hi everybody and welcome to the channel. Today I'm going to answer a question
that I often get. Which is with respect to criminal inadmissibility.
Does a conviction that I had make me criminally inadmissible to Canada?
So if you want to apply for a visitor visa or permanent resident application to Canada ,
You might be criminally admissible to Canada if you were convicted of certain types
of sentences. And sometimes if you were charged with certain types of offences.
If you were convicted in Canada you could be criminal inadmissible, and you can also
be criminally inadmissible if you were convicted outside of Canada.
Now if you have this criminal background and you are inadmissible
There are certain things to look into to see if you could nonetheless travel to Canada
for either a permanent purpose or a temporary purpose.
In order to do that, there needs to be an assessment of your criminal background.
For example: If you were convicted in the United States of a DUI,
then most likely you will be criminally inadmissible to Canada.
But in order to determine the specifics of that inadmissibility,
we need to look into the exact charge and exact offence.
We need to look into the type of sentence that you received.
We need to look at the date that you completed your sentence.
We also have to look at if you have other charges or convictions.
And we also have to look at WHY you want to come to Canada.
And when we look at all these factors we can determine a number of things.
So first we can determine if perhaps you are deemed rehabilitated.
Which means that because a certain time has passed, you are no longer criminally
inadmissible to Canada and you can apply for certain permits.
But in that case I always recommend to nonetheless improve the assessment and the information about
the criminal background in the application, so that the officer can have
all the information to confirm that you are deemed rehabilitated.
The other option would be to find out if you can apply for rehabilitation this means that
the amount of time to be deemed rehabilitated has not passed.
But if you meet certain requirements you can apply for the for criminal rehabilitation.
So you're eligible to make an application, that's a number of forms, documentation, again, detailed information
about the criminal background. Police certificates.
And if it's approved then you will get a letter stating that you are now criminally rehabilitated.
And with that letter you will be able to travel to Canada for the different purposes.
If you are not deemed rehabilitated, then you cannot apply for rehabilitation.
Then it might either not be possible for you to come to Canada or,
in some circumstances you could apply for what's called the temporary resident permit.
This is a special permit for individuals who are criminally inadmissible.
And they might not be able to become admissible or it might take a long time. And they have certain reasons to want to come to Canada.
Then this is a special permit that you can apply at the boarder in some situations or
at a consulate. At a consulate outside of Canada.
With specific reasons as to why you want to come to Canada.
For example: you want to come for funeral, you want to come for a wedding, you want to come to visit,
but it's important in that application to show the exact purpose, and also to show that for example you
have not committed any of you have no other charges you have no other
convictions that you yourself are now a person of good character and you turn
your life around and you have reference letters that demonstrate that you will
come for the temporary purpose of your trip and you will return.
In order to make these kinds of conclusions with respect to admissibility, I highly
recommend to always speak to a lawyer. Provide the exact documentation with
respect to your convictions. The sentence so, for example; if you paid a fine if you
went to jail for a few months, if you did community work. If you did probation for
a year or two years and three years. This is all part of the sentence.
So those documentation that the lawyer has to review those documentation.
And also the lawyer has to compare in most cases, if you were convicted outside of Canada,
the lawyer has to look at the act, the foreign act of the offence.
And compare the details of that offence with the Canadian Criminal code.
So if you committed that act in Canada what would be the
conviction and the sentence in Canada? Because sometimes the sentence in Canada
would be completely different. Sometimes a conviction outside Canada might not
even be a conviction (outside Canada) might not even be a conviction in Canada.
So the lawyer has to compare the details and the facts that occurred within the offence.
And come to a conclusion as to what would have happened if this had happened in Canada.
Then the lawyer will be able to make the assessment and
give you information. Are you deemed rehabilitated? Are you eligible for rehabilitation?
Maybe if you had a lot of offences you may never be able to become rehabilitated.
Perhaps while you're waiting for a rehabilitation application
you can also apply for a temporary resident permit to travel to Canada if
there's an emergency or there's a spouse or a family member you need to visit.
Like I said, always important to have all the right information.
All the right documentation. And speak to an immigration lawyer to make sure you have all the right information.
Thank you and see you next time!
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