Sponsorship with criminal inadmissibility

The first problem is that the only TRP application I've ever seen a link to on the CIC site is an extension ap to be used by someone already in Canada on a TRP.  Maybe someone else knows where to find a link to an initial TRP application - I know there is such a thing cuz I was given paperwork of that sort to fill out at one time.  But it came to us directly from the Minister's office.

Second problem: regardless of how other countries feel about your wife's DUIs, no question they make her inadmissible to Canada.  She is not even eligible to apply for rehabilitated status until sometime in 2014.  So, for her to come to Canada, it looks like a TRP is the only option - she is not eligible for PR.  And, yes, humanitarian and compassionate consideration could apply to the two of you. 

The real question is how to go about getting a TRP.  I know they issue them sometimes at the border, and they issue them sometimes for people who are already in Canada and something happens that results in them being found inadmissible to Canada but there are sufficient H&C grounds to allow them to stay anyway.  If you've been talking with Canadian immigration attorneys already, one of them should be able to tell you how to get your hands on a TRP ap . . . or what to do if it's not an option to just send in an application.


Edited by RobsLuv - 23 Jan 2011 at 10:44pm

Ditto all that Robsluv said.

Further observations: The second one is still quite recent. Perhaps too recent for H&C grounds to have sway.

I do not know much about Maine and its criminal justice system other than the reports about the George W. Bush arrest record there for a DUI in the 70s. Perhaps they do have a lesser offense (a number of jurisdictions have been implementing these in recent years) which is not exactly the traditional "DUI" or "DWI" or variation thereof. That would make a difference.

The exact record would need to be considered, and may require an attorney's analysis, in order to determine just what the conviction of record is for.

If it is for a traditional DUI like offense, she is indeed inadmissible to Canada and will continue to be for some time, and given two convictions I believe that upon becoming eligible will actually have to apply for rehabilitation status in order to become admissible in the future.

H&C relief may be available in the meantime, but, again, the more recent one is indeed probably too recent.

Here's the rub: one DUI is not good, but is indeed the sort of mistake that many young people make and then overcome. Two DUIs is not a mistake. It is not a mere lapse in judgment. Definitely not a matter of overlooking having had wine with dinner. OK, for some, a very few, it might be. But authorities, and CIC and CBSA are among them, see this very differently. They know the odds (statistically somewhere between fifty and a hundred offenses committed for each one an offender gets caught for), they are well acquainted with the nature of the underlying problem, and they thus make inferences based on the probabilities, not the individual, but on what is indeed most likely. A second DUI says there is a problem. Simple as that. For lots of good reasons. Not something that it is at all easy to convince any authority to the contrary, and indeed any attempt to convince an authority to the contrary is likely to be interpreted as denial and as a lack of rehabilitation. The statistics, by the way, solidly back their approach in this.

In the meantime, a Maine lawyer may be able to help (sometimes even a conviction can be, well, set aside, reduced, mitigated, or something; and at the least a consultation with a Maine attorney will inform her of what exactly the conviction of record is for). An immigration lawyer is a good idea in order to apply for rehabilitation status or assist in obtaining H&C relief and/or help with applying for a TRP. Yeah, that could be an uphill route and expensive. And, again, it may be too soon to do this anyway. She may need to put some miles and years of sobriety and being law-abiding behind her first. Yeah, DUI is a crime. And yeah, getting caught in the commission of criminal acts has consequences. And, yeah, it can take years to work one's way out of that imbroglio.   

Not sure why you think that she would be given status that would allow her to work in Canada even if she were to successfully obtain a TRP allowing her to temporarily reside in Canada as your partner. I am not all that familiar with the TRP process but am familiar enough to have strong doubts about the prospects for obtaining such status.

Otherwise I agree with (or at least understand) much of what you say ... except I do not really know about how other countries deal with foreign nationals having under the influence driving convictions ... and there are some details (like the suggestion to not use a lawyer) that I do not concur with.

That said, Canada has indeed cracked down on this. Read the "important information" at the link you give. (It further emphasizes reasons why I think the prospects of obtaining even a TRP without a permit to work are not good.) I have been attending a local annual Blues Festival here just about every year for nearly a decade, and every year of late there is at least a couple groups who are stopped at the border and not allowed into Canada because of old misdemeanor convictions. Many of these are performers who had come to Canada many times in the past without a problem at the border, but who are abruptly seen as "inadmissible."

But that is how it is, for entry purposes.

That said, there are multiple facets in your partner's case. And in this context it is hard to believe, for example, that a person at CIC would suggest not seeing a lawyer. That, I believe, is not just bad advice but, I believe, is inappropriate. Just deciding what course to pursue in this situation is a matter in which a lawyer may be of much help.

While I do not really know what the prospects are for a successful TRP application generally, in this situation, again, I suspect that they are NOT good..

