Am I criminally ineligible for Express Entry?

[NovaProspekt]

I tried to sneak from Mexico into the USA in early 2014 due to extraordinary circumstances and was detained by US border patrol, held overnight, and deported back to Mexico. A USA background check (FBI fingerprints) on myself shows the following charges:

-CHARGE 1 ALIEN INADMISSIBILITY UNDER SECTION 212
-CHARGE 2 ENTRY OF ALIEN AT IMPROPER TIME OR PLACE MISREP
-CHARGE 3 ENTRY OF ALIEN AT IMPROPER TIME OR PLACE MISREP

A quick google search shows that this is considered a crime by USA law, but I never went to court and was never convicted of anything. A Canadian immigration attorney has told me that if it had happened in Canada, it would not be considered a crime.

So my question is, am I criminally ineligible for Canadian Permanent Residency because of this event?

 

[MooseNBooze]

I tried to sneak from Mexico into the USA in early 2014 due to extraordinary circumstances and was detained by US border patrol, held overnight, and deported back to Mexico. A USA background check on myself shows the following charges:

-CHARGE 1 ALIEN INADMISSIBILITY UNDER SECTION 212
-CHARGE 2 ENTRY OF ALIEN AT IMPROPER TIME OR PLACE MISREP
-CHARGE 3 ENTRY OF ALIEN AT IMPROPER TIME OR PLACE MISREP

A quick google search shows that this is considered a crime by USA law, but I never went to court and was never convicted of anything. A Canadian immigration attorney has told me that if it had happened in Canada, it would not be considered a crime.

So my question is, am I criminally ineligible for Canadian Permanent Residency because of this event?

What you mean is whether you're criminally inadmissible. I do not have a definitive answer for you but based on my limited knowledge, and based on what your immigration lawyer told you, the above charges alone don't seem to make you criminally inadmissible. At the least, the above charges won't make your automatically ineligible to submit an EE profile and/or to submit PR app (during which time you will have to declare the above information to CIC, however).

The following links may be helpful to you -
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/helpcentre/answer.asp?q=141&t=8 (what does "criminally inadmissible" mean?)
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/helpcentre/answer.asp?q=145&t=8 (how to find out whether an offence outside Canada makes you criminally inadmissible to Canada)
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/helpcentre/answer.asp?q=148&t=8 (ways of entering Canada if criminally inadmissible)
http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/I-2.5/page-19.html#h-23 (Division 4: Inadmissibility of Section 36 of IRPA)

I hope this helps. I urge you to seek a second opinion from another qualified Canadian immigration attorney. Best wishes.

 

[andy108]

I tried to sneak from Mexico into the USA in early 2014 due to extraordinary circumstances and was detained by US border patrol, held overnight, and deported back to Mexico. A USA background check on myself shows the following charges:

-CHARGE 1 ALIEN INADMISSIBILITY UNDER SECTION 212
-CHARGE 2 ENTRY OF ALIEN AT IMPROPER TIME OR PLACE MISREP
-CHARGE 3 ENTRY OF ALIEN AT IMPROPER TIME OR PLACE MISREP

A quick google search shows that this is considered a crime by USA law, but I never went to court and was never convicted of anything. A Canadian immigration attorney has told me that if it had happened in Canada, it would not be considered a crime.

So my question is, am I criminally ineligible for Canadian Permanent Residency because of this event?

What i would suggest doing, is first of all find if there were any criminal proceedings against you and whether you have been convicted of any crimes... get the FBI summary check report.

 

[Andre_Smol]

What i would suggest doing, is first of all find if there were any criminal proceedings against you and whether you have been convicted of any crimes... get the FBI summary check report.

Good idea. Get the FBI PCC. If you dont have a record, that will tell you that no charges were ever officially fild in which case you are lucky and shouldnt have any problems.

Thats probably your best place to start.

