Time Frames: How long does this take?

Revised: 5/28/2008

We are pleased to announce that The National Pardon Centre is currently experiencing a significant decrease in the processing times of pardon applications. This is in large part due to the implementation, just over a year ago, of a new digital fingerprinting system that has substantially improved the wait times for receiving certified criminal records from the RCMP.

National Parole Board budgetary changes have also allowed for the hiring of several new government agents which in turn has enabled the Board to accelerate the processing of pardon applications. Since January 2007, we have seen a dramatic increase in the volume of pardons granted to clients of our organization.

Currently, our expedited pardons are taking approximately 2-8 months from start to finish, whereas our regular service requires an average timeframe of 6-12 months. Please keep in mind that the severity and number of offences on a criminal record may impact the overall processing speed of a pardon application. Fluctuations in the response times of the various government agencies involved in a pardon request also renders it impossible to guarantee specific timeframes.

We have seen no significant decrease in the processing times for US entry waiver applications. Consequently clients should anticipate 10 - 12 months for expedited waiver applications and 12 - 16 months for standard applications respectively. For further details please call the centre and speak with a counsellor. You can also send an email to info@nationalpardon.org or use our email inquiry form.