DUI can someone still move to Canada?

[Zanz]

ok so here is the story as short as I can possibly make it while still giving you guys all the info:

my girlfriend who currently lives in Ireland was charged for drink driving last year, she was .2 over the learner's permit limit, she was fined 200 euro, and got a 3 month road ban, now since then she has decided to move to Canada, she is currently applying for the IEC program, and so far everything we are reading is saying that if she has anything involving a drink driving fine/charge that it's pretty much impossible for her to move here. I am here in hopes that some of you can give me some more info on this, and the rules around it...is it as bad as all the other forums are saying? are we screwed?, or is there still hope lol, and if there is what is it. we are both pretty new to all of this, so literally any info big or small will be a huge help, not to mention it will be GREATLY appreciated. thank you in advance!

 

[zardoz]

ok so here is the story as short as I can possibly make it while still giving you guys all the info:

my girlfriend who currently lives in Ireland was charged for drink driving last year, she was .2 over the learner's permit limit, she was fined 200 euro, and got a 3 month road ban, now since then she has decided to move to Canada, she is currently applying for the IEC program, and so far everything we are reading is saying that if she has anything involving a drink driving fine/charge that it's pretty much impossible for her to move here. I am here in hopes that some of you can give me some more info on this, and the rules around it...is it as bad as all the other forums are saying? are we screwed?, or is there still hope lol, and if there is what is it. we are both pretty new to all of this, so literally any info big or small will be a huge help, not to mention it will be GREATLY appreciated. thank you in advance!

I believe that she is probably inadmissible to Canada now. She will have to declare this conviction or face misrepresentation charges. It will then be up to those processing the IEC application to equate this to a Canadian offence and make that assessment. In Canada however, beginner drivers, and all drivers under the age of 21, must have a blood-alcohol level of zero. Therefore, it doesn't look good.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

my girlfriend who currently lives in Ireland was charged for drink driving last year, she was .2 over the learner's permit limit

What was her actual BAC?

 

[Zanz]

What was her actual BAC?

her BAC level was 82 on a learners permit.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

her BAC level was 82 on a learners permit.

As she was above .08, she is criminally inadmissible to Canada.

 

[Zanz]

I believe that she is probably inadmissible to Canada now. She will have to declare this conviction or face misrepresentation charges. It will then be up to those processing the IEC application to equate this to a Canadian offence and make that assessment. In Canada however, beginner drivers, and all drivers under the age of 21, must have a blood-alcohol level of zero. Therefore, it doesn't look good.

she did declare the charges on the application, she is just waiting for her police cert then she will submit the application with all info included...so is there any way to speed things along, we read that after five years she can apply for some rehabilitation thing, but we don't want to wait 5 more years...our alt plan if her coming to Canada falls through is we both try moving to a different country (for the five years) be it the states, or somewhere else, then we try to come back to canada afterwards....but as I said in the original post I know next to nothing about all of this, so if there is a way for her to get to Canada that doesn't take 5 years that would be amazing!

 

[zardoz]

she did declare the charges on the application, she is just waiting for her police cert then she will submit the application with all info included...so is there any way to speed things along, we read that after five years she can apply for some rehabilitation thing, but we don't want to wait 5 more years...our alt plan if her coming to Canada falls through is we both try moving to a different country (for the five years) be it the states, or somewhere else, then we try to come back to canada afterwards....but as I said in the original post I know next to nothing about all of this, so if there is a way for her to get to Canada that doesn't take 5 years that would be amazing!

I suspect that Canada is off the table for now... It's probably not even worth applying for the IEC, or anything else.

In the case of hybrid offences such as DUI, the offence is treated as indictable for immigration purposes. See http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/inadmissibility/rehabilitation.asp

You may be deemed rehabilitated, depending on:

the crime you committed
how serious the crime was and how much time has passed since you completed the sentence imposed for your crime:
10 years for one indictable offence
five years for two or more summary convictions
whether you have committed one or more crimes and
if the crime would be punishable in Canada by a maximum prison term of less than 10 years.

See http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/inadmissibility/conviction.asp#a2 for individual rehabilitation, but it's a minimum wait of at least 5 years before you can even apply and the processing could add another year. At the end of the process, you may still be refused.

 

[Zanz]

I suspect that Canada is off the table for now... It's probably not even worth applying for the IEC, or anything else.

In the case of hybrid offences such as DUI, the offence is treated as indictable for immigration purposes. See for individual rehabilitation, but it's a minimum wait of at least 5 years before you can even apply and the processing could add another year. At the end of the process, you may still be refused.

yeah we are kind of thought that was the only option left...looks like we might just pick a different country that isn't so strict with such things that we can both move to

 

[Cdnpr2017]

Was she convicted?

 

[Zanz]

Was she convicted?

she wasn't convicted, it's not on her police cert/record, but it did happen, which she has to inform them about right?

 

[zardoz]

she wasn't convicted, it's not on her police cert/record, but it did happen, which she has to inform them about right?

Yes. You said "she was fined 200 euro, and got a 3 month road ban". That's a conviction for these purposes.

 

[Cdnpr2017]

she wasn't convicted, it's not on her police cert/record, but it did happen, which she has to inform them about right?

I would contact an immigration lawyer. I have a dui and I wasnt convicted. However, I did a 1 year probation period. I contacted several Canadian immigration lawyers and I am admissible to Canada. I have been almost 100 times since completing my probation. Also, I got a legal opinion letter explaining why I am admissible. Did she do any type of probation or anything?

 

[Zanz]

I would contact an immigration lawyer. I have a dui and I wasnt convicted. However, I did a 1 year probation period. I contacted several Canadian immigration lawyers and I am admissible to Canada. I have been almost 100 times since completing my probation. Also, I got a legal opinion letter explaining why I am admissible. Did she do any type of probation or anything?

so if she wasn't admissible to Canada then she wouldn't even be able to visit?? because if that's the case then she is admissible as she came here for two weeks at new years, I figured the inadmissible thing was only for moving

 

[Cdnpr2017]

so if she wasn't admissible to Canada then she wouldn't even be able to visit?? because if that's the case then she is admissible as she came here for two weeks at new years, I figured the inadmissible thing was only for moving

I think admissibility is the same for all areas of immigration, including visiting. I would talk to a lawyer. They may not have picked it up. I am admissible because my deferred adjudication is Sinclair to a Canadian conditional discharge / pardon.

 

[Zanz]

so if she wasn't admissible to Canada then she wouldn't even be able to visit?? because if that's the case then she is admissible as she came here for two weeks at new years, I figured the inadmissible thing was only for moving

when she came to visit she had to do an ETA, which she was accepted for almost instantly, so if she was able to visit with no problem at all, does that have to do anything with her moving here