Is it possible to get an early pardon

Tip Four: Look for a Pardon company like mine that automatically uses digital fingerprinting technology, that automatically checks to see if all convictions are summary and that will ask local agencies police and courts to rush if an emergency exists.

If you hire us, we will process your Canadian Pardon Application as quickly as is allowed, at no extra charge. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Under the old rules, pardon processing times is 2 to 2. Under the new record suspension rules, processing times is 3 to 6 months for summary offences and upwards of 1 year for indictable offences. If your pardon application is pending under the old rules, you might save time switching to the new record suspension process. Long past are the days you could get an emergency pardon in less than 6 weeks from beginning to end.

The courts and police might cooperate, but this is only likely to save you a few weeks. The executive clemency process can be lengthy, and the Pardon Attorney is not able to estimate for any particular applicant when he may expect to receive a decision on his application.

The Pardon Attorney reviews each application and conducts the appropriate investigation of the case. In many instances, this process requires the Pardon Attorney to obtain information or comments from other agencies, which in turn may have to obtain records from off-site storage in order to respond to the Pardon Attorney's inquiry. As a matter of long-standing policy, the Pardon Attorney does not disclose to applicants or third parties the stage at which a clemency application is pending at any given time.

After the President decides to grant or deny a particular clemency request, the Pardon Attorney notifies the applicant of the decision in writing. Because the written notification is sent to the last address an applicant has provided to the Pardon Attorney, it is important that an applicant notify the Pardon Attorney if his address changes while the application is under consideration.

Please note that if the Pardon Attorney learns that a motion for compassionate release is pending for an applicant with an open case, the Pardon Attorney may determine that the interests of justice are not served by an administrative closure of the case. Accordingly, if the outgoing President does not reach a decision before the end of his elected term, the clemency application will remain open until resolved by a later President.

While both the Department of Justice and the President make every effort to resolve clemency applications in a timely manner, there is no guarantee that an application submitted during an administration will be decided by that President. If an applicant has not received a denial notification from the Pardon Attorney, then the applicant may assume that the application remains pending and will extend into the next administration.

Expungement is a judicial remedy that is rarely granted by the court and cannot be granted within the Department of Justice or by the President. Please also be aware that if you were to be granted a presidential pardon, the pardoned offense would not be removed from your criminal record.

Instead, both the federal conviction as well as the pardon would both appear on your record. However, a pardon will facilitate removal of legal disabilities imposed because of the conviction, and should lessen to some extent the stigma arising from the conviction.

In addition, a pardon may be helpful in obtaining licenses, bonding, or employment. If you are seeking expungement of a federal offense, please contact the court of conviction. To pursue relief of a state conviction, you should contact the Governor or state Attorney General in the state in which you were convicted for assistance. As a general matter, Presidents in recent times have rarely announced their reasons for granting or denying clemency, although the President may choose to do so in a given case.

Consistent with long-standing policy, if the President does not issue a public statement concerning his action in a clemency matter, no explanation is provided by the Department of Justice. Moreover, deliberative communications pertaining to agency and presidential decision-making are confidential and not available under existing case law interpreting the Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Act. To reapply for a pardon or commutation, a person must complete and submit a new application form that contains current information in response to all questions.

Resubmitting the prior application form that was previously denied is not an acceptable form of reapplication. Presidential grants are a matter of public record, so immediately after Presidential action, the name of each person granted a pardon or commutation, along with the district they were convicted, year of sentencing, offense, and the date the President granted their request is publicly listed on the Office of the Pardon Attorney website.

This information may also be posted on The White House website and included in press releases issued by the Department or The White House. The Office of the Pardon Attorney does not accept pardon petitions from non-residents of the United States because of the difficulty and costs associated with the Federal Bureau of Investigations conducting a thorough background investigation abroad into an applicant's post-conviction life.

