cancov

Hi
I have posted on the immigration forum, but I was hoping that I may be able to find advice from those of you who 'made it' as far as immigration goes, who may have faced similar challenges to what my husband and I face. If there is anyone there who can relate to my posts:

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=453442


please respond on the immigration forum or PM me.

Thanks
Kellie

cancov

Specifically, are there any successful PR applicants on here who applied with a PNC police form that showed a caution on file?

Any help would be appreciated.

Kellie

rae

i can be of some help. i am a pr applicant going imminently, i don't have a criminal record/local caution, whatever the above is, but am aware of people that 'coughed' things from their past which certainly could have ended this way, and their application was progressed, i gather as long as you are completely open at all stages of the police application and PNP/PR application you will be ok, hide it and they will dip you, as perhaps you should expect. honesty rather than a minor transgression from your past, which i am sure you have more than made up for is whats important. cheers rae.

cancov

Thanks for the encouragement.

Unfortunately, when I read the CIC literature, it pretty clearly states that my husband would be classed as criminally inadmissable because he committed an offence outside of Canada that was illegal in the country committed, and that has a Canadian equivalent which is an indictable offence. Even though the caution is not a conviction, it is an admission of guilt of committing an illegal act. Because five years hasd not passed yet (and won't until september 2008), he can't even apply to be classed as rehabilitated.

I am trying to figure out if there have ever been cases where even though the applicant has a 'current/recent' caution and even though the caution was for an indictable offence (by Canadian standards), that they have somehow been lucky and sucsessful. Like maybe the officer used discretion and did not deem the applicant as inadmissable. Or maybe the applicant was refused, but there was some kind of appeal or other method used to rectify the situation.

I would love to hear from anyone with relevant experience or knowledge.

Thanks
Kellie

rae

sorry, misread a little and thought this was a police application with immigration as well, not just pr.

in this case, is it triable either way, or indictable only, if you can post the offence, or pm me if you like i can tell you. gravity factors (used in determining whether a caution is suitable may also be applicable. for instance, when someone gets a caution, a lot of the time a charge may be substantiated, but given positive gravity factors, as per home office charging guidelines, this may reduce the seriousness and bring it within the charging officers discretion to issue a caution.

all this may be used in mitigation when making your application. in other words just filling in 'theft', for instance, may not do you any good. filling in theft shoplifting, 20p chocy bar, property recovered, offence admitted, remorse shown, no vulnerable party and more besides may swing it. as you may have guessed i give a lot of cautions, prisons and police cells all full!

cancov

Thanks Rae

I understand what you are saying about cautions-I was a Probation Officer in England. The caution is an admission of guilt to an offence. It seems that immigration can/will (that is was I really want to know-is this a case of can or WILL???)
deem an applicant criminally inadmissable even if they have committed an offence outside of Canada

The actual offence was 'production of controlled drug-Class B-Cannabis'.

The Canadian equivalent is I believe Section 7 of the Controlled Drug and Substances Act. I believe the offence here is an indictable offence with maximum sentence of 7 years.

So it seems to me that the officer will have no choice but to deem hubby as inadmissable.

Is there a difference in Canadian law and Uk law around what 'production of Cannabis' means?? Like maybe in Uk possession of a plant will class as production, whereas in Canada there needs to be special lights etc.

In Canada, what does it take to be charged with production of cannabis?

I am probably going way off on a tangent here...I am just freaking out that we may get refused.

Kellie

Piff Poff

I would suggest talking to a proper immigration consultant - they would have a better idea of wether or not you will be refused PR.

cancov

Thanks

I have and will follow that path....but I was hoping to get feedback from people who may have lived through similar situations. It's always nice to hear from others who have personal experience. Maybe there are no "those who made it"....

I thought there might be people who who have applied for spousal sponsorship/PR even though they have a caution within the previous five years.

Or perhaps people can advise on alternatives-like how we could stretch this out so that we don't apply until Sept 2008, with a 'clear' police form (five years will have lapsed, we can ask to have the record of caution removed). If we wanted to stay in canada until that time, maybe we could apply for another extension to his visitor's stay? This one expires August 31st.

Has anyone ever stayed in canada for an extended period of time with visitor extension(s)?

Kellie

louise033

Hi Kellie,
my husband has been in Canada for nearly 3 years (we have just landed as PRs but been in Calgary since Sept 04), extending his visitor visa annually. When you ask for an annual extension you will have to have medical, other than that its very straight forward.

Louise x

cancov

Louise,

Thank you for your reply

I am very curious about your situation, can you provide more information?

Are you Canadian and he British?

When you applied for year long extensions, what did you state as the reasoning, if you did not have a PR/sponsorship application in process?

I would really love to hear more about this. PM me if you wish.

Kellie

louise033

Hi Kellie,
we are both British, I had a work permit but because it was an NOC classified job that didn't allow a spousal work permit, hubby came out to Canada as a visitor.
We applied via skilled worker visa (hubby principal applicant)a month after we arrived in Canada. OH was given 6 months visa on entering Canada, renewed for a further 6 months. Then we renewed my work permit for one year and his visitor visa at the same time, he was required to pass a medical. We renewed once again for a further year before finally getting our PR status and landing a couple of weeks ago!

We were very honest on the visitor renewal forms and explained that we were waiting for PR to be processed and wanted to be together whilst I had a work permit.
Hope that helps,
Louise x

cancov

Thanks for the reply....

I think my case is quite different though. I am Canadian citizen, husband here as a visitor. If we wanted to stretch his stay here for another year (so as to wait to apply for sponsorship/pr until we know that his police checks will come back clear)), is this even possible?

Has anyone on here done that when one person is a citizen and the other not?
Like could he apply for extension of visa for one year on the basis that he is visiting his wife in Canada, while she (me) takes care of family issues (ie: recent death of Mum, Dad in poor health, younger sister in need of support etc etc). Would they issue an extension for that reason?

Anyone been in similar situation?

Kellie

cancov

Or.....does he have a better chance of success on flying back and forth from England to Canada for extended stays in canada over the next year....hmmmmmmmmmmmmm

louise033

I think to be honest our situation was riskier - your husband is married to a citizen. CIC allowed us to remain in Canada together and I only had work permit status. Its such a nightmare trying to second guess immigration depts isn't it?

cancov

But you had a PR application in process at the time, right?

Out of interest, how did you and your husband cope with it just being you who worked?