Parents want to sponsor me but I have a minor criminal offense, help!

[CTTDude]

How did your parents become citizens? Presumably they immigrated to Canada? When? After you were born?

Yes they are U.S citizens as well and came here for work reasons and were naturalized and became Canadian Citizens.

They moved to Canada when I was age 20, so about 13 years ago.

 

[CTTDude]

To determine whether you are admissible to Canada or not - it doesn't matter what your sentence was - it matters what the maximum sentence for your offence could be. That's how it's evaluated. If you are currently inadmissible - it will be a year before you can apply for rehabilitation and there's no point in applying for anything until then.

Alright so the max sentence in the U.S is 5 years and/or $250,000. My obligations to the sentence were completed 4 years ago. According to CIC they say it takes 5 years for you to be rehabilitated, correct? So I would have another year to go before I can apply?

 

[scylla]

Yes they are U.S citizens as well and came here for work reasons and were naturalized and became Canadian Citizens.

They moved to Canada when I was age 20, so about 13 years ago.

That makes sense. I was curious if you could by any chance claim citizenship by descent - but you can't.

So yes - you need to look into immigrating independently through one of Canada's economic streams like skilled worker. Be aware that it's possible your medical situation may create challenges. If it's determined your condition will place preasures on Canada's health care or social care systems (i.e. eat up more than $6,500 in resources a year), it's quite possible you may be refused on health grounds.

 

[scylla]

Alright so the max sentence in the U.S is 5 years and/or $250,000. My obligations to the sentence were completed 4 years ago. According to CIC they say it takes 5 years for you to be rehabilitated, correct? So I would have another year to go before I can apply?

It takes five years before you can APPLY for rehabilitation (it's not automatic). So yes, you have another year to wait before you can apply for rehab.

 

[CTTDude]

That makes sense. I was curious if you could by any chance claim citizenship by descent - but you can't.

So yes - you need to look into immigrating independently through one of Canada's economic streams like skilled worker. Be aware that it's possible your medical situation may create challenges. If it's determined your condition will place preasures on Canada's health care or social care systems (i.e. eat up more than $6,500 in resources a year), it's quite possible you may be refused on health grounds.

I am very skilled with IT/Computer work and the type of jobs I would apply for can be done remotely.

Thanks a lot for helping me out, also to everyone else that replied!

Looks like I will have to wait another year and apply for rehabilitation and hope that there are jobs I can perform in my respective field.

 

[scylla]

I would recommend that you start researching Canada's economic immigration programs now so that you understand what it takes to qualify. Your first step will be to apply for rehabilitation - once that's done you'll have to apply for PR. This will allow you to see what work experience is accepted and what you'll need to provide to prove that work experience. There are also things you'll need to do in order to qualify to apply for PR (like get your education officially assessed and take a language test) - it would be good to familiarize yourself with the entire process now. This research will also allow you to see what it takes to be selected (just because you qualify to apply doesn't necessarily mean you'll actually be chosen).

 

[CTTDude]

I would recommend that you start researching Canada's economic immigration programs now so that you understand what it takes to qualify. Your first step will be to apply for rehabilitation - once that's done you'll have to apply for PR. This will allow you to see what work experience is accepted and what you'll need to provide to prove that work experience. There are also things you'll need to do in order to qualify to apply for PR (like get your education officially assessed and take a language test) - it would be good to familiarize yourself with the entire process now. This research will also allow you to see what it takes to be selected (just because you qualify to apply doesn't necessarily mean you'll actually be chosen).

I will do this for sure, thank you for your advice. May I ask if you have a law background or have you spent a lot of time personally researching the immigration laws? Just out of curiosity. Thanks again for your help!

 

[scylla]

I will do this for sure, thank you for your advice. May I ask if you have a law background or have you spent a lot of time personally researching the immigration laws? Just out of curiosity. Thanks again for your help!

I sponsored my husband for PR five years ago and I do way too much reading. That's pretty much it.

 

[CTTDude]

I sponsored my husband for PR five years ago and I do way too much reading. That's pretty much it.

Great! You seem like a great asset to these forums.

 

[Aquakitty]

A month in prison for copyright infringement? Wow. You must have been ripping a lot of movies.

But, if you have a degree in IT or similar, and can get a job offer through your parents, that would make immigrating as a skilled worker quite feasible.


http://www.cic.gc.ca/ctc-vac/ee-start.asp

If you don't have a formal education, you could consider applying for a study visa. This is quite expensive however, and you'd still need criminal rehabilitation, but it's worth looking into as it would get you into Canada with your parents. You could even attend school remotely. For instance, Athabasca University is a designated learning institution and they are 100% online. They offer a Computing and Information Systems BSC.

 

[CTTDude]

A month in prison for copyright infringement? Wow. You must have been ripping a lot of movies.

But, if you have a degree in IT or similar, and can get a job offer through your parents, that would make immigrating as a skilled worker quite feasible.


cic.gc.ca/ctc-vac/ee-start.asp

If you don't have a formal education, you could consider applying for a study visa. This is quite expensive however, and you'd still need criminal rehabilitation, but it's worth looking into as it would get you into Canada with your parents. You could even attend school remotely. For instance, Athabasca University is a designated learning institution and they are 100% online. They offer a Computing and Information Systems BSC.

Yeah, copyright infringement is a big issue these days and I got in trouble right as they were ramping up prosecutions to make examples out of people. I paid my price though and I'm ready to move on.

I have a degree in Computer Science and minor in Business Management. I've worked IT jobs all my life.

From what I learned on this thread I can apply after 5 years on the day my case ended and it seems like I will have to wait another year to even apply for rehabilitation.

For now all I can do is endless reading and research and bookmarking of all the information I find so that I can hopefully use it to help myself when the time comes.

 

[Rob_TO]

I have a degree in Computer Science and minor in Business Management. I've worked IT jobs all my life.

From what I learned on this thread I can apply after 5 years on the day my case ended and it seems like I will have to wait another year to even apply for rehabilitation.

From what I understand, you can apply for rehabilitation 5 years after your sentence was completed.

Another option you can consider is to move to Canada on a NAFTA work permit. Your degree/experience must match one of the jobs listed in the NAFTA list (section 3.8 ): http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/tools/temp/work/international/nafta.asp
The only one that may match your education/experience is "Computer Systems Analyst"

For this you would first need a job offer in Canada, then could arrange for your work permit at the border.

 

[bartjones]

I would suggest consulting an experienced immigration lawyer. You may not be inadmissible at all because there are significant differences between foreign and Canadian copyright law and it is the Canadian statute that will determine whether you are inadmissible. It may well be that your conviction has no serious equivalent under Canadian law. In addition, you should be aware that the 5 year period to apply for rehab runs from the completion of your sentence, which includes the completion of your time in jail, the payment of any fine and the completion of any period of probation. Good luck to you.