Discrepancy on Replies between Visitor & PR Applications?!?

[ACS]

My husband came to Canada on a Visitor Visa. We had intended to stay only for summer holidays, but our families convinced us to stay here for the birth of our son.

On the Visitor Visa (for which he was approved and came here) on the question about criminal record we put no, since my husband was advised by the officers at the time of the incident that it would only stay on his record for 5 years. When we did the FBI check it still shows up, so we explained about his record on the PR papers.

It is not a serious criminal offence which affected anyone but him and his family. He illegally crossed the border from Canada to the USA back in 2005 so that he could see his mother who was in a bad situation. He did 3 months jail time, and was given voluntary departure – so not even actually deported.

Is the fact that there is then a discrepancy between the Visitor Visa Application and the PR Application, on the question about having a record, grounds for a refusal of PR?

There should not be any other red flags on our application besides this. I doubt the genuineness of our relationship will come into question whatsoever. If they can see we are a genuine family, with me and our son born here in Canada, do they show understanding and overlook those sort of errors? Or are they strictly by the book? Or does it just depends on the officer and their mood?!?

 

[user828]

See no replies means it's a tough one to reply, if I had to take a guess, then it should be OK coz ultimately u did explain the FBI result

 

[frege]

If you don't receive an authoritative reply here, I would suggest consulting an immigration lawyer before applying.

 

[ACS]

We have already applied. And cannot afford an Immigration Lawyer....untill my husband is able to work...at which point we probably will no longer need one...lol.

Thanks for the replies....

We are hoping the fact that we are a couple who have known each other so long, been married awhile, and have our son born here, will outweigh this. Especially considering it was not a horrible criminal act that was committed.....

I guess it comes down to how heavily they weight the rules in the strictest sense vs. human compassion and reason.......

 

[frege]

We have already applied. And cannot afford an Immigration Lawyer....untill my husband is able to work...at which point we probably will no longer need one...lol.

Thanks for the replies....

We are hoping the fact that we are a couple who have known each other so long, been married awhile, and have our son born here, will outweigh this. Especially considering it was not a horrible criminal act that was committed.....

I guess it comes down to how heavily they weight the rules in the strictest sense vs. human compassion and reason.......

I think the main issues will be whether there was misrepresentation in the previous application, and whether your husband is inadmissible to Canada for criminality. Also, humanitarian and compassionate concerns can be considered, such as the effect on your Canadian son of not having his father there to raise him. However, you need to raise H&C considerations explicitly, and you really need to know what you're doing.

If you can't afford a lawyer, there are community legal clinics that may be able to help you. For people with incomes in the middle range (not high, but too high to qualify for legal aid), there are non-profits that hire lawyers willing to work for low fees. (In Ontario, there's Justice Net.)

I really don't think there are many people who are able to deal with this kind of thing on their own. If you feel that's what you have to do, try going at least for a one-hour consultation with a lawyer so you can understand the basic legal issues and how you can do research on your own.

The main thing you need to find out for criminal inadmissibility, I think, is whether the equivalent offence in Canada - crossing the border without appearing for examination - could possibly be considered an indictable offence. If not, and this is the only conviction, then your husband will probably not be criminally inadmissible. I don't know how to find out for sure whether this would be an indictable offence, so I can't help you much beyond that.

 

[guri3577]

In BC, if you have criminal record and five years have gone by, the record still shows up. But, after those initial five years you can apply for "pardon" application and when approved the record is cleared up(It might still show in the system but the pardon is good enough) and one can apply for immigration. I am hoping that there must be something similar in States as well. You should search for it just in case.