Immigration Prosecutions Lawyer Toronto

One may face immigration proceedings where he or she has been charged with an offence under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.

If you are facing criminal charges and are not a Canadian citizen, it is in your best interest to speak with an immigration lawyer in order to appreciate the consequences that a criminal conviction can have on one’s immigration status.

Some questions you will want to ask an immigration lawyer may include:

• What their speciality within the field of immigration law is, if any;
• Whether the resolution offer proposed in my case makes me inadmissible under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act;
• Whether one can overcome inadmissibly under the IRPA;
• How the deportation process works;
• What happens at a deportation hearing; and
• What the travel consequences are to a conviction in my case, if any;
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Canadian case law has held that a conditional discharge is not a conviction for the purposes of admissibility under the IRPA. If you plead guilty to a criminal offence and receive a conditional discharge, you may be able to remain in Canada.

If you are convicted of an offence that carries a maximum punishment (even if you did receive the maximum) of 10 years imprisonment OR you were sentenced to 6 months imprisonment, there will be immigration consequences.

However, if you are inadmissible to Canada by reason of a criminal record, you may still be allowed to enter Canada if you:

• Demonstrate to an immigration officer that you meet the legal terms to be deemed rehabilitated . One may be deemed rehabilitated depending on the offence, how long has passed since the sentence ended, and if subsequent crimes were committed;
• Applied for rehabilitation and were approved;
• Were granted a record suspension (formally known as a pardon ); or
• Have a temporary resident permit and it has been less than 5 years since the end of your sentence OR you have valid reasons to be in Canada.

Some individuals will be prohibited from entering Canada under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. A person may be inadmissible for the following reasons:

• Security reason
• Human or international rights violations
• Committing or being convicted of a crime
• Organized crime, including membership in an organization that takes part in organized criminal activity, people smuggling or money laundering
• A medical condition that endangers public health and safety or causes excessive demand on health and social services
• Financial reasons
• Misrepresentation (i.e. providing false information or withholding information)
• Failure to comply with any provision of the IRPA; or
• having an inadmissible family member.

Specifically with records to criminal convictions, under section 36(1) of the IRPA, a permanent resident or foreign national is inadmissible to enter Canada where he or she was convicted 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.