Welcome to Shaikh Law’s Real Estate Lawyer in Mississauga. Whether you’re buying, selling, or refinancing a property, you can count on our team of experienced lawyers to provide you with expert legal guidance and support. Our Real Estate Lawyer Mississauga fee structure is transparent, ensuring you won’t encounter any hidden charges or surprises.
We offer a comprehensive range of real estate lawyer services, including a sale, purchase, refinance, title transfer, survivorship applications, interim closing, review of Agreement of purchase and sale, and independent legal advice for a mortgage. Our goal is to provide our clients with a seamless, efficient, and enjoyable experience, with individual attention given to each file from start to finish.
At Shaikh Law, we understand that effective communication is key to a successful client-lawyer relationship. That’s why our lawyers and staff are fluent in multiple languages, including English, Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu, Tamil, Sinhala, and Gujarati. Let us guide you through your real estate transaction with confidence and ease.
You likely require a U.S. entry waiver if any of the following apply
Any conviction, including one pardoned or suspended in Canada. U.S. authorities do not recognize Canadian pardons.
You were turned away, detained, or removed at a U.S. port of entry.
You told a border officer you used a controlled substance, even without a conviction.
A prior false statement to U.S. officials or time overstayed in the United States.
We handle every stage of your Form I-192 application — you provide the fingerprints and your story; we do the rest.
1. Confidential assessment
We review your criminal record, border history, and travel needs to confirm whether a waiver is required and identify each ground of inadmissibility that must be addressed.
2. Document collection
We obtain the records U.S. authorities require: a fingerprint-based RCMP certified criminal record check, certified court records for every conviction, and proof of identity and citizenship.
3. Application preparation
We draft your personal statement, gather evidence of rehabilitation — employment, references, treatment or counselling where relevant — and prepare legal submissions addressing the factors U.S. Customs and Border Protection weighs in deciding waiver applications.
4. Filing with U.S. authorities
Your complete application is filed electronically through the e-SAFE portal with the $1,100 USD government fee, followed by your biometrics appointment at a designated CBP location.
5. Decision and waiver issued
If approved, you receive a Form I-194 waiver valid for one, two, or five years. Before it expires, we contact you to begin your renewal on time — so your ability to travel never lapses.
Processing time. A U.S. waiver application currently takes approximately six months to a year from filing to decision. Applications filed electronically through e-SAFE are generally processed faster than paper filings. There is no expedited stream — the fastest path to a waiver is a complete, properly documented application filed as early as possible, well before any planned travel.
Validity. An approved waiver (Form I-194) is issued for one, two, or five years, at the discretion of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. First-time applicants commonly receive one- or two-year terms; five-year waivers are more often granted on renewal, once you have a history of compliant travel.
Renewals. A waiver does not renew automatically, and processing times mean a lapsed waiver can ground you for months. We recommend filing your renewal approximately twelve months before your current waiver expires. Our clients are contacted before their expiry date so the renewal is filed on time
Our legal fee for a complete first-time U.S. waiver application is $1,440 + HST, fixed and confirmed in a written fee agreement before any work begins.
Yes, Form I-192 can be filed without legal representation, and some applicants do so. Whether that is wise depends on your record and your tolerance for risk.
A waiver application is not a form-filling exercise. It is an evidence-driven submission in which U.S. Customs and Border Protection weighs the seriousness of your record, the risk you pose, and the strength of your rehabilitation. The outcome turns on how those factors are documented and framed. Common self-filing errors — an incomplete court record, a personal statement that minimizes the offence, missing rehabilitation evidence — lead to refusals or requests for further evidence that add months to the process.
A refused application is not neutral: it sits in your CBP file and must be disclosed and explained in every future application.
Where we add value: we know what CBP expects to see, we frame your statement and evidence to address the deciding factors directly, and we file a complete application the first time.
If your situation is genuinely simple, our assessment will tell you that too — including whether you can reasonably proceed on your own.
Q: I have a Canadian pardon. Can I cross the U.S. border?
A: A Canadian pardon or record suspension is not recognized by the United States. If your conviction made you inadmissible, you remain inadmissible and require a waiver — even though your record is sealed in Canada.
Q: What crimes make you inadmissible to the U.S.?
A: Convictions involving what U.S. law calls “moral turpitude” — including theft and fraud — and any controlled substance offence render a person inadmissible. Some offences, such as a single impaired driving conviction on its own, generally do not. Your specific record must be assessed.
Q: How long does a U.S. waiver take to process?
A: Approximately six months to a year from filing to decision, as of July 2026. There is no expedited stream, so file well before planned travel.
Q: How long is a U.S. entry waiver good for?
A: One, two, or five years, at CBP’s discretion. First waivers are commonly one or two years; five-year terms are more often granted on renewal.
Q: How much does a U.S. waiver cost?
A: Our legal fee is $1,440 + HST, fixed in writing. The U.S. government filing fee is $1,100 USD, plus modest disbursements for fingerprinting and records.
Q: What documents do I need?
A: A fingerprint-based RCMP certified criminal record check, certified court records for each conviction, a personal statement, evidence of rehabilitation, and Form I-192. We obtain and prepare all of these with you.
Q: I was turned away at the U.S. border. What now?
A: The refusal is permanently recorded by CBP. Do not attempt to re-enter before your admissibility is resolved — repeat attempts escalate consequences. A waiver application is usually the next step.
Q: Can I get a U.S. waiver fast?
A: No expedited option exists. The fastest route is a complete, properly documented application filed electronically the first time — deficiencies and evidence requests are the main cause of delay.