Best of all, for those criminally unaccountable, routes with Canadian stops on the itinerary will unfortunately not be an option. They are restricted, as they would be enforced to choose flight plans that keep them away from Canada.
At the very least, those found criminally unacceptable could result in sanctions from the airline, and even dismissal. It is not uncommon for airline personnel to receive a suspension or be placed on leave until their criminal incompetence is resolved. At airlines, hiring employees who are not allowed to enter Canada legally is a major problem.
Fortunately, there are different options available to resolve this inadmissibility.
There are three procedures for those people who are working in the airline profession and want to visit Canada:
- Application for a temporary resident permit – (TRP)
- Application for Criminal Rehabilitation – (CR)
- A Legal Opinion Letter – (LOL)
Application for a Temporary Resident Permit
A Temporary Resident Permit (TRP) is an option for a person deemed criminally inadmissible because it provides temporary access to Canada for a certain period of time. A TRP is used in a situation when a visitor has a sustainable motive to visit Canada and the advantage of their entry is greater than any danger to the society of Canada.
A TRP request must comply for important travel only and may be granted for a period of stay of up to three years depending on the reasons for the application. The TRP period can be extended from within Canada.
Application for Criminal Rehabilitation
The government of Canada provides the opportunity to submit an application for criminal rehabilitation permanently and clear your past criminal history to be allowed to visit Canada. If a person gets approval for criminal rehabilitation, they are no longer restricted to visit Canada and they don’t need to renew their TRP to visit Canada.
To be qualified for criminal rehabilitation you have to fulfill the edibility criteria:
has committed a crime outside Canada that would amount to an offense under the Criminal Code of Canada.
has been declared or confessed to having committed the crime, and
Five years must have been spent since the punishment was completed. This includes jail time, fines, community service, or probation.
a most important requirement is to determine and understand similar crimes in Canada. According to the Canadian Criminal Code, the nature and severity of the offense are important, as Canadian immigration officials characterize offenses on the basis of serious versus non-serious criminality.
A Legal Opinion Letter
A legal opinion letter can be used to avoid being found unacceptable to Canada. If you have committed an offense or been convicted, you can send a legal opinion letter to the judicial authority to hear the case.
The letter, prepared by a Canadian immigration attorney, will explain the consequences of a conviction for Canadian immigration purposes. It will refer to relevant sections of Canadian law to help the individual decide how to respond to charges and how the various consequences (guilty, conviction, etc.) will affect their ability to come to Canada. The letter may also suggest alternative violations that would not make the person unacceptable to Canada. The effects of the denial can have a serious impact on seeing family members in Canada as well as employment, so the letter may appeal to a judge’s compassion and be taken into account when deciding on the outcome.
If you are in the airline industry and want to take steps to address criminal disallowance, a Canadian immigration attorney can guide you. They will sit down with you to identify the back path forward, whether it is through the TRP application process, helping you find the Canadian Criminal Code for criminal rehabilitation, or drafting an appropriate legal opinion letter.
