Denied Entry or Refused Entry to Canada
I am Michael Niren of Niren & Associates immigration lawyers and I am here to speak to you about
denied entry to Canada.
You are watching our immigration and information series.
I hope you enjoy it.
Have you been denied entry to Canada?
Do you have a criminal record or maybe a medical condition but you need to come to Canada.
Well there is a way out, you have to know what to do, and you have to know what paperwork
is necessary and how to get through.
There are many reason for being denied entry to Canada, the most common one is criminal
record.
If you have a criminal record even a minor offence many years ago, the Canadian authorities
could deny your entry.
There are few ways to deal with this situation.
One would be to consider a temporary resident permit (TRP).
A TRP is a document issued by the Canadian authorities that would give you the permission
to enter Canada even though you are inadmissible.
A TRP can be obtained at a Canadian Consulate in your home country or if you are an American
in some cases at the border.
A TRP is not easy to get.
In order to get a TRP you have to show that you are deserving of entering Canada despite
your background, your criminal history even if it is a minor one.
How do you do this?
You have to show that you have a good profile that your offence was regretful but it is
not going to be repeated.
You have to show your paperwork, does your documentation show when you committed the
offence, what were the circumstances and you also have to show a summary in your own words
what happened and why it happened and why it will not happen again.
Once you have all your paperwork assembled, as I mentioned, you can do one of two things;
you can make a formal application at a Canadian consulate or embassy and wait for the decision,
it could take a number of months, it could take six months it could take eight months,
and if you are approved you will get your TRP, (your temporary resident permit) and
then you can make your way to the Canadian border or airport and present it to Canadian
Customs.
In most cases if you have a TRP in hand they will admit you to Canada, however there is
always the risk that the customs officers may still deny your entry unlikely however.
The other approach is a little more risky but it is a lot faster.
If you are American and in some cases from other countries as well you can come right
to the border and say “I have to enter on a urgent basis I need my TRP on the spot”
the customs officers could review your case, they will ask you a whole bunch of questions
and may issue a TRP right then and there and you will be admitted to Canada usually for
a short period of time for your important trip to Canada and then you can enter.
This approach comes with a lot of risk.
Why?
Because you could potentially be denied entry right then and there at the border, you have
your suitcase full of your stuff and then you are going to be turned away.
I do not recommend this approach unless you really really can not wait the few months
for processing at the consulate.
The most important thing whether or not you apply at the consulate or the border is to
make sure you have a fully documented application.
It has to contain everything about your background, your criminal history, and about the reasons
why you want to enter Canada.
Without this information a customs officer or immigration officer at the consulate would
likely refuse your application.
One other thing you should know if your offence took place five years or longer there is a
possibility you could apply for what is called “criminal rehabilitation”, that is an
immigration term.
That really means that if you qualify for criminal rehabilitation you could permanently
wipe out your immigration inadmissibility, and this way getting a criminal rehabilitation
certificate will allow you to enter Canada like a regular visitor or regular worker without
the need for ever re-applying again for that document.
A TRP is temporary so once that temporary resident permit expires you are going to have
to re-apply again, but for criminal rehabilitation, the good news is that once you get it you
get it, and you would not need to apply for it again unless of course you commit another
offence which hopefully will not happen.
Now regardless, again I have to emphasise, the package, the paperwork has to be done
properly.
For criminal rehabilitation it will take a lot longer than a TRP however, you are looking
at potentially a year’s wait, so many of our clients have to come to Canada they can
not wait the whole year so what they do is they apply for a TRP (a temporary resident
permit) and at the same time a criminal rehabilitation for the future.
This was Michael Niren at Niren & Associates immigration lawyers; I hope this information
was helpful and remember:
You have to seek legal advice for your immigration and visa problems and hopefully you can get
things resolved. �