FAQ Temporary Resident Permit

If you have attempted to enter Canada and you were denied entry, you are likely inadmissible. If you participated in an assessment at a Port of Entry or a Diplomatic Mission, and were told you could not enter, you are inadmissible. If you fit into any of the following categories, you are inadmissible: Security risk:

• Committed acts of espionage;
• Committed acts of subversion (i.e. attempting to topple your government);
• Committed acts of terrorism;
• Membership in an organization involved in any of the above;

Human rights violations:

• Committed war crimes;
• Committed crimes against humanity;
• Senior government official “in a government engaged in gross human rights violations or subject to international sanctions”;

Criminal activity:

• Committed a serious crime that would be punishable in Canada by a prison term of at least 10 years;
• Criminal conviction or membership in a criminal organization;

Health grounds:

• Your condition is likely to endanger public health (i.e. you have a dangerous communicable disease);
• Your condition would cause “excessive demands” on the health sector and/or on social services agencies in Canada if you were to move here;
• You are unable or unwilling to financially support yourself and/or your family (or you are viewed as such by immigration authorities);

Immigration violations:

• Misrepresenting yourself to Canadian immigration or border officials or failure to comply with any part of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) for example:
• Overstaying your visa/permit;
• Working/studying without a visa/permit;
• Not living in Canada enough of the time, if you are a permanent resident;
• Attempting to re-enter Canada after being deported without the proper authorization;
• Being subjected to a removal order.

• If you are inadmissible on criminal or health grounds, you may be able to enter Canada under exceptional circumstances by applying for temporary resident permit (TRP).
• If you are inadmissible on criminal grounds but your conviction was a long time ago, you may be able to enter Canada with an Application of Rehabilitation. If you are “deemed rehabilitated” you will not have to apply for rehabilitation or a TRP again, provided you commit no more crimes. Please note that an Application of Rehabilitation takes significantly longer than a TRP to process, so if you need to travel to Canada soon, you may want to file both applications.
• If you are inadmissible for immigration violations you will likely have to support your TRP application with an Authorization to Return to Canada application.
• If you are inadmissible on security grounds, human rights violations, or financial grounds, you are permanently inadmissible and cannot enter Canada.

The Canadian government does not specify what particular reasons are regularly accepted for TRPs. They will grant them on “exceptional” humanitarian, compassionate, or human interest grounds, but these are never defined in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA). Humanitarian and compassionate grounds usually indicate that the applicant is somehow in danger if they cannot enter Canada, or that the applicant’s family is already in Canada and that they will experience hardships if the applicant is not allowed to enter Canada. Both of these cases must be proved to the satisfaction of Canadian immigration officials. These decisions are made on a case-by-case basis and there may be other grounds through which a TRP could be gained for humanitarian or compassionate reasons. Human interest grounds usually refer to the cultural, scientific, academic (or other) importance of the applicant’s work. For example, such grounds are used as the basis to allow an otherwise inadmissible eminent physicist to enter Canada to attend a conference on physics. Human interest grounds must be proved to the satisfaction of Canadian immigration officials by the applicant and those sponsoring the event(s) or conference(s). These decisions are made on a case-by-case basis.

That depends on the type of crime(s) you committed. It also depends on where the crime(s) was committed. For convictions for crimes that would be punishable within Canada by a maximum sentence of over 10 years in prison:

• If you committed that crime in Canada and have since been pardoned for it you are admissible (if you need a Canadian Pardon, we can assist you with this process as well. Contact us for more information.
• If you committed the crime in another country and have received a pardon, you may be able to apply for a TRP, if the pardon is recognized by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). In order to find out if your pardon is recognized, you can contact us or your local Canadian visa office.
• If your pardon is not recognized by IRCC, or you committed the crime in Canada but have never received a pardon, you can still file an application for rehabilitation if at least 5 years have elapsed since the completion of your entire sentence. However it is extremely unlikely you will be eligible for a TRP before you have been deemed rehabilitated.

If your crime was an act that would be punishable in Canada by a maximum imprisonment of less than 10 years:

• If you committed the crime(s) in Canada and have been pardoned you are admissible.
• If you committed the crime(s) in Canada and have not been pardoned, it depends on the type of crime:
  • For an indictable offence, you can fill out an application for rehabilitation if at least 10 years have elapsed since you completed your entire sentence;
  • For two or more summary offences, you can fill out an application for rehabilitation if at least 5 years have elapsed since you completed your entire sentence;
  • For a single summary offence, you should be admissible but it is advisable to apply for an assessment at a Port of Entry (if you live in the US) or at a visa office before you attempt to enter Canada;
  • If you cannot wait the 5 or 10 years required of your conviction you can attempt to get a TRP.
  • If you committed the crime(s) outside of Canada and have received a pardon, you can apply for a TRP, provided the pardon is recognized by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). In order to find out if your pardon is recognized, you must contact your local Canadian visa office.
  • If the pardon is not recognized by IRCC, you can fill out an application for rehabilitation if at least 5 years have elapsed since you completed your entire sentence. If you cannot wait for the application for rehabilitation to be processed, you can apply for a TRP.
  • If you committed the crime(s) outside of Canada and have not been pardoned you will need to fill out an application for rehabilitation if at least 5 years have elapsed since you completed your entire sentence. If you cannot wait for the application for rehabilitation to be processed, you can apply for a TRP.
  • If less than 5 years have elapsed since the completion of your entire sentence, you can apply for a TRP.

The onus is on you to prove to the Canadian immigration authorities that your condition does not render you inadmissible. If you are coming to Canada for less than six months, you are not subject to a medical examination. It is therefore possible, though definitely not recommended, that if you have a medical condition which makes you inadmissible, you could apply for a temporary resident visa, provided it is for less than six months and be accepted. However, failure to disclose your communicable disease would be an immigration violation and make you doubly inadmissible. You should not do this under any circumstances. If you are the spouse, common-law partner, or dependent child of a Canadian permanent resident/Canadian citizen, you are admissible to Canada even if your condition will not cause excessive demand on the health or social system. Convention refugees and protected persons are similarly exempt from this category of inadmissibility. However, a communicable disease that endangers the public safety of Canada is still grounds for inadmissibility, regardless of the nature of your application. If you think Canadian immigration authorities would regard your condition as grounds for inadmissibility, or you have been told by Canadian immigration authorities already that your condition makes you inadmissible, the onus is on you to convince them and a Designated Medical Practitioner (DMP) that your condition either:

• Is not a danger to the public safety of Canada and/or
• Will not impose excessive demand on the Canadian health and social system. If you cannot do this, you will remain inadmissible.

If there are compelling humanitarian, compassionate or public interest grounds to allow you to enter Canada for a brief time despite a medical condition that makes you inadmissible, then you may be granted a TRP, but only at the discretion of immigration officials and a DMP. The restrictions on your TRP may be severe.

Whether or not you can return to Canada depends on how you were asked or ordered to leave in the first place:

• Departure order (IMM 5238)
  • If you complied with the departure order within 30 days and notified a Canadian immigration official of your departure, you can apply for a TRP and may even be granted a visa (depending on circumstances);
  • If you did not comply with the departure order within 30 days, the departure order became a deportation order;
  • If you did not notify Canadian immigration officials of your departure, the departure order became a deportation order;
• Direction to leave Canada order (IMM 1217B) This order is not a removal order, whereas the other three are removal orders. If you complied with this order then you should be able to re-enter Canada normally and you should be granted a visa (if applicable);
• Exclusion order (IMM 1214B)
  • If it has been 12 months since you left Canada and you have a Certificate of Departure (IMM 0056B) proving that fact