Ben W Bell

Fair enough then, I misread.

ann m

mmm, Crown Court can be quite hard to go to

Were you charged with a higher offence, like burglary - which somehow turned into a conviction for damage? What is the conviction? Is it Criminal Damage (to property less than blah, blah pounds?)

Ben W Bell

Crown Court doesn't deal with minor vandalism, that's a Magistrate's Court and local court offence. You're not telling us something, either the "banned for life" isn't correct, or what you did isn't correct (or none of it.)

Anyone got a bridge?

ESarge

Question number 1 is the way to go: This is definitely a case where you need an immigration lawyer. There is information on the CIC website about how to work out if you have a lawyer who is likely to be suitable. There's an association they join.

I've never checked into the appeals process but I would expect that there's a time limit so find out and move fast.

I'm no expert, at all!, but on the face of it it sounds like they may have worked on the "equivalence" incorrectly. It is, however, possible that what you were convicted of has a very high maximum sentence in Canada (or UK) even though your actual sentence was low.

There's a lot of information on the CIC website that could help you. Look for the Publications link, go to Operations Manuals and then look through the Enforcement manuals.

You need a lawyer to help you run an appeal. I wouldn't particularly bother with other suggestions around writing letters and getting local notables/police to write letters. That can all be part of the appeal but - you need to appeal.

Re: your thought that applying for PR has caused this and that if you hadn't then it wouldn't be a problem. It would always be a problem every time you attempted to enter because you would be asked about convictions and then the border officer would have to determine if your conviction made you inadmissable or not. It appears that the rules are the same.

Re: the status of the rest of your application. CIC deciding you were inadmissable would stop them going any further so it is undecided as to whether your application would have been accepted but for this.

goolash

Thats a useful response thanks - OK for those of you who have asked the conviction was:
"Destroy or Damage Property at a value unknown" Where that sits in the scale of seriousness in terms of criminal damage etc i dont know.

The reason the case was heard at a Crown Court is that I excercised my right to have it heard there - it could have been dealt with at Magistrates but my counsel advised against.

Ive made up my mind to get a lawyer - The only circumstance under wich an individual should be banned from entering a company IMO is if they are proven to be a danger to the Public - is that for them to prove I am or me to prove im not a danger?

goolash

Also - im not sure what the maximum sentence in the UK for my offence was BUT it said on the CIC letter that in Canada its a 10 year maximum.

dinger24

I think they will argue you have proven to be a danger!
I think the best bet is to get to a lawyer
Best of luck

SNOWDUDE

Goolash,

Whilst it's an unhappy situation for the individual concerned, it is easy to see why CIC especially in the current economic climate would not want to take a "risk" on you when they can have their pick of people unencumbered with things like criminal records.

goolash

Of course I dont expect the criminal record not to count against me - but to ban me from the country for life - WTF?

Also as u point out in these "tough economic times" they should be after all the tourist dollar they can get, regardless of who brings it in.

Auld Yin

Also as u point out in these "tough economic times" they should be after all the tourist dollar they can get, regardless of who brings it in.

If you give some thought to what you said here, you'll realize that it is a ridiculous statement. I understand your anger but would you advocate for the UK to admit convicted terrorists, who have "paid" for their crime, on the premise they are only coming on vacation. I think not.

Scientist

I think this guy is not telling the full story. Did you declare your conviction in the application form? If not then you are screwed dude.

el_richo

That's a fair question. I'd also add that even if he did, he would not be assume rehabilitated anyway right?

The situation kinda sucks for you really and i hope it all works out. I'll bet your neighbour would laugh his socks of mind you

Shredder

The CIC website says any crime requires 5 years to have passed to be eligible for rehabilitation (itself a c. 1 year wait and payment of a fee of either $200 or $1000).

See page 6 of the following for a "rehabilitation" matrix:

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

It says that five years must pass to be eligible to apply for rehabilitation, no matter if the crime carried a max sentence of <10 or >10 years.

The guide says you could send an "information only" application for rehabilitation if you need to temporarily enter Canada but are not eligible for rehabilitation yet (i.e. 5 years haven't passed). Then the officer would advise you whether or not you could apply for a temporary resident permit.

You may find this info useful:

http://www.canadavisa.com/immigratio...ilitation.html

However, you haven't given much background or specifics on what the letter said or you had told them, so have they already "advised" you of the above in the negative?

MartianTom

Quoting goolash: Got a letter from the CIC saturday. Not only have they refused my app for PR (Family Class) BUT they have also banned me from entering Canada FOR LIFE due to a conviction for damaging property in March 2007.

What I'd like to know is... how did they find out about the conviction? As my application progress shows, I'm up to the point of having my medical and submitting my final fee. I've never had a request for a police check, though I understood this to be a part of the process - and understandably so. Are these things done automatically by CIC? I had a minor conviction 15 years ago for criminal trespass, but it's now spent and doesn't even show up on my enhanced Criminal Records Bureau report. I expect a police report would show it, though.

kleinluka

The real question here is, did you declare this conviction on your application? I don't think the conviction itself is severe enough to justify a life-time ban from Canada but CIC is known to be merciless when it comes to misrepresentation and/or lying/ommitting important things like this from applications.