Visitor Visa with Criminal Record in US

[Tarus123]

Hi,

I am citizen of a China and have been in US for the last 11 years (since age 18) on student visa. In 2009 when I was 19 yrs old, I was arrested-fingerprinted and then released for Underage drinking. I went to the court and my charges were dropped from underage drinking to loitering/prowling. This arrest record does show up on my FBI clearance form.

I recently got married to a Canadian citizen. However, because of the field of my education, I am not planning to migrate to Canada for the next 15 yrs. I would however like to settle in Canada around 15 years from now.

I have two questions:

1. What would be a good time for me to apply for PR (spousal sponsorship). A few friends are telling me to get PR now as it will be hard to prove to Canadian government that why did I not come to Canada earlier, when I got married (the longer I wait the harder it will be). The counter argument is that if I apply for PR now, I will not be able to fulfill the 2-year requirement in Canada, and it will be hard/impossible to renew my PR.

2. Since my wife has family in Canada and I am not yet sure about when to apply for PR, I was thinking I can get a visitor visa to visit family in Canada. Now when I was filling the visitor visa application online, I came across this question:
"Have you ever committed, been arrested for, been charged with, or convicted of any criminal offence in any country?".
I am not sure my underage drinking or loitering/prowling is considered "criminal". Second if I do say yes, would this be a ground for denying my visitor visa.

3. If my visitor visa gets denied, will it have any impact on my PR application in future?


Thank you in advance to everyone!

 

[zardoz]

Hi,

I am citizen of a China and have been in US for the last 11 years (since age 18) on student visa. In 2009 when I was 19 yrs old, I was arrested-fingerprinted and then released for Underage drinking. I went to the court and my charges were dropped from underage drinking to loitering/prowling. This arrest record does show up on my FBI clearance form.

I recently got married to a Canadian citizen. However, because of the field of my education, I am not planning to migrate to Canada for the next 15 yrs. I would however like to settle in Canada around 15 years from now.

I have two questions:

1. What would be a good time for me to apply for PR (spousal sponsorship). A few friends are telling me to get PR now as it will be hard to prove to Canadian government that why did I not come to Canada earlier, when I got married (the longer I wait the harder it will be). The counter argument is that if I apply for PR now, I will not be able to fulfill the 2-year requirement in Canada, and it will be hard/impossible to renew my PR.

2. Since my wife has family in Canada and I am not yet sure about when to apply for PR, I was thinking I can get a visitor visa to visit family in Canada. Now when I was filling the visitor visa application online, I came across this question:
"Have you ever committed, been arrested for, been charged with, or convicted of any criminal offence in any country?".
I am not sure my underage drinking or loitering/prowling is considered "criminal". Second if I do say yes, would this be a ground for denying my visitor visa.

3. If my visitor visa gets denied, will it have any impact on my PR application in future?


Thank you in advance to everyone!

If you have no intention of actually settling in Canada for the next 15 years, it's pointless applying for PR at this point in time. A prerequisite for spousal sponsorship is that the sponsor is either already resident in Canada or provably intends to quickly return to Canada permanently once PR is granted. Neither of those appear to fit your circumstances. Your "friends'" arguments are completely without merit.

 

[Tarus123]

If you have no intention of actually settling in Canada for the next 15 years, it's pointless applying for PR at this point in time. A prerequisite for spousal sponsorship is that the sponsor is either already resident in Canada or provably intends to quickly return to Canada permanently once PR is granted. Neither of those appear to fit your circumstances. Your "friends'" arguments are completely without merit.

Thank you zardoz for replying. I really appreciate your honest response.
Yes when I apply for PR, both my wife and I do intend to move to Canada and settle there.
Will there be an questioning in regards to why I didn't come to Canada earlier, OR will going there 15 yrs after marriage decrease the probability of me getting PR through my spouse.

Also if possible could you please comment on me applying for Visitor Visa now with a questionable criminal h/x? as mentioned on the original post.

Any effect of Visitor Visa rejection on future PR.

Thank you again for you time and help!

 

[zardoz]

Thank you zardoz for replying. I really appreciate your honest response.
Yes when I apply for PR, both my wife and I do intend to move to Canada and settle there.
Will there be an questioning in regards to why I didn't come to Canada earlier, OR will going there 15 yrs after marriage decrease the probability of me getting PR through my spouse.

Also if possible could you please comment on me applying for Visitor Visa now with a questionable criminal h/x? as mentioned on the original post.

Any effect of Visitor Visa rejection on future PR.

Thank you again for you time and help!

No, they won't care why you delayed. I didn't apply for PR for over 8 years after I married my Canadian citizen wife. It was a non-issue.
While you must declare your criminal record, I doubt that it will block a TRV application...

 

[Tarus123]

No, they won't care why you delayed. I didn't apply for PR for over 8 years after I married my Canadian citizen wife. It was a non-issue.
While you must declare your criminal record, I doubt that it will block a TRV application...

Thank you Zardoz for answering my questions. One last question I had was that is either underage drinking (age 19) or loitering/prowling considered criminally inadmissible to Canada, and if so do u know for how long?
Also would you recommend me writing a letter of explanation when applying for my Canadian TRV?

If my TRV application gets rejected for this "criminal" reason, would this rejection have any negative effect on my PR application in future?

 

[zardoz]

Thank you Zardoz for answering my questions. One last question I had was that is either underage drinking (age 19) or loitering/prowling considered criminally inadmissible to Canada, and if so do u know for how long?
Also would you recommend me writing a letter of explanation when applying for my Canadian TRV?

If my TRV application gets rejected for this "criminal" reason, would this rejection have any negative effect on my PR application in future?

I don't think that it's likely to render you inadmissible but the ONLY way to make sure is to apply... It's up to IRCC to make that decision.