GF Has Two Charges Now For Assault Need Help Sponsoring Her Still

[BlueStar1333]

Hey,
So I’ve known this girl since 2014.
She came up only once to spend a year with me in Canada. Upon her arrival back to the states, she ended up biting a guy she was with (because we split up)

And he called police, she got charged with what amounted to “Simple Assault”

But this charge went under Diversion, she completed her diversion program and then (since it was her first charge) the charges were subsequently dropped.

Fast forward until now;

And we’ve both split up with our current partners and decided that we want to re-explore our old love, and get married & have our life together here in Canada?

The problem is; she has a charge now for spitting on her ex boyfriend (since he flicked his lit cigarette at her) while they were walking. And so she ended up getting held in jail for 3 days, released on 400$ bond in Indiana?

But moved to North Carolina because she’s didn’t have a place to stay anymore in Indiana since her and her ex bf broke up.

So in the end;
She has missed her court date;

She’s asked for her second extension of the court date so that she can make her way back to Indiana in order to face the courts for this spitting charge (another assault charge, this time will likely end in an actual conviction)

So she’s waiting to Hear back, and her appointed individual hasn’t messaged her or anything for missing her court date - so even she’s confused about what’s happening.

But she applied for her second extension and is going to try and make it out to Indiana to face the court system.

Once this situation in Indiana is dealt with?

I’m assuming she will have an assault charge on her record (but it’s only for something minor like spitting, it’s not domestic assault, it’s not anything like aggravated assault. It’s nothing serious)

And her previous charge - she completed her diversion program so that shouldn’t really “matter” I don’t believe.

Since this is the situation that we are both in right now?

Once she’s inevitably handles this Indiana charge - gets convicted of the assault - pays her dues, whatever.

How would I be able to sponsor her from that moment on?

Would I seriously have to wait 10 years in order for her to be “deemed rehabilitated” over something as non serious as spitting? Or biting?

Because 5 years is reasonable. I could wait 5 and so could she. We just find other people in the meantime.

Or would the CIC enforce the fact that we NEED to wait 10 years before we even bother trying to hand in a PR application?

Because I don’t necessarily wanna get her citizenship - I’m just trying to perceive the pathway to getting her up here & moved in with me as soon as possible.

Get her to get a record suspension in the states? Since she will only have the 1 minor assault conviction? I’ve heard that if it’s only 1 minor conviction of assault that you should have no issues really immigrating her.

And since the other was completed under diversion it shouldn’t count.

What is the timeline I am looking at here:

5 years pass from 2020 (when she finishes whatever Indiana’s courts tell her) -

And in 2025 she applies for a US record suspension; gets approved

Then we can fill out a PR application for her saying she has no charges?

Because I don’t wanna wait 10 years to apply to have her criminally rehabilitated for something as minor as what she got charged with both times.

Does anyone who has knowledge on this subject actually have a decent timeline for what to expect?

And what I can do?

And don’t say “well you’d have to see what happens in Indiana”

Let’s all go off the expectation of an assault conviction.

Not aggravated,
Not causing grevious harm.

Likely another simple assault charge.

One that isn’t diverted this time; and actually lands her with a criminal record that would need to be suspended/expunged.

What’s the timeline I’m looking at?

And what are my chances.

Thank you ^__^

 

[scylla]

Hey,
So I’ve known this girl since 2014.
She came up only once to spend a year with me in Canada. Upon her arrival back to the states, she ended up biting a guy she was with (because we split up)

And he called police, she got charged with what amounted to “Simple Assault”

But this charge went under Diversion, she completed her diversion program and then (since it was her first charge) the charges were subsequently dropped.

Fast forward until now;

And we’ve both split up with our current partners and decided that we want to re-explore our old love, and get married & have our life together here in Canada?

The problem is; she has a charge now for spitting on her ex boyfriend (since he flicked his lit cigarette at her) while they were walking. And so she ended up getting held in jail for 3 days, released on 400$ bond in Indiana?

But moved to North Carolina because she’s didn’t have a place to stay anymore in Indiana since her and her ex bf broke up.

So in the end;
She has missed her court date;

She’s asked for her second extension of the court date so that she can make her way back to Indiana in order to face the courts for this spitting charge (another assault charge, this time will likely end in an actual conviction)

So she’s waiting to Hear back, and her appointed individual hasn’t messaged her or anything for missing her court date - so even she’s confused about what’s happening.

But she applied for her second extension and is going to try and make it out to Indiana to face the court system.

Once this situation in Indiana is dealt with?

