Cruising to Canada with a record

[Cactuscruise]

As long as you have an American passport you will never have any problems getting in any country. That is all they are interested in.

 

MexicoBob

 

This is not quite true. If your name is on any type of immigration list (various lists for various reasons) or if you have the same name as someone on the list you can be detained.

The American passport no longer carries the weight it once did. In the old days you'd be waved through border crossings when the authorities saw just the cover of your passport. those days are over.

[happylady]

so I called the seattle canadian embassy and they assisted me with getting it waived....

 

Good to hear since you're bringing the Jack on our cruise next year!! :D

[royd1968]

Good to hear since you're bringing the Jack on our cruise next year!! :D

 

 

I was hoping you all wouldnt see that post....but I would feel bad if anyone had to go through what my brother did.....and by the way, Im going to canada twice this summer, and twice next summer, so, theres zero issues with me anymore...to be honest, the entire thing was a bit silly...the rules really must have tightened up in the last year or so, because I didnt have to pay a fee..I just had to drive to a border crossing, and do a silly little thing where basicly I promised to be a good boy from now on....and for that, I was rewarded with two awesome queensryche concerts in victoria and vancouver..

[deepnite10]

we just return d from our Alaskan cruise..when got off the ship in Prince Ruppert.. we went thru Canadian security and all we needed was our passports..

 

i had forgotten all about getting busted for petty theft when i was 10 and vandelism at 12..:o

 

don t sweat it..it s hard..but, don t look nervous:p just another day

at the park..

[unklez]

This is not quite true. If your name is on any type of immigration list (various lists for various reasons) or if you have the same name as someone on the list you can be detained.

The American passport no longer carries the weight it once did. In the old days you'd be waved through border crossings when the authorities saw just the cover of your passport. those days are over.

 

True that cactus. In fact thanks to Bush-Cheney, now half the world checks more when they see an American passport :(

[happylady]

I was hoping you all wouldnt see that post...

 

Hey if it had been last year, then I would have said..."Roy, you got some 'splaining to do!!" But knowing what you do for a living, I know better. ;)

[salty dingo]

Salty Dingo, thanks for the link. I'm just curious, does one HAVE to apply for "rehabilitation" in order to enter Canada? I mean, if the sentence was completed 30 years ago, do you still have to apply? Really, I'm just curious. ;)

No, there are several alternatives. First, if you are not asked, you do not have to volunteer anything. So you may just get waved through.

• Deemed rehabilitation at a Canadian port of entry;
  
• Streamlined rehabilitation at a Canadian port of entry;
  
• Approval of rehabilitation through a Canadian Consulate in the United States; and
  
• A Temporary Resident Permit through a Canadian Consulate in the United States
  

Deemed Rehabilitation.

Persons are eligible to apply for deemed rehabilitation at a port of entry if the following are true:

• There was only one conviction in total;
  
• At least ten years have elapsed since all of the sentences for the conviction were completed (payment of all fees, jail time completed, restitution paid, etc);
  
• The conviction would not be considered serious criminality in Canada (most felony convictions in the United States are equivalent to serious criminality in Canada); and
  
• The conviction did not involve any serious property damage, physical harm to any person, or any type of weapon.
  

Streamlined Rehabilitation.

Persons are eligible to apply for streamlined rehabilitation at a port of entry if the following are true:

• There were two or less convictions in total;
  
• At least five years have elapsed since all of the sentences for the conviction(s) were completed (payment of all fees, jail time completed, restitution paid, etc);
  
• The convictions would not be considered serious criminality in Canada (most felony convictions in the United States are equivalent to serious criminality in Canada); and
  
• The convictions did not involve any serious property damage, physical harm to any person, or any type of weapon.
  

Deemed & Streamlined Rehabilitation Applications.

