FloridaNative said:
August- Drove to Buffalo to reinstate Visitor Visa. Was told, I am inadmissible due to conviction from 13 years ago. The officer told me I will receive a letter from Buffalo stating inadmissibility. After payiing $300 he issued me a Temp. Resident Permit. We order CAIPS notes after returning home to see what was stated in my file.
September- Received first correspondence from Buffalo after 9 months. State they needed FBI records, and Florida state clearance. and all court documents from convictions. Since we had already mailed FBI back in to Mississauga we sent the the copy of original, attached to cover letter we mailed with Original FBI report.We also sent court docs and Florida state clearance. We mailed all these documents the same day, we received email request.
Hi FloridaNative, just in case you haven't seen these sections of the website I wanted to point them out to you.
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit/conviction.asp
and
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/guides/3999Etoc.asp#table_1
I did a quick search as well, and it doesn't appear that drunk driving is punishable by more than 10 yrs in prison here in Canada (or I should say, in the various provinces). That seems to be the magic number for rehabilitation - if your crime
could be punished by 10 yrs or more in prison then you must apply for rehabilitation no earlier than 5 yrs after the end of your imposed sentence. If it
could be punished by less than 10 yrs in prison then you are generally deemed rehabilitated (i.e. you do not have to file any paperwork) 10 yrs after the end of your imposed sentence (i.e. not the date you were convicted, but if you received say a 2 yr probationary period, then at the end of those 2 yrs the 10 yr clock would start). You may apply for rehabilitation in that case after 5 yrs instead of waiting for the full 10 yr period to pass.
I get the impression that CIC really frowns upon drunk driving, which is kind of a funny thing to single out when there are so many other crimes that should also give them pause (for example, why isn't child abuse mentioned specifically as a big no-no?) before admitting someone as a permanent resident. That said, I do not see any language that says you can't be rehabilitated and thus admissible as a permanent resident. I also would assume that if it was your first and only offense then your sentence was either a year or so of probation, mandatory alcohol education and lots of fines (at least, that's what it generally was when I worked in prosecution in MA). So if you committed the crime 13 yrs ago I would assume that by now you could be deemed rehabilitated. It's probably just down to Buffalo being a major screw-up and taking its sweet time getting around to really taking a hard look at your file.
I personally would consider finding a lawyer that specializes in immigration law in Canada, and paying him/her to write a letter to Buffalo explaining clearly and concisely what happened, and why you are not inadmissible to Canada now (based on the above type information). It may seem like a pain to pay the money now, but having it laid out clearly in front of them in a letter from a lawyer may be the difference between the visa officer in Buffalo finalizing your file and issuing PPR, and your file dragging on for months longer as they try to do the analysis of the situation themselves. Plus the fact that the letter is coming from a lawyer shows that you are aware of your rights and would likely be willing to challenge a denial of PR. Just my two cents on the matter though.
