The rehabilitation process divides individuals into two categories:
those who are deemed rehabilitated and those who must apply.
Each process involves a number of complex factors.
MINISTER'S APPROVAL
Any individual convicted of a crime in
the United States must receive the
Minister's Approval of Rehabilitation
before entering Canada. Rehabilitation
permanently removes the
inadmissible status.
Rehabilitation means that an individual leads a
stable lifestyle and is unlikely to be
involved with further criminal activity.
Three factors control the outcome: the
type of crime, the passage of time, and
a subsequently clean record.
MANY FELONIES DO NOT QUALIFY
In general, only individuals convicted
of a felony punishable by a maximum
term less than ten years are eligible
for rehabilitation.
Before it considers a foreign crime
for rehabilitation, Canada must
evaluate the offense in the context
of its own criminal categories.
Canada divides its crimes into three
major categories:
indictable, summary, and hybrid.
Indictable Offenses
Indictable offenses
include the most serious crimes like
murder, rape, and kidnapping.
Summary Offenses
Summary offenses are reserved for
very minor misdemeanors like disturbing
the peace or public noise nuisance.
Because it is a minor crime, it takes two
or more summary offenses to make an
individual inadmissible.
Hybrid Offenses
A large category of crimes fall into the
hybrid category. Here, the government
has the choice to let the Crown
proceed against the individual as an
indictable offense or allow each
province to prosecute the act.
One problem for U.S. citizens is that
this category embraces most American
misdemeanors. The second problem is
that Canada considers any hybrid
offense an indictable offense for
the purpose of rehabilitation and the
attendant waiting period.
WAITING PERIOD
Under most scenarios, an individual
must wait a specific period of time before their
application will be considered. This period depends upon the rehabilitation category.
The Consulate makes further
distinctions depending on the type
of offense and whether or not the
matter was formerly charged.
THE APPLICATION PROCESS
The formal application and waiting period
calculation involves a number of factors.
Click
here to review the procedure.
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