According to the American Immigration Lawyer’s Association, the time period for initial I-192 waivers is going up to five years starting January 1, 2017.  An I-192 waiver (or technically “Advanced Permission to Enter as a Non-Immigrant”) is given to a Canadian citizen who is inadmissible to the United States by reason of a criminal conviction or an overstay.  Residents of the Marshall Islands are also subject to this procedure.

This will be a much needed improvement for Canadians and Marshaleese in breaking the endless cycle of waivers. For many years, US Customs and Border Protection would issue Border Crossing Cards to these individuals which would be valid for a lifetime.  With the formation of the Admissibility Review Office (“ARO”), this process was ended.  Unfortunately the ARO became backlogged and these actions were taken to relieve the backlog.

In this writer’s opinion, this reform is needed.  The ARO has been issuing less September Letters (letters determining a person is actually admissible and the Port of Entry was wrong) in part because they have not had the time to invest.  Many of these one year waivers were granted to petty offenders.  For example, I had a one year waiver granted to someone who got caught with roughly 5 grams of marijuana possessed for personal use.  The person now has an MBA, had the conviction set aside, and works at a major Canadian corporation.  A five year initial waiver would have been the better option.

Way to go US-CBP!