Visiting Canada with a Weapon or Criminal Record

Have you ever wanted to visit Canada?  Have you considered taking a vacation to Whistler, British Columbia to snowboard the Canadian Rocky Mountains?  Visiting Canada’s national capital to see the Parliament buildings in Ottawa, Ontario?  Hopes of enjoying the world’s largest winter carnival in Québec City, Québec?  Here are some tips that were developed from answering the most common questions American citizens with adult criminal convictions have about visiting Canada.

Tip #1:

Unless the purpose of your trip requires bringing a gun into Canada, it is best to leave it at home.  As firearms and weapons are restricted in Canada, you must declare everything in your possession to a Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) officer at the port of entry into Canada.

However, if the purpose of your trip requires bringing a gun into Canada, visit the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) website or call 1-800-731-4000, to gather all of the required information, paperwork and permits before you attempt to cross the border.  Remember, possession of unlicensed and unregistered firearms in Canada is a very serious offense.

Tip #2:

While the ultimate decision to be allowed into Canada resides with the CBSA officer you encounter at the port of entry, there are many reasons why you will not be allowed into the country.  The most common reasons for being deemed inadmissible to enter Canada include:

• being convicted of a crime or having committed an act outside Canada that would be a crime if committed there, having ties to organized crime or being a security risk;
• having serious health or financial problems;
• being denied a temporary visitor visa, rehabilitation or a record suspension by the government; and
• lying in your application or to questions asked of you.

Tip #3:

Depending on what you were convicted of and when you completed all conditions of the sentence, (fines, court costs, restitution, probation, drug/alcohol programs, incarceration, etc.), there are four potential avenues to be deemed criminally admissible to Canada:

• obtaining a temporary resident permit or visitor visa;
• being deemed rehabilitated by a CBSA officer at the port of entry;
• applying and receiving individual rehabilitation; and
• obtaining a criminal record suspension.

Tip #4:

Any conviction that is equivalent to a crime found in the Criminal Code of Canada or the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, such as a DUI can make you inadmissible to Canada.   A two year old DUI conviction will require you to apply and obtain a temporary resident permit (also known as a visitor visa) from the Government of Canada to be admissible to enter the country.

Tip #5:

If you were convicted of a criminal offense and it has been less than five years since the end of your sentence, you may be eligible to apply for a temporary resident permit.

If you are a US citizen, you will need to submit an application, pay a non-refundable $200 CAD processing fee, and have a valid reason to come to Canada (business trip, vacation, visit family or friends, etc.), in order to have your request considered.  If you have served no jail time and have committed no other acts that would prevent you from entering Canada, you may be eligible for a one-time permit at no cost. 

There is no guarantee that a permit will be issued and you will want to remember that if the permit is issued, it will expire when you leave the country and can be revoked at any time during your stay.

While you can apply for a temporary resident permit online, it is recommended that you consult a Canadian immigration attorney familiar with this type of paperwork or speak to the Canadian Visa Office in Los Angeles or New York to avoid administrative delays and errors.

Tip #6:

If you were convicted of a single offense, at least five years have passed since the end of your sentence (fines, court costs, restitution, probation, drug/alcohol programs, incarceration, etc.), and you have maintained being a law-abiding citizen, you should consider getting assessed for rehabilitation.

Tip #7:

If you live in the US, you have the ability to attend any Canadian port of entry and request a CBSA officer assess you for deemed rehabilitation.  In order to be eligible for an assessment, you can only have been charged and convicted of one crime and depending on the seriousness of the crime, the required amount of time has passed since you completed all conditions of your sentence (fines, court costs, restitution, probation, drug/alcohol programs, incarceration, etc.).  This type of rehabilitation generally requires more time to have passed than individual rehabilitation, but it is the much faster route if you’re under time constraints.

You will need to bring several completed forms and mandatory documents with you to support an assessment, so you may want to consult a Canadian immigration attorney familiar with this type of paperwork to avoid administrative delays and errors at the border

Tip #8:

If less than five years has passed but there is an urgent need to come to Canada and a temporary resident permit cannot be issued in time, you can fill out the required forms and check the “For Information Only” box.  This will provide you with the opportunity for a CBSA officer to decide if you can get special permission to come to Canada temporarily.

You will need to submit several forms and documents with you to support an assessment; you may also want to consult a Canadian immigration attorney familiar with this type of paperwork or speak to the Canadian Visa Office in Los Angeles or New York to avoid administrative delays and errors

Tip #9:

If you are not deemed rehabilitated by a Canada Border Services Agency officer at a Canadian port of entry, you will likely be denied entry into the country and will have to formally apply to the Government of Canada for individual rehabilitation.

Tip #10:

In the most general terms, you are eligible to apply to the Government of Canada for individual rehabilitation if you were not deemed rehabilitated or you have only been charged and convicted of one crime and at least five years has passed since you completed all conditions of your sentence (fines, court costs, restitution, drug/alcohol programs, incarceration, etc.).  This type of rehabilitation generally requires less time to have passed since sentence completion than deemed rehabilitation, but it is the much slower route as it can take over a year to have your application processed.

It is recommended that you consult a Canadian immigration attorney familiar with this type of paperwork or speak to the Canadian Visa Office in Los Angeles or New York to avoid administrative delays and errors.

Tip #11:

If you were convicted of a criminal offense in Canada in the past, as long as you do not have a criminal record from another country, you can apply for a criminal record suspension (formerly known as a pardon) from the Parole Board of Canada, to address your inadmissibility to enter Canada.

Tip #12:

If you were convicted of a criminal offense in Canada and the US, before you can fix your inadmissibility from your American criminal record, you need to resolve your Canadian criminal record first.  Therefore, you must first apply for a criminal record suspension from the Parole Board of Canada.

If you received a record suspension or a discharge for your conviction in another country, check with the Canadian Visa Office in Los Angeles or New York to confirm if the pardon is valid in Canada.  Once you receive a criminal record suspension or confirmation from the visa office of your record suspension or a discharge from the US, then you can consider applying for deemed or individual rehabilitation.

Before pleading guilty to a criminal charge in Spotsylvania or surrounding counties that could make you inadmissible to enter Canada in the future, contact Susan F. Fremit now for a free consultation.