Criminal Rehabilitation

DUI Entry and Criminal Rehabilitation

Criminal Rehabilitation is an application process whereby an individual petitions Canadian immigration authorities to forgive all prior DUI convictions. Once an individual undergoes the Criminal Rehabilitation process prior DUIs can no longer be used as a basis to deny entry to Canada.  Foreign nationals who are criminally inadmissible to Canada must apply for Criminal Rehabilitation if they wish to immigrate, work, or visit the country for any reason.

To qualify for Criminal Rehabilitation the following criteria must be met:

• A DUI, DWI, or other drinking and driving-related, offence must have been committed outside Canada
• At least five years must have elapsed since the completion of all sentences, probationary periods and fines (including license reinstatement), relating to your DUI.

If you are eligible for Criminal Rehabilitation you are expected to go through that process, and are not encouraged to seek DUI relief via Temporary Resident Permit, at least, until the Criminal Rehabilitation process has been initiated.

Canadian DUI Equivalent

If you meet the Criminal Rehabilitation eligibility criteria above, the next step is to determine what type of Criminal Rehabilitation will be required.  To do this the corresponding offence under Canadian law must be located, to determine the severity of the crime according to the Canadian judicial system.

Criminal Rehabilitation candidates must then ascertain the maximum penalty that could be imposed for a given Canadian offence, which in turn dictates protocol for the Criminal Rehabilitation process.

There are two categories of rehabilitation that may apply:

• Non-Serious Criminality – Any offence with a maximum imposable prison sentence in Canada of less than 10 years
• Serious Criminality – Any offence with a maximum imposable prison sentence in Canada of at least 10 years

Non-serious crimes and serious crimes require the same Criminal Rehabilitation procedure, but the Canadian visa office treats the two applications differently, with different associated costs and processing times.

Non-Serious vs. Serious Criminality

DUIs equivalents resulting in a prison sentence of at least 10 years, usually involve bodily harm or property damage and generally result in higher application fees and longer processing times than non-serious DUI infractions. A serious, or multiple, DUI offence(s) cannot be rehabilitated by the passage of time. Therefore, such circumstances require that the offender apply for Criminal Rehabilitation in order to enter Canada with a DUI on record.

An individual Canadian immigration officer is assigned to each application (whether serious or non-serious), and it is up to the discretion of the officer whether to accept or deny the application, making the process highly subjective.

Hiring A DUI Entry Lawyer For Criminal Rehabilitation

An experienced DUI Entry lawyer will help you submit as compliant an application as possible.  Canadian immigration authorities like to make examples out of those whose applications are incomplete or non-compliant; by refusing them.  Once a foreign national has a Criminal Rehabilitation refusal on their record, subsequent applications may become more difficult.

Consult with a DUI Entry lawyer to determine the right strategy to get you back into Canada after DUI. Our office has submitted hundreds of applications with a success rate that is second-to-none.

For a free consultation with a DUI entry lawyer, contact First Immigration Law Firm toll-free from the USA @ 1-855-360-4333