How can I regain my PR status

  

We do not know what were the circumstances of your arrest in Turkey. Your former residency is already done with. Generally, you can apply again through the normal route in a category that would apply to you (i.e., Skilled worker, etc.) but in the Background/Declaration form, you must indicate that you were convicted of a crime and has spent time under prison. I am not sure if your conviction was for a criminal offence or civil offense. With that declaration, it will complicate your application, and seeing how Canada is sensitive about former convicts, it's either you will have a long wait, or worse, your case can be refused (I'm just saying this, as the immigration officer has the last say on an application). 

Hi nureya - seems like no one has answered your question, even at the other thread. It seems that nobody is sure how to answer that question yet, because it is a legal matter. I hope somebody here can answer that question soon.

I am no expert, but I will try to answer your question the best that I can. I am open for being corrected.

In the port of entry, the question of if you ever have a criminal past while you were out of Canada may be asked by customs/immigration, although it is random. In my travels I have not been asked the question. I am not sure about the others. Unless they do ask you about it, you will not have a problem at the POE.

With regards to applying for PR card renewal, the application form does not include a query if you have been convicted of a crime, unlike the application for Permanent Resident and Citizenship. However, there are several fields that you need to write on in the PR card renewal form like where you have been working or living within the last five years. I see a problem here where you have to declare time spent in jail/prison (if applicable). They will probably start asking questions. At that point I don't know what to expect.

For Citizenship, the application form DOES ask if you were convicted of an indictable offence, and if you ever had time spent in prison/jail. Yes, it will affect your citizenship application. What is not clear is where the crime was committed. If we understand it as a general question, then I would assume you have to say yes, and let Immigration try to sort it out. RCMP will do a background check and I do not know if they go beyond Canada's borders. I would assume they might share information with authorities from the applicant's country of origin. You don't want to be caught withholding material facts if they discover you had a criminal past in the US even if you misunderstood the question as only applicable within Canada.

As Beaver noted, some questions of this sort are very difficult to respond to, since there are so many contingencies, so many variables, and yet the subject is very particular.

A mere trespass conviction, it seems to me, is not likely to cause a problem. It may, if and when it comes up, trigger a higher degree of scrutiny, including at border crossings, PR renewal application, and definitely the citizenship application. Does not mean it is a problem, mostly means they will examine you more closely to be sure there are no other issues.

And there are so many nooks and crannies it is also hard to give a general answer without potentially glossing over an issue that could, in one context or another, loom large.

Talking to a lawyer is probably the right idea, the best idea.

As to the answers which cannot cover all the possibilities, for example I agree with a lot of what Beaver said, and even for the most part this:

Unless they do ask you about it, you will not have a problem at the POE.

But there is also the possibility, one that is virtually impossible to predict, that anyone going through a POE can be the subject of a random records check -- and it is not as if they will broadcast that they are conducting one -- and if there is an arrest hit that will trigger more questions. Questions they may ask, by the way, without telling you what has triggered the question, as in they could already be looking at a records check for you, one displaying an arrest record, but asking you in a manner as if they don't know anything.

In addition to the consultation with a lawyer, I'd suggest getting a copy of your FBI record to see what their records show. One of the problems in the states is that arrests are routinely entered into the system, but dispositions not necessarily so routinely entered. An arrest is most likely to show up if the charge was theft (or anything more serious) and you were "booked" . . . it may show up even if you were not booked, but if you were booked on a theft charge it will most likely show up. So you want to be sure the record reflects that the disposition of the charge was something less serious, like the mere trespass. You might want to obtain and keep for your own purposes a copy of the court's records as to the actual final disposition -- and have a copy handy when approaching a POE, just to avoid any issues.

Theft charges can vary widely, from very minor to fairly serious, so you want your record to be complete, to show the final disposition.

I don't think even a minor theft conviction would be a threat to your PR status, but I am not sure what constitutes the more serious offences for which a PR is deemed "criminally inadmissible" versus the less serious offences for which FNs are deemed inadmissible.

But I am not sure what constitutes the more serious offences for which a PR is deemed "criminally inadmissible" versus the less serious offences for which FNs are deemed inadmissible.