Inadmissibility/Rehabilitation 5 Year Requirement

[justfromerica]

Hi there,

I've posted here before, just had a question regarding Rehabilitation.

I misread my wife's court documents, where I thought it had said she had completed everything in August 2010, which would make it over 5 years. However, that was just for her court-appointed AA/mandatory drug testing which she completed for her DUI. Her actual probation ended on August 2, 2011. It was 18 months.

Obviously that means we can't send off her Rehabilitation until next year, but could we send off her PR application, and then send off her Rehabilitation when the time comes? I know that probably makes zero sense, but we're both so frustrated and miserable where we live that I'm just exploring every possible option that will get us back to Canada.

Under the required documents for the Rehabilitation online, it says “if you are applying for inside Canada, OR if you are applying for outside Canada…” and also on the CIC website it says “You can use this application if you are inside or outside Canada. Contact a Citizenship and Immigration Centre in Canada or a Canadian embassy, high commission or consulate outside Canada.”

Does this mean you can do Rehabilitation as an Inland Application? I know Inland applications take longer, so I'm sure it would be wise to do it from the US...

To clarify, she has entered Canada without issue on 2 separate occasions.

Otherwise, we will just have to wait, and send off both applications concurrently from the US when the time comes.

I am a Canadian-born citizen living in the US with my American wife. I currently have my PR down here. We were going to do an Outland application.

 

[scylla]

As of now your wife is inadmissible to Canada - meaning she can't enter Canada until the rehabilitation application has been processed and approved. In order to do an inland application, she would need to be inside Canada. The only way she can enter Canada legally as of now is through obtaining a TRP (temporary resident permit). This is not the same thing as a TRV - which is a regular tourist visa. I'm not sure how a TRP + inland application would work (and that's assuming she can get a TRP). A TRP is a very special kind of permit and once it ends, I'm not sure she would be allowed to remain in Canada even if she had an inland application in progress.

To the best of my knowledge you must either apply for rehabilitation ahead of PR or together with PR.

 

[justfromerica]

She has been to Canada twice though, once with me, and once when she came to meet me. She didn't apply for anything or have any issue with customs. She was charged as a juvenile offender, though. So her record is sort of expunged, maybe they couldn't see it? But she was 18 when she got it, thus why we have to do rehabilitation.

 

[justfromerica]

That's the part I don't understand fully, because she has been to Canada to visit, she was there for 3 months the first time. We just went up there back in March.

If she was inadmissible, wouldn't they have rejected her? Could this mean she's really not inadmissible?

 

[Ponga]

That's the part I don't understand fully, because she has been to Canada to visit, she was there for 3 months the first time. We just went up there back in March.

If she was inadmissible, wouldn't they have rejected her? Could this mean she's really not inadmissible?

Not necessarily, unless her record really was expunged. It likely means that CBSA was not aware of this, since not everyone is screened (thoroughly) at the border. You'd think they were, but it seems like those that are called into Secondary Inspection are the ones that they run checks on.

 

[scylla]

They couldn't see it and I assume they didn't ask her. Technically she is inadmissible and not allowed to enter Canada.

 

[Aquakitty]

That's the part I don't understand fully, because she has been to Canada to visit, she was there for 3 months the first time. We just went up there back in March.

If she was inadmissible, wouldn't they have rejected her? Could this mean she's really not inadmissible?

The fact of the matter is, lots of people who technically shouldn't be allowed into Canada do get in. It just depends if the CBSA officer was suspicious enough to send her inside. Sometimes they ask questions like "Have you ever been fingerprinted?" which can hold up a lot of people.

If they sent her inside for a check and she got through that, then I'd have some reason to believe her record is clean.

 

[justfromerica]

They never asked her about anything to do with her DUI either time. Both times were via air. The first time she was travelling alone as well, with no return ticket booked because we didn't know when she'd be going back, turns out we just went back together. They asked her when she would be coming back to the US, suspicious of that, but then they looked at our interactions and called my phone to confirm I was waiting to pick her up, and that she wasn't just trying to come to Canada alone and live there illegally or something. Nothing of her DUI, though. Does that mean they screened her thoroughly?


She was 18 when she got the DUI, but she took a deal to get plead as a "Youthful Offender" which is basically like expungement in the state of Alabama, but there is technically not expungement laws here. But employers etc cannot see it.

I'm just really confused. I guess waiting is the best option. We have the financial means to live in Canada even off one income for a while, which is why I thought if that's an option, I'd be considering it...

 

[justfromerica]

If we requested a background check from the FBI just for curiosity reasons to see if her record shows up as clean or not, would that be allowed? Or do the records come back sealed strictly for the CIC?

 

[scylla]

If we requested a background check from the FBI just for curiosity reasons to see if her record shows up as clean or not, would that be allowed? Or do the records come back sealed strictly for the CIC?

Sure - you can request the FBI certs. But you'll still have to admit to the DUI in the PR application and deal with the rehab. Remember that CIC runs background and security checks on everyone in additional to you proving police certs. The DUI will certainly come up at some point. And if your wife hasn't mentioned it in her application, she may very well end up with a 5 year ban from Canada for misrepresentation.

 

[justfromerica]

No for sure, I don't ever want to misrepresent anything. I did the US immigration process all on my own, so I have confidence I can complete everything thoroughly and accurately without issue. I know waiting until next August is our only option, I'm just so tired of waiting, we both hate living in the US. It's hard to keep the moral up when all you keep encountering is obstacles.

After we send off the applications, would I be allowed to enter Canada to visit friends and family while it is being processed? Or not a good idea?

 

[mpottier]

It sounds to me, that they put it as a youth offender. If this is the case the CBSA cannot see it, hence why they didn't stop her at the border (although sometimes they just don't check. Does her record show up on a basic state record check or FBI check? If both are clean and clear, then you should be good to go. If you apply for PR and both of your spouses criminal record checks are clear, then you should be ok. Just make you sure you get all those record checks.