For your information, we also do not process requests for "pardons" of the orders of immigration officials. You may want to contact the U. The address for DHS is as follows: U. Department of Homeland Security, 12th Street, S. The Office of the Pardon Attorney does not process requests for commutation reduction of sentences from persons convicted of offenses in military courts-martial.

Military commutation requests are handled by the military branch that handled the conviction and sentencing. If you are requesting pardon of a court-martial conviction only, you should submit your completed petition directly to the Secretary of the military department that had original jurisdiction in your case, and listing in your responses to questions 2 through 6 and question 15 of the petition form all pertinent information concerning your court-martial trial and conviction.

The addresses for submitting a request for a pardon of a court-martial conviction are as follows: U. To apply for a review of a military discharge, you should write to the relevant military branch, at the address listed below: U.

The YCA was repealed in Unfortunately, the certificate required to set aside the conviction was often not issued accordingly; thus leaving the conviction intact. If you were convicted under the YCA and are in possession of the certificate of set-aside issued by the court, there is, in fact, no conviction to pardon. Our office would, therefore, be unable to process your application, and you may wish to contact the closest division office of the FBI and ask that your criminal history record be properly amended to reflect the lack of conviction.

If you believe you were convicted under the YCA, but are not in possession of the certificate of set-aside, then your conviction may still stand and you may submit a pardon application. If we are able to obtain evidence that a certificate of set-aside was, in fact, issued in your case, you will be notified of that fact and your case file will be closed administratively. If we are unable to conclude that a certificate of set-aside was issued in your case, we will process your pardon application fully.

The function of the Office of the Pardon Attorney is limited to investigating federal clemency matters, and does not include any law enforcement duties relating to prisoner safety.

You may wish to contact a local law enforcement agency for assistance. Because you have been convicted of a state offense, we cannot be of assistance to you concerning clemency. You must contact the Governor or other state authorities to determine whether any relief is available under state law. As a matter of policy, the President does not make recommendations or otherwise seek to intervene in state clemency matters. Canadian Pardons are not recognized by U. S Entry Waiver I also. In the meantime, here is more information on U.

Entry Waivers. In addition, lawyers do not have the same expedited application process, nor do they have a higher chance of success of the Pardon application itself.

Lawyers may not be specialized in Canadian Pardon applications at all. In fact, many lawyers utilize Pardon Applications of Canada as their processing firm and then charge their clients a premium when the work is done. Pardon Applications of Canada is specifically mandated to specialize in the successful completion of the Pardon Application process.

Get started today by calling or Apply Now. It is absolutely your privilege to try. There is no legal requirement to use an accredited processing firm or Pardon service for your Pardon application.

However, similar to representing yourself in court, attempting your own Pardon application carries several risks. Each stage of the application process has strict requirements, and each one must be done in a specific order and time frame.

If any one or more of the requirements are not met, or not done in the right sequence, your Pardon application may be rejected or deemed invalid, and you will have to wait a minimum of twelve 12 months before starting the process over from the beginning.

For most applicants looking to obtain a Canadian Pardon, it makes sense to ensure the application is done accurately and correctly the first time. There is no obligation to make a payment or start a file unless you are ready to do so. Call or Apply Now to get started! From making the first call to Pardon Applications of Canada , you can expect a total timeline of approximately months.

Factors which can affect the total timeline include the length and complexity of your record, as well as the number of dispositions locations in which you were charged.

A Canadian Pardon application is not merely about filling out a few documents. Each Pardon application must go through a specific ten 10 step legal process as specified by the Criminal Records Act in Canada. Once you have completed your sentence the waiting periods to become eligible for a pardon are as follows:. For court appearances which did not result in a conviction there are certain waiting periods that must be met before the files can be destroyed.

Keep in mind that it is advisable to begin your pardon application or your purge and file destruction at least 1 year in advance of becoming eligible if you want your criminal record to be sealed as soon as possible.

However, prior to the passage of Bill C, another piece of legislation was passed in the House of Commons.