QUESTION: My husband is a Canadian Citizen and would like to know if he has a criminal 

record could he get a passport. If so then if he goes on a cruise ship from Vancouver could he 

get on and stay on the ship. We will be stopping and boarding at some United States ports. 

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david ingram replies:

It depends on the charge and the conviction and I am NOT an expert here.

He can go to any international airport or Train Station that has a US preclearance office or any US consulate or you can write to any US Consulate to obtain a copy of a US Visa Waiver package.

You can also to to any land US POE (Port of Entry) and ask fro a package.  If you do this, it is better to park on the Canadian Side and walk to the US office and ask for the package.

You can find a list of all US Embassies, Consulates and Diplomatic Missions at  - http://www.usembassy.gov/

You can also use the services of a lawyer or something like PARDONS CANADA to help you.

Also, if he only has one shoplifting charge or one DUI, he will have a criminal record but neither of those if they are the only one, would require a waiver,

Armed Robbery - yes

Spousal Assault - yes

fraud and embezzlement- yes

But you have to check.  The easiest and cheapest way by far is to go to a land border or an airport and ask if your specific situation requires a waiver.\

If it does, ask for the package and expect to wait a year or more for it to be approved.  And, Do NOT book any cruises in US waters in the meantime.

The following may help
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david ingram replies;

It can cause a problem but should not stop your entering the USA if that is all there is.  Just make sure that you tell the officer about it at the border even if not asked.

As an example, Gordon Campbell, the present Premier of British Columbia spent a night in jail and was convicted of Impaired driving in Hawaii and still goes back every year.  You could say you are in good company and you would be because Gordon is doing a pretty good job settling land claims, etc.

It DOES stop an American with one US DUI from entering Canada however.  My favourite story was 16 years ago now.

A fellow named Carmack from Atlanta, Georgia was going to Whitehorse in august 1992.

Why?

Well, he was the great nephew of George Washington Carmack, one of the discoverers of the Yukon Goldrush along with Skookum Jim Mason, his Brother in Law. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Carmack

He had a gold embossed invitation from the Queen of England, a letter from the Acting Prime Minister of Canada, Erik Nielson (brother of Leslie Nielson, the actor) and his ticket was paid for by the Canadian Government. 

He was to be a special guest for the 50th Anniversary celebrations of the Alaska Highway at Carmacks, a town named after his great uncle. http://www.yukoncommunities.yk.ca/communities/carmacks/

However, when the Canadian Customs inspector asked him if he had ever been arrested, he said yes, for DUI eight years before and that was it.  He was turned back even though the inspector could have told him that he could have purchased a special permit for a one time entry or even got a permanent entry for $400.00.

What was silly, was that this Carmack was the Deputy director of the FBI in Atlanta.

It can happen to anyone on either side of the border.

You can, of course, go to any border office or the Homeland Security at the airport or at a border crossing at a time when you are not intending to cross and check with them to make sure that I am correct.  If you happen to be in Vancouver or Niagara Falls or st Lambert Quebec where the re is a US Customs and Homeland Security pre-clearance for AMTRAK trains, going to the station just as the train is pulling out of the station usually gets you an officer to talk to who has nobody else to talk to and you can get a decent conversation.

Hope this helps.
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Question

I was searched at the US border two days ago.  They did not find anything but I was asked if I had ever smoked marijuana.  I said yes, and mentioned that President Clinton had even smoked marijuana.

Wham!

I was treated like a criminal, fingerprinted, and banned from the United States.

I was told I had to get a waiver.  What's a waiver?

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david ingram replies:

Admitting to the smoking of marijuana, the taking of Magic mushrooms, being part of an LSD experiment in the sixties are all grounds for inadmissibility to the United States.

Bill Clinton admitted to smoking Marijuana in Britain.  If he had not been a US Citizen, that admission is enough to ban him from the USA for life.  Most people caught in this have been to the states 50 to 100 times before it rears its ugly head.

