How to Get a Federal Pardon: Eligibility, Petition, and Review

To get a federal pardon, you file a petition with the Office of the Pardon Attorney at the Department of Justice, wait through an FBI background investigation and a review that routinely takes years, and ultimately receive a yes or no from the President. You cannot apply until at least five years after you finished your federal sentence, and the application is free.¹ The pardon power itself comes from Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution, which lets the President forgive federal offenses except in cases of impeachment.²

Who Can Apply

The core rule is the five-year waiting period. You cannot file until at least five years have passed since your release from confinement. If your sentence did not include prison time, the clock starts on the date of your conviction.¹

Before you apply, you also need to have finished every part of your sentence: all prison time served, all probation or supervised release completed, and all fines and restitution paid. If you are still on probation, parole, or supervised release, you generally should not submit a petition.¹

One boundary matters before you spend any time on the paperwork. A presidential pardon covers only federal offenses, including those prosecuted in U.S. District Courts, the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, and military courts-martial.³ If your conviction was in state court, the President cannot help; you’d go to your state’s governor or board of pardons and paroles.

Military convictions follow a different track. Instead of going to the Office of the Pardon Attorney, those petitions go directly to the Secretary of the military department that had jurisdiction over your court-martial.⁴

Waivers of the five-year wait exist but are rare. If you believe your situation is exceptional, you still submit the standard application and include a letter explaining why.³ Most petitioners should plan on waiting the full five years.

What a Pardon Does and Doesn’t Do

A pardon does not erase your conviction. The offense still shows on your record. What a pardon does is restore rights you lost and formally recognize that you’ve moved past the offense.⁵

Firearms rights are often the most practical consequence. Under federal law, a conviction for which a person has been pardoned is generally not treated as a conviction for purposes of federal gun restrictions, so a pardon can restore your right to possess firearms unless the pardon document says otherwise.⁶ Eligibility for federal employment and federal jury service can also come back.

Voting rights are a separate question. Because states control voter eligibility, a federal pardon does not automatically restore voting rights everywhere. Some states restore them when you finish your sentence regardless of a pardon; others require a pardon or a separate state action. Check with your state election office.

What to Gather Before You File

The application form lives on the Department of Justice’s Office of the Pardon Attorney page.⁷ Pull these together first:

Your full legal name, current address, and Social Security number. Providing the SSN is requested but not mandatory, and omitting it will not hurt your case.⁸
For every federal conviction: approximate dates of the offense and sentencing, the court, the case number, what you were convicted of, and the sentence imposed.⁹
Your complete criminal history. Every arrest or charge by any law enforcement authority, whether federal, state, local, or military, even if it did not lead to a conviction. DUI arrests count. Failing to disclose any arrest can be treated as falsifying the petition.⁸
At least three character references who are not related to you by blood or marriage, who know about the offense, and who will vouch for your conduct since the conviction.⁸

The disclosure requirement is where petitions most often go wrong. The temptation is to leave off old or minor incidents. Don’t. Investigators will find them, and the appearance of hiding something is far worse than the incident itself.

Filling Out and Submitting the Petition

The DOJ released an updated application form that eliminated the need for notarized signature pages for both applicants and character references, cutting out one of the old logistical headaches.¹⁰

The personal statement is the heart of the application. This is where you explain why you want a pardon and what your life has looked like since the conviction. Be specific. Reviewers read many of these, and concrete details stand out: steady employment, volunteer work, supporting a family, mentoring others. “I’ve become a better person” does not.

Every date, case number, and sentence detail must match your official court records. Discrepancies between what you write and what the FBI finds during the background check slow the review and raise credibility questions. If you aren’t sure about a detail, pull your court records before filing rather than guessing.

You do not need a lawyer. The process is built for people to complete on their own. Someone with a complex criminal history or multiple federal convictions may still find legal help useful for organizing the file and shaping the personal statement.

The completed petition and supporting documents go to the Office of the Pardon Attorney in Washington, D.C. There is no filing fee. If you mail it, use a method with delivery confirmation and keep copies of everything. The office also accepts submissions by email with PDF attachments, and the DOJ clemency page carries the current instructions.¹¹

What Happens After You File

Once the Office of the Pardon Attorney opens your file, the FBI begins a background investigation that looks at your financial stability, employment history, family responsibilities, community reputation, and any charitable or volunteer involvement, while verifying everything in your application.¹²

After the investigation, the Pardon Attorney writes a report and recommendation. It goes to the Deputy Attorney General, who reviews and transmits it to the President.¹³ The White House Counsel’s office typically reviews the file before it reaches the President, who makes the final decision. That decision is entirely discretionary, and no court can overturn a denial.

Plan on years, not months. Initial processing and the FBI investigation alone can take well over a year, with DOJ review and White House consideration on top of that. There is no way to speed it up, and the Office of the Pardon Attorney generally cannot give you a timeline.

If Your Petition Is Denied

You can file again two years after the date of a denial.⁸ There is no limit on how many times you can apply, and each petition is reviewed fresh. Use the intervening time to strengthen the case: more community involvement, a continued clean record, and new character references can all shift the next review.

1
eCFR. 28 CFR 1.2 – Eligibility for Filing Petition for Pardon
2
Cornell Law Institute. U.S. Constitution Annotated – Overview of Pardon Power
3
United States Probation Office, Western District of Oklahoma. Applying for a Presidential Pardon
4
eCFR. 28 CFR 1.1 – Submission of Petition; Form to Be Used; Contents of Petition
5
Cornell Law School. Legal Effect of a Pardon
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 921 – Definitions
7
U.S. Department of Justice. Apply for Clemency
8
Justice.gov. Pardon Information and Instructions
9
United States Department of Justice, Office of the Pardon Attorney. Application for Pardon After Completion of Sentence
10
U.S. Department of Justice. Office of the Pardon Attorney Releases New Presidential Pardon Application
11
U.S. Department of Justice. Contact the Office
12
U.S. Department of Justice. Justice Manual 9-140.000 – Pardon Attorney
13
eCFR. 28 CFR 0.36 – Recommendations