What is the Cost of Criminal Rehabilitation Canada?

If a US citizen has a misdemeanor or felony conviction that Canada views as a potentially indictable crime, they will often be classified as criminally inadmissible and may get denied entry at the border. It is possible to permanently overcome criminal inadmissibility to Canada by applying for Criminal Rehabilitation (CR). This involves convincing the Government of Canada that you will never again commit a crime and are therefore safe to let in. Applying for Canadian Rehabilitation is a complex legal process that typically takes about 6 to 12 months for government processing, but an experienced lawyer may be able to facilitate faster review. Criminal Rehabilitation applications can sometimes be hundreds of pages long, especially if an applicant has multiple arrests in their past that each need to be addressed in detail. Due to the extensive amount of paperwork involved, the cost of Criminal Rehabilitation is not cheap.

When calculating how much Criminal Rehabilitation for Canada will cost, a person can obtain a price quote from a Canadian Rehabilitation lawyer and then add the amount that will be charged by the Government of Canada based on their criminal history. Both the processing fees charged by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and the cost of a Criminal Rehabilitation lawyer can depend on a person's criminal record. In cases of "standard criminality", where an applicant does not have any offenses that could be punished by ten or more years in jail in Canada, the Government of Canada Criminal Rehabilitation fee for processing is CAD $229.77 or about USD $175. In cases of "serious criminality", where an applicant has a conviction that equates to an offense in Canada that could be punished by ten years in prison or longer, the Criminal Rehabilitation fee charged by the Government of Canada can increase to CAD $1148.87 or about USD $875. These IRCC fees increased slightly in December 2023, as Canada adjusted them for inflation. They were previously CAD $200 (USD $155) and CAD $1000 (USD $770).

The cost of a Canadian Rehabilitation attorney can vary depending on the lawyer's education, reputation, and experience, as well as how much work will be required to prepare your specific application. Price quotes from Canada immigration lawyers for the professional preparation of a Criminal Rehabilitation application can vary from about $1800 to $4500. Since every single arrest or conviction in your past must be adequately addressed in detail, if you only have one misdemeanor the cost of a Criminal Rehabilitation application will likely be substantially less compared to someone with several felony convictions.

Wondering how much Criminal Rehabilitation would cost for you? Phone our Canadian immigration law firm now for a FREE consultation! We would be happy to provide you with a no commitment flat-rate price quote for a Rehabilitation application based on your specific situation.

Canada Criminal Rehabilitation Cost for DUI Convictions

A DUI is now a serious crime north of the border punishable by up to a decade of incarceration. Consequently, a DUI, DWI, OVI, OWI, DWAI, or reckless driving conviction can now be viewed as serious criminality which can trigger the more expensive processing fee. This being said, if a drunk driving arrest occurred before December 2018, when Canada implemented their tough new DUI laws, it could be "grandfathered in" under the old laws. Consequently, it may be possible for an American to get approved for Canadian Criminal Rehabilitation for a DUI conviction while only paying the lower government fee. If you hire a Canadian Rehabilitation lawyer to assist with the process, he or she will be able to help ensure your DUI is evaluated based on the laws in Canada that existed at the time of the incident.

Canadian Rehabilitation Lawyer Cost

One of the biggest factors affecting the cost of hiring a Criminal Rehabilitation lawyer is the number of arrests and convictions in a person's past. Each and every offense that appears on an individual's background check must be properly handled in the paperwork in order for them to have a chance of being approved for Criminal Rehabilitation. Every single arrest that did not result in a conviction must be equated to a non-conviction under Canadian law, so even charges that were dismissed can increase the complexity of a Canada CR application. Every conviction must also be accurately equated to Canadian law, which can involve a ton of tedious research.

If you have a misdemeanor conviction for shoplifting, how can it be established that the Canadian equivalency would be theft under $5000 and not theft over $5000 which can be viewed as a major crime? Likewise, if a person has a felony conviction that involved marijuana, how can it be shown that the same offense in Canada would not be a serious crime? For crimes that involved driving under the influence, can they be equated to Canada's old DUI laws or will immigration officers assess the infraction based on how the law stands today? Does refusing a breath sample equate differently than a driving while intoxicated charge? What about civil DUI violations that are not misdemeanor convictions where they happened, how does the Canadian Government view them? It is obviously in an applicant's interest to prove they do not have any offenses Canada would consider serious criminality. If a conviction was expunged, is it possible to equate it to a Record Suspension in Canada so that it does not officially count against the applicant? An experienced Canada Criminal Rehabilitation attorney can help maximum a person's likelihood of being approved for Criminal Rehabilitation!

