Travelling to the US with a Criminal Record Watch out for the Travel Waiver Fee!
Having a criminal record is hard in any circumstance. It impedes your livelihood, your education, your choice of where to live, and your travel plans. The United States has a very lengthy list of what they call “crimes involving moral turpitude” or CIMTs. These crimes are ones that they consider to be base and immoral. Some of their decisions regarding which offences are CIMTs and which ones are not depend on whether or not a certain statute is broken. However, many more offences are decided upon by the presiding judge. If you have committed a CIMT in Canada, you will need a US travel waiver to enter the United States. You will also need to pay the fee that goes along with it.
Of all of the above mentioned hardships that come with having a criminal record, the one that presents the most difficulties is travelling. Most people are prepared for the other problems; and most people do not know that their criminal record will make it next to impossible to travel. This is because many countries don’t care if you visit with a record; however, the United States does care, and unfortunately, to get anywhere from Canada, people usually have to fly over the US. This matters, because they will deny you even if you are only flying over. They still consider it to be entering their country because the plane may have to land for an emergency. Because of this, people who have criminal records and want to travel need to get a US travel waiver, and they will need to pay the fee that comes with it.
Many people are denied at the US border, now knowing that their criminal record will stop them from travelling. They then pick up US travel waiver form, thinking that it will be a simple process. It is not. The US travel waiver fee alone is enough to set anyone back financially – especially for someone already finding it hard to make a living because of their criminal record.
Applying for a US travel waiver is not the hard part; paying the fee and waiting to hear from the United States government is the hard part. The wait time can be over a year, and it is a minimum of 6 months. Unfortunately, some people pay the fee and wait, only to find out that they didn’t fill out the application properly and they have to start the whole process over again – not very encouraging when you have planned a trip!
Once you have experience applying for a US travel waiver, the fee becomes the hardest part of the process. This is because a US waiver only lasts 1 to 5 years. Many people are only granted one year, even though they apply for five, and this means they have to pay the US travel waiver fee every year. This makes paying for travel much harder, and it would be wise for anyone with a criminal record to save as much money as they can to put towards their US travel waiver fee. Even if you are not planning on travelling anytime in the future, situations do come up, and you may find yourself needing to cross the border.