January is always a busy time at the National Pardon Centre. It some cases it is because people decide that removing criminal record is their new years resolution but in a lot of cases it is because people have tried to travel over the holidays and found themselves stuck at the US border.
Nobody wants to have their christmas / holiday plans ruined for any reason and least of all for a criminal record. Getting stuck at the border because you procrastinated on a pardon application is a tough thing to tell the kids. Unfortunately it is a story that I listen to more than a few times in the course of a typical January at work.
So what I woudl like everyone to realize is that you need to make sure your criminal record has been dealt with as soon as possible. Don’t wait until you lose a job or get caught illegally entering the United States. Just go ahead and get your pardon granted before it comes out to haunt you. Otherwise you are just making a small headache into a migraine.
And finally the last thing I would like to say is HAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone! I’m calling it now, right here, today. 2009 has big things in store for us all!