Applying for super visa, possibility of inadmissibility due to 'criminal history'

[hbrsid86]

Greetings everyone!

I've spend the last 2 days reading posts but have not found a case as similar to this yet. I'm a PR for 2yrs (originally from Pakistan but born and raised in UAE). Parents still in UAE with a sister who also works there. Mother's at retirement age (according to UAE), so may be in final year of job. Options are now to go back to Pakistan, Canada with me, or the US with another sister and her family. They've been in UAE for 40 years but not much in terms of ties in UAE and ties to Pakistan aren't strong (no property, relatives are there but no grandparents, no job and maybe around $15k in their savings but no bank account in Pakistan).

Dad hasn't worked for a long time, but 'lost' money in a business he started and gave two advanced cheques (total worth almost $320k) to the investor who deposited them at the bank. Cheques bounced and he was arrested and released after bail but not befire spending 9 days in jail. This was a civil court court case (but I guess considered criminal) and a monthly payment plan was set which took over 6 years for us to pay back and ended last month. The case is now closed as it is considered settled and his travel ban lifted.

Two questions I need help with since the plan is to bring them to Canada:

1) Will my father's case mean I have to choose 'Yes' to the criminal history questions, and if so, should I try to get a Rehabilitation application filled out as well from now? And does this mean there is almost no chance for him and will be considered inadmissible anyway?

2) Due to lack of ties to UAE, and difficulty in proving strong ties to Pakistan as well, is this all futile? Would it just be better to wait and try sponsorship and forget super visa entirely?

Thank you for taking the time to read all this and any suggestions or thoughts would be great as I don't know what to do now.

 

[Buletruck]

Greetings everyone!

I've spend the last 2 days reading posts but have not found a case as similar to this yet. I'm a PR for 2yrs (originally from Pakistan but born and raised in UAE). Parents still in UAE with a sister who also works there. Mother's at retirement age (according to UAE), so may be in final year of job. Options are now to go back to Pakistan, Canada with me, or the US with another sister and her family. They've been in UAE for 40 years but not much in terms of ties in UAE and ties to Pakistan aren't strong (no property, relatives are there but no grandparents, no job and maybe around $15k in their savings but no bank account in Pakistan).

Dad hasn't worked for a long time, but 'lost' money in a business he started and gave two advanced cheques (total worth almost $320k) to the investor who deposited them at the bank. Cheques bounced and he was arrested and released after bail but not befire spending 9 days in jail. This was a civil court court case (but I guess considered criminal) and a monthly payment plan was set which took over 6 years for us to pay back and ended last month. The case is now closed as it is considered settled and his travel ban lifted.

Two questions I need help with since the plan is to bring them to Canada:

1) Will my father's case mean I have to choose 'Yes' to the criminal history questions, and if so, should I try to get a Rehabilitation application filled out as well from now? And does this mean there is almost no chance for him and will be considered inadmissible anyway?

2) Due to lack of ties to UAE, and difficulty in proving strong ties to Pakistan as well, is this all futile? Would it just be better to wait and try sponsorship and forget super visa entirely?

Thank you for taking the time to read all this and any suggestions or thoughts would be great as I don't know what to do now.

I'd employ the services of a good immigration lawyer, not a consultant.

 

[canuck78]

Greetings everyone!

I've spend the last 2 days reading posts but have not found a case as similar to this yet. I'm a PR for 2yrs (originally from Pakistan but born and raised in UAE). Parents still in UAE with a sister who also works there. Mother's at retirement age (according to UAE), so may be in final year of job. Options are now to go back to Pakistan, Canada with me, or the US with another sister and her family. They've been in UAE for 40 years but not much in terms of ties in UAE and ties to Pakistan aren't strong (no property, relatives are there but no grandparents, no job and maybe around $15k in their savings but no bank account in Pakistan).

Dad hasn't worked for a long time, but 'lost' money in a business he started and gave two advanced cheques (total worth almost $320k) to the investor who deposited them at the bank. Cheques bounced and he was arrested and released after bail but not befire spending 9 days in jail. This was a civil court court case (but I guess considered criminal) and a monthly payment plan was set which took over 6 years for us to pay back and ended last month. The case is now closed as it is considered settled and his travel ban lifted.

Two questions I need help with since the plan is to bring them to Canada:

1) Will my father's case mean I have to choose 'Yes' to the criminal history questions, and if so, should I try to get a Rehabilitation application filled out as well from now? And does this mean there is almost no chance for him and will be considered inadmissible anyway?

2) Due to lack of ties to UAE, and difficulty in proving strong ties to Pakistan as well, is this all futile? Would it just be better to wait and try sponsorship and forget super visa entirely?

Thank you for taking the time to read all this and any suggestions or thoughts would be great as I don't know what to do now.