Personally, in addition to a copy of the official court record (not just the docket entry) I would obtain the FBI certificate, and a State police certificate from Maine, and obtain a driving record from Maine, and engage in a consultation with a Canadian immigration lawyer familiar with the process to obtain rehabilitation status. What that most recent conviction was for really matters. The arrest record matters as much as the Court's records, but both matter. A consultation with a qualified lawyer would help to really clarify her situation. How you do that while abroad I am not sure.

The FBI and State police certificates should illuminate what is really on her record; but a copy of the disposition in the court (which should show what the precise charge was, its disposition, whether or not probation was imposed, and if so whether completed, and date of final discharge from court's jurisdiction, and so on). She will need both certificates in order to apply for the TRP anyway. In many instances, the FBI and/or State certificates will not be clear about what is on the record, and in those instances the court record really needs to be examined (and, again, not just what is in the docket entry).

It might be worthwhile to also obtain ... I forget ... CAIPS I think, but her immigration records with CBSA. Others here are much more familiar with how to obtain these records. They should reveal the nature of what is in her Canadian records relative to the attempted denied entry you refer to in an earlier post. All this information should be assessed/evaluated to determine whether or not she has a 2009 conviction which makes her inadmissible, or, in contrast, whether she may be eligible to obtain rehabilitation status.

For that really is the key: if and when she can obtain rehab status. That is probably what she really wants to explore ... including the prospects for obtaining such status prior to the expiration of the technical minimum time based upon H & C grounds in the event the more recent charge is indeed one that constitutes a traditional DUI-like charge.

It is my impression that protestations of remorse and in-fact rehabilitation (in contrast to simply a sufficient history of being law-abiding for the specified periods of time) do not weigh much. But in an application for rehab status relying on H&C grounds, they should be relevant and help (may even be necessary), but here again I think using a lawyer, to properly and persuasively make the case, is usually the better course.

I'm almost in the same situation as your partner. I'm German, married since August 2008, convicted in Canada for DUI in February 2010 and deported to Germany in May 2010. I never filed for PR as I was in Canada, I went back and force across the border.

To be with my wife in Canada again I sent an email to the embassy in Berlin, Germany and asked what I have to do to get back to Canada. I got the following answer:

Dear Mr.            ,

Thank you for your e-mail!

Under Canada's Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, temporary residents and applicants for permanent residence in Canada may not be able to come to Canada if they have been involved in criminal activity. Temporary residents and applicants applying for permanent residence are considered to be criminally inadmissible if the person was convicted of an offence in Canada. For further information please refer to the following website: www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit/conviction.asp

You were convicted of or committed a criminal offence in Canada and may overcome this criminal inadmissibility by applying for a pardon. For further information, please refer to the National Parole Board website: www.npb-cnlc.gc.ca/infocntr/factsh/pardon-eng.shtml
According to the information provided, you are not yet eligible to apply for a pardon. However, in special cases, the Minister can grant admission to inadmissible persons and issue a Temporary Resident Permit (TRP). Please note that this document is only issued if the reason for the applicant wishing to travel to Canada is sufficiently compelling to overcome the seriousness of the inadmissibility grounds.  

Should you intend to apply for a TRP in order to be reunited with your wife before you are eligible to apply for a pardon, please be advised that our office will only take an application for TRP into consideration, if you submit evidence, that your wife intends to live with you in Canada and has applied to sponsor you for permanent residence in the Family Class.

For information on sponsorship applications in the Family Class, please refer to this website: www.canada.de (Discover Canada \ Visa and Immigration \ For Non-Canadians who intend to >> permanently immigrate to Canada \ Family Class Immigration). Please note that your wife first has to apply for sponsorship in Canada. The sponsorship application will be processed by the Case Processing Centre (CPC) in Mississauga, Ontario. Once the sponsorship has been approved, your permanent residence application is sent to the appropriate Canadian visa office, i.e. Berlin.

For information regarding the sponsorship process, please contact the Case Processing Centre (CPC) in Mississauga, Ontario: www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/sponsor/index.asp

Once your wife has applied for sponsorship, you may contact us again for further information on an application for a TRP.  Please note that an application for a TRP does not guarantee a posititve decision and the issuance of a TRP, as each case is judged on its own merits.

Best regards,

Embassy of Canada | Ambassade du Canada | Botschaft von Kanada
Immigration Section | Section de l'Immigration | Visa- und Einwanderungsabteilung
berlin[email protected]
Téléphone | Telephone +49 (030) 20 312-447
Télécopieur | Facsimile +49 (030) 20 312-134
Leipziger Platz 17 - D-10117 Berlin
Citizenship and Immigration Canada | Citoyenneté et Immigration Canada
Government of Canada | Gouvernement du Canada

I hope their answer helps a bit. My wife is on social assistance, so she isn't eligible to sponsor me. We have to wait patiently that she get a job and bring then our application in.


Let us know how things are going with that TRP. I wish you luck

mpottier -

If someone is unemployed, then can still sponsor a spouse. However if they are on social assistance or bankrupt - they can't. Same rules apply to both Canadian citizens and PRs.