The worst part is the "possession charge" was the result of an undercover officer offering me a gram of hashish outside a bar that was emptying out, I was drunk and said "sure!"...no money even changed hands. At the hearing I represented myself and luckily the judge saw this arrest for what it was. I was placed on probation for three months and this charge was supposed to have been wiped out permanently. The RCMP has no record of the offense and did their job, the local police did not do theirs and it stayed on a local police office record till I found out about it. As a matter of fact the border guard needed guiding to the exact precinct I was taken too since he found nothing on the national database either. Basically I screwed myself and had I lied on the form it would have stayed buried forever.

I feel stupid and being 40 years old now embarrased beyond belief (I never told my wife about what I did when I was 18, now she knows!). I am not a drug user and never was, heck I don't even drink except the odd one on holidays to be sociable. From my investigation of the laws had I driven home and killed someone while I was drunk and was convicted of DUI I would have no problem crossing the border...they could care less? I will take a blood test...urine test you name it...I have nothing to hide.

At this point in my life I understand what the game is, its a money grab...so I have put up the money to get a waiver for a non-existent conviction. There is no point in getting angry and railing against the system...these are all things I can't change. I am pretty positive any "waiver" application would get stonewalled because of my appeal, my level III clearances are...why would this be any different.

DHS does not have an ombudsman to appeal to, I am at the mercy of a system that does not even provide a phone number to talk to a live person. I left a voice mail and I get an e-mail response.

Here is a link to the DHS webpage for checking control numbers, my control number is 2059576 so you can see for yourself.

https://trip.dhs.gov/status.htm

Not much point in holding my control number confidential, I am hoping hits from a website might open someones eyes down there and "fast track" my application...I can always dream can't I?

Maybe deep in the organization someone is watching and will take a personal interest, if Nelson Mandela can get an exemption maybe I can too....maybe I need to stage a hunger strike and get it televised.

I could lose a few pounds.

I can't be the only one in this situation, there has to be less literate people out there being held hostage who are at the mercy of DHS and have given up.

I just need a yes or no answer, either I am exempted or not and take my money and let me get on with my life. My employer has been patient as I have been trying everything to get this taken care of, the waiver application and police records checks etc took 8 months prior to this DHS application and I am stuck. There have been hints that if I cannot resolve the issue they may have to fire me because travel internationally is part of my job description...I will quit before it gets that far.

BTW I was "employee of the year" for the last two years hence their leniency towards my situation. I think they are scared to do anything since they could be involved in a lawsuit, someone will pay thats for sure if I don't get some action and lose my job as a result of this.

Before it gets to all that, I just need to find someone who has been through the process and got an answer one way or the other...did it take 6 months? One year?

I need answers.