Archive for July 6th, 2015

Traveling to Canada after a California DUI Conviction

Monday, July 6th, 2015

I’ve recently represented several people in California DUI cases who, after having been convicted, needed to travel to Canada. They were all surprised to learn that traveling to visit our neighbors to the north after a California DUI conviction was not as easy as they thought.

Canada considers driving under the influence as a very serious crime, so much so in fact, that they consider it an “indictable offense.” This is the functional equivalent to a felony under California law. Unlike California where a DUI is, for the most part, considered a misdemeanor for a first, second and third offense and punishable up to a year in jail, as an indictable offense in Canada, a DUI is punishable up to five years in jail.

Because all DUIs are, for all intents and purposes, considered felonies, anybody convicted of a DUI or even a wet reckless is excludable from entry into Canada under their Immigration Act.

Not all hope is lost. There are several exceptions where Canadian law allows a non-Canadian entry into the country despite a California DUI conviction.

The first exception is to be “deemed rehabilitated.” To be deemed rehabilitated, the maximum term of imprisonment for the DUI conviction was less than 10 years, the sentence for the California DUI conviction was completed at least 10 years ago, and no other indictable offenses were committed during those 10 years. If someone meets these criteria, they do not need to do anything further to gain entry into Canada, although it would be a good idea to have proof of this when trying to cross the border.



Another option to enter Canada even if someone has a California DUI conviction on their record is to obtain an expungement of the conviction. An expungement is the equivalent to a Canadian “record suspension.” Under Canadian law, a person cannot be denied entry for a DUI conviction where a record suspension has been issued for that conviction. To be eligible for an expungement of a California DUI conviction, a person must have successfully completed probation and must not have any criminal actions pending against them including criminal charges, probation on another case, or serving a sentence for another case.

While an expungement is the most common and efficient way to obtain entry into Canada, it would be wise to consult an immigration attorney to ensure that the expungement will meet the requirements of a “record suspension.”

The last way to enter Canada with a California DUI conviction on the record is to apply for a “temporary resident permit.” A temporary resident permit may be given when an applicant must enter Canada for a specific purpose and only for a limited period of time. The applicant must also so that the need to enter Canada must outweigh any risk to Canadian public safety. Like individual rehabilitation, an applicant must pay a non-refundable application fee.

Anyone wishing to enter Canada following a California DUI conviction through any of the abovementioned avenues should consult with both a criminal defense attorney as well as an immigration attorney.