evidence submitted in support of the application.
Someone with an offence from decades ago therefore cannot be promised a particular processing period simply because the conviction is old.
Likewise, a more recent offence does not automatically create a predetermined timeline.
Yes, but it is important to understand what a complete application can and cannot do.
A properly prepared application can help avoid unnecessary problems caused by missing records, incomplete explanations, or documentation that should have been included from the beginning.
It cannot force the government to issue a decision by a particular date.
Proper preparation matters.
But once the application is submitted, the adjudication timeline belongs to the government.
Older criminal records can sometimes be difficult to obtain.
Court records may have been archived, agencies may have changed record systems, or an applicant may have offences in several jurisdictions.
Resolving these issues can take time before the application is even ready to submit.
An application that does not adequately document or explain the applicant’s history may require further information.
This is another reason why its difficult to answer the question of how long does it take to get a us entry waiver approved. The reviewing authority may request additional documentation or clarification before reaching a decision.
That can add additional time to the process.
Multiple convictions, particularly serious conduct, or more recent offences may result in a considerably more complicated application.
Previous removals, misrepresentation issues, unlawful presence, prior border encounters, or other immigration violations may add additional complexity.
A previous unsuccessful waiver application may need to be carefully reviewed and addressed before another submission is prepared.
Applicants do not control the volume of cases being handled by the government. CBP currently acknowledges that its Admissibility Review Office is experiencing high application volume.
It is possible.
The six-month figure is not a minimum waiting period.
Some applications may receive a decision sooner.
That is why we do not tell applicants:
“It will take at least six months.”
Instead, the better perspective is:
Plan conservatively because there is no guaranteed timeline.
Yes, it can.
The six-month-to-two-year range is a practical planning estimate, not a legal maximum or guaranteed outside limit.
There is no rule saying that every U.S. Entry Waiver must be decided before the two-year mark.
Particularly complicated circumstances, additional information requests, or other issues may result in a longer process.
Six months to two years is a planning range — not a promise and not an absolute limit.
Nobody preparing a waiver application can legitimately guarantee that the government will adjudicate it by a particular date.
What can be controlled is the preparation before submission.
Records can be obtained.
The criminal and immigration history can be reviewed.
Supporting documentation can be collected.
Explanations can be prepared carefully.
Evidence of rehabilitation can be assembled.
Potential weaknesses can be identified.
The goal should be to submit a thorough and well-organized application rather than creating avoidable problems through poor preparation.
But no representative can control how quickly the government completes its review. Also, nor can they truthfully answer the question of how long does it take to get a us entry waiver approved.
If you require a U.S. Entry Waiver to enter the United States, you should be cautious about making non-refundable plans based solely on an estimated processing time.
A processing estimate is not an approval.
The fact that you have an important travel date does not mean that the government will necessarily make a decision before that date.
This can be particularly important when travelling for weddings, family events, business meetings, vacations, cruises, sporting events, conferences, medical matters, or other important commitments.
If the trip matters, start early.
If you already know that you are inadmissible and will require a waiver, think in terms of months rather than weeks.
Government review is only one part of the process.
Before the application is submitted, you may also need time to obtain criminal records, court documents, and other supporting evidence.
The process may look something like this:
Obtain records → review criminal and immigration history → obtain court documents → gather supporting evidence → prepare application → submit application → government review → decision
That should be displayed as normal text or a graphical timeline, not as H3s.
The time required before submission matters too.
That is another reason to begin sooner rather than later.
This section can explain the filing method that applies to the type of application you handle.
The important point for this particular page is:
The method of filing does not create a guaranteed adjudication date.
A paper application is still an individual waiver application.
Its circumstances still have to be reviewed.
The fact that one applicant received a decision within a particular period does not mean another applicant will receive a decision within the same period.
A pending application does not automatically mean there is a problem.
Some applications simply require more time than others.
If the application has been pending for an extended period, a status inquiry may eventually be appropriate depending upon the circumstances and the applicable government procedures.
But repeated status inquiries do not create a guaranteed faster decision.
A denial deserves careful attention.
The answer is not necessarily to take the same package and immediately submit it again.
Before a new application is prepared, the previous submission and the reasons for the unsuccessful result should be examined carefully.
Important questions may include whether important documentation was missing, whether rehabilitation was adequately demonstrated, whether the criminal or immigration history was fully addressed, whether additional time has passed, whether circumstances have changed, and whether new evidence is available.
A waiver reapplication should be treated as a new opportunity to address the weaknesses of the previous file, not simply as a duplicate of the first application.
There is no guaranteed processing time. Some applicants may receive decisions within approximately six to nine months, but a broader six-month-to-two-year planning window is safer because individual applications can take less or considerably more time.
No.
It is a general practical timeframe in which some applications may be decided.
No.
Neither six months nor any other specific period guarantees that the government will have made a decision.
Because it provides a broader and more conservative planning window than assuming every application will be decided within a short period.
It is practical planning guidance, not a guaranteed government timetable.
Yes.
Some applications may receive a decision sooner.
Yes.
The six-to-24-month period is a planning range, not an absolute maximum.
There is no fixed timetable assigning a specific processing period to a particular offence.
More complicated circumstances may require a more extensive application and review, but that does not allow anyone to predict an exact decision date.
Because your friend’s application is not your application.
Criminal history, immigration history, documentation, rehabilitation, prior applications, and many other circumstances can differ substantially from one person to another.
No representative can control the government’s adjudication timetable or guarantee that an application will be approved by a particular date.
Waiting until travel becomes urgent can leave very little room for delays.
If you already know that you require a waiver, beginning the process earlier is usually the safer approach.
When Canadians contact us about a U.S. Entry Waiver, one of the most common questions is:
“How long does it take to get a us entry waiver approved?”
The truthful answer is that nobody can give every applicant the same guaranteed timeline.
Some applications are relatively straightforward.
Others involve serious or complicated criminal histories, several convictions, previous immigration violations, removals, misrepresentation, earlier waiver denials, or other circumstances requiring significantly more attention.
At U.S. Entry Waiver Services LTD, we believe applicants deserve a realistic explanation of the process rather than an artificial promise.
We will not promise a fixed processing time. We will not pretend that every applicant’s circumstances are the same. What we will do is prepare the application around the individual facts, history, documentation and circumstances of the person applying.
For practical planning purposes:
Allow approximately 6 months to 2 years.
Your decision may come sooner.
It may fall somewhere between six and nine months.
It may take longer, and even our organization cannot inform you how long does it take to get a us entry waiver approved.
The most important thing you can control is when you begin.
Speak directly with a former U.S. government officer and get a clear answer today.
📞 Call or text now: 604-562-8140
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