"For Information Only" Rehabilitation Application Rejected Due To No Fee Receipt. What now?

[tickerwave]

I submitted what was supposed the initial step of a potential application for rehabilitation for a DUI offense committed over 10 years ago, which has been expunged by the US court since all of the necessary steps and time have passed, which would normally mean I would be deemed rehabilitated by Canada already, if I'm reading everything properly.

Everything I've read online and in the government process documentation said that when you're in this specific situation, you should check "For Information Only" at the top of the form, and NOT submit a fee receipt on the first attempt, so that the Canadian officials can reply to you, and recommend the next steps you should follow in the process, which could include returning a letter saying you are clear for travel, not clear for travel, or need to pay the fee and advance the application to be cleared for travel.

Unfortunately this did NOT work out, despite what it said in the documentation, all of my paperwork was rejected just today by the New York consulate, and returned to me with a form rejection letter with the box checked that the fee payment receipt was not included, and no comments or other more detailed letter, or any other additional information whatsoever from the officials were included, to provided the advice the processed promised me, on how or if I should proceed with the rest of the process.

I was trying to do all this, because of the recent stricter legislation changes in Canada for DUI, and a fear of being rejected straight away at the Windsor border crossing for an expensive upcoming trip a couple months from now (I started collecting paperwork and applying as soon as I found out I needed to make the trip but some of these documents took quite some time to retrieve).

I don't live anywhere near a crossing, or a physical consulate or embassy, whereby I could try and take care of everything related to this ahead of time in person either. Technically there is a consulate nearby (San Francisco), but the telephone number doesn't have a way to talk to a human and on the website it's specifically marked as providing no immigration and visa service at all. So I don't think I've got a cost effective way of trying those approaches for help.

I'm really worried what to do next because I've heard full rehabilitation applications take basically forever to process if I've got to resubmit this as a full application with the fee included instead of just asking the advice which has just failed.

So now I wanted to see if anybody from the community has got some more experience what I've got to do next in order to straighten this out or retry it.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

I submitted what was supposed the initial step of a potential application for rehabilitation for a DUI offense committed over 10 years ago, which has been expunged by the US court since all of the necessary steps and time have passed, which would normally mean I would be deemed rehabilitated by Canada already, if I'm reading everything properly.

Everything I've read online and in the government process documentation said that when you're in this specific situation, you should check "For Information Only" at the top of the form, and NOT submit a fee receipt on the first attempt, so that the Canadian officials can reply to you, and recommend the next steps you should follow in the process, which could include returning a letter saying you are clear for travel, not clear for travel, or need to pay the fee and advance the application to be cleared for travel.

Unfortunately this did NOT work out, despite what it said in the documentation, all of my paperwork was rejected just today by the New York consulate, and returned to me with a form rejection letter with the box checked that the fee payment receipt was not included, and no comments or other more detailed letter, or any other additional information whatsoever from the officials were included, to provided the advice the processed promised me, on how or if I should proceed with the rest of the process.

I was trying to do all this, because of the recent stricter legislation changes in Canada for DUI, and a fear of being rejected straight away at the Windsor border crossing for an expensive upcoming trip a couple months from now (I started collecting paperwork and applying as soon as I found out I needed to make the trip but some of these documents took quite some time to retrieve).

I don't live anywhere near a crossing, or a physical consulate or embassy, whereby I could try and take care of everything related to this ahead of time in person either. Technically there is a consulate nearby (San Francisco), but the telephone number doesn't have a way to talk to a human and on the website it's specifically marked as providing no immigration and visa service at all. So I don't think I've got a cost effective way of trying those approaches for help.

I'm really worried what to do next because I've heard full rehabilitation applications take basically forever to process if I've got to resubmit this as a full application with the fee included instead of just asking the advice which has just failed.

So now I wanted to see if anybody from the community has got some more experience what I've got to do next in order to straighten this out or retry it.

As per the website, you can't submit an assessment to a VO in the US. Your options are to actually apply for rehabilitation, get to a POE to be assessed as to whether you are deemed rehabilitated or just take the chance to travel to Canada and see if you get refused or allowed in.

