Will an accidental, misrepresentation of my Criminal Background on my initial IEC Visa affect my Exp

[JPE0151]

Hello, and thank you for taking the time to read through my situation.

First of all I'm from the UK and i've been living in Canada for nearly two years on the IEC Visa. I'm in the middle of submitting my pool application for PR through Express Entry.

My concern is that I have unintentionally misrepresented my criminal history when initially filling out the IEC Visa application two years ago.

To give a bit of backstory....I'm approaching 30 but unfortunately have a string of arrests from my youth; a recent subject access shows 7 in total (6 arrests when I was 16 and under and one arrest/caution from when I was aged 18) - none of the occasions resulted in anything more than a caution, thankfully and a lot were No Further Action.

Because of these however my ACRO report shows 'no live trace'.

In my IEC application in 2017 where it asks about previous arrests, convictions, charges etc, I selected Yes and from the best of my memory declared Five of the arrests/cautions with approximate dates and sent them a copy of my receipt applying for a subject access report. My IEC visa was then approved without them following up asking for a copy of the report, and I never went to pick it up.

So, fast forward to two years on - i'm getting all my ducks in a row for PR and apply for a subject access report to accompany the UK Police check, and obviously I see the 7 arrests on the subject access vs the 5 I declared. Unfortunately I missed out the only one when I was 18, due to it being an almost identical charge to a couple of the others - Possession of Cannabis - Caution, and the second wasn't submitted because as stupid as it sounds I didn't realise I was officially arrested...I was 16 and called by a police officer and told to come into the police station, which I did, and upon arrival I was detained for questioning and the hole saga ended with a No Further Action. It's only now that i've requested a subject access report that I can see the full extent of my history and it turns out I was arrested.

I understand that may seem inconceivable but I It was so long ago, I was 16 and the hole thing was quite a traumatic and stressful time. I was never put in cuffs, as far as I can remember I attended the police station off my own back, did an interview and a short while after was informed that everything was all clear.

I suppose what i'm asking is will a letter of explanation be enough to reason why there are discrepancies in my initial IEC Visa application and my Express Entry profile? Or is there any further steps I can take to prevent this mistake from harming my Application. It was genuinely just a combination of poor judgement and unorganisation on my behalf for not being more thorough it in the first place.

For the record, despite being a bit of a toerag during my youth - I got my head down, went to university and got a decent job. I've lived and worked in four different counties and haven't had so much as a parking ticket in the last 10 years.

Any advice or opinions would be greatly appreciated, worried sick.

 

[dotslash227]

Your arrests/convictions prior to you turning 18 doesn't matter.

When you apply for PR, IRCC will evaluate your previous file with your current file and may issue a PFL, because you didn't declare the the arrest you had after 18.

Given your's a complex case, you should consult an immigration attorney before proceeding with your application. What I think is, at the most you would end up writing an LOE, highlighting your mistake of not mentioning the >18 arrest though you were diligent enough to mention the past records, even though usage of cannabis is not a crime in Canada. Since you were never convicted, you won't need to apply for criminal rehablitation.

 

[JPE0151]

Thank you for your input dotslash227. An immigration adviser is definitely something I'm going to consider. Just to clarify though, you agree that a LOE included in my application explaining the situation would be my best course of action?

 

[Ed-1984]

Hello, and thank you for taking the time to read through my situation.

First of all I'm from the UK and i've been living in Canada for nearly two years on the IEC Visa. I'm in the middle of submitting my pool application for PR through Express Entry.

My concern is that I have unintentionally misrepresented my criminal history when initially filling out the IEC Visa application two years ago.

To give a bit of backstory....I'm approaching 30 but unfortunately have a string of arrests from my youth; a recent subject access shows 7 in total (6 arrests when I was 16 and under and one arrest/caution from when I was aged 18) - none of the occasions resulted in anything more than a caution, thankfully and a lot were No Further Action.

Because of these however my ACRO report shows 'no live trace'.

In my IEC application in 2017 where it asks about previous arrests, convictions, charges etc, I selected Yes and from the best of my memory declared Five of the arrests/cautions with approximate dates and sent them a copy of my receipt applying for a subject access report. My IEC visa was then approved without them following up asking for a copy of the report, and I never went to pick it up.

So, fast forward to two years on - i'm getting all my ducks in a row for PR and apply for a subject access report to accompany the UK Police check, and obviously I see the 7 arrests on the subject access vs the 5 I declared. Unfortunately I missed out the only one when I was 18, due to it being an almost identical charge to a couple of the others - Possession of Cannabis - Caution, and the second wasn't submitted because as stupid as it sounds I didn't realise I was officially arrested...I was 16 and called by a police officer and told to come into the police station, which I did, and upon arrival I was detained for questioning and the hole saga ended with a No Further Action. It's only now that i've requested a subject access report that I can see the full extent of my history and it turns out I was arrested.

I understand that may seem inconceivable but I It was so long ago, I was 16 and the hole thing was quite a traumatic and stressful time. I was never put in cuffs, as far as I can remember I attended the police station off my own back, did an interview and a short while after was informed that everything was all clear.

I suppose what i'm asking is will a letter of explanation be enough to reason why there are discrepancies in my initial IEC Visa application and my Express Entry profile? Or is there any further steps I can take to prevent this mistake from harming my Application. It was genuinely just a combination of poor judgement and unorganisation on my behalf for not being more thorough it in the first place.

For the record, despite being a bit of a toerag during my youth - I got my head down, went to university and got a decent job. I've lived and worked in four different counties and haven't had so much as a parking ticket in the last 10 years.

Any advice or opinions would be greatly appreciated, worried sick.

Hi, how did this go. Did you get accepted? Im in an almost identical situation.