Hi everyone,
I promised myself that once I was all settled, I would make this post to share my experience and maybe to help someone else. When I was going through this, there weren't many resources outside of lawyers who were charging a lot of money to do not much work. I am from the Caribbean and have been travelling to the US since I was about 5 years old. I have never had any issues, except in early 2017 and got caught shoplifting a pair of $10 earrings from Walmart. Yes, it was a stupid mistake. It was especially stupid because I was also buying $100 worth of items at the time to return home the next day. The police came and carted me off to jail for about 14 hours and then I was released on bond. Eventually, I saw a judge and she deemed Withheld Adjudication on the Petit Theft charge. There was no fine, no jail time, no community service, nothing. I was just to pay the court costs and that would be it.
I beat myself up about it for years and was so concerned that I would never be able to get a study permit to Canada because of this on my record. I saw a local consultant in 2020 who told me that it was entirely possible to get a study permit, even with this on my record. He said to submit the CR application and the Study Permit application after 5 years since the crime, which would put me in early 2021. He then wanted to charge me an arm and a leg to do it, but I did my research instead because I had a gut feeling that it was not that difficult, I just had to find all the information. I was so worried because I knew that many people were being denied study permits in 2020 for very small reasons.
It took me forever to put together the two applications, plus it was so very expensive. Based on the information that was on the CIC webpage for my country at the time, I was to mail the two applications together and I had printed all the documents. However, when I emailed the High Commission said don't mail, but email them the documents and receipt of payment for the CR and they will email me a response. I submitted the study permit application through the portal and emailed my documents for the CR.
After about 3 months of waiting, I finally got my study permit approval (including passing the background check)! But, there was no word on the CR. I emailed the High Commission for an update and they responded: "based on the court documents submitted and it has been determined that you are a person who is not inadmissible to Canada. This means that you do not require Criminal Rehabilitation approval. Your application for Criminal Rehabilitation has therefore been cancelled and the processing fee will be refunded to you." They refunded my money a few weeks later.
When I finally travelled, I almost died because I was still nervous that I would be turned back after all this work and all this money spent. When I finally got to the officer who had the power to give me my study permit, he asked me about the record. I gave him simple, honest, straightforward answers to his questions and admitted that it was a very stupid mistake. I was very polite, but his face was unreadable. He told me to have a seat while he read through the information to make the final determination. He said that even though the Embassy gave me that response, he still had the final word. Waiting while he determined my fate was the longest 5 minutes of my life.
He finally called me back and handed me back my documents, stamping and writing the information into my passport and handed me my study and work permits. I almost fainted. I asked if that was it. He said yes, and good luck. I have never been so relieved in my entire life.
It is possible to do it on your own, just be truthful and provide everything possible so they know that this was a one-time occurrence and will never happen again. Do not lie! That will put you into even more trouble and you do not want that. Remember that Canada and the US and some other countries share information, so they will find out.
The documents I sent for the CR application were:
1. All the completed forms (the website will give them to you)
2. 3 character references: one from a former boss, one from a friend and one from a charity I volunteered with
3. Comparison between that US law and Canadian law.
4. Resume
5. Degree & academic achievements
6. Explanation of events and my regrets
7. Police record from home country
8. Offical FBI record
9. Offical state record
10. Documents from the judgement
11. Scan of passport
12. Receipt of payment
13. Payslips
I am not a lawyer, I just really wanted to share my experience. I know other cases may be more complicated, but this is just what I went though. Good luck!
I promised myself that once I was all settled, I would make this post to share my experience and maybe to help someone else. When I was going through this, there weren't many resources outside of lawyers who were charging a lot of money to do not much work. I am from the Caribbean and have been travelling to the US since I was about 5 years old. I have never had any issues, except in early 2017 and got caught shoplifting a pair of $10 earrings from Walmart. Yes, it was a stupid mistake. It was especially stupid because I was also buying $100 worth of items at the time to return home the next day. The police came and carted me off to jail for about 14 hours and then I was released on bond. Eventually, I saw a judge and she deemed Withheld Adjudication on the Petit Theft charge. There was no fine, no jail time, no community service, nothing. I was just to pay the court costs and that would be it.
I beat myself up about it for years and was so concerned that I would never be able to get a study permit to Canada because of this on my record. I saw a local consultant in 2020 who told me that it was entirely possible to get a study permit, even with this on my record. He said to submit the CR application and the Study Permit application after 5 years since the crime, which would put me in early 2021. He then wanted to charge me an arm and a leg to do it, but I did my research instead because I had a gut feeling that it was not that difficult, I just had to find all the information. I was so worried because I knew that many people were being denied study permits in 2020 for very small reasons.
It took me forever to put together the two applications, plus it was so very expensive. Based on the information that was on the CIC webpage for my country at the time, I was to mail the two applications together and I had printed all the documents. However, when I emailed the High Commission said don't mail, but email them the documents and receipt of payment for the CR and they will email me a response. I submitted the study permit application through the portal and emailed my documents for the CR.
After about 3 months of waiting, I finally got my study permit approval (including passing the background check)! But, there was no word on the CR. I emailed the High Commission for an update and they responded: "based on the court documents submitted and it has been determined that you are a person who is not inadmissible to Canada. This means that you do not require Criminal Rehabilitation approval. Your application for Criminal Rehabilitation has therefore been cancelled and the processing fee will be refunded to you." They refunded my money a few weeks later.
When I finally travelled, I almost died because I was still nervous that I would be turned back after all this work and all this money spent. When I finally got to the officer who had the power to give me my study permit, he asked me about the record. I gave him simple, honest, straightforward answers to his questions and admitted that it was a very stupid mistake. I was very polite, but his face was unreadable. He told me to have a seat while he read through the information to make the final determination. He said that even though the Embassy gave me that response, he still had the final word. Waiting while he determined my fate was the longest 5 minutes of my life.
He finally called me back and handed me back my documents, stamping and writing the information into my passport and handed me my study and work permits. I almost fainted. I asked if that was it. He said yes, and good luck. I have never been so relieved in my entire life.
It is possible to do it on your own, just be truthful and provide everything possible so they know that this was a one-time occurrence and will never happen again. Do not lie! That will put you into even more trouble and you do not want that. Remember that Canada and the US and some other countries share information, so they will find out.
The documents I sent for the CR application were:
1. All the completed forms (the website will give them to you)
2. 3 character references: one from a former boss, one from a friend and one from a charity I volunteered with
3. Comparison between that US law and Canadian law.
4. Resume
5. Degree & academic achievements
6. Explanation of events and my regrets
7. Police record from home country
8. Offical FBI record
9. Offical state record
10. Documents from the judgement
11. Scan of passport
12. Receipt of payment
13. Payslips
I am not a lawyer, I just really wanted to share my experience. I know other cases may be more complicated, but this is just what I went though. Good luck!
