Applying for PR . Court Entered A Stay of Proceedings in My DUI case

[BRYO SMITH]

Hi am applying for PR under CEC. Last year in December I was arrested for DUI and was charged with Criminal code 253(1)(a) and 253(1)(b). I attended court on trial date 6;months later. The Provincial Court Judge entered a Stay of Proceedings in my case.Therefore its not a conviction and not a criminal record. My concern and question is . IS THIS STILL GOING TO AFFECT MY PR APPLICATION???? On My Background /Declaration Form should I answer YES I have been charged even if I have a stay of proceedings? Please help

 

[ZingyDNA]

I think a Stay of Proceedings is just a halt of the legal process. The Stay could be lifted in the future and you might be convicted later. I'm not a professional in Canadian Law, though.

If you do a RCMP check, is there anything gonna show up? You might wanna do one to find out...

Hi am applying for PR under CEC. Last year in December I was arrested for DUI and was charged with Criminal code 253(1)(a) and 253(1)(b). I attended court on trial date 6;months later. The Provincial Court Judge entered a Stay of Proceedings in my case.Therefore its not a conviction and not a criminal record. My concern and question is . IS THIS STILL GOING TO AFFECT MY PR APPLICATION???? On My Background /Declaration Form should I answer YES I have been charged even if I have a stay of proceedings? Please help

 

[Harryghotra]

Hi Bryo,
My name is harry and I do have a same situation as you. I really need some advise or if you know any thing about the process of Stay of Proceedings. Please let me know or if you can provide me with you email address that will be really great.

Thanks

 

[retwant]

I think there were 3 questions in Background/Declaration Form:
a) been convicted of a crime or offence in Canada for which a pardon has not been granted under the Criminal Records Act of Canada. You were charged in Canada but not convicted so far. So NO on checkbox
b) been convicted of, or are you currently charged with, on trial for, or party to a crime or offence, or subject of any criminal proceedings in any other country. The keyword here is any other country. Did you have anything there? Otherwise, it is a NO on checkbox
j) been detained, incarcerated, or put in jail You were arrested/detained for DUI. Did they brought you to jail? This is almost a grey area since any police officer can detain you without probable cause, and just reasonable suspicion. Better check with your RCMP record to see how to proceed.

 

[Dragana]

Hi, just pass my first level and now security check

My problem is that I have been arrested 2 times in Canada one times was given pease bond and second absolute discharge. First was 2010 and second 2013.

No criminal record but it will show that I was in problem with low!!

What to do?

 

[Ottawa-applicant]

hello there

I have completed 13 months for my CEC application (july 2014 ) and I was charged with DUI and refusal in Feb 2015. will this affect my application. i have trails in December 2015. any ideas or suggestion plz

 

[BritCan89]

From Division 4 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA):

Serious criminality

36. (1) A permanent resident or a foreign national is inadmissible on grounds of serious criminality for

(a) having been convicted in Canada of an offence under an Act of Parliament punishable by a maximum term of imprisonment of at least 10 years, or of an offence under an Act of Parliament for which a term of imprisonment of more than six months has been imposed;

(b) having been convicted of an offence outside Canada that, if committed in Canada, would constitute an offence under an Act of Parliament punishable by a maximum term of imprisonment of at least 10 years; or

(c) committing an act outside Canada that is an offence in the place where it was committed and that, if committed in Canada, would constitute an offence under an Act of Parliament punishable by a maximum term of imprisonment of at least 10 years.
Marginal note:Criminality

(2) A foreign national is inadmissible on grounds of criminality for

(a) having been convicted in Canada of an offence under an Act of Parliament punishable by way of indictment, or of two offences under any Act of Parliament not arising out of a single occurrence;

(b) having been convicted outside Canada of an offence that, if committed in Canada, would constitute an indictable offence under an Act of Parliament, or of two offences not arising out of a single occurrence that, if committed in Canada, would constitute offences under an Act of Parliament;

(c) committing an act outside Canada that is an offence in the place where it was committed and that, if committed in Canada, would constitute an indictable offence under an Act of Parliament; or

(d) committing, on entering Canada, an offence under an Act of Parliament prescribed by regulations.
Marginal note:Application

(3) The following provisions govern subsections (1) and (2):

(a) an offence that may be prosecuted either summarily or by way of indictment is deemed to be an indictable offence, even if it has been prosecuted summarily;

(b) inadmissibility under subsections (1) and (2) may not be based on a conviction in respect of which a record suspension has been ordered and has not been revoked or ceased to have effect under the Criminal Records Act, or in respect of which there has been a final determination of an acquittal;

(c) the matters referred to in paragraphs (1)(b) and (c) and (2)(b) and (c) do not constitute inadmissibility in respect of a permanent resident or foreign national who, after the prescribed period, satisfies the Minister that they have been rehabilitated or who is a member of a prescribed class that is deemed to have been rehabilitated;

(d) a determination of whether a permanent resident has committed an act described in paragraph (1)(c) must be based on a balance of probabilities; and