I’m assuming she will have an assault charge on her record (but it’s only for something minor like spitting, it’s not domestic assault, it’s not anything like aggravated assault. It’s nothing serious)

And her previous charge - she completed her diversion program so that shouldn’t really “matter” I don’t believe.

Since this is the situation that we are both in right now?

Once she’s inevitably handles this Indiana charge - gets convicted of the assault - pays her dues, whatever.

How would I be able to sponsor her from that moment on?

Would I seriously have to wait 10 years in order for her to be “deemed rehabilitated” over something as non serious as spitting? Or biting?

Because 5 years is reasonable. I could wait 5 and so could she. We just find other people in the meantime.

Or would the CIC enforce the fact that we NEED to wait 10 years before we even bother trying to hand in a PR application?

Because I don’t necessarily wanna get her citizenship - I’m just trying to perceive the pathway to getting her up here & moved in with me as soon as possible.

Get her to get a record suspension in the states? Since she will only have the 1 minor assault conviction? I’ve heard that if it’s only 1 minor conviction of assault that you should have no issues really immigrating her.

And since the other was completed under diversion it shouldn’t count.

What is the timeline I am looking at here:

5 years pass from 2020 (when she finishes whatever Indiana’s courts tell her) -

And in 2025 she applies for a US record suspension; gets approved

Then we can fill out a PR application for her saying she has no charges?

Because I don’t wanna wait 10 years to apply to have her criminally rehabilitated for something as minor as what she got charged with both times.

Does anyone who has knowledge on this subject actually have a decent timeline for what to expect?

And what I can do?

And don’t say “well you’d have to see what happens in Indiana”

Let’s all go off the expectation of an assault conviction.

Not aggravated,
Not causing grevious harm.

Likely another simple assault charge.

One that isn’t diverted this time; and actually lands her with a criminal record that would need to be suspended/expunged.

What’s the timeline I’m looking at?

And what are my chances.

Thank you ^__^

Probably time to spend money and speak with a good lawyer.

She needs to deal with the outstanding charge. Until that's done, assume she is inadmissible to Canada and a PR application will not be successful.

And no - you certainly cannot fill out the PR applicatin and say she has no charges. That would be a lie. Lying in immigration applications is misrepresentation which is a very serious matter and can quickly result in a 5 year ban from Canada. Canada will find out about the outstanding charges extremely easily during the police / background checks.

If she ends up with a criminal conviction which makes her inadmissible to Canada, depending on the charge, you'd be looking at five years before she can apply to rehabilitation. So yes - sometime around 2025.

She needs to focus on dealing with the oustanding charge and ideally get the charge dropped. I would forget about anything related to Canada until then. You need to deal with the oustanding charge first. It's not going to go away.

 

[BlueStar1333]

Probably time to spend money and speak with a good lawyer.

She needs to deal with the outstanding charge. Until that's done, assume she is inadmissible to Canada and a PR application will not be successful.

And no - you certainly cannot fill out the PR applicatin and say she has no charges. That would be a lie. Lying in immigration applications is misrepresentation which is a very serious matter and can quickly result in a 5 year ban from Canada. Canada will find out about the outstanding charges extremely easily during the police / background checks.

If she ends up with a criminal conviction which makes her inadmissible to Canada, depending on the charge, you'd be looking at five years before she can apply to rehabilitation. So yes - sometime around 2025.

She needs to focus on dealing with the oustanding charge and ideally get the charge dropped. I would forget about anything related to Canada until then. You need to deal with the oustanding charge first. It's not going to go away.

Okay,
But if she does get charged with assault and convicted (and it isn’t dropped) - assault of ANY kind, even simple assault.

Isn’t it a hybrid offence?

And won’t the CIC look at it as being indictable in that case?

Thus,
Making my wait time for criminal rehabilitation 10 years of a wait instead of 5 years?

Since the wait time to be criminally rehabilitated for summary offences is 5 years

And indictable is 10 years?

 

[BlueStar1333]

I’d basically have to wait 10 years regardless - just for her spitting on somebody.

Which is completely ridiculous.

But I’m right aren’t I?

 

[21Goose]

No, you have to wait five years to apply for rehabilitation. 10 years is "deemed rehabilitation'

Eligibility for rehabilitation
This section gives a summary of the type of offences and length of rehabilitation periods.

If you were convicted of an offence outside Canada that, if committed in Canada, would be an indictable offence punishable by a maximum term of imprisonment of less than ten years:

• You are deemed rehabilitated: at least ten years after completion of the sentence imposed.
• You are eligible to apply for rehabilitation: five (5) years after completion of the sentence imposed.

If you committed an offence outside Canada that, if committed in Canada, would be an indictable offence punishable by a maximum term of imprisonment of less than ten years:

• You are deemed rehabilitated: at least ten years after commission of the offence.
• You are eligible to apply for rehabilitation: five (5) years after commission of the offence.

