I searched all the processing manuals and guides for the family class process, and several mention that a person may be "deemed to have been rehabilitated" if they meet certain criteria. But it's deliberately vague - and dependent on the type of offence, what the sentence would have been had the offence been committed in Canada, the length of time since all restitution was made, etc. Putting a past criminal conviction before an IO who is processing your PR application puts them in the position of having to make a complete assessment of all of the details of the offence, etc., and it can, at the very least, delay processing significantly
I know - I've been through this. It took them 9 months to evaluate my application because of my non-accompanying son's offence . . . and you know what, even though the processing manuals (and even the IRPA & Regulations) are very specific about the circumstances under which an applicant is inadmissible concerning an inadmissible, non-accompanying family member (and I didn't fall under those circumstances), the IO found me inadmissible anyway and refused our ap. That's proof enough that the IOs don't have to follow what's in the processing manuals (or even what's in the Act & Regulations) if they're not comfortable making that decision. The IO is the final word - and nobody reviews their decision. If they don't want to make a positive decision, they simply refuse the ap and force it into appeal so that someone else has that responsiblity. And I'm going to tell you - the appeal process is long, complicated, expensive and as much of a joke as the application process can be. Do everything you can do to NOT end up in appeal. Get advice before you file that application - an hour's consultation with a qualified attorney who knows how to evaluate whether you're providing sufficient evidence of your eligibility to be deemed rehabilitated is well worth not having to go through what we're going through right now!
I'm not saying you have to have an attorney do your application - just talk to someone who knows what they're doing . . . and realize it's still going to be the "luck of the draw" when it comes to which IO you get and how comfortable they are with making that decision. That's the problem - and it's why you have to be sure that you've provided everything you can to try to ensure a positive outcome. Once they make a decision, it can only be overturned in appeal . . . and even though everybody makes "the right of appeal" sound like a positive thing, they have no idea unless they've actually been through it. I participate in a thread on another forum with a bunch of people who are in appeal. The thread has been going on since March 2007. Some of the people posting had their appeals allowed close to a year ago - and yet not a single person has received their PR visa. The problem is that, once the appeal is allowed, the application goes back to the original visa office for re-processing, and even though allowed appeals are supposed to receive priority processing, they have a tendency to fall into a deep, dark hole and disappear. Surprising? Not really, considering.
