Even if you don’t intend to stay in Canada, you could still run into issues when travelling because of criminal inadmissibility.
Foreign nationals who have been detained or found guilty of a crime may be deemed criminally inadmissible in Canada. Being criminally inadmissible might cause issues for tourists, even if they are merely passing through Canada and do not intend to stay there.
It is frequently necessary for passengers going through Canada on a connecting flight to go through Canadian customs. There is no distinction between entering Canada to remain and entering Canada to travel through to another nation in the view of the Canadian border guards.
Therefore, whether or not you want to stay in Canada, having a criminal bar to entry can be difficult.
How to get around being ineligible to enter Canada for the purpose of transit Fortunately, if you plan ahead for your trip, there are alternatives available to you.
In order to overcome criminal inadmissibility while traveling through Canada, there are three basic options:
- Apply for a Temporary Resident Permit.
- Apply for a temporary resident permit by submitting a criminal rehabilitation application,
- A legal opinion letter or both.
A Temporary Resident Permit (TRP), which provides temporary entrance to Canada for a set length of time, is an alternative for someone who is deemed criminally ineligible.
A TRP is utilized when a visitor has a legitimate cause for entering Canada and their advantages surpass any potential threats to Canadian society.
Based on the entrance reason, a TRP application may be approved for a period of up to three years. It is not necessary to serve a felony term in order to apply for a TRP.
Application for Criminal Rehabilitation
For the goal of entering Canada, the Canadian government provides the option to submit a criminal rehabilitation application, which will completely erase your prior criminal record. The application for criminal rehabilitation is a one-time fix that doesn’t need to be renewed.
Once criminal rehabilitation has been approved, a person is no longer prohibited from entering.
You must satisfy the following prerequisites in order to be eligible for criminal rehabilitation:
- must have committed an offence outside of Canada that would qualify as a criminal offence under Canadian law,
- should have been found guilty of the offence or have admitted to doing it, and must have
- The punishment must have been served for a period of five years. This also means financial penalties, prison time, volunteer work, or probation.
The first important prerequisite is to identify and comprehend the Canadian equivalent offence. According to the Criminal Code of Canada, the type and seriousness of the infraction are crucial because Canadian immigration officials classify offences according to their seriousness versus non-serious criminality.
Letter of Legal Opinion
Along with a legal interpretation of your situation and how it fits into the framework of Canadian law, the legal opinion letter will clarify the repercussions of a conviction for the purposes of Canadian immigration. Although the letter cannot remove criminal barring, it can provide justification for your first admission.
A TRP application or a criminal rehabilitation application may be presented with the letter. You may also submit it if you have already been found guilty of a crime but the case is still being prosecuted.