If you were convicted of an offence or you committed an offence outside Canada that, if committed in Canada, would be punishable by a maximum term of imprisonment of ten years or more:

• You are deemed rehabilitated: not applicable.
• You are eligible to apply for rehabilitation: five (5) years from completion of the sentence or commission of the offence.

If you were convicted for two (2) or more offences outside Canada that, if committed in Canada, would constitute summary conviction offences:

• You are deemed rehabilitated: at least five (5) years after the sentences imposed were served or to be served.
• You are eligible to apply for rehabilitation: not applicable.

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigratio...ble-canada-past-criminal-activity.html#5312E3

 

[BlueStar1333]

Thank you; that was pretty spot on with what I was trying to understand here. The internet can be very convoluted with this type of thing.

Okay. 5 years (I guess 6-7 with processing times I can wait for I suppose) - better than 10.

So my final question here then is:

The fact she has had two prior charges.

One she completed the diversion program. Ultimately I believe that makes it a non-conviction, and this is kind of irrelevant when talking of her chances of a successful PR application, because I read somewhere the CIC can’t hold non convictions (diversions) against you.

So the ONLY real concern that me and her need to be focused on?

Is applying for criminal rehabilitation for this spitting assault conviction in Indiana - correct?

We’d only have to apply for criminal rehabilitation for the assault conviction associated with the spitting incident after the 5 year period beyond 2020 once her court stuff is resolved.

Then once they approve her criminal rehabilitation (which I don’t see why not, biting and spitting aren’t some serious acts of violence here - one of which isn’t even a conviction thanks to her diversion program for the first offence)

But once they approve her criminal rehabilitation for the one conviction. She then becomes admissible to Canada since the other was a diversion (and doesn’t count) -

1. She becomes admissible.

2. After processing time of the one criminal rehabilitation application (so let’s say a year)

3. Then we get all our documents together, medical checks, police checks, court records, after her criminal rehabilitation, I guess include that too. Get it all together.

4. And then hand in our PR application I suppose at that point.

I just don’t know if the processing times are still longer for Outland applications or not.

Thanks to all this criminal stuff anyways ^

I think it would be safer to have the ability to appeal it if anything does go wrong correct?

That would be the Smarter option (and wait 2 years for processing opposed to one year - unless Trudeau’s changes to the processing times for spousal applies across the board for inland & Outland)

But regardless,

Would probably be safer to do it Outland so we can reserve the right to appeal if we really needed to.

This all sounds like the appropriate timeline hey? The fastest I can do it all?

2025 + 1 year for criminal rehabilitation + 1-2 years for PR approval basically.

 

[21Goose]

The diversion program may or may not be treated as a conviction. You need to talk to a lawyer; the details of the case and the charges matter here.

The five year period begins once she completes the sentence. If the judge hands down a 2 year probationary sentence, you need to wait two years.

Again, details matter. Talk to a lawyer if you want a rock solid answer. In general, you should assume at least 5 years from today.

 

[BlueStar1333]

And do you guys suggest that we go through the process of;

Getting some kind of United States pardon for these two charges?

The diversion I don’t believe we need one for.

But the spitting assault conviction.

Is it necessary to get a US pardon for it (can’t get a Canadian pardon since the offence was committed in the states)

Or does criminal rehabilitation essentially waive the need for any kind of US pardon?

She’ll be in Canada,
So I doubt criminal background checks for jobs will show anything since she’s now a new Canadian PR.

New social security issued to her.

I doubt employers in the area; even for minimum wage entry level jobs have access to the US database for criminal charges.

That’s something that’s only shared between the CPIC & the US for immigration purposes (right)?

This is my final question ^

Because you guys have cleared up everything I needed to know thankfully (so thank you)

 

[BlueStar1333]

And okay for the diversion program reply.

A police certificate from the US will show whether the diversion was a conviction or not.

So that will be easy enough to figure out. Just pay the money to get one. And she can see for herself. I don’t think I need to go through a lawyer for that.

I may still though. Money is a bit of an issue though. So if I can avoid that I will.

But if we find out that the diversion needs to be criminally rehabilitated too?

Then BOTH assault charges can be criminally rehabilitated after the 5 years is up.

And she’ll be good to go to Canada yeah?

She’s admissible after the 5 years passes in both instances; and criminal rehabilitation is granted for both charges.

Is there any kind of limit on how many charges you can get criminally rehabilitated for?

I hope not.

Because I think it would be unfair to deny her for such small things like this ^

 

[BlueStar1333]

Also too;
I know criminal rehabilitation allows you across the border.

