Please share your experience about Criminal Rehabilitation application in 2017

[scylla]

Hi folks. Longtime lurker; finally made an account to chime in. I've found this forum useful so I thought others may also benefit from reading about our experience. I'm Canadian and my husband is American, we've been married almost 2 years and the entirety of our relationship has required me to travel to the US to visit him since he can't cross the border. We would very much like to live in Canada but he will need to be granted rehabilitation first.

Hubby has 3 convictions on his record: 1 DUI and 1 shoplifting charge both from the same evening in 2012, then another in 2013 for driving with a suspended licence from the aforementioned DUI.

Before he was eligible for rehabilitation (5 years hadn't passed), he applied for a TRP hoping to visit my family in Ontario. It was denied after 5 months of processing. That was a hard blow. We then submitted an Access to Information request to learn why it was denied, which took another 2 months to come back. The officer basically said that there was no compelling reason that my husband needed to visit Canada, such as a family emergency, so we had to wait and go through the rehab process.

He finally became eligible for rehabilitation last summer and submitted his application to the NY office in August 2019 with the help of a lawyer. Our case is "fingerscrossed" on this helpful tracker that I found on this forum.

Anyway it's been 5 months and we haven't heard anything yet, but we are hopeful that immigration will see that he's grown up and turned his life around.

This whole experience has been a roller coaster. At times it's been disheartening, even devastating. It's been an exercise in patience. I don't know anyone else IRL who has gone through this process so I'm glad you folks are here. Good luck to all of you.

How close do you live at the border? Based on experiences here, rehab applications are processed significantly faster if you drive to the border and submit an application there. Hard to say if that's worth doing at this point and I don't know what would happen if you submitted a second application in addition to the first (maybe someone else will comment on that). Good luck.

EDIT: To clarify, your husband would be the one to go to the border to submit the application.

 

[kkhopeful]

How close do you live at the border? Based on experiences here, rehab applications are processed significantly faster if you drive to the border and submit an application there. Hard to say if that's worth doing at this point and I don't know what would happen if you submitted a second application in addition to the first (maybe someone else will comment on that). Good luck.

EDIT: To clarify, your husband would be the one to go to the border to submit the application.

Hey, thanks for the suggestion. He's not close to the border but we would be willing to do anything to speed things up lol. My understanding is that rehab applications can't be submitted in person at the border (at least, not any more). If you only have one conviction and it is over 10 years old, I believe they have the power to grant you "deemed rehabilitated" at the border but he would not qualify for that. The Canadian Immigration website seems pretty clear on mailing CR apps to the NYC office - unless you see something I'm not seeing?

 

[scylla]

Hey, thanks for the suggestion. He's not close to the border but we would be willing to do anything to speed things up lol. My understanding is that rehab applications can't be submitted in person at the border (at least, not any more). If you only have one conviction and it is over 10 years old, I believe they have the power to grant you "deemed rehabilitated" at the border but he would not qualify for that. The Canadian Immigration website seems pretty clear on mailing CR apps to the NYC office - unless you see something I'm not seeing?

You may be right - I'm not familiar with the details of the submissions at the border. I know we've had a few people here do them and if I remember correctly, their processing times were three months or less. Anyway - hopefully someone who did this will stop by to comment. Multiple convictions do generally complicate things unfortunately.

 

[takoda]

so iv been on the track to submit my criminal rehabitilition form to ny after discussing it with the consult the did say it would take 12 or more months ,
they told me as well as i read it on here to go to a main border crossing and an immigration officer will take it there as well as payment , iv called the border as well and they said yes and it will only take a few weeks, because there serious crimes , im still missing my fbi report , has anyone done this and did not have everything ?
i asked the immigration if i needed some more documents can we do email and mail and he said he doesent see why not , so i dont have to drive 7 hrs away

 

[takoda]

You may be right - I'm not familiar with the details of the submissions at the border. I know we've had a few people here do them and if I remember correctly, their processing times were three months or less. Anyway - hopefully someone who did this will stop by to comment. Multiple convictions do generally complicate things unfortunately.

i just talked to border and ny immigration and you can apply at any main border crossing that has immigration officers there , they dont have them at the smaller crossings

 

[mistakesmade]

Hi, everyone! I got my approval letter this morning, and I've been reading this site for a while, so I wanted to let everyone know what happened:

Date Applied: September 3rd, 2019
Date Application Acknowledged: September 23rd, 2019
Date Approved: February 13th, 2020.
VO: New York, USA

It took just over 5 months from start to finish, which wildly exceeded my expectations. I did email them to let them know my address had changed and requested a status update in December, but it was met with the standard reply of "we don't provide status updates until more than a year has passed".