(e) inadmissibility under subsections (1) and (2) may not be based on an offence

(i) designated as a contravention under the Contraventions Act,

(ii) for which the permanent resident or foreign national is found guilty under the Young Offenders Act, chapter Y-1 of the Revised Statutes of Canada, 1985, or

(iii) for which the permanent resident or foreign national received a youth sentence under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

 

[c2h5oh]

I have completed 13 months for my CEC application (july 2014 ) and I was charged with DUI and refusal in Feb 2015. will this affect my application. i have trails in December 2015. any ideas or suggestion plz

1. If you are charged with DUI your PR application will be denied, even if you are not convicted by the time application is completed. Your only chance is to get the charges dropped or reduced to something non-criminal ASAP.
2. If you are convicted by the time application is completed both DUI and reckless/dangerous driving convictions mean no PR for you (or work permits/visas in next 5 years).
3. You are legally required to notify CIC that you have been charged, even if there is no conviction yet.
4. Even if they miss that (unlikely) you will be asked again when you land. If you lie/withhold information your PR can be cancelled and you can even loose citizenship if they catch you after you got it.

tl;dr; Unless you can somehow get the charges dropped / reduced to something not criminal under canadian criminal code (provincial laws don't matter!) you are not getting a PR now or in the next 5 years.

While it sucks for you I'd rather have one less than one more drunk driver, so.. ;D

 

[vonronge]

From Division 4 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA):

Serious criminality

36. (2) A foreign national is inadmissible on grounds of criminality for

(d) committing, on entering Canada, an offence under an Act of Parliament prescribed by regulations.
Marginal note:Application

This.

 

[scylla]

hello there

I have completed 13 months for my CEC application (july 2014 ) and I was charged with DUI and refusal in Feb 2015. will this affect my application. i have trails in December 2015. any ideas or suggestion plz

You're inadmissible to Canada as of now. As zardoz explained, your only hope is to get the charges dropped or reduced to a non-DUI charge. Anything else will result in your application being refused - and you will then be inadmissible to Canada for at least five years.

Don't drink and drive.

 

[zardoz]

You're inadmissible to Canada as of now. As zardoz explained, your only hope is to get the charges dropped or reduced to a non-DUI charge. Anything else will result in your application being refused - and you will then be inadmissible to Canada for at least five years.

Don't drink and drive.

It wasn't me, but I concur.

 

[BritCan89]

To the users saying these people are inadmissible, that is not technically true. Being charged with a crime in Canada does not make you inadmissible, but a conviction does. If there is a disposition of your case / charge that does not result in a conviction - a stay of proceedings, the charge is withdrawn or you get a discharge - to my knowledge (and I'm certainly not an immigration lawyer) that will mean you are not inadmissible, because you have not been convicted.

A court decides whether you are guilty and will be convicted or not, so in a way that will control your inadmissibility. At the moment, you've only been charged, so you're not inadmissible.

You without a doubt, however, need to mention this to CIC and admit there was a charge if you're asked.

Also, "(d) committing, on entering Canada, an offence under an Act of Parliament prescribed by regulations." refers to your entrance to Canada. In other words, if you commit a crime on your border crossing (for instance, drug trafficking), that will cause inadmissibility.

 

[Ottawa-applicant]

To the users saying these people are inadmissible, that is not technically true. Being charged with a crime in Canada does not make you inadmissible, but a conviction does. If there is a disposition of your case / charge that does not result in a conviction - a stay of proceedings, the charge is withdrawn or you get a discharge - to my knowledge (and I'm certainly not an immigration lawyer) that will mean you are not inadmissible, because you have not been convicted.

A court decides whether you are guilty and will be convicted or not, so in a way that will control your inadmissibility. At the moment, you've only been charged, so you're not inadmissible.

You without a doubt, however, need to mention this to CIC and admit there was a charge if you're asked.

Also, "(d) committing, on entering Canada, an offence under an Act of Parliament prescribed by regulations." refers to your entrance to Canada. In other words, if you commit a crime on your border crossing (for instance, drug trafficking), that will cause inadmissibility.

thanks for your explanation.. so if im to be asked by the boarder officer if i was convicted of any crime I should say no? since the court dats in few months!

 

[BritCan89]

thanks for your explanation.. so if im to be asked by the boarder officer if i was convicted of any crime I should say no? since the court dats in few months!

If you're asked, you most definitely need to state that you had a DUI charge. I would be proactive and notify CIC now, as they will definitely discover it. As I said, your inadmissibility is going to depend on your case's disposition. I don't know if a conviction for DUI is bad enough to render inadmissibility, but at the moment you're only charged. I'd advise you get some legal help or at the very least do some research.

 

[Ashish923]

I have stay of proceeding due to charter rights in dui case will I be able to sponsor my wife? Please email if anyone have insights it been tough time. The case is running since 2021 and it draining me financial and mentally. Any help will be greatly appreciated. They asked me for disposition letter - I have judgment transcript and my RCMP record came clean. Is that be fine