Several years ago there was a time when a US citizen was allowed to enter Canada without any intrusion or difficulty with border patrol agents. Sadly, since 9/11, a lot has changed at the border and the days of wandering across Canada with nothing more than a wink from border patrol agents are long gone.
As a DUI attorney, I deal with many people facing DUI charges and sometimes with people who have already been convicted. It is important to understand how to avoid certain collateral consequences, such as a denial of entry into Canada, when reaching a resolution on a DUI matter. That alone would be a complete article and beyond the scope of this one. What I would like to address is what happens after a person is convicted of a DUI and how they can gain admission to Canada afterwards.
So let’s talk about what happens if your DUI conviction is less than 5 years old. If he has recently been convicted of a DUI and wishes to enter Canada as a US citizen, his options are quite limited. You can try your luck at the border and risk being turned away. Or you can apply for a temporary residence permit. The cost is around $200 and keep in mind that this process can take months and months and there is a lot of paperwork to complete.
If your DUI conviction is over 5 years, then your options are slightly better. As always, you can try your luck at the border and risk being turned away. You can apply for the temporary residence permit mentioned above. Or you can ask for approval of rehabilitation. The non-refundable fee ranges from $200 to $1,000 depending on the type of crime and the severity of the crime. What you need to provide to be approved is a police criminal record certificate from each state you have resided in since the age of 18. You will also need to provide the dates of all home and work addresses since you were 18 years old. Again, like the temporary residence permit, this process can take months and months, with an average time of more than 1 year.
Now let more than 10 years have passed since your DUI conviction. Since so much time has passed, the Canadian consulate has decided to make things easier for these people. In fact, you can arrive at the border and apply for rehabilitation approval right then and there, as long as the application is completed correctly. If approved, your previous DUI will no longer be an issue and you will be able to come and go as you please and experience all that Canada has to offer.
This is a sensitive area of the law that can be quite confusing and is often misunderstood. It is best to speak with an experienced DUI attorney who practices in your state.