Share article with your friends Print Send. Cookie control. Stats cookie This website uses Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager to collect anonymous information such as the number of visitors to the site and the most popular pages. Enable or Disable Cookies. Please enable Strictly Necessary Cookies first so that we can save your preferences!
Enable All Save Changes. All potential visitors, whether applying for a temporary resident visa or requesting landing permission at the border must be of good moral character, and under Canadian law this means having a completely clean criminal history.
Any offence, misdemeanour or felony, regardless of how minor or how long ago it took place could exclude you from Canada for a period of time or indefinitely. Some US citizens have been turned back while attempting to drive across the border. Bush needed to apply for a waiver to enter on an official state visit during his term in office because of a past D. There are a few exceptions, and if you are inadmissible because of a criminal conviction, you do have some options.
A minor misdemeanour what Canadian law calls a "summary conviction" may keep you out of Canada for at least five years from the date you finish your sentence. More serious offences "felonies" in US law, "indictable offences" in Canadian or British law may require you to wait up to ten years, or in the most serious cases obtain a pardon or other civil relief locally before applying for entry.
Some relatively minor infractions in other countries minor drug possession tickets in countries where they are not handled through the criminal system, or drunk driving in jurisdictions which treat this as a simple traffic violation are considered criminal convictions for the purpose of immigration law, as Canada's Criminal Code treats these as crimes.
With the exception of crimes of conscience, even if you were prosecuted for an offence in that country which would not have been an offence in Canada, it would result in you being inadmissible.
Similarly, if you committed a violation that is considered a criminal offence in Canada but not in the country in which it was committed, that would also result in you being inadmissible to Canada. Even if you were never arrested, charged with a crime or sentenced it is possible to be turned away by a border guard on suspicion of criminal activity. Additionally, you cannot enter Canada if there are current charges pending against you or a trial is under way.
Although unlikely as a visitor who meets all other entry requirements, you may also be refused if you have significant unpaid debt, have an active civil judgement against you, or have recently declared bankruptcy. This is more likely to be an issue if your nationality requires a visa to enter Canada. In these cases, you can regain your ability to enter Canada by either paying the debt in full, showing evidence of a payment plan in good standing or after a bankruptcy showing a history of financial solvency over the period of a few years.
Offences committed before the age of 18, parking tickets, local ordinance violations and crimes of conscience such as publishing statements critical of the government in China generally do not result in inadmissibility.
Similarly, non-criminal traffic tickets usually do not result in inadmissibility, although if you were ever required to appear in court over a traffic violation not simply going to court to challenge a ticket or you accumulated enough points that your license was summarily suspended or revoked, you may be inadmissible and should contact a Canadian embassy or high counsel for advice.
If you have a single misdemeanour or summary offence on your record and it's been at least ten years since you finished your sentence, and your offence could be punishable with a prison term of less than 10 years in Canada, you are deemed rehabilitated. Some offences are hybrid, so even some summary offences carry a possible year maximum sentence meaning you cannot be deemed rehabilitated. The burden is on you, the visitor, to provide proof that you have indeed reformed and are unlikely to re-offend.
Possible proof includes but is not limited to:. Bring everything you have that suggests you're living a stable and crime-free life. The more documentation you have and the less the officer has to rely on your word that you've turned your life around the stronger your case is for being admitted. If you are turned away, or if your offence makes you ineligible to be deemed rehabilitated, you can apply for individual rehabilitation directly to Citizenship and Immigration Canada CIC. Again, at least five years must have passed since you completed your sentence.
An application for individual rehabilitation has onerous documentation requirements, costs between CAD and CAD3, depending on the nature of the offence and whether the application requires approval from the Minister of Justice all except the most straightforward misdemeanour convictions do and can take six to twelve months there are no guaranteed processing times to get an answer.
While you can compile the documentation and submit the application yourself, both CIC and many who have gone through the process highly advise retaining an immigration attorney to complete and file the application on your behalf. If you are denied rehabilitation, there is no right of appeal, you will not be given specific reasons as to why your application was denied, and you must wait at least one year before applying again. If you aren't qualified for either type of rehabilitation or are turned down, another option is a temporary resident permit , a one-time waiver for an inadmissible person to enter Canada.
This is not the same as a temporary resident visa , but the two can be applied for together if you are from a country requiring such a visa.
These are very rarely granted - only for "exceptionally compelling humanitarian grounds" or "reasons of significant national interest".
While this has been used or abused by a politically well-connected few including disgraced Canadian media mogul Conrad Black, who renounced citizenship issuance of these permits is rare. Unless you're dealing with a documented family emergency, can afford to hire a really good immigration attorney or have connections in Canada such as a Member of Parliament who can intervene on your behalf, don't even bother applying for one of these.
Obtaining a pardon or unconditional discharge will generally restore your ability to travel to Canada, and depending on your circumstances you may have much more luck going this route. If the crime was committed in Canada, there's a centralized process you can go through and odds of success are fairly high if you've shown commitment to turning your life around and kept your nose clean since then.
