I am 30 years old with a wife and 3 year old son, and currently reside in the UK. We wish to move to Canada to start a new life. My wife is a Mental Health Nurse and I am an IT professional. However I am new to the industry so my wife will be the primary applicant.

However, I have a conviction for 'Failure to provide specimen for breath test' in 2005 (will be 5 years in October). I was banned for 14 months (which finished in July 2006) and fined £300. Have no other criminal history whatsoever and am a person of excellent character (hard working, family man, driven, focused, friendly etc).

Anyhow, does anyone know if this will stop us moving over there?

Hi KP,

Welcome to the forum.

As failure to provide a specimen of breath is a criminal offence here in the UK then Criminal Rehabilitation will need to be applied for.

You are not deemed as rehabilitated until 10 years after the end of the offence in your case the end of your ban OR when you fully paid your fine which ever is the latter.

The CIC website has some excellent info on what you need to do to gain Criminal Rehabilitation.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/informa...ns/rehabil.asp

I am going through the process just now following an assault charge back in 2001 - here is a link to my thread which may have some other info to help you.

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...31#post8219631

Regards

ScottyB

Scotty,

That means I have to wait until July 2016. I'm not sure I am prepared to wait this long as my son will be almost 10 years old. I may do if there was a way to guarantee we will get in, but it's a long time to wait and then find out we have been rejected. My intention was to get settled in Canada before my son is 5, or no later than 6 years old. However, I could use this time to get myself a degree, but again, would be concerned I could still be turned down after waiting so long.

Are you 100% certain it is 10 years? And are you 100% it will be an automatic NO if we try and apply sooner? And, are my concerns valid - could we stil get rejected even if I wait 10 years and apply for Criminal Rehabilitation?

On the site http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/informa...ns/rehabil.asp it says You can apply for individual rehabilitation if at least five years have passed since you completed your criminal sentences.

I may have to look at our second (but a very close second) choice of New Zealand.

Many thanks for your advice.

Hi KP,

You do not have to wait 10 years, after 10 years you are automatically deemed as rehabilitated.

If you want to apply for PR before the 10 years then you need to go through the rehabilitation process.

It goes without saying similar to my situation that if your brush with the law was a fair amount of time ago AND you have not come to their attention since then you stand a good chance of being successful.

You can apply for PR at the same time as the Rehab but i decided to do the rehab first which i have been assured is normally turned round in 6 months, rather than start down the PR process and get rejected on the grounds of my past.

If you read all of the guidance notes on the link i posted for you above all will become clear.

Good luck i am sure you will be fine.

Regards

Scott

For reference


If you have (1) a total of one, misdemeanor conviction; (2) at least five and as many as ten years have elapsed since you completed the sentences for the conviction; and (3) the conviction would not be considered a serious crime in Canada, then you are eligible to apply for “deemed rehabilitation.” In evaluating each case, Canada officials use Canadian definitions of what constitutes a misdemeanor or a serious offense. In Canada, serious offenses include theft, assault, manslaughter, dangerous driving and driving while under the influence of drugs or alcohol. For a complete list of criminal offenses in Canada, consult the Canadian Criminal Code at http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/C-46/. Most felony convictions in the United States are equivalent to serious criminality in Canada.

KP,

Here is a link directly to the PDF guidance notes on Rehabilitation from the CIC website to save you having to search for it on the main site.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pdf/kits/guides/5312E.PDF

Regards

Scott

Thanks for the advice so far.

It looks like I can only apply for Rehabilition 5 years after the completion of my driving ban, which is December 2011.

I have a major decision to make. Do I:

1. spend that time building up my IT experience and qualifications, and keep saving more ££ for when the move to Canada eventually arrives.

2. go for our second choice which is New Zealand where we are 90% certain of acceptance.

My concern (and it is a MAJOR concern) is this:

What if I wait another 2 years only to be rejected when I apply for Rehabilitation?

I could really do with some guidance here.

Many thanks for all your help so far.

just out of interest have you and your partner ever visited Canada? if not maybe a trip out there may be a good idea.......sorry cant offer any advice on the rehab bit, im sure the website and the immigration guide has all the relevant information and the steps you should take to help you out..... good luck..

As MR79 said, have you been to both NZ and Canada?

If so then choose which one you prefer then focus on that - if its Canada you want then you will have to wait two years and hope!