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/inadmissibility/overcome-criminal-convictions/deemed-rehabilitation.html

Being assessed by a visa office

You do not have to apply to be deemed rehabilitated, but you should be sure you will qualify before you try to enter the country. Otherwise, you could be found inadmissible to Canada when you arrive at the border. It is in your best interest to be assessed by the Canadian embassy, high commission or consulate responsible for your area. This will help ensure you do not travel to Canada only to be refused entry or be subject to other enforcement action.

Note: If you live in the U.S., Canadian visa offices in the U.S. do not use this process. Please see Being assessed at a Canadian Port of Entry.

 

[tickerwave]

As per the website, you can't submit an assessment to a VO in the US. Your options are to actually apply for rehabilitation, get to a POE to be assessed as to whether you are deemed rehabilitated or just take the chance to travel to Canada and see if you get refused or allowed in.

Thanks for the quick reply. I did indeed read this part of the directions, in order to determine that I needed to send my For Information Only request to the NYC Consulate and not the VO. So I actually sent the whole package to the NYC Consulate and not a VO for precisely this reason. But for some reason they just rejected the submission and sent it back without performing the evaluation I really needed done. So now I'm out of any good ideas what to try next.

 

[tickerwave]

DUIs are no longer eligible for deemed rehabilitation since they are now considered a serious crime in Canada.

You will have to apply for full rehabilitation.

That's actually not quite right according to what I've seen because mine occurred well before the law was changed:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/helpcentre/answer.asp?qnum=152

If you committed an impaired driving offence before December 18, 2018
Tougher penalties for impaired driving came into effect on December 18, 2018. If you committed an impaired driving offence before this date, we’ll determine if you’re inadmissible based on the penalties in force at the time.

This means you may be inadmissible for criminality, and not serious criminality, unless you received a prison sentence in Canada longer than 6 months.

If you’re inadmissible for criminality, you may be eligible for deemed rehabilitation if at least 10 years has passed since you completed your sentence.

 

[21Goose]

That's actually not quite right according to what I've seen because mine occurred well before the law was changed:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/helpcentre/answer.asp?qnum=152

You are correct. I withdraw my previous post.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Thanks for the quick reply. I did indeed read this part of the directions, in order to determine that I needed to send my For Information Only request to the NYC Consulate and not the VO. So I actually sent the whole package to the NYC Consulate and not a VO for precisely this reason. But for some reason they just rejected the submission and sent it back without performing the evaluation I really needed done. So now I'm out of any good ideas what to try next.

Where did you see to send it to the NY consulate? All I have seen in the instructions is you have to go to a POE, which is an actual border crossing not a consulate.

 

[tickerwave]

Where did you see to send it to the NY consulate? All I have seen in the instructions is you have to go to a POE, which is an actual border crossing not a consulate.

I got the idea here:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/inadmissibility/apply-where.asp?countrySelect=US#document

If you are applying for rehabilitation from the United States of America, send your application to:

IRCC New York
Consulate General of Canada
466 Lexington Avenue, 20th Floor
New York, NY 10017

If you are applying for a TRP from the United States of America, send your application to:

Immigration Section
Consulate General of Canada in Los Angeles
550 South Hope Street, 9th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90071

...

Separate applications for a TRP, Rehabilitation, or an ARC must be sent directly to the Consulate. Only applications which accompany a Study Permit, Work Permit or Temporary Resident Visa (TRV) application may be sent via the Visa Application Centre (VAC).

 

[tickerwave]

The way I see it I've got two possible options at this point:

Try resubmitting with the fee and another cover letter explaining what went wrong last time and what evaluation I need done and pray.

Take notes on the evaluation process and the law / regulation clarification for deemed rehabilitation. Fly to Bellingham. Drive up to the border and hope I picked a good day.

What do you all think?

 

[canuck_in_uk]

I got the idea here:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/inadmissibility/apply-where.asp?countrySelect=US#document

That's for sending an actual rehabilitation app to the VO (which includes NY), not the assessment. You have to go to a POE for the assessment.

The way I see it I've got two possible options at this point:

Try resubmitting with the fee and another cover letter explaining what went wrong last time and what evaluation I need done and pray.

Take notes on the evaluation process and the law / regulation clarification for deemed rehabilitation. Fly to Bellingham. Drive up to the border and hope I picked a good day.

What do you all think?

Nothing went wrong with the first one.

No one here can choose which option you should take.