I had 1 conviction: a DUI from 2011. I had finished all of my requirements in May 2012, so by the time I applied for rehab, it had been 7.5 years since all of the requirements were completed and 8.5 years since the crime. I had been intending to apply for criminal rehabilitation since the 5 year mark, but I procrastinated due to the PITA of getting all of the background checks, since I've lived in quite a few different places.

I didn't include any letters of reference in my application. I suppose I should have, but it didn't occur to me until after the fact. I did include photos of myself and my partner, and a job offer letter since one of the reasons I listed on my applications for wanting to come to Canada is the opportunity to attend conferences related to my profession.

Best of luck! If you're reading this post and considering applying for rehabilitation but procrastinating, just do it.

 

[carissa2019]

Hi, everyone! I got my approval letter this morning, and I've been reading this site for a while, so I wanted to let everyone know what happened:

Date Applied: September 3rd, 2019
Date Application Acknowledged: September 23rd, 2019
Date Approved: February 13th, 2020.
VO: New York, USA

It took just over 5 months from start to finish, which wildly exceeded my expectations. I did email them to let them know my address had changed and requested a status update in December, but it was met with the standard reply of "we don't provide status updates until more than a year has passed".

I had 1 conviction: a DUI from 2011. I had finished all of my requirements in May 2012, so by the time I applied for rehab, it had been 7.5 years since all of the requirements were completed and 8.5 years since the crime. I had been intending to apply for criminal rehabilitation since the 5 year mark, but I procrastinated due to the PITA of getting all of the background checks, since I've lived in quite a few different places.

I didn't include any letters of reference in my application. I suppose I should have, but it didn't occur to me until after the fact. I did include photos of myself and my partner, and a job offer letter since one of the reasons I listed on my applications for wanting to come to Canada is the opportunity to attend conferences related to my profession.

Best of luck! If you're reading this post and considering applying for rehabilitation but procrastinating, just do it.

Congratulations! That’s so exciting. I sent my application and received confirmation in August. My case is for “serious criminality” and I paid the additional $800 fee online in late November. I’m wondering if anyone knows if “serious criminality” applications take much longer to process or if they simply differ by case. The anxiety of waiting is so rough.

 

[mistakesmade]

Congratulations! That’s so exciting. I sent my application and received confirmation in August. My case is for “serious criminality” and I paid the additional $800 fee online in late November. I’m wondering if anyone knows if “serious criminality” applications take much longer to process or if they simply differ by case. The anxiety of waiting is so rough.

DUI cases are also considered "serious criminality" in Canada now. I expected it might take longer due to the classification. I'm not sure if certain types of cases are processed separately, though, or really anything about their process. It's a pretty recent change in the law for DUIs to be classified as serious criminality, so it did occur to me that it might have made my application easier to process.

I also paid the fee before submitting my application in September, so I wonder if the time of payment has anything to do with where you get put in the queue.

Hope you hear something soon! I've been having nightmares about getting rejected for the past few weeks, which seems silly, but I can definitely relate to how hard it is to wait.

 

[kkhopeful]

Hi, everyone! I got my approval letter this morning, and I've been reading this site for a while, so I wanted to let everyone know what happened:

Date Applied: September 3rd, 2019
Date Application Acknowledged: September 23rd, 2019
Date Approved: February 13th, 2020.
VO: New York, USA

It took just over 5 months from start to finish, which wildly exceeded my expectations. I did email them to let them know my address had changed and requested a status update in December, but it was met with the standard reply of "we don't provide status updates until more than a year has passed".