The severity of the offenses in a person's past can also impact the price of a Canadian Rehabilitation lawyer. When an American requests absolution from immigration authorities in Canada, their legal counsel must provide evidence that the client should be considered rehabilitated. The bigger the crime, the harder it will be to convince Immigration Canada that you are not a threat, and consequently the more work that will be needed when preparing a Canadian CR application. When a file is more work for the lawyer, it will commonly be more costly for the client. Even in cases of serious criminality, an experienced Rehabilitation attorney may be able to craft a persuasive narrative for their client that can include the felon's character and outlook, time elapsed since offending, participation in counseling, addiction recovery, and even compassionate grounds.

The adjudication of Criminal Rehabilitation Canada DUI paperwork is extensive, and all the merits of an application are evaluated which can present an opportunity for an immigration lawyer to prepare a compelling case. Due to the momentous effort required when preparing a Criminal Rehabilitation application, and the associated price of hiring a Canada Rehabilitation lawyer, some US citizens choose to simply avoid the nation rather than bothering to attempt to attain a Canadian Pardon. If a US passport holder plans to visit Canada frequently, it can certainly make sense to invest in a professionally prepared Canadian Criminal Rehabilitation application, but if they would only visit once and it is not crucial they will usually decide to just stay away from the nation instead.

TRP + Criminal Rehabilitation Canada Cost

In order to be eligible to apply for Criminal Rehabilitation Canada, a US citizen must have finished their full sentence at least five years ago. The onus is on an applicant to prove their eligibility, so a Criminal Rehabilitation Canada application should include court documents showing all court-imposed sentencing was finished a minimum of 60 months prior to submission of the paperwork. If a person is not yet eligible to apply for Criminal Rehabilitation Canada, but has to cross the border, they can apply for a Temporary Resident Permit (TRP) which is a short-term fix. If someone is eligible for Rehabilitation, but needs to travel to Canada quickly, they will often apply for both a TRP and Criminal Rehabilitation at the same time. This is because Temporary Resident Permit Canada processing times can much shorter than Canadian Criminal Rehabilitation processing times for some people.

The two applications are extremely similar, so the cost of hiring a Canadian immigration attorney for a TRP and Rehabilitation application should not be too much more expensive than the cost for a Canada CR application alone. This is actually a great way to test the integrity of any Canadian Rehabilitation lawyer you are considering hiring. Ask them for a price quote for a Temporary Resident Permit application, a Criminal Rehabilitation application, and then for both. If the price quoted for both a Canada TRP and Rehab application is the exact same as the price for each individual application combined, the lawyer did not offer you a discount despite there being a huge amount of overlap between the two applications. A reputable Canada Criminal Rehabilitation lawyer should ordinarily offer a discount compared to the regular price if a potential client also wants to apply for TRP Canada access, since many elements can be reused. If no discount is offered on the combo package, it may also be an indication that the legal practitioner does not have much experience assembling such applications and thus did not realize how homogeneous they are.

Once eligible, most residents of the United States of America prefer the permanent solution of a pardon (Criminal Rehabilitation) as opposed to a waiver (Temporary Resident Permit) which is only valid for a limited duration. If someone is eligible to apply for Criminal Rehabilitation, this is the path preferred by Canadian authorities. In such cases, applying for a TRP without also pursuing Rehabilitation could even be grounds for the TRP application to be rejected. Some people feel this is downright unreasonable, especially if their offense did not involve the use of force, but IRCC likes to examine a person's situation in detail when possible and thus has a preference for CR applications that also involve state-level background checks. Since a Rehabilitation application is comprised of items that are not compulsory for a TRP application, the average Criminal Rehabilitation lawyer cost is oftentimes slightly more expensive than the average Temporary Resident Permit Canada cost (although in some scenarios both can be quite cheap).

Once a Canadian equivalent has been identified within Canadian law and regulation, the maximum sentence that can be imposed on the offender is used to determine whether non-serious criminality or serious criminality is at play. Consulting with an immigration lawyer in Canada is one route to ascertaining if any of your past misdemeanors or felonies would be considered a serious crime north of the border. Accurately identifying the corresponding offense in Canada is essential to a compliant Criminal Rehabilitation application submission. When an American has a felony conviction that is a serious indictable crime in Canada (not a summary offense), it can be more challenging to obtain permanent clemency or forgiveness from IRCC. This can also raise the price of applying for Canada Rehabilitation. Even if the particular crime committed in a foreign country such as the United States was not serious, if the Canadian equivalency can lead to enough prison time to be labeled as serious, obtaining relief by getting approved for Canada CR can be difficult.

Want to learn the approximate Criminal Rehabilitation Canada cost for your unique situation? Trying to decide if the cost of a Canadian Rehabilitation lawyer is worth it? Contact our legal team today for a free price quote!