Arrest but no conviction

[acwikla4769]

Hopefully someone can answer my question.
I am canadian and sponsoring my american husband Outland. There has been a past arrest in america for him but was not charged and the case was expunged. Is this going to be a problem when submitting my application? will they deny because of this?
It has been brought up by customs when crossing into canada for him but has never denied entry because of it.

Thanks in advance.

 

[profiler]

Hopefully someone can answer my question.
I am canadian and sponsoring my american husband Outland. There has been a past arrest in america for him but was not charged and the case was expunged. Is this going to be a problem when submitting my application? will they deny because of this?
It has been brought up by customs when crossing into canada for him but has never denied entry because of it.

Thanks in advance.

He may have to speak to it, if the Officer mentions it. Don't deny it, just tell the truth as to what happened. Should be ok, if a CBSA agent didn't deny entry because of criminality.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Hopefully someone can answer my question.
I am canadian and sponsoring my american husband Outland. There has been a past arrest in america for him but was not charged and the case was expunged. Is this going to be a problem when submitting my application? will they deny because of this?
It has been brought up by customs when crossing into canada for him but has never denied entry because of it.

There is a question on the background form asking if the applicant has ever been detained. He would need to answer yes and explain the situation on a separate sheet. As he was never convicted, it will not be an issue for the app.

 

[ryanntheredhead]

Hopefully someone can answer my question.
I am canadian and sponsoring my american husband Outland. There has been a past arrest in america for him but was not charged and the case was expunged. Is this going to be a problem when submitting my application? will they deny because of this?
It has been brought up by customs when crossing into canada for him but has never denied entry because of it.

Thanks in advance.

I am American, just recently approved for PR through my Canadian boyfriend and I had an arrest that showed up on my FBI certificate. I was never convicted as I did a pretrial program and the charges were dropped. But of course, the arrest still shows up on the clearance. I've never been asked about it flying into Canada, but I was asked about it when driving in. I've never been denied entry because of it though and in the PR process they never asked anything about it. I was incredibly nervous about it but it didn't come up at all. I answered yes to having ever been in jail and then attached certified copies of my paperwork that proves the case was dismissed. And that was it!

I did an outland application so I could travel back to the US and I was so scared every time I crossed the border that the next CBSA officer would deny me entry because of it and not a single one ever brought it up. I'm under the impression that they only run an in-depth background check if there are other reasons to do so (when I drove across, my boyfriend was importing his car). But flying, unless you're flagged, you should be fine. My best advice is to be upfront about it and always travel with the dismissal paperwork just in case. I'm bringing mine to my landing interview because I read they can ask about criminal history there and I want to be covered.

Hope this helps!

 

[Viking14]

Thanks for your story
But what if I was also arested once , not criminal, and my case was dropped as my lawyer proved that it was mistaken arrest, in my police paper front that country it doesn't mention anything, just written - no criminal charge, but in my history in that country it mentioned that I had a case, so, I didn't mentioned in my application as i was never convicted or charged with anything and was discharged directly out, and also it happened 18 yers ago and I have nothing on hand as i never bothered to keep anything (papers ), and after that I lived in that country and even studied there, we consulted a lawyer in Canada and he said if there was no charged, should be fine,
But still thinking about it (((((

 

[profiler]

Thanks for your story
But what if I was also arested once , not criminal, and my case was dropped as my lawyer proved that it was mistaken arrest, in my police paper front that country it doesn't mention anything, just written - no criminal charge, but in my history in that country it mentioned that I had a case, so, I didn't mentioned in my application as i was never convicted or charged with anything and was discharged directly out, and also it happened 18 yers ago and I have nothing on hand as i never bothered to keep anything (papers ), and after that I lived in that country and even studied there, we consulted a lawyer in Canada and he said if there was no charged, should be fine,
But still thinking about it (((((

That should be fine. It may work to your advantage, because you proactively disclosed that (it may lessen the suspicion).. Example: I had some stuff in my past while I was a young kid (nothing terrible). I was pulled over with no license on me (I was licensed). I gave my personal details. When asked about previous stuff, I told the officer straight up. He went to his car to run checks. He returned to thank me for my complete honesty (because I was a young offender, so that information was not available to him), and to tell me to slow down and drive safely. He totally had me doing 25 over the limit...

