Enter Canada with DWI?

Question

I know you cannot enter Canada if you have a DUI/DWI... but i also heard you can get sort of a temporary permission.

is that true? and how do you get it? is it doable, and how long will it take.

technically, there's no conviction yet, but we're guessing there will be in a week or so... trip to Canada is in less than a month.

Answer 1

Trip to Canada will have to be postponed 'til 2013. In Canada, the pardon process (which expunges your prior conviction) can be started five years after the completion of your sentence for indictable offences. And that still isn't a cakewalk to get - you need to go before the Parole Board on your knees pleading. Generally you can only get a pardon so soon in cases of minor indiscretions (first-degree murder ain't wiped off the books 5 years after the fact) and sympathetic cases. Your average boozehound has to walk the straight and narrow for quite a few years to prove he's clean and get the freedom to travel abroad.

So you won't be crossing the border next month, sadly. I recommend visiting Seattle. It's like Canada lite, in the same way the British Columbia is the stand-in for Florida for Canadian convicts who need to get away from the cold and the snow.

Answer 2

A person who has been convicted of a crime who wishes to enter Canada must apply for rehabilitation before being allowed to enter the country.  The application may either be made at the port of entry or can be made in advance (which takes up to six months).

Keep in mind, though, that the Canadian government doesn't allow people to apply for rehabilitation unless at least five years have passed following the end of the criminal sentence.  With the time between sentencing and your trip only being three weeks, I'd seriously reconsider the trip to Canada, as it's doubtful that permission will be granted.

Answer 3

If you are entering at Niagara Falls it might be easier but technically if you have DUI/DWI they may refuse entry. Sometimes you can pay a fine and are allowed entry. The temporary permission is deemed rehabilitation and streamlined rehabilitation. Applications are processed at Canadian ports of entry. Submitting an application for rehabilitation does not guarantee that the request will be approved. The fee is $200 or more.

A more involved process is criminal rehabilitation.

Americans can apply for “criminal rehabilitation” by submitting the following:

   1. An application form IMM 1444E

   2. A passport size photograph

   3. A copy of your passport data pages

   4. An FBI police certificate

   5. A state police certificate

   6. Copies of court documents indicating the charge, section of law violated, the verdict, and sentencing

   7. Proof of completed sentences, paid fines, court costs, ordered treatments, etc.

   8. Copies of the text of the law describing the offence.

   9. Detailed explanation of the circumstances surrounding the offence

  10. Three letters of reference from responsible citizens.

  11. A non-refundable processing fee of $180 USD

Further information can be found at Citizenship and Immigration Canada's webpage.

Answer 4

DUI, DWI & Criminal Legislation in Ontario  

   Immigration/Exclusion of Visitors, Inadmissibility to Canada for Criminal Conviction

36. (1) A permanent resident or a foreign national is inadmissible on grounds of serious criminality for

(a) having been convicted in Canada of an offence under an Act of Parliament punishable by a maximum term of imprisonment of at least 10 years, or of an offence under an Act of Parliament for which a term of imprisonment of more than six months has been imposed;

Answer 5

Really, Canada does not want a driver on their roads if they have a DUI/DWI any more that any other country.  Take your punishment, you drank and drove so suffer.

Answer 6

If you are American, coming as a temproary visit (holiday), Immigration doesn't check and doesn't care.