Every year, millions of tourists, visitors, immigrants, foreign workers, and students visit Canada. However, before traveling to Canada for any reason, you should be aware that a criminal record can make you inadmissible. Overcome Inadmissibility to Canada.
If you have previously been convicted of a crime, your admissibility to Canada is determined by the equivalence of the foreign criminal offense under Canadian law.
If your offense was deemed summary, or less serious, you may still be accepted and not need any additional permission or proof to enter the nation.
However, if you were indicted, it could be seen as a more serious crime, and you will likely not be allowed in Canada. Further, if you have two non-indictable offences on your record it can render you inadmissible.
Common types of convictions that lead to inadmissibility:
- Impaired driving
- Reckless Driving
- Fraud
- Assault
- Drug offenses
How to overcome inadmissibility
If you know you are likely to be inadmissible to Canada, there are a few ways you may be able to overcome it. The two most common are Temporary Resident Permits (TRP) and Criminal Rehabilitation applications.
Temporary Resident Permit Application
A Temporary Resident Permit (TRP) allows you to enter Canada legally for a limited time. It has no time limit for the completion of a sentence and can be valid for up to three years depending on the cause for entrance (such as a job or a family crisis). You can apply for an extension from within Canada if you need one.
You should apply for a TRP if you:
- Have been convicted outside of Canada of a crime that, if committed in Canada, is equivalent to an indictable offense punishable by a sentence of fewer than 10 years
- Have been convicted outside of Canada of a crime that would be equivalent to a hybrid offense punishable by a sentence of less than 10 years. A hybrid offense can be prosecuted in Canada either by summary process or by indictment.
- Have been convicted of two or more crimes that, if committed in Canada, would be equivalent to two summary offenses.
Submit a Criminal Rehabilitation application
If you would prefer permanent clearance of a past offense, you can apply for Criminal Rehabilitation. You only need to apply for Criminal Rehabilitation once and, if approved, you will not need to apply for a TRP in the future. To be eligible:
- You must have committed an act outside of Canada that would constitute an offense under the Canadian Criminal Code; and
- You must have been convicted of, or admitted to, committing the act; and
- Five years must have passed since the full sentence or sentences were completed. This phase includes jail time, fines, and probation
Types of Criminal Rehabilitation
There are two types of criminal rehabilitation that can be used to resolve inadmissibility to Canada.
Individual rehabilitation is most common when five years have gone since the conclusion of a sentence for a less serious offense. You should be able to demonstrate that you have been rehabilitated and are no longer a threat to society.
You can demonstrate this by demonstrating a stable lifestyle, community links, social and vocational abilities, or that the criminal offense was a one-time occurrence.
Deemed rehabilitation is better for those who have been convicted of an indictable offense punishable by a sentence of less than ten years, and they meet the following requirements:
- Ten years have passed since the completion of their prison term sentence;
- They have not been convicted of any indictable offense or summary offense in Canada in the last ten years, or more than one summary conviction in the ten years before that; and
- They have not been convicted outside Canada of an offense in the last ten years that, if committed in Canada, would constitute an indictable offense, or of more than one summary conviction in the ten years before that.
Applications for both types of criminal rehabilitation can take 6-12 months to process and cost anywhere from $200-$1000 (depending on the severity of the offense) so it is beneficial to plan as far in advance as possible.
Legal Opinion Letter
When applying for a TRP or criminal rehabilitation, it can be helpful to submit a Legal Opinion Letter addressed to the Canadian government authority assessing your admissibility to Canada.
A Canadian immigration lawyer wrote the letter. In the letter, the lawyer discusses how the crime relates to Canadian law and how it may affect Canadian immigration law. This information will assist the immigration officer in determining how to respond to the charges and how different outcomes, such as conviction or sentencing, may affect your eligibility to enter Canada.
You can contact our immigration consultants and lawyers for expert opinion
