To apply for federal clemency, you file a written petition addressed to the President and send it to the Office of the Pardon Attorney (OPA) at the U.S. Department of Justice, using the OPA’s form for either a pardon or a commutation of sentence.1eCFR. 28 CFR 1.1 – Executive Clemency There is no filing fee. The petition itself is only the beginning: the OPA investigates your case, gathers input from the prosecutor and sentencing judge, and forwards a recommendation to the President, and the whole process commonly takes 18 months to several years.
Federal clemency covers only federal offenses. If your conviction is from state court, the President cannot help you, and you would need to apply through the governor of the state where you were convicted.
Decide Which Form of Clemency You Need
Clemency comes in four forms, and picking the wrong one wastes the review.2Legal Information Institute. Pardon Power and Forms of Clemency Generally
- A pardon is an act of forgiveness granted after you have finished your sentence. It restores civil rights such as voting, jury service, and eligibility for state or local office, but it does not erase the conviction from your record.3U.S. Department of Justice. Whether a Presidential Pardon Expunges Judicial Records
- A commutation of sentence reduces a sentence you are currently serving. It may shorten prison time, cut a fine, or modify release conditions. It carries no implication of forgiveness and restores no civil rights.
- A reprieve temporarily delays a sentence being carried out, most often in death penalty cases. It pauses the sentence; it does not change it.4Legal Information Institute. Reprieve
- Remission of fine or restitution relieves you from financial penalties imposed as part of a federal sentence.
Confirm You Are Eligible to File
For a Pardon
You should not file a pardon petition until at least five years have passed since your release from confinement. If you were not sentenced to prison, the five-year clock runs from the date of conviction.5GovInfo. 28 CFR 1.2 – Eligibility for Filing Petition for Pardon You also should not file while you are still on probation, parole, or supervised release. These are guidelines rather than absolute bars, but the OPA generally will not move a petition forward that does not meet them.
For a Commutation
A commutation petition should be filed only after other judicial or administrative relief has been exhausted, unless you can show exceptional circumstances.6eCFR. 28 CFR 1.3 – Eligibility for Filing Petition for Commutation of Sentence You need to be currently serving your sentence. An active appeal counts as available judicial relief and generally makes a commutation petition premature.
Get the Right Petition Form
Pardon petition forms are available from the OPA. Commutation forms can be obtained from the OPA or from the warden of a federal correctional institution.1eCFR. 28 CFR 1.1 – Executive Clemency Current forms are posted on the OPA’s website at justice.gov/pardon.7United States Department of Justice. Apply for Clemency
Gather the Information and Documents the Petition Requires
The petition asks for detailed personal history. You must disclose your full criminal history, including every arrest or charge by any law enforcement authority, federal, state, local, or foreign, even traffic matters that resulted in arrest or criminal charge. You must also list all delinquent credit obligations, every civil lawsuit in which you were a party (bankruptcies included), and any unpaid tax obligations at any level of government.8U.S. Department of Justice. Pardon Information and Instructions
You will need official court documents from your case: the charging document (indictment or information), the judgment of conviction, and the sentencing order. These establish the facts of the case for the OPA’s review.
Explain Why You Need Relief
The petition asks you to state your specific purpose for seeking clemency. A concrete, documented reason carries far more weight than a general request. If a conviction bars you from a professional license you need for work, or from a position you are otherwise qualified for, attach documentation showing that connection. Vague requests for “a fresh start” tend to fall flat.
Line Up Character References
At least three character affidavits must accompany a pardon petition. If you submit more than three, designate which three are your primary references. The OPA provides affidavit forms, but letters of recommendation are acceptable substitutes if they include the reference’s full name, address, and phone number, show that the reference understands the offense you are seeking a pardon for, and carry a notarized signature.8U.S. Department of Justice. Pardon Information and Instructions People related to you by blood or marriage cannot serve as primary references.
The strongest references come from people who can describe your conduct since the conviction in specific terms: employers, community leaders, clergy, longtime colleagues. A letter from someone who barely knows you is worth less than one from someone who has watched you rebuild your life.
