I am posting this here to ask for help, here is my story.

I am employed with an American company but live an work in Canada, we manufacture and distribute/repair medical devices throughout the world. I started with the company three years ago and travelled to the US at least four times for training etc. Some of those trips were by aircraft and some I drove from Toronto after flying there from Winnipeg.

Some of the accounts I serve are in Ontario and in the interest of saving time I decided to drive across the border which would shave 45 minutes off my trip. At the border I filled out the standard forms, one of which seemed different than any other I had filled out...it asked if I had ever been arrested.

I answered truthfully and said I had been arrested but never convicted, the officer searched his databases while they searched my service van for three hours. In the end I was refused entry and was told I needed to get a waiver for my arrest for "simple possession", there was a conviction on my record apparently.

I began the process of clearing this up by hiring the services of a Toronto company to assist me with gaining the "waiver", it was during this process that I discovered that the Police department had a improper database entry saying I was convicted of this offense. I will be honest with you all, I was arrested for this charge but never convicted of the offense, the judge ordered the removal of the charge after three months probation...this was 22 years ago. I went to the court offices and because it was a mistake it was removed at no charge, I was told by the clerk that "once this is removed from your record there will be no record of it anywhere on the system".

I explained the issues I was having at the border and she said that it would be best to have a copy of my record before the removal and after since it will no longer be available after that day, I have retained this information for my records and sent it to the Toronto "Waiver" company for their use in processing my waiver.

At this time I was thinking why do I need to get a waiver for an offense I was never convicted of, I decided to petition DHS through the DHS trip resolution website and was sent an e-mail with a number to check the progress of my claim for resolution.

That was 9 months ago, I check the website weekly as I am under pressure from my employer to go to the US for training. You could say it is getting to the point where my job is becoming at stake, I feel powerless to do anything about the issue and to be honest I have invested $3000 with the Toronto Waiver company already for an problem that was a Police database problem.

I might mention that I am required with my job to repair equipment at Government level III laboratory's and my applications for clearance have been delayed because of this problem. I seem to be the chicken before the egg.

At this point I don't know what to do, wait for a DHS resolution or proceed with the waiver application for a conviction I never had. It's possible that my application for a waiver might be delayed for months/years because of my pending resolution through DHS...if they ever do resolve anything. I have not found a single person to date on the web who has had anything resolved through DHS.

Has anyone ever heard of anyone who has had a resolution through DHS? Have they delayed "waiver applications" because of their investigation? From what I understand a waiver application can take upwards of a year to complete.

To be honest I am at the end of my rope and ready to say uncle and change professions, its not like I can't get another job. The whole process has been demoralizing and stressful for my family...I have lost enough sleep over it and am ready to throw in the towel.

Any advice you can offer would be appreciated.