Generally speaking, any act that is illegal in the country where it occurred and in Canada creates the potential for issues of disallowance. That being said, the Canadian government does offer options to allow freshmen to recover from unacceptability.
Some of the common crimes that may affect the ability of a people to travel to Canada:
- Alcohol or drugs involving driving crime.
- Careless driving.
- Froud.
- Drug-related crime and;
- Assault.
Within these offenses, there are varying degrees of seriousness. In Canada, crimes that carry a maximum prison sentence of fewer than 10 years are considered non-serious. These crimes are often nonviolent crimes such as theft or fraud of less than $5,000. If the maximum prison sentence for an offense is 10 years or more then it comes under serious offense. These offenses can include DUIs, assaults causing bodily harm, or offenses involving weapons.
Criminal disallowance may not spell the end of your Canadian trips. Here are three options for overcoming the inability to consider before traveling to Canada with a criminal history.
Temporary Resident Permit – (TRP)
A Temporary Resident Permit (TRP) allows you to visit Canada for a specific purpose and can be applied for at any time. This means that as long as you have completed any fines, jail time, and/or probation associated with the offense, you are eligible to apply. If granted, this application could allow you to enter Canada for anywhere from 6 months to three years. This application is made through the Canadian Consulate and the period of time you are allowed to enter is decided upon.
Criminal Rehabilitation- (CR)
Criminal rehabilitation is a permanent solution unlike, TRP. If a visitor has passed five years since they completed their sentence are qualified to apply for this option.
If the criminal rehabilitation application will be successful then a person’s criminal history will no longer be ground for disallowance in Canada until and unless the person has committed another crime.
The fee to apply for this option varies that depends on the nature of your crime. The Government of Canada translates your foreign crime into the Canadian equivalent to determine whether you need to charge an application fee for a non-serious crime ($200 CAD) or serious criminality ($1,000 CAD).
After 10 years have passed after you have completed your sentence, you may be considered rehabilitated, provided your offense was non-serious.
If you have only one non-serious crime on your record then you may get benefit from this. You have to apply for criminal rehabilitation to visit Canada if you are convicted of more than one crime. Otherwise, you may be considered automatically rehabilitated and do not need to apply for resettlement, but in this case, a legal opinion letter prepared by a lawyer can be very beneficial to you when you are meeting with border officials.
Legal Opinion Letter – (LOL)
A Canadian immigration attorney’s legal opinion letter can be combined with any of the above options. With the help of this letter, visitors can explain to officials at the Canadian border why they should be allowed to enter Canada. If anyone has any pending charges that have not been convicted by them this letter can be also a beneficial option for them. It is important to make adequate preparations before your trip to Canada so that you do not return to the border because of your previous conviction. The advice of a Canadian immigration attorney can help.
