Chuck: I think you're an honest guy. You completed the form honestly, you answered the questions honestly and I think you honestly don't understand what's happened here.
You wrote:
Originally Posted by
Chuck9
I answered truthfully and said I had been arrested but never convicted, (snip) there was a conviction on my record apparently.(snip)... the judge ordered the removal of the charge after three months probation...(snip)
and then
Originally Posted by
Chuck9
The worst part is the "possession charge" was the result of an undercover officer offering me a gram of hashish outside a bar that was emptying out, I was drunk and said "sure!"...no money even changed hands. At the hearing I represented myself and luckily the judge saw this arrest for what it was. I was placed on probation for three months and this charge was supposed to have been wiped out permanently.(snip) From my investigation of the laws had I driven home and killed someone while I was drunk and was convicted of DUI I would have no problem crossing the border...they could care less?(snip)
Here's the deal, you don't get
probation if a charge is
dismissed. Probation is a sentence, a punishment for a
conviction. Instead of a fine or jail time, you "get probation." Simply put, if your description is accurate, you
do have a conviction "on your record, in the system" ... somewhere. The RCMP (or a police agency in general) doesn't really independently maintain conviction records: a court does that, the court that generated the conviction. When you wrote...
Originally Posted by
Chuck9
(snip)... As a matter of fact the border guard needed guiding to the exact precinct I was taken too since he found nothing on the national database either. Basically I screwed myself and had I lied on the form it would have stayed buried forever. (snip)
..."guided" them to the right jurisdiction ("precinct") the record of your conviction showed up and that's where you find yourself now. This sort of thing isn't unusual, see other parallel discussions at:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...ada+conviction and
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...ada+conviction
Originally Posted by
greentips
I'd get a good immigration lawyer. It might be easier to change your name and get a new passport with a new passport number.
I can't agree more with the first part of that suggestion, you DO need a good lawyer and it should probably be a good immigration lawyer AND a good criminal lawyer. One would be able to work on the DHS aspect of your situation, the other on the efforts to actually have the conviction removed. I'm sure there are other references but check out:
this link as, perhaps, one place to get more information not to mention this link on Canadian
"criminal admissibility." While these are related to entry INTO Canada, they're going to be a good place to better understand some of what's going on and references there may help you find someone IN Canada that can help. Best of luck.