Refused incorrectly by consular officer error regarding petty offence?

[PennyDoe 2]

23 hours ago, Boiler said:

I am not familiar with Canadian Law and took the 6 months as a given, could you post under what code you were found guilty and the appropriate link?

 

I was charged with theft under $5000 punishable under section 334: https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-46/section-334-20030101.html

 

And this is the section that defines the maximums for the summary conviction at the time of the offence: https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-46/section-787-20081001.html#wb-cont 

 

Again, I only had 1) one theft charge punishable by summary conviction, 2) summary convictions at the time had a maximum of 6 months, and 3) I was sentenced to absolutely no prison time. Those 3 components seem to indicate that I would easily qualify for the petty offence exception. And I'm additionally frustrated that the officer didn't even give me an opportunity to explain any of that. 

[PennyDoe 2]

On 5/21/2025 at 7:12 AM, appleblossom said:

 

I added the link above after posting. 

 

That sounds like it was specific to your circumstances, rather than the maximum that could have been imposed under the law? You'd need to find the relevant law that shows it would have been a max 6 month sentence if that is the case using the criminal code linked to above - maybe your crime was classified differently to theft? 

 

 

I appreciate the link. I was charged with theft under $5000. Which yes, you've provided the link showing that it was punishable by summary conviction. However, in 2010-2011 when the offence occurred and I was sentenced, this was the law that applied for summary convictions: https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-46/section-787-20081001.html#wb-cont  and that's what's quoted in my court records. So I don't think it was specific to my case, I think it was the general law that applied.

 

The 4 immigration attorneys I've spoken to have said I need to use the law that applied during when I was charged and sentenced, not the current law because I can't prove that they would have convicted me under the current law, I can only prove they convicted me under the law at that time. 

[Hopelessincanada 6]

On 5/22/2025 at 10:41 AM, PennyDoe said:

I appreciate the link. I was charged with theft under $5000. Which yes, you've provided the link showing that it was punishable by summary conviction. However, in 2010-2011 when the offence occurred and I was sentenced, this was the law that applied for summary convictions: https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-46/section-787-20081001.html#wb-cont  and that's what's quoted in my court records. So I don't think it was specific to my case, I think it was the general law that applied.

 

The 4 immigration attorneys I've spoken to have said I need to use the law that applied during when I was charged and sentenced, not the current law because I can't prove that they would have convicted me under the current law, I can only prove they convicted me under the law at that time. 

I’m glad you were linked over to the other thread on our case- our cases are nearly identical. I wish we hired a lawyer before we even applied, but can’t do anything about that now. Our lawyer reviewed Canadian code at the time of my fiancés shoe theft (those shoes have become the most expensive in history! 🤪) and penalty was a year or less. So all of your points to meet exemption are the same as ours. Your interview went very similar to ours as well, zero questions asked about crime, one question about our relationship and it was over. He just wasn’t denied during the interview because he forgot a document- he was give 221g and was asked to send passport in with docs- we were very optimistic because they asked for passport. We sent everything in and they held his passport for almost 9 months, then denied him. So for that entire time we couldn’t travel to US and I couldn’t go home to my family (we have babies, not easy to go solo). And now we can’t even go because the inadmissibility ruling.

If you hire a lawyer, they have to send the request to review to the consulate first- if the consulate doesn’t reply within 30 days, then another request gets sent. If that is also ignored, then they can go to LegalNet. Montreal ignored our first request, then immediately responding to the second and said they weren’t going to review it. Because they responded, that allowed our lawyer to go ahead with the escalation to LegalNet. Same process, request every 30 days. We just had our third request sent out. I found another case on here that went through LegalNet with a positive outcome of reversal- it took 8 months for them to receive a response.
I will gladly keep you posted if/when we have an update on our case.   

[PennyDoe 2]

1 hour ago, Hopelessincanada said:

I’m glad you were linked over to the other thread on our case- our cases are nearly identical. I wish we hired a lawyer before we even applied, but can’t do anything about that now. Our lawyer reviewed Canadian code at the time of my fiancés shoe theft (those shoes have become the most expensive in history! 🤪) and penalty was a year or less. So all of your points to meet exemption are the same as ours. Your interview went very similar to ours as well, zero questions asked about crime, one question about our relationship and it was over. He just wasn’t denied during the interview because he forgot a document- he was give 221g and was asked to send passport in with docs- we were very optimistic because they asked for passport. We sent everything in and they held his passport for almost 9 months, then denied him. So for that entire time we couldn’t travel to US and I couldn’t go home to my family (we have babies, not easy to go solo). And now we can’t even go because the inadmissibility ruling.