Now, CIC is not the same as police, but the story is only to offer an example how it could work to your advantage.

 

[Viking14]

That what my husband told me, you don't need to show all small things that happened in your life, even if they found out and would ask me about it, I would explain then, but to write about this story with clean police paper would leed CIC to search even more....
Maybe our thoughts was not right, but that what we thought, sorry :-*

 

[profiler]

That what my husband told me, you don't need to show all small things that happened in your life, even if they found out and would ask me about it, I would explain then, but to write about this story with clean police paper would leed CIC to search even more....
Maybe our thoughts was not right, but that what we thought, sorry :-*

It's reasonable to worry -- but I wouldn't. Even if you had a crime in your past that equated to Canadian code, and made you inadmissible, there are remedies to fix that...

Anyway, best of luck!

 

[Viking14]

Thanks for your positive feedback :-*

 

[Sous02]

That should be fine. It may work to your advantage, because you proactively disclosed that (it may lessen the suspicion).. Example: I had some stuff in my past while I was a young kid (nothing terrible). I was pulled over with no license on me (I was licensed). I gave my personal details. When asked about previous stuff, I told the officer straight up. He went to his car to run checks. He returned to thank me for my complete honesty (because I was a young offender, so that information was not available to him), and to tell me to slow down and drive safely. He totally had me doing 25 over the limit...

Now, CIC is not the same as police, but the story is only to offer an example how it could work to your advantage.

Anytime you hear the words "should be fine" It can also be "it may not be fine" You are always better disclosing the information with details and letting cic decide.

 

[ryanntheredhead]

Thanks for your positive feedback :-*

I didn't quite understand whether or not your arrest showed up on your FBI certificate. If it didn't, you "should be fine". If it did and you didn't explain anything, I would send any documentation you can get your hands on about how the charges were dropped. I went to my police station and clerk of court and asked for certified copies of the dismissal paperwork as well as anything else they had on the matter. There are avenues you can take to finding that information. It may be long and drawn out but it's worth it if it means you not getting denied. That's my two cents!

 

[Viking14]

I didn't quite understand whether or not your arrest showed up on your FBI certificate. If it didn't, you "should be fine". If it did and you didn't explain anything, I would send any documentation you can get your hands on about how the charges were dropped. I went to my police station and clerk of court and asked for certified copies of the dismissal paperwork as well as anything else they had on the matter. There are avenues you can take to finding that information. It may be long and drawn out but it's worth it if it means you not getting denied. That's my two cents!

It didn't happened in USA, and police certificate is clean, as there was no charge, but when I went to get my police certificate, the officer told me that the case(arrest) that happened 18 yers ago, would always be mentioned just in my profile in that country but it was no criminal and I was directly discharged out and had no problem to stay in that country for 16 yers after that and study there. So, that is why I didn't mentioned on my application this information as I was not charged.

 

[acwikla4769]

The case does not show up on the FBI clearance. Should I not include it or put it in there just to be safe?

Thanks

 

[profiler]

The case does not show up on the FBI clearance. Should I not include it or put it in there just to be safe?

Thanks

You should follow canuck_in_uk's advice here: http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/arrest-but-no-conviction-t455696.0.html;msg5500764#msg5500764

 

[Ponga]

I can't believe that this is even being debated.

If the OP has in fact been arrested (or even detained), there's no arguing with canuck_in_uk's answer.
The fact that there were no charges, or they were expunged, is irrelevant to the question that must be answered in the application:
Have you been detained? The only correct answer is YES.