Reckless driving charge in Virginia, U.S., as a foreign citizen applying for a TRV. Questions about police certificate and admissibility

[P2022]

Since I have to declare that I have committed a criminal offence on the visa questionnaire, my application page lists that I have to submit a police certificate as a requirement. However, the circumstances are somehwat confusing and I need some clarification:

While on a trip to the U.S. in 2021, I was caught travelling 78 mph in a 55mph stretch of U.S. Highway 1. The officer who pulled me over issued me a 'Reckless Driving' charge for going 20mph + over the limit. After informing him that I was a foreign citizen (of a Southeast Asian country, but I reside in Qatar) and presenting my international driving permit (issued within Qatar), he gave me a court date. The officer took down my Qatar residency permit number (not passport), but did not take my fingerprints and let me go.

I could not meet this court date and had to travel back to Qatar. I called the court on the scheduled date and found that I only needed to pay a fine, which I settled immediately. However, when I look up the case record online, it says that I was found guilty in absentia of reckless driving, which is a misdemeanor.

Now, my Canadian visa application requires that I submit a police certificate. Given that I was not technically arrested (the case record does not list an arrest date) nor give my fingerprints, I am a bit confused since the Canadian government website states that they would only accept an Identity History Summary from the FBI. On the FBI's website, they state that the summary 'lists certain information taken from fingerprint submissions.'

Is there any other document that I can submit that satisfies this requirement, like the digital case record file or the actual citation by the police officer? If not, what steps can I take to proceed with my application? Will this impact my admissibility to Canada?

 

[scylla]

Since I have to declare that I have committed a criminal offence on the visa questionnaire, my application page lists that I have to submit a police certificate as a requirement. However, the circumstances are somehwat confusing and I need some clarification:

While on a trip to the U.S. in 2021, I was caught travelling 78 mph in a 55mph stretch of U.S. Highway 1. The officer who pulled me over issued me a 'Reckless Driving' charge for going 20mph + over the limit. After informing him that I was a foreign citizen (of a Southeast Asian country, but I reside in Qatar) and presenting my international driving permit (issued within Qatar), he gave me a court date. The officer took down my Qatar residency permit number (not passport), but did not take my fingerprints and let me go.

I could not meet this court date and had to travel back to Qatar. I called the court on the scheduled date and found that I only needed to pay a fine, which I settled immediately. However, when I look up the case record online, it says that I was found guilty in absentia of reckless driving, which is a misdemeanor.

Now, my Canadian visa application requires that I submit a police certificate. Given that I was not technically arrested (the case record does not list an arrest date) nor give my fingerprints, I am a bit confused since the Canadian government website states that they would only accept an Identity History Summary from the FBI. On the FBI's website, they state that the summary 'lists certain information taken from fingerprint submissions.'

Is there any other document that I can submit that satisfies this requirement, like the digital case record file or the actual citation by the police officer? If not, what steps can I take to proceed with my application? Will this impact my admissibility to Canada?

If you've been convicted of reckless driving, then you are most likely inadmissible to Canada. If you are inadmissible, then a TRV won't be approved.

I can't answer your question with regards to what documents are the right ones to submit. You may want to hire an immigration lawyer to help you and to confirm if this makes you inadmissible to Canada.

If you are in fact inadmissible due to this conviction, there's no point in applying for the TRV. It won't be approved. In that case your options would be to apply for a TRP (which can be quite difficult to get) or to wait until you qualify for rehabilitation in a few years and then go through that process.