Deemed rehabilitation and streamlined rehabilitation applications are processed at Canadian ports of entry. Submitting an application for rehabilitation does not guarantee that the request will be approved. Should your client wish to apply for either, the client must bring the following documents to a port of entry during regular business hours (Monday - Friday between 8am and 5pm):

• A United States passport or birth certificate (with photo identification);
  
• A copy of court documents for each conviction, and proof that all sentences were completed;
  
• A recent FBI identification record;
  
• Recent police certificates from the state where the conviction(s) occurred, and from any state where a person has lived for six (6) months or longer in the last 10 years; and
  
• A fee is involved for the streamlined rehabilitation process, equivalent to $200.00 Canadian. There is no fee for deemed rehabilitation.
  

Approval of Rehabilitation.

If more than 5 years have elapsed since all sentences related to the conviction(s) were completed, but a person is not eligible for rehabilitation at a port of entry (because of the nature or number of convictions), a person may apply for approval of rehabilitation through a Canadian Consulate in the United States. The same documents required for port of entry rehabilitation identified above are also required for rehabilitation through a Canadian Consulate, plus a completed Application for Criminal Rehabilitation (Citizenship & Immigration Canada Form IMM 1444. Five Canadian Consulates in the U.S. process criminal applications - Buffalo, NW, New York, NY, Detroit, MI, Los Angeles, CA, and Seattle, WA. Again, the decision to approve rehabilitation is discretionary, so there is no certainty in obtaining admission to Canada. In the situation where a person is ineligible for rehabilitation because of the nature or number of convictions, employment of competent Canadian immigration counsel may facilitate approval of the application.

 

Temporary Resident Permit.

If a person is not eligible for deemed, streamlined, or approved rehabilitation, the only option remaining (short of a pardon or executive action) is to apply for a temporary resident permit. This is a process where a person requests special permission to enter or remain in Canada.

A person seeking a temporary resident permit submits the documents required for deemed or streamlined rehabilitation as well as a completed Application for Criminal Rehabilitation, except that the applicant does not check the box in § A(1) indicating Application for Approval of Rehabilitation, but instead checks the box in § A (2) indicating For Information Only.

[nancydee]

Ron,

I just spoke to my SIL who works for customs and immigration Canada.

She suggests your cousin calls the Canadian embassy in NY (there is one in Buffalo and one in NY city), and ask for a waver for access into Canada.

[salty dingo]

Ron,

I just spoke to my SIL who works for customs and immigration Canada.

She suggests your cousin calls the Canadian embassy in NY (there is one in Buffalo and one in NY city), and ask for a waver for access into Canada.

The waiver is called a "Minister's Approval of Rehabilitation" - see post above for details. It's not a simple or inexpensive process. Buffalo is running between 18 months and two years processing time right now. I have no idea why it takes so long.

[dobiemom]

Thanks, Salty Dingo!

[Putterdude]

A person convicted of crime is not admissible into Canada, pasport or no passport. However if such an offence has occured in a time frame that is some 5 to 10 years out the Canadian Border Services agent (customs) has the discretion to admit such a person as they are in the eyes of Canada deemed to be rehabilitated. If it is less than five years out then the person may be offered a one time admisson waiver that will cost $200 but it is only good for that one trip and should that person try to re-enter with out having obtained a permanent waiver from a Canadian counsulate office they will be fined. This applies also to DUIs unless the conviction occurs in a state where it is not a criminal offence. In the situation described by the original poster I doubt that this is going to be an issue given the nature of the offence and the time that has ellapsed but I would bring along any paper work concerning the incident it the event it become an isssue.

It is interesting to note that this is not the case with a Canadian entering the US, in the event of a criminal convection the Canadian is banned for life from entering the US.:mad:

[jessemon]

Hey Ronda....It's "Mom"....LOL.....

I don't know if they will let you cruise into Canada with a "record" but, I know they will let you into Canada with a "CD".....:p:D;)

[Cruisin' Ron VA]

Hey Ronda....It's "Mom"....LOL.....