Our BC Premier was arrested and jailed in Hawaii for Drunk Driving.  If he was not a Canadian citizen, that is enough to ban him from Canada for life (without a waiver from Canada).  In August 1998, We banned and refused entry to FBI Assistant Director Carmacks because he had an eight year old SUI in Georgia.

And whatever you do, don't have  a blog about your old experiences or mention it in an email. 

The following story from the Herald Tribune will explain the process and why and futility.  Now that I have said that, I think that Mr Feldman has  over-reacted.  Getting a waiver is tedious and embarrassing but relatively easy to do .  You do NOT need a lawyer.  Just fill in the paperwork.  There are organizations that can help that I mention further on.  I don't do it anymore because I am too busy with tax but up to 2000, had likely helped over 100 people with their waiver applications and none were turned down that I know of.

This comes from: http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/05/14/news/legal.php

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Web searches at U.S. border bring scrutiny to new level

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The search turned up an article in a 2001 issue of the journal Janus Head devoted to the legacy of R.D. Laing, with whom Feldmar had studied in London about 30 years before.

"I traveled to many regions many times with the help of many different substances," Feldmar wrote of his experiences with Laing and other psychiatrists and therapists. "I took peyote, psilocybin mushrooms, cannabis" and other drugs, he added, "but I kept coming back to LSD."

He was asked by a border guard whether he was the author of the article and whether it was true. Yes, he replied. And yes.

Feldmar was held for four hours, fingerprinted and, after signing a statement conceding the long-ago drug use, sent home.

Mike Milne, a spokesman for the Customs and Border Protection agency in Seattle, said he could not discuss individual cases for reasons of privacy. But the law is clear, Milne said. People who have used drugs are not welcome here.

"If you are or have been a drug user," he said, "that's one of the many things that can make you inadmissible to the United States."

He added that the government was constantly on the hunt for new sources of information. "Any new technology that we have available to us, we use to do searches on," Milne said.

Feldmar has been told by the American consul general in Vancouver that he may now enter the United States only if he obtains a formal waiver.

"Both our countries have very similar regulations regarding issuance of visas for citizens who have violated the law," the consul, Lewis Lukens, wrote to Feldmar in September. "The issue here is not the writing of an article, but the taking of controlled substances."

The waiver process would require a lawyer, several thousand dollars and dishonesty, Feldmar said. He would have to say he has been rehabilitated.

"Rehabilitated from what?" he asked. "It's degrading, literally degrading."

Ethan Nadelmann, the executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, which works to ease drug penalties, said Feldmar's case proved how arbitrary U.S. drug policy can be. "Roughly a majority of the population of the United States between the ages of 18 and 58 has violated a drug law at least once," he said.

Feldmar said, "I should warn people that the electronic footprint you leave on the Net will be used against you. It cannot be erased."

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The Following two stories come from my April 1994 newsletter

--Situation 9

I do not know this couple either. It comes from CTV National News. Couple in
Maple Ridge are going to U.S. through the same Huntington crossing. They
have been down dozens of times. They are asked if they have ever been
arrested. He says no because he has a Canadian pardon. For some reason, the
INS people check. He was arrested and charged and convicted 18 years before
for the possession of a single marijuana cigarette. HER car is seized. At
last word, the car was not being returned and will not be.

Situation 10

Same Crossing. A Vancouver City Policeman who has a criminal charge against
him and is under suspension is going across the border with his wife and one
other person. His truck is seized for trying to get into the U.S. while
under a charge. It also turns out his wife has a criminal record.

You see; it does not matter whether you are asked or not, it is illegal to
enter the U.S. if you have a criminal record or have been arrested unless
you have a waiver from the U.S. Department of Justice. And, if you are
taking someone else across with your car or they borrow your car and drive
across the US border without mentioning the charge (even with a waiver
form), you lose your car.


And this is a newsletter from a couple of weeks ago  It also deals with getting a Canadian Pardon if you have an actual conviction and have not just admitted to something morally illegal under US and / or Canadian law.  Remember that in the 70's, John Sheffield received a fie year sentence for possession of LSD on the very same day that the LeDain Commission recommended that marijuana be lefgalized or at least decriminalized.

hope this all helps


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