Hi there.
I'm in a tricky situation concerning my application for IEC. I am in the process of applying currently, and I applied for my ACRO police certificate a week ago. When asked if I had been arrested, cautioned or reprimanded, I answered no.
When I was 14 years old, I was found in possession of a small amount of cannabis, taken to the police station, then later released. I assumed I had just received an informal telling off and that it was not on my record. However ACRO have got back to me asking about if I am sure whether I have never been arrested. I have deduced from this and talking to parents that I was actually arrested and given a reprimand.
I now know that this will be on my police certificate, and I will have to explain on my IEC application what happened. I am hoping that due to the fact I was a juvenile, and its almost been a decade since, and it was only a reprimand, that I will be deemed rehabilitated and allowed to proceed with the application.
The bigger problem is that when travelling to Canada multiple times over the past two years, I applied for an ETA. Due to the fact that I was unaware of my arrest or reprimand when I applied, because it was over ten years ago and I was only a child, I did not know the details - I answered no to the question asking me if I had ever been arrested cautioned or reprimanded.
So my question is - will the immigration officer compare my IEC application to my ETA, and see that the answers are different? Will they then be able to deem me a liar and reject me from ever entering? Is that common protocol to compare the two?
I know they could technically accuse me of misrepresentation, but in truth I was unaware of having been formally arrested when I made the declaration on my ETA. I thought I had just been taken to the station and given a telling off, I was only 14 and I quickly forgot it.
What is my best course of action here? In my note on the IEC application explaining my reprimand, should I explain what's happened and that I was unaware of my conviction until obtaining my police certificate, and then admit that the answer was different on my ETA? Will that approach work or is it just a guarantee of rejection because technically I have lied?
I am really very worried about this as I was planning to go and live with my girlfriend over there for two years and if I'm rejected then we'll pretty much have to end our relationship.
Any help or advice would be appreciated. Thank you.
I'm in a tricky situation concerning my application for IEC. I am in the process of applying currently, and I applied for my ACRO police certificate a week ago. When asked if I had been arrested, cautioned or reprimanded, I answered no.
When I was 14 years old, I was found in possession of a small amount of cannabis, taken to the police station, then later released. I assumed I had just received an informal telling off and that it was not on my record. However ACRO have got back to me asking about if I am sure whether I have never been arrested. I have deduced from this and talking to parents that I was actually arrested and given a reprimand.
I now know that this will be on my police certificate, and I will have to explain on my IEC application what happened. I am hoping that due to the fact I was a juvenile, and its almost been a decade since, and it was only a reprimand, that I will be deemed rehabilitated and allowed to proceed with the application.
The bigger problem is that when travelling to Canada multiple times over the past two years, I applied for an ETA. Due to the fact that I was unaware of my arrest or reprimand when I applied, because it was over ten years ago and I was only a child, I did not know the details - I answered no to the question asking me if I had ever been arrested cautioned or reprimanded.
So my question is - will the immigration officer compare my IEC application to my ETA, and see that the answers are different? Will they then be able to deem me a liar and reject me from ever entering? Is that common protocol to compare the two?
I know they could technically accuse me of misrepresentation, but in truth I was unaware of having been formally arrested when I made the declaration on my ETA. I thought I had just been taken to the station and given a telling off, I was only 14 and I quickly forgot it.
What is my best course of action here? In my note on the IEC application explaining my reprimand, should I explain what's happened and that I was unaware of my conviction until obtaining my police certificate, and then admit that the answer was different on my ETA? Will that approach work or is it just a guarantee of rejection because technically I have lied?
I am really very worried about this as I was planning to go and live with my girlfriend over there for two years and if I'm rejected then we'll pretty much have to end our relationship.
Any help or advice would be appreciated. Thank you.