I don't know if they will let you cruise into Canada with a "record" but, I know they will let you into Canada with a "CD".....:p:D;)

 

You big silly!

[jessemon]

You big silly!

Hey...Who's you buddy ?????;):cool:

[Valley Twin]

So what's the deal? Canadian immigration has someone whose job it is to check for criminal records of every person listed on every cruise ship and airplane manifest? How do they do it at the land based border crossings? I'm just not seeing how this is possible. I can see checking against a relatively small no-fly list or a list of known terrorists or major criminals, but checking every one of 3000 passengers on each ship arriving to see if there are any DUIs?

[Nunu]

So what's the deal? Canadian immigration has someone whose job it is to check for criminal records of every person listed on every cruise ship and airplane manifest? How do they do it at the land based border crossings? I'm just not seeing how this is possible. I can see checking against a relatively small no-fly list or a list of known terrorists or major criminals, but checking every one of 3000 passengers on each ship arriving to see if there are any DUIs?

 

At land based border crossings it's done the same way as American customs does. They might choose to pull you over and ask further questions which may or may not lead to you being sent back with your tail between your legs. It's a random process with a huge amount of people going back and forth everyday. I've probably entered the states 500 times in my life and have never had anything more than a couple of questions asked, and never been sent for any type of secondary checks. But that doesn't mean a person crossing for the first or tenth time won't.

[salty dingo]

So what's the deal? Canadian immigration has someone whose job it is to check for criminal records of every person listed on every cruise ship and airplane manifest? How do they do it at the land based border crossings? I'm just not seeing how this is possible. I can see checking against a relatively small no-fly list or a list of known terrorists or major criminals, but checking every one of 3000 passengers on each ship arriving to see if there are any DUIs?

At the land-based crossings, they have the car to consider. They can run the plate and run your driver's license. That is in addition to running the NCIC check. I assume all this takes a lot of time so they choose their quarry carefully.

 

On an airplane or cruise ship, the passenger manifest comes from a computer. They just pipe the data file from the cruise line over to Canadian authorities who then can run a mass check of that list against NCIC's database. You are right, no one person would want a job manually checking each person. But the computer can do it in a jiffy without much manual effort.

 

Then, the computer kicks out a list of problem passengers. Probably people with serious crimes at any point in the past, or people with minor crimes within the last five years. Not sure what the criteria is but that is a reasonable guess. Then those people are not allowed off in Canadian ports of call. A minor annoyance in any event.

 

They don't do this on all cruises calling in Canada but they certainly do it in some cases.

[number1cruiser]

My husband had gotten in some trouble over 35 years ago, we had wanted to take another

Alaskan cruise but after doing some checking such getting his records and speaking with the Canadian Embassy we found out that he would not be allowed into Canada with out doing the rehabiliation paperwork, the cost would be around 800.00 to a 1,000.00 to get it all done. And then they said that even doing all of this there was still a chance of not being approved. We decide not to go ahead with . We are now thinking that next year the Carnival Spirit is leaving from Seattle,Wa and we might be able to do that one and when the ship makes it stop in Canada we would just stay on the ship. Does anyone know if that would work?

 

Number1cruiser

[salty dingo]

Yes, there is a HUGE risk if you were to leave from Vancouver, as it may be possible they would not let you into the country to get to the ship.

 

From Seattle, there is no problem. Carnival will not care about this, and the worst that could happen when you get to Victoria, BC is that you attempt to get off and the machine buzzes and security informs you that you must stay on board for this port. Not a big risk, I think.

[bububr]

Everything has become a bit hairy.

 

First, if you have a NEW passport it has a chip in it that when scanned pulls up ALL of your personal history.....If you have an old passport and they swipe it....the data base runs a quick search on your information for any red flags. This only takes seconds per person.

 

It is the border crossing agents discretion whether to let you in or not REGARDLESS of your background. Having a passport does NOT give you the RIGHT to enter a country. Having a passport only PROVES that you are an official citizen of that country.

