Misrepresentation

[kaco]

Hi all,

I will give you a chronological order of events, and explain myself. Can you please advise?
- I was charged with possession of cannabis in 2010 (The police didn't find any cannabis on me, it was not even under 1 gram. Only my urine sample showed traces.).
- I was sentenced to 10 months of prison in 2012, but released on probation (Only went to rehabilitation for 1 year).
- The probation/rehabilitation office told the court that I completed the probation. The court ruled for dismissal of the case in 2014.
- I went to the judicial records office and they deleted the record since the case was dismissed. I got some clean police records and even applied for government jobs (I still have the clean certificates from that era to prove this).
- I applied for and got a visitor visa from Canada in 2018. I didn't think that I need to answer yes to the "have you ever been arrested, charged or convicted" question. I answered no because my police certificate was clean. I came for a cultural event, and I volunteered. I didn't get any benefits from getting that visa. I didn't stay more than I was permitted.
- In 2019, for whatever reason, the court changed its previous decision and stated that the dismissal decision was incorrect. They overruled their previous decision with: the sentence is deemed executed. So I am deemed to have completed 10 months of prison and my police certificate shows the case again. I can prove all of this with official documents. I had all the documents translated into English.
- In summer of 2021, I wanted to apply for a student visa, then for PR if everything goes well, but I found out that I can not get a clean certificate.
- When I researched what is the reason for this, and what I can do, I saw that I might be charged with committing a misrepresentation crime. But I was simply ignorant.

1- Should I contact IRCC and explain the situation before applying for a study permit? Would it help to explain myself before the application?
2- How can I prove that this was a mistake, not a misrepresentation? And would they give me a chance?
3- If I become inadmissible, can I appeal and take this to court from outside Canada? And what are the chances of removing the inadmissibility?
4- Are there any other ways (like a Temporary Resident Permits to come to Canada even though I'm inadmissible?

Thanks a ton!

 

[scylla]

Hi all,

I will give you a chronological order of events, and explain myself. Can you please advise?
- I was charged with possession of cannabis in 2010 (The police didn't find any cannabis on me, it was not even under 1 gram. Only my urine sample showed traces.).
- I was sentenced to 10 months of prison in 2012, but released on probation (Only went to rehabilitation for 1 year).
- The probation/rehabilitation office told the court that I completed the probation. The court ruled for dismissal of the case in 2014.
- I went to the judicial records office and they deleted the record since the case was dismissed. I got some clean police records and even applied for government jobs (I still have the clean certificates from that era to prove this).
- I applied for and got a visitor visa from Canada in 2018. I didn't think that I need to answer yes to the "have you ever been arrested, charged or convicted" question. I answered no because my police certificate was clean. I came for a cultural event, and I volunteered. I didn't get any benefits from getting that visa. I didn't stay more than I was permitted.
- In 2019, for whatever reason, the court changed its previous decision and stated that the dismissal decision was incorrect. They overruled their previous decision with: the sentence is deemed executed. So I am deemed to have completed 10 months of prison and my police certificate shows the case again. I can prove all of this with official documents. I had all the documents translated into English.
- In summer of 2021, I wanted to apply for a student visa, then for PR if everything goes well, but I found out that I can not get a clean certificate.
- When I researched what is the reason for this, and what I can do, I saw that I might be charged with committing a misrepresentation crime. But I was simply ignorant.

1- Should I contact IRCC and explain the situation before applying for a study permit? Would it help to explain myself before the application?
2- How can I prove that this was a mistake, not a misrepresentation? And would they give me a chance?
3- If I become inadmissible, can I appeal and take this to court from outside Canada? And what are the chances of removing the inadmissibility?
4- Are there any other ways (like a Temporary Resident Permits to come to Canada even though I'm inadmissible?

Thanks a ton!

1 - There's no one to contact or explain anything to in advance. The most you can do is include an LOE with your study permit application to explain the circumstances.
2 - I don't think you should be worried about misrepresentation. I think your main issue is that you are likely inadmissible to Canada now and need to go through the rehabilitation process.
3 - You need to go through the rehabilitation process to remove the inadmissibility.
4 - TRP is the only option but this won't allow you to study.

 

[scylla]

Hi all,

I will give you a chronological order of events, and explain myself. Can you please advise?
- I was charged with possession of cannabis in 2010 (The police didn't find any cannabis on me, it was not even under 1 gram. Only my urine sample showed traces.).
- I was sentenced to 10 months of prison in 2012, but released on probation (Only went to rehabilitation for 1 year).
- The probation/rehabilitation office told the court that I completed the probation. The court ruled for dismissal of the case in 2014.
- I went to the judicial records office and they deleted the record since the case was dismissed. I got some clean police records and even applied for government jobs (I still have the clean certificates from that era to prove this).
- I applied for and got a visitor visa from Canada in 2018. I didn't think that I need to answer yes to the "have you ever been arrested, charged or convicted" question. I answered no because my police certificate was clean. I came for a cultural event, and I volunteered. I didn't get any benefits from getting that visa. I didn't stay more than I was permitted.
- In 2019, for whatever reason, the court changed its previous decision and stated that the dismissal decision was incorrect. They overruled their previous decision with: the sentence is deemed executed. So I am deemed to have completed 10 months of prison and my police certificate shows the case again. I can prove all of this with official documents. I had all the documents translated into English.
- In summer of 2021, I wanted to apply for a student visa, then for PR if everything goes well, but I found out that I can not get a clean certificate.
- When I researched what is the reason for this, and what I can do, I saw that I might be charged with committing a misrepresentation crime. But I was simply ignorant.

1- Should I contact IRCC and explain the situation before applying for a study permit? Would it help to explain myself before the application?
2- How can I prove that this was a mistake, not a misrepresentation? And would they give me a chance?
3- If I become inadmissible, can I appeal and take this to court from outside Canada? And what are the chances of removing the inadmissibility?
4- Are there any other ways (like a Temporary Resident Permits to come to Canada even though I'm inadmissible?

Thanks a ton!

Here's the process for applying for rehabilitation. Processing times can be quite long so I would recommend you get your application in as soon as you can.

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigratio...admissible-canada-past-criminal-activity.html

 

[kaco]

@scylla Thank you for the answers,

I consulted an immigration lawyer and he told me that since cannabis was legalized in 2018, I wouldn't have been inadmissible for this crime even back then. There's not an equivalent crime in Canada, since I was not even in possession of cannabis. And since more than 5 years have passed since I completed the sentence, don't you think that I am deemed rehabilitated?

 

[kaco]

The main problem is misrepresentation (failure to disclose) because even if I got clean certificates, I must have disclosed that I was charged with this crime. But as I said, it wasn't intentional, it was a mistake. I didn't get any benefit from being granted this visa.

 

[scylla]

@scylla Thank you for the answers,

I consulted an immigration lawyer and he told me that since cannabis was legalized in 2018, I wouldn't have been inadmissible for this crime even back then. There's not an equivalent crime in Canada, since I was not even in possession of cannabis. And since more than 5 years have passed since I completed the sentence, don't you think that I am deemed rehabilitated?

I don't know. It will ultimately be up to IRCC. It's tricky since you were given a prison term (which I know wasn't served) and that you had to complete probation.

One option would be to apply for the study permit without rehab and see what happens. You absolutely must declare that you were previously arrested, charged, and convicted and include all of the relevant details and court documents. As part of this, you can include the LOE to explain why you didn't declare this in your visitor visa. I think the chances of this turning into misrepresentation are very very low. However if your TRV is still valid, you should certainly not use it again to travel to Canada.

Deemed rehabilitation is after 10 years (not 5 years).