If you hire a lawyer, they have to send the request to review to the consulate first- if the consulate doesn’t reply within 30 days, then another request gets sent. If that is also ignored, then they can go to LegalNet. Montreal ignored our first request, then immediately responding to the second and said they weren’t going to review it. Because they responded, that allowed our lawyer to go ahead with the escalation to LegalNet. Same process, request every 30 days. We just had our third request sent out. I found another case on here that went through LegalNet with a positive outcome of reversal- it took 8 months for them to receive a response.
I will gladly keep you posted if/when we have an update on our case.   

I know what you mean about expensive shoes, that’s how I’m feeling about the pair of jeans in my situation. never thought I’d be spending upwards of 10 grand on them 😅

 

I did read about your situation and see you’re expecting. I’m also expecting, which adds another layer of stress. Did your attorney ever contact the Department of State? Or speak with the consular manager? Our attorney said he doesn’t even bother waiting for a consular response and just goes straight to the manager and department of state to bypass that 30 day wait. I’m unfortunately totally solo because my husband is in the US with his other children so we are also going to try to parole me into the US for medical care for the pregnancy. I’ll keep you updated as well and yes please update me when you hopefully get a response soon. 

[Hopelessincanada 6]

2 hours ago, PennyDoe said:

I know what you mean about expensive shoes, that’s how I’m feeling about the pair of jeans in my situation. never thought I’d be spending upwards of 10 grand on them 😅

 

I did read about your situation and see you’re expecting. I’m also expecting, which adds another layer of stress. Did your attorney ever contact the Department of State? Or speak with the consular manager? Our attorney said he doesn’t even bother waiting for a consular response and just goes straight to the manager and department of state to bypass that 30 day wait. I’m unfortunately totally solo because my husband is in the US with his other children so we are also going to try to parole me into the US for medical care for the pregnancy. I’ll keep you updated as well and yes please update me when you hopefully get a response soon. 

Our lawyer hasn’t contacted anyone outside of LegalNet. I’m trying to be patient but I hit my limit months ago when they were holding his passport with no response. 

[Boiler 47,526]

3 hours ago, PennyDoe said:

I know what you mean about expensive shoes, that’s how I’m feeling about the pair of jeans in my situation. never thought I’d be spending upwards of 10 grand on them 😅

 

I did read about your situation and see you’re expecting. I’m also expecting, which adds another layer of stress. Did your attorney ever contact the Department of State? Or speak with the consular manager? Our attorney said he doesn’t even bother waiting for a consular response and just goes straight to the manager and department of state to bypass that 30 day wait. I’m unfortunately totally solo because my husband is in the US with his other children so we are also going to try to parole me into the US for medical care for the pregnancy. I’ll keep you updated as well and yes please update me when you hopefully get a response soon. 

Trying to think what treatment would not be available in Canada but would be available in the US?

[PennyDoe 2]

19 minutes ago, Boiler said:

Trying to think what treatment would not be available in Canada but would be available in the US?

My attorney just said he’s had success with the fact that I have established care with an OB in the US already and I have documented evidence of Canadian OB’s in my area saying they can’t take me on this late as a patient for my due date because their practice is full already. Most people establish prenatal care before 12 weeks, So I’m too far along to get regular care at this point and would likely not see a doctor until I go into labor and go to the emergency room (unless I continue seeing my OB in the US). 

[PennyDoe 2]

In case anyone finds themselves in this situation, I figured I’d provide an update of what happened. I was refused my Visa at my interview on May 20th and told to get a waiver for the criminal charge. I was pretty confident that they made an error in their decision for two reasons 1. I was never actually convicted of a crime according to immigration law (absolute discharges are technically not convictions), and 2. Even if I was viewed as being convicted, it fell under the petty offence exception. 
 

I secured an excellent attorney a few days after the interview, he agreed with what I thought and was confident they had made an error. He contacted both the Consul General and Legalnet. The consulate responded after about a week and requested more court records. After a few weeks they then requested my passport to issue the visa. All in all, it took about 2 months and my attorney emailing or calling the consulate almost every other day, but they ultimately reversed their decision and issued me my Visa. 

[TBoneTX 47,546]

1 hour ago, PennyDoe said:

I figured I’d provide an update of what happened

Thank you for your update, compliments on your persistence, and congratulations on your result.