 

So if the agent doesn't like the color blue, and you show up with a spic and span background in a blue leisure suit...he/she could by all rights tell you to take a hike and you would have no say in the matter...........

 

Its a PRIVILEGE to cross a border, not a RIGHT.

 

Dave:eek:

[salty dingo]

Everything has become a bit hairy.

 

First, if you have a NEW passport it has a chip in it that when scanned pulls up ALL of your personal history.....

It would be very interesting to know what data that chip contains. Could be that it is only an ID number which links to a database record. Probably no faster to look up than the old swipe method except they dont have to swipe, they just get the passport close to the reader and it reads it. If you have to swipe 1,000 passports a day, it is bound to make your life a lot easier!

 

I think the border people are not so much interested in enforcing every detail of the law as they are in trying to prevent someone from entering who may be a danger or a burden to society.

 

For a cruise ship passenger in a port of call, it probably a good bet that you are going to be spending more than you cost them, and you will be leaving very soon in any event.

[Cushing985]

When I was young and stupid and just back from Viet Nam I got 5 speeding tickets in just a couple of weeks. I decided just to blow them off expecting to get a warning letter from the Police to pay them. Anyway, a couple of months later the cops came to my work and arrested me for Contempt of Court and threw me in jail. My boss was nice enough to bail me out after a couple of hours and before meeting "Bubba" in the showers.:eek:

 

We just got back from Canada on the Splendor and didn't have any problems. They're just looking for a passport.

[Valley Twin]

Everything has become a bit hairy.

 

First, if you have a NEW passport it has a chip in it that when scanned pulls up ALL of your personal history.....If you have an old passport and they swipe it....the data base runs a quick search on your information for any red flags. This only takes seconds per person.

 

But what if you're not traveling with a passport at all? Remember that under the new rules if you're on a closed loop cruise a passport is not required for reentry into the US. I'm fairly confident that Carnival would have something on their site saying that you wouldn't be allowed off the ship without a passport if Canada wasn't going to let you in without one.

[Dr. Zebra]

At land based border crossings it's done the same way as American customs does. They might choose to pull you over and ask further questions which may or may not lead to you being sent back with your tail between your legs. It's a random process with a huge amount of people going back and forth everyday. I've probably entered the states 500 times in my life and have never had anything more than a couple of questions asked, and never been sent for any type of secondary checks. But that doesn't mean a person crossing for the first or tenth time won't.

 

Wow! How'd you manage 500 times without any further checks? I've crossed into Canada all of one time (at Detroit-Windsor) and got sent to the customs and immigration folks to run my background, swear on my mother's life that I wasn't coming to Canada to stay without telling them, and search my vehicle. Of course, I'm a truck driver so my crossing experience is going to be a little different than that of a passenger vehicle. ;)

 

Seriously, I think the border agent thought he was being funny by sending me there because I screwed up and admitted that it as my first time in Canada. :D

[bububr]

I do believe you are correct...in a way. If you are leaving FROM a US port and returning to a US port....A passport MAY not be necessary...It is only essential now for direct passage to and from Mexico, Canada and some Caribbean islands. However if something were to happen AT a foreign port...and you have to fly home from Mexico, Canada, or the Carib. The US would deny you entry back into the states without a passport.

 

Getting back....A country requires a ship to send its manifest of passengers to immigration before it docks....If they run your passport and come up with any problems...the worse that will happen is that they will detain you from disembarking the ship to enter the country and you would have to stay onboard...Simple.

 

Just remember NOTHING should be taken for granted... And I as many have done things in the past that I have learned from and never repeated...However, I also worry that these could jump out and bite me in the butt at any time even though they have been resolved here in the US.

 

I consider my self fortunate up til now...but the new rules only went into effect June 1, info sharing with Canada, Carib, and Mexico...my past indiscression may come back to haunt me. Its a terrible feeling...but I have a contingency plan in case it does...and I don't take anything for granted.

 

Dave:eek: