Thanks heaps for all that info. So basically from what you have told me, no matter how long has passed, they cannot issue a visa without sending it to the DHS in Washington first. But on the plus side, they obviously were happy to issue you a visa and you had more then one criminal charge. Is that correct? The process sounds like a whole pain especially having to wait 5 weeks without a passport! Anyway, sorry you missed your flight out, but I guess you will know now to get a visa WWWWWAAAAAAAYYYYYY before you want to travel 
Thx heaps for the info!