 

[NovaProspekt]

What i would suggest doing, is first of all find if there were any criminal proceedings against you and whether you have been convicted of any crimes... get the FBI summary check report.

I did the FBI background check, it shows the charges mentioned in my original post. I have spoken to a USA immigration attorney and she said that these do not constitute a conviction. However, I never went to court so I have nothing to prove that I was not convicted either.

 

[Honeyaustin]

I did the FBI background check, it shows the charges mentioned in my original post. I have spoken to a USA immigration attorney and she said that these do not constitute a conviction. However, I never went to court so I have nothing to prove that I was not convicted either.

you need pcc from mexico, and canada if you are in canada, and any other country where you stayed in last 5 years, if you can that , you are all good to go...........

 

[NovaProspekt]

The table found in the following link seem to indicate that I should not need rehabilitation:

Equivalent of 1 Summary Offence 0 (not inadmissible, can come to Canada without problems)​

immigroup dot com / criminal - rehabilitation

I just don't know if the 3 charges shown on my FBI background check would count as only one Summary offence since it was really just one occurance

 

[Honeyaustin]

The table found in the following link seem to indicate that I should not need rehabilitation:

Equivalent of 1 Summary Offence 0 (not inadmissible, can come to Canada without problems)​

immigroup dot com / criminal - rehabilitation

I just don't know if the 3 charges shown on my FBI background check would count as only one Summary offence since it was really just one occurance

do you want to come to canada or united states of america

 

[Tocanadawego]

Maybe the best thing for you would be to get in touch with a Canadian immigration lawyer. I doubt anyone on the forum will be able to help you out with this - it seems like a tricky case. Someone specializing in Canadian immigration though, would certainly have an answer for you.
If I was in your place, that would be my first step, before investing additional time and money in the PR application.

 

[ifeedly]

one summary offense.

 

[NovaProspekt]

do you want to come to canada or united states of america

Canada under the Express Entry scheme

 

[NovaProspekt]

one summary offense.

That's what I am hoping and I think that is what makes sense. I booked a telephone consultation with a Canadian immigration attorney tomorrow to discuss this. I'm keeping my fingers crossed

 

[petertherock77]

I tried to sneak from Mexico into the USA in early 2014 due to extraordinary circumstances and was detained by US border patrol, held overnight, and deported back to Mexico. A USA background check (FBI fingerprints) on myself shows the following charges:

-CHARGE 1 ALIEN INADMISSIBILITY UNDER SECTION 212
-CHARGE 2 ENTRY OF ALIEN AT IMPROPER TIME OR PLACE MISREP
-CHARGE 3 ENTRY OF ALIEN AT IMPROPER TIME OR PLACE MISREP

A quick google search shows that this is considered a crime by USA law, but I never went to court and was never convicted of anything. A Canadian immigration attorney has told me that if it had happened in Canada, it would not be considered a crime.

So my question is, am I criminally ineligible for Canadian Permanent Residency because of this event?

Hi you are not criminally ineligible for Canadian immigration. Your US immigration violation will not be released to any foreign country on an FBI rap sheet even though it appears on the report they sent to you. They only release criminal offenses records.

 

[NovaProspekt]

So I spoke with the lawyer today and at first I thought I was screwed because she said the 3 different charges count as three different offences and that I need to prove somehow that the cases were dropped. But she said she would consult with her colleague to make sure, She then sent me an email saying that everything would be fine because they "are not viewed as criminal offenses in Canada therefore this will not cause you any issues with regards your admissibility to come to Canada"

So now I am really happy 8)

 

[Tocanadawego]

So I spoke with the lawyer today and at first I thought I was screwed because she said the 3 different charges count as three different offences and that I need to prove somehow that the cases were dropped. But she said she would consult with her colleague to make sure, She then sent me an email saying that everything would be fine because they "are not viewed as criminal offenses in Canada therefore this will not cause you any issues with regards your admissibility to come to Canada"

So now I am really happy 8)

Great news! Good luck!