I had 1 conviction: a DUI from 2011. I had finished all of my requirements in May 2012, so by the time I applied for rehab, it had been 7.5 years since all of the requirements were completed and 8.5 years since the crime. I had been intending to apply for criminal rehabilitation since the 5 year mark, but I procrastinated due to the PITA of getting all of the background checks, since I've lived in quite a few different places.

I didn't include any letters of reference in my application. I suppose I should have, but it didn't occur to me until after the fact. I did include photos of myself and my partner, and a job offer letter since one of the reasons I listed on my applications for wanting to come to Canada is the opportunity to attend conferences related to my profession.

Best of luck! If you're reading this post and considering applying for rehabilitation but procrastinating, just do it.

WOW, only 5 months, that is fantastic. Congratulations! And thanks so much for updating us, it actually lifts my spirits significantly to see that two fellow applicants were both approved through the NY office recently. My husband applied in August to the same VO (although 3 offenses probably makes things difficult) so we hope that is a good sign for him too. Enjoy your time in Canada!

 

[carissa2019]

WOW, only 5 months, that is fantastic. Congratulations! And thanks so much for updating us, it actually lifts my spirits significantly to see that two fellow applicants were both approved through the NY office recently. My husband applied in August to the same VO (although 3 offenses probably makes things difficult) so we hope that is a good sign for him too. Enjoy your time in Canada!

I sent mine in mid August and I’m hoping to get an answer soon!!

 

[Criminalman]

Congratulations! That’s so exciting. I sent my application and received confirmation in August. My case is for “serious criminality” and I paid the additional $800 fee online in late November. I’m wondering if anyone knows if “serious criminality” applications take much longer to process or if they simply differ by case. The anxiety of waiting is so rough.

Mine was serious criminality and took approximately 9 months. Good luck. Shouldn't be much longer

 

[Jen1984]

Mine was serious criminality and took approximately 9 months. Good luck. Shouldn't be much longer

I’m in the same boat

 

[Jen1984]

Hi folks. Longtime lurker; finally made an account to chime in. I've found this forum useful so I thought others may also benefit from reading about our experience. I'm Canadian and my husband is American, we've been married almost 2 years and the entirety of our relationship has required me to travel to the US to visit him since he can't cross the border. We would very much like to live in Canada but he will need to be granted rehabilitation first.

Hubby has 3 convictions on his record: 1 DUI and 1 shoplifting charge both from the same evening in 2012, then another in 2013 for driving with a suspended licence from the aforementioned DUI.

Before he was eligible for rehabilitation (5 years hadn't passed), he applied for a TRP hoping to visit my family in Ontario. It was denied after 5 months of processing. That was a hard blow. We then submitted an Access to Information request to learn why it was denied, which took another 2 months to come back. The officer basically said that there was no compelling reason that my husband needed to visit Canada, such as a family emergency, so we had to wait and go through the rehab process.

He finally became eligible for rehabilitation last summer and submitted his application to the NY office in August 2019 with the help of a lawyer. Our case is "fingerscrossed" on this helpful tracker that I found on this forum.

Anyway it's been 5 months and we haven't heard anything yet, but we are hopeful that immigration will see that he's grown up and turned his life around.

This whole experience has been a roller coaster. At times it's been disheartening, even devastating. It's been an exercise in patience. I don't know anyone else IRL who has gone through this process so I'm glad you folks are here. Good luck to all of you.

same boat

 

[Jen1984]

so iv been on the track to submit my criminal rehabitilition form to ny after discussing it with the consult the did say it would take 12 or more months ,
they told me as well as i read it on here to go to a main border crossing and an immigration officer will take it there as well as payment , iv called the border as well and they said yes and it will only take a few weeks, because there serious crimes , im still missing my fbi report , has anyone done this and did not have everything ?
i asked the immigration if i needed some more documents can we do email and mail and he said he doesent see why not , so i dont have to drive 7 hrs away

well that’s strange. I cross the border every week and they just told me they can’t have anything in digital format given to them.

 

[Jen1984]

i just talked to border and ny immigration and you can apply at any main border crossing that has immigration officers there , they dont have them at the smaller crossings

yeah we’ve checked at my border crossing. Seems to be on seriousness I believe.