Criminal Inadmissibility
Criminal inadmissibility can become a serious obstacle to immigrating or traveling to Canada. Luckily, the Canadian immigration system has options to help people overcome inadmissibility. One of the major immigration problems in Canada is inadmissibility. Inadmissibility to Canada is an immigration issue that essentially means that a person is barred from entering the country.
How can I overcome criminal immigration inadmissibility?
There are a variety of different ways that individuals who are otherwise inadmissible to Canada may still enter or remain in the country, including by accessing a Temporary Resident Permit, Deemed or Full Rehabilitation, and/or through an appeal to the Immigration Appeal Division of the Immigration and Refugee Board as a few examples.
Medical Inadmissibility
Every person who applies to immigrate to Canada is required to undergo a medical examination by an approved physician before they will be issued a visa. Even some people hoping to visit the country on a temporary basis are required to first undergo a health exam. Individuals with a medical condition that could pose a danger to public health or public safety, or that could potentially cause excessive demands on Canada’s social or health services, may be considered medically inadmissible to Canada. In order to visit or immigrate to Canada, foreign nationals must overcome any medical inadmissibility they have by applying for special permission from the Canadian Government.
There are 3 possible reasons for medical inadmissibility:
- Danger to public health
- Danger to public safety
- Excessive demand for health or social services
Misrepresentation
Misrepresentation occurs when information is provided to Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) or to the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) that is inconsistent, inaccurate, or incomplete.
Examples of misrepresentations would be:
- Fail to declare that you have been refused a visa for another country
- Provide a document that is found to be non-genuine
- Fail to mention a family member
- Declare employment experience which you do not have
- Obtain permanent residence by having engaged in a non-genuine marriage
It’s a serious crime to lie or to send false information or documents to Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). Document fraud can involve either false or altered documents, such as:
- passports and travel documents
- visas
- diplomas, degrees, and apprenticeship or trade papers
- certificates of birth, marriage, final divorce, annulment, separation, or death and
- police certificates
Rehabilitation and Deemed Rehabilitated
Foreign nationals who are criminally inadmissible to Canada may be eligible for “Deemed Rehabilitation” status, in certain circumstances. Once an individual has been deemed rehabilitated, their prior convictions will no longer serve as a basis for Canadian immigration authorities to deny them entry to Canada. Clemency by virtue of Deemed Rehabilitation status is based on the passage of time.
Application Criteria to be Deemed Rehabilitated
To be deemed rehabilitated, immigration authorities can decide that a person is no longer criminally inadmissible to Canada based on a number of factors, including if they have:
Been convicted outside of Canada for an act that, if committed in Canada, would be equivalent to an indictable offense punishable by a sentence of fewer 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.
Pardons
In general, a pardon sets aside an individual’s criminal conviction. The requirements to apply for a pardon are different in each country. In Canada, an individual can submit a Record Suspension (formerly called a “Pardon”) application to the Parole Board of Canada to request that a criminal conviction be set aside from the Canadian Police Information Centre database when an associated sentence is completed. To do so, the individual must demonstrate he or she has been a law-abiding citizen for a prescribed period of time (5 years for a summary offense and 10 years for an indictable offense).
Criminal inadmissibility can stop someone from being able to enter Canada without special authorization from Canadian immigration officials.
Criminal Rehabilitation is an application process whereby a person requests absolution from the Government of Canada for a particular crime or crimes committed in a foreign country. Once an individual completes Criminal Rehabilitation successfully, they have a clean slate with Immigration Canada and will be able to travel to Canada without hassle from that point on. The Criminal Rehabilitation process only applies to those who have committed offenses outside of Canada.
You may apply for Criminal Rehabilitation if at least 5 years have passed since the completion of your sentence(s). This includes payment of all fines, prison time, probation, and required community service hours. If less than 5 years have passed since the completion of your sentence, you are ineligible, however, you may qualify for a Temporary Resident Permit (TRP).
Removal Orders Authorization To Return
If an individual has been issued a removal order, it means that they are no longer allowed to remain in Canada. Further, depending on the type of the removal order, they may be banned from re-entering Canada for a period of time or forever, without getting proper documentation.
This document that they may require is called an Authorization to Return to Canada. An Authorization to Return to Canada or ARC is particular permission that a foreign national will need to legally return to Canada if they were issued a removal order.
There are three types of Removal Orders:
- Departure Order
- Exclusion Order
- Deportation Order
The immigration officer will not process your application if it appears ineligible or incomplete. Remember that the Canadian government does not guarantee the issuance of Authorization to Return to Canada.