speerssquad

Yes, my point was, passing through the Vancouver Cruise Port with a Criminal Record will be an issue as the CBP officers for the US Customs portion of your clearance will flag you and may deny you. There are a LOT of other posts out there that talk about being able to board the ship etc at certain ports even when visiting other countries (despite having a record). This was just feedback and hope it helps. The main point, if you have a record, get a waiver.

This is just a update as I want to help others who might go through this. There is a LOT of misinformation on the internet so here is my experience: The Vancouver Cruise Port (When passing US Customs) will deny you if you have ANYTHING on your record. Luckily we were allowed to pass through (We were first denied but after talking to the supervising officer he allowed us through) but the very nice border control officer gave us some very helpful information. 1. If you have a record apply for a waiver to cross- either they grant you one or they tell you that you don't need one and you can carry that letter going forward. 2. If you have been denied entering the USA you will be flagged and should look into getting a waiver 3. If you are Canadian and have a record, do not listen to anything on the internet. Do not risk being denied because others have slipped through. If you are denied, no insurance covers that and you may not get your luggage back until the vessel returns. Other than that we had a great vacation and have applied for a waiver for next time.

Yes some crimes do need a waiver but we have been told by a lawyer to not do one until we are advised to as once you do this you can never stop. Even if your record is removed. We have been told to do a pardon and take it with us with our legal letter for now once we have it.

We are travelling with DLC so our port arrival time is 11am. We will see how it goes and we will report back.

Just want to give an update as we have started the Pardon Process for my husband and received his RCMP fingerprint file. It looks like the only thing on the record is the fact that he failed to comply with a probation order (his car broke down on his way to the appointment) which shows he was fined $300. So not sure if they will see the whole record or not as this is what's showing on our end from the RCMP. I feel a bit better, I guess?

Thanks every one for your replies to my thread. We are working on a pardon and we will go prepared if they pull us to secondary at the port. Not much we can do right now with the wait times for pardon's and waivers.

We have started on this but can take 4-6 months to receive if they grant it. Hopefully we have a smooth sailing until then.

Yes there are US border agents at the pier before embarkation. We have not submitted our information yet and hopefully that goes smoothly. Once we return we will finish up his pardon.

LOL yes. He is a very well-mannered person so I'm hopeful things will go smoothly. I hope at least!

Unfortunately, there is no time for a waiver. It can take up to 6 months for one to be approved IF approved. I have called them and they have said it is up to the border agent at that time.

Thanks Magicat! Excited to be here 🙂

Hi Everyone, I am supper happy to have joined the community. This is our second cruise. We are Canadian and flying to Vancouver for our cruise. I recently bumped into a topic about people not being allowed into the USA if they have a pot possession charge. My husband has a record for pot possession of under 30g which is 13 years old. He recently traveled to the USA and he was pulled for questioning but after the questioning, he was permitted to continue on his way. Has anyone here heard of a Canadian being denied embarkation at the Vancouver Port headed to Alaska? I am now aware of the waiver program but our trip is beyond the cancellation time and I just want to see what my best option is.