Appeals & Enforcement
Including admissibility hearings before the Immigration Division of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB), applications for pre-removal risk assessment, danger opinions, appeals before the Immigration Appeals Division of the IRB, and Federal Court applications for judicial review and mandamus.
Frequently Asked Questions
Much depends on whether the conviction made you inadmissible to Canada. If the conviction was for a very minor offence, you may not have any problem. If the conviction did make you inadmissible for criminality, you need to overcome that inadmissibility through a process we call rehabilitation. You may apply for rehabilitation when a certain amount of time has passed (either five years or ten years) since the completion of any sentence that was imposed on conviction, including the payment of fines or the reinstatement of a driver’s licence. Deemed rehabilitation, where you are rehabilitated without making an application for rehabilitation, may also be available, depending on the nature of the offence and the amount of time that has passed.
Depending on the type of removal order issued, you may be able to return to Canada now. If you were issued with a departure order and you checked in with Canada Border Services Agency before you left, there is no prohibition on returning now. If you were issued with an exclusion order, you will need to wait one year before returning to Canada (or five years if the order was issued due to misrepresentation), unless you apply for and receive an authorization to return to Canda before that time. If you were issued with a deportation order, you will not be able to return to Canada until you apply for and receive an authorization to return to Canada. Regardless of the type of removal order issued, being authorized to return to Canada does not guarantee entry. You will need to meet the usual entry requirements, which incluees convincing an officer that you will comply with Canada’s immigration laws during your visit and when it is time to leave Canada.
The avenue of appeal for immigration matters is through the Immigration Appeal Division of the Immigration and Refugee Board (the IAD). Unfortunately though, you cannot appeal a refusal of a visitor visa to the IAD. You may, however, submit an application for leave and judicial review to the Federal Court. This is not an appeal, but rather a chance to have a judge review the decision of the officer to ensure that the officer followed proper procedures when reviewing the application and making the decision. If you are successful, the judge would send the matter back to Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada for review by another officer.