If your pardon or discharge was issued for a crime outside Canada, be sure to bring documentation to that effect with you to the border or when applying for a visa. Immigration authorities may perform a credit check and review your overall financial history as part of the character and risk assessment when applying for a visa or for landing permission at the border. Credit checks are not automatic for temporary visitors; they typically occur as part of a larger background investigation that results if the officer cannot ascertain your ability to support yourself.
Minor issues such as an occasional late credit card payment are not a major concern. That being said, if you have frequent late payments, chargeoffs, liens, repossessions, or a bankruptcy, in the past few years, definitely be prepared to explain yourself and having recent pay-stubs or other evidence of steady funds available for review is highly advised. On the other hand, if you are applying for any type of long term visa such as a work or study permit or are immigrating to Canada, your credit will be checked as part of the background investigation, and visas are occasionally denied for recent financial problems or just for having a large amount of unpaid debt, even if it's in good standing e.
Unless you can prove your credit problems were due to circumstances beyond your control e. If you have a civil judgement against you whether paid or not , or are a defendant in a pending lawsuit for unpaid debt, depending on the circumstances you may be inadmissible, contact an immigration attorney for advice. If either situation applies, you are inadmissible and will need to go through the standard rehabilitation procedure prior to travelling to Canada.
In addition to the requisite time requirement, you will also need to show that the debt in question is paid in full or satisfactory arrangements are in place to pay it. Besides a criminal record, CIC lists a host of other situations that may prevent admission into Canada. While most of these shouldn't be an issue for the average traveller e. As a general rule, admissibility and rehabilitation decisions cannot be appealed beyond a supervisory review at the visa office or border.
The only exception is if you can prove the decision was based on wrong information for example you were acquitted of a crime, but that fact was never properly recorded. That being said, you are usually allowed to apply again once any specific issues relating to a refusal have been corrected, once the requisite time has passed for rehabilitation, or one year after being denied rehabilitation.
Citizens of the United Kingdom who have convictions considered "spent" under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act do not have to apply for "rehabilitation", as they are automatically pardoned under the Federal Court of Appeals case Canada Minister of Employment and Immigration v. Burgon, [] due to the similarity of the two countries' legal systems. However, some exceptions to this rule have been witnessed. No questions related to criminal history in the visa application.
Nationals of a few countries get in visa-free, but almost everyone else can enter on a tourist card [dead link] effectively a simple visa where you're asked about little more than your name, birth date and passport data. A considerable number of nationalities including virtually all first world and Western Hemisphere countries can get in visa free purchase of tourist card is needed.
Visa applications have no questions related to criminal history. There aren't any questions about a criminal record in the Mexican visa application , nor in the FMM arrival card. If your passport reveals a criminal record when scanned, however, you may be denied entrance to the country. In general, visitors from the Americas, Europe, Oceania and some Asian countries get in without a visa.
On the migration card there aren't any questions related to criminal history, neither is there on the visa form. The United States of America is generally very strict with criminal records, no matter how minor or how long ago it has been.
They do not have any concept of "spent" or "pardoned" convictions, meaning you must truthfully answer any questions about criminal convictions even if your convictions have been spent or pardoned in your country. For citizens of any country who are eligible for the Visa Waiver Program, being convicted of any crimes, having proceedings pending, or even a previously refused visa makes you ineligible for the visa waiver program!
Similarly, Canadian and Bermudian citizens, who ordinarily do not require visas to enter the United States, may be refused entry on the grounds of previous criminal convictions. There are numerous crimes that render you ineligible to enter the US. The two main categories are:. There is only a loose definition of crimes involving moral turpitude, but generally, it includes crimes that make a person seem untrustworthy, such as fraud or rape, rather than "honest" crimes, like getting into a fistfight.
The actual penalty for the conviction does not matter. If you declare a crime involving moral turpitude, then you will probably be deemed 'permanently ineligible to enter the USA'. It is possible to apply for a waiver of permanent ineligibility after a period of time. Being convicted of an aggravated felony is even worse, though just like crimes involving moral turpitude, these also have a loose definition, therefore the offenses can change over time. This used to include murder and smuggling drugs or guns, and has since been expanded to include things like bribery, human trafficking, and kidnapping people for ransom.
The country issuing the visa determines which criminal acts would cause someone not to be given a visa. In Australia , tourists who wish to visit but who have a criminal record must first apply for a visa. Certain offenses can generally disqualify someone from obtaining permission, but whether or not a visa is an issue is up to the discretion of the official reviewing the paperwork. If the offense occurred a long time in the past and the person has been in good standing since then, a visa may still be granted.
Canada reserves the right to not allow entrance to someone with a criminal history that includes felonies, primarily if the offense resulted in a year prison sentence.
However, if the person was officially pardoned or considered to be rehabilitated rehabilitated according to Canadian law , then he or she may still be allowed to enter the country. One must fill out a visa application and list any criminal convictions on the form to visit Russia.
0コメント