I wasn’t asking about the US pardon for that - I know once she’s criminally rehabilitated that its totally fine. She gets the green light for a successful PR application at that point.

I’m just more concerned about her finding work once she gets here.

So I guess eventually expunging her records in the states - might be a good idea after she’s landed anyways

Although I seriously doubt employers have access to anything beyond the Canadian database for criminal records.

 

[21Goose]

And do you guys suggest that we go through the process of;

Getting some kind of United States pardon for these two charges?

The diversion I don’t believe we need one for.

But the spitting assault conviction.

Is it necessary to get a US pardon for it (can’t get a Canadian pardon since the offence was committed in the states)

Or does criminal rehabilitation essentially waive the need for any kind of US pardon?

She’ll be in Canada,
So I doubt criminal background checks for jobs will show anything since she’s now a new Canadian PR.

New social security issued to her.

I doubt employers in the area; even for minimum wage entry level jobs have access to the US database for criminal charges.

That’s something that’s only shared between the CPIC & the US for immigration purposes (right)?

This is my final question ^

Because you guys have cleared up everything I needed to know thankfully (so thank you)

No, her US criminal record remains even after rehabilitation. She won't have a Canadian record.

If there's a background check that looks at her US history, it will pop up. Smaller Canadian companies don't usually bother, but bigger ones (such as the big banks), may well check. US criminal background checks are quite easy to do, even for Canadian companies.

She may or may not be eligible for a US pardon, but if she is, you should certainly get it. She will not need a Canadian pardon.

I would strongly recommend planning to hire a lawyer - save up if need be. Getting criminal rehabilitation is not an easy, slam-dunk application. You really do need someone experienced if you want the best chance of success. You can't assume that she will be granted rehabilitation - she can also be denied..

 

[BlueStar1333]

So best case scenario in short form since this was all hard to read:

1. Get police certificate to see if her diversion is a conviction or not

2. Get criminal rehabilitation applications for both (or only the one, depending on the criminal record checks)

3. In 2025, apply for criminal rehabilitation

4. She gets it 6-12 months later

5. We hand in the Outland PR application - she gets approved within 12 months.

6. She lands.

7. Happily ever after; right?

8. Then potentially expunge her records from over here in Canada if we really feel like we even want/need to.

Seems all pretty legit to you guys ^ ?

 

[BlueStar1333]

Hmm,
And I don’t suppose you can ballpark how much immigration lawyer fees would cost in order to do up a criminal rehabilitation process?

And should we get an American immigration lawyer or a Canadian one to do that for us?

5 years is a long time to save regardless. She can save on her end; I can save on mine - and then I guess I get a Canadian immigration lawyer to handle it for us.

She can just send me the money.

Since it’s a Canadian move anyways;

Would make more sense for a Canadian immigration lawyer to handle it I’d guess.

 

[BlueStar1333]

And just so we are clear:

If she gets denied for criminal rehabilitation.

Then that’s it as far as her chances of coming here go.

No chance after that.

Unless I moved to the states (because I have a clean record)

But to be honest?
These are really really REALLY minor charges.

I understand that it might not always be a slam dunk application?

But I really doubt the CIC will look at that and go “yep denied you’re evil”

Like.

She didn’t bludgeon somebody or brutally hurt someone.

Or sell drugs or anything.

Lol she bit & spit on someone in separate incidents - not a big deal.

So I don’t really feel like she’ll be denied in any case.

 

[21Goose]

And just so we are clear:

If she gets denied for criminal rehabilitation.

Then that’s it as far as her chances of coming here go.

No chance after that.

Unless I moved to the states (because I have a clean record)

But to be honest?
These are really really REALLY minor charges.

I understand that it might not always be a slam dunk application?

But I really doubt the CIC will look at that and go “yep denied you’re evil”

Like.

She didn’t bludgeon somebody or brutally hurt someone.

Or sell drugs or anything.

Lol she bit & spit on someone in separate incidents - not a big deal.

So I don’t really feel like she’ll be denied in any case.

If she is charged and convicted for assault, it's a serious matter. This is where you need a professional legal opinion. If you want the best chance of success, talk to a lawyer with experience in these matters. A Canadian lawyer would be better. An initial consultation should be around 300 dollars, though this is just a ballpark figure.

Don't try and self-diagnose or rely on free advice beyond a certain point. A mole on your hand may be harmless, or it may be a sign of something very serious - you cannot tell for certain by looking at it (or googling pictures), you need to go to a doctor.

Criminal charges are similar when it comes to immigration - may be nothing, may mean that you're banned for life. Talk to someone who can give you proper advice.

Good luck.