eTA does not match police certificate. Now what?

[idkhowtowordthis]

Long story short. Sent my partners police certificate off and it will likely come back with a few things on it. As far as I know, everything was “released, no charge”.

He applied for an eTA last June stating no criminal history as everything happened 10+ years ago that he genuinely forgot about. He has been to Canada once for two weeks on this eta.

We are now looking at an inland spousal sponsorship and I am not sure how to go about this.

1. Should we (how do we?) cancel his existing eta and reapply? From what I’ve read, it’s not possible to cancel an existing eta. They are linked to your passport so unless he got a new passport # he can’t reapply?
2. Should we keep existing eta (as he’s already been allowed in) and list on his spousal sponsorship about the discrepancies? I am worried doing this will lead to misrepresentation though it was honest mistake.
3. Other suggestions?

Edit: Is whatever shown on the eta cross referenced with visas or are they separate entities? Is this even an issue?

I have been pulling my hair out about this as I know misrepresentation is a huge issue. None are DUI which I know is a big no no.

Any help is greatly appreciated. I am trying my best to not have to call the 1800 number. Thank you.

 

[k.h.p.]

What is the specific question asked on the eTA application (I'm Canadian so I've never looked at it) - is it "Have you ever been convicted.." or is it "Have you ever been charged or arrested..."?

 

[k.h.p.]

Okay, the question on the form is "have you ever committed, been arrested for, been charged with, or convicted of any criminal offence in any country/territory" - which means that if he truly didn't remember "a few things" where he was arrested for criminal offences, he has misrepresented his eTA application.

At this point, you'll likely want to contact a lawyer for professional advice. Try Campbell Cohen, the law firm kind enough to host these forums.

 

[idkhowtowordthis]

Okay, the question on the form is "have you ever committed, been arrested for, been charged with, or convicted of any criminal offence in any country/territory" - which means that if he truly didn't remember "a few things" where he was arrested for criminal offences, he has misrepresented his eTA application.

At this point, you'll likely want to contact a lawyer for professional advice. Try Campbell Cohen, the law firm kind enough to host these forums.

Thank you for your help. I see your name often throughout the forums and I, among others I'm sure, appreciate the time you take to help others.

I just went through the ETA application as well. I've sent a message to the law firm you suggested. I am hoping, since it asks in the ETA application for previous ETA number, that if he reapplies it will cancel the old one. There is also an area to input any notes regarding the application. It let me go all the way through to the transit page (knowing that I had a previous ETA?) so I'm hoping this will work if the firm doesn't get back to me. I have read on another post that someone was in a similar situation and that's what they did and it was successful. Barring the police certificate doesn't reveal he's a murderer or something (in which case I will have a LOT of questions...) I am thinking this is the most honest/forthcoming way to go about it.

 

[AlinaN]

I am interested in what your story will turn out since I am in the same boat just sponsoring my mom... when i filled out Eta for her she never told me about a caution in UK 4,5 years ago. Now applying to sponsor and afraid of being denied for misrep. especially following the decision of the Federal court in 2018 smith v. Canada

 

[Gmeek87]

I’m also interested as I’m in a similar situation. Saying no to an arrest, I was previously arrested as a juvenile with no charge and mistakenly thought it was cleared from my police record

 

[idkhowtowordthis]

I reapplied for an eta. They sent back a procedural fairness letter stating I needed to respond why the arrests weren’t noted during the first application. We simply stated that it was an accident and we tried to resolve it the only way possible (by reapplying for the eta).

He was not banned from Canada for misrepresentation - which was my biggest fear. He’s not eligible to enter Canada and has been asked through the eta application to apply for criminal rehabilitation due to some things on his police certificate. Hope this helps some people!

 

[Gmeek87]

Thanks for your response...I’m very glad to hear they didn’t treat the mistake on the eta as misrepresentation!

Good luck with the Criminal Rehabilitation app. I’m hoping the fact mine was nearly 15 years ago as a juvenile means I’m exempt from having to apply.

How long did it take to receive the procedural fairness letter?

 

[21Goose]

I reapplied for an eta. They sent back a procedural fairness letter stating I needed to respond why the arrests weren’t noted during the first application. We simply stated that it was an accident and we tried to resolve it the only way possible (by reapplying for the eta).

He was not banned from Canada for misrepresentation - which was my biggest fear. He’s not eligible to enter Canada and has been asked through the eta application to apply for criminal rehabilitation due to some things on his police certificate. Hope this helps some people!

Thank you for returning and posting an update. Glad to hear that your husband wasn't banned.

 

[dshobbs87]

I reapplied for an eta. They sent back a procedural fairness letter stating I needed to respond why the arrests weren’t noted during the first application. We simply stated that it was an accident and we tried to resolve it the only way possible (by reapplying for the eta).

He was not banned from Canada for misrepresentation - which was my biggest fear. He’s not eligible to enter Canada and has been asked through the eta application to apply for criminal rehabilitation due to some things on his police certificate. Hope this helps some people!

Thank you so much for sharing this! I myself am in the same boat; I was misinformed by the police officer at the time of my warning it would be removed from my record after 5 years but only once I received my police certificate in preparation for my spousal sponsorship did I realise this isn’t the case.

Have you started the rehabilitation process? Any indication as to how that will impact the PR application in the future? Have you hired an immigration lawyer to assist?