PGP isn’t an option at least for the next few years. Without any ties to Pakistan they may have difficulty getting a supervisa. A supervisa is a visitor visa so they need proof of a home to return to. It is well known the if not a citizen then living in the UAE is tied to employment or tied to a family member’s employment. You can attempt to apply for a supervisa if you have earned LICO on your last tax return.

 

[hbrsid86]

I'd employ the services of a good immigration lawyer, not a consultant.

Thank, I probably will need to. I was sure I'd have to go this route but wanted to be sure if that was even worth it at this point.

PGP isn’t an option at least for the next few years. Without any ties to Pakistan they may have difficulty getting a supervisa. A supervisa is a visitor visa so they need proof of a home to return to. It is well known the if not a citizen then living in the UAE is tied to employment or tied to a family member’s employment. You can attempt to apply for a supervisa if you have earned LICO on your last tax return.

Thanks for the comment. I did earn more than the LICO on the last tax return. So do you think maybe trying for a TRV or super visa and then trying to sponsor them is an option after they're here? Also did you think my dad's bad/bounced cheque case accounts as having a criminal history?

I'll definitely need to look for a lawyer.

 

[canuck78]

Thank, I probably will need to. I was sure I'd have to go this route but wanted to be sure if that was even worth it at this point.



Thanks for the comment. I did earn more than the LICO on the last tax return. So do you think maybe trying for a TRV or super visa and then trying to sponsor them is an option after they're here? Also did you think my dad's bad/bounced cheque case accounts as having a criminal history?

I'll definitely need to look for a lawyer.

You may still run into issues applying for a TRV. They still will struggle to show ties to Pakistan. Even if they got a supervisa they will likely have to go home at a certain point because getting selected to sponsor a parent can take over 10 years and given the very high demand for limited spots many will be waiting a very long time to sponsor their parents and many will never be able to sponsor their parents. Parent sponsorship is not guaranteed and neither is a stay on a supervisa. If you are on a supervisa you have to qualify and pay for supervisa insurance every year. If your parents get sick or have an expensive medical emergency then they will likely struggle to get supervisa insurance the next year which is why the 5 year stay is not guaranteed. Have they looked at living with their other children. Attempting to get sponsored to the US? Would have a plan B. Given they don’t seem to have a lot of funds the supervisa is likely the better option. Impossible for anyone to predict whether it will be approved.

 

[hbrsid86]

You may still run into issues applying for a TRV. They still will struggle to show ties to Pakistan. Even if they got a supervisa they will likely have to go home at a certain point because getting selected to sponsor a parent can take over 10 years and given the very high demand for limited spots many will be waiting a very long time to sponsor their parents and many will never be able to sponsor their parents. Parent sponsorship is not guaranteed and neither is a stay on a supervisa. If you are on a supervisa you have to qualify and pay for supervisa insurance every year. If your parents get sick or have an expensive medical emergency then they will likely struggle to get supervisa insurance the next year which is why the 5 year stay is not guaranteed. Have they looked at living with their other children. Attempting to get sponsored to the US? Would have a plan B. Given they don’t seem to have a lot of funds the supervisa is likely the better option. Impossible for anyone to predict whether it will be approved.

Thank you for the detailed response. This was quite helpful in painting a good picture on what to expect, especially with the whole sponsorship matter. The medical insurance thing you mentioned was also something I hadn't thought of, but it makes sense. My sister in the US will be applying for her citizenship later this year, but so she's also looking at the green card holder vs citizen routes to help them, but exploring that is a lot other ball game it seems.

We're currently exploring all options right now, from moving to the US or Canada to heading back to Pakistan as their last resort since staying in UAE is just not feasible. Thanks again for sharing all this, it has certainly given me a lot to think about.

 

[canuck78]

Thank you for the detailed response. This was quite helpful in painting a good picture on what to expect, especially with the whole sponsorship matter. The medical insurance thing you mentioned was also something I hadn't thought of, but it makes sense. My sister in the US will be applying for her citizenship later this year, but so she's also looking at the green card holder vs citizen routes to help them, but exploring that is a lot other ball game it seems.

We're currently exploring all options right now, from moving to the US or Canada to heading back to Pakistan as their last resort since staying in UAE is just not feasible. Thanks again for sharing all this, it has certainly given me a lot to think about.

Assume you mean visiting the US or Canada. At this point neither would be able to move and if they appeared to be permanently moving to the US pr Canada that could be an issue.

 

[hbrsid86]

Assume you mean visiting the US or Canada. At this point neither would be able to move and if they appeared to be permanently moving to the US pr Canada that could be an issue.

The long term goal is to permanently move, and like you mentioned since this would be extremely difficult, those are just Plans A and B, with Pakistan the Plan C. The supervisa was otherwise, the more longer temporary option that I was considering as a hopeful option, but that's also looking unlikely.

With their case being difficult and made more complicated due to my father's history, I'm getting the sense that whether it is the US or Canada it will all just come down to luck now. Which is unfortunate as one of my reasons to immigrate was to be able to help them when their time in UAE runs out.