Know What the OPA Will Be Looking For
The OPA does not just check eligibility boxes. It weighs the petition against factors set out in the Justice Manual.9U.S. Department of Justice. Justice Manual 9-140.000 – Pardon Attorney
Post-conviction conduct carries the most weight. The FBI’s background investigation in pardon cases focuses on employment history, financial responsibility, family obligations, community involvement, and your reputation among people who know you. Seriousness of the offense matters too: violent offenses, major drug trafficking, large-dollar fraud, and breaches of public trust demand a longer track record of rehabilitation before a pardon is likely, and the OPA considers victim impact and whether granting relief would undermine the deterrent effect of the conviction.
Acceptance of responsibility is scrutinized. The OPA wants genuine remorse, not statements that minimize the conduct (“everyone was doing it,” “I didn’t realize it was illegal”). Restitution to victims counts in your favor. If you are seeking a pardon on the ground that you were actually innocent, the burden of persuasion is described as “formidable.” Finally, a specific, documented need for relief strengthens a petition; a general wish for forgiveness does not.
Submit the Petition
Your completed petition must be addressed to the President of the United States but sent to the OPA.1eCFR. 28 CFR 1.1 – Executive Clemency You can submit by mail or electronically. The mailing address is:
U.S. Department of Justice
Office of the Pardon Attorney
950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 2053010U.S. Department of Justice. Contact the Office – Office of the Pardon Attorney
For electronic submission, documents must be scanned on a flatbed scanner and sent as PDFs. The OPA will not accept photographs of documents.8U.S. Department of Justice. Pardon Information and Instructions The petition must be entirely legible, typed or printed in ink, and the petition form itself must be notarized. Do not staple, glue, bind, or tape any part of the petition or supporting documents. Once the OPA logs your submission, you will receive a confirmation with a case number.
There is no filing fee. Gathering court records and other supporting materials may cost something, but the application itself is free.
What Happens After You File
The OPA’s initial administrative review alone can take months before your case is assigned to a staff attorney. For pardon petitions, the FBI typically conducts a background investigation to verify your post-conviction conduct, covering employment and financial stability, family responsibilities, community reputation, charitable or service activities, and military record if applicable.9U.S. Department of Justice. Justice Manual 9-140.000 – Pardon Attorney The investigation also checks the accuracy of what you put on the petition, so any shading of the truth tends to surface here.
The OPA also gathers input from the U.S. Attorney who prosecuted the case, the sentencing judge, and other relevant parties. The Pardon Attorney then prepares a memorandum with a recommendation to grant or deny clemency. It goes through the Deputy Attorney General and on to the President.
The recommendation is advisory only. The President has full constitutional authority to accept, reject, or ignore it.11Constitution Annotated. Overview of Pardon Power Most Presidents follow OPA recommendations most of the time, but nothing prevents a President from granting clemency the OPA opposed or denying a petition it supported.
Expect a Long Wait and a Likely Denial
From filing to a final presidential decision, the timeline commonly runs 18 months to several years, and many petitions wait much longer. Grants are rare. The number of petitions filed each year far exceeds the number granted, and most petitions are ultimately denied or closed without action.
If your petition is denied, you can reapply. Federal regulations generally contemplate a waiting period before refiling, and the OPA will want to see changed circumstances or new evidence of rehabilitation that was not present in the original petition. Resubmitting the same file with no new information is unlikely to produce a different result.
Do You Need an Attorney?
You are not required to hire a lawyer. The forms are free and the OPA charges no filing fee. That said, the process is detailed enough that most people benefit from professional help. An experienced clemency attorney knows how to frame the narrative, identify the strongest arguments, and assemble documentation aimed at the specific factors the OPA weighs. Flat fees in the range of several thousand dollars are common, and complex cases can run significantly higher. If you cannot afford counsel, some law school clinics and nonprofit legal organizations assist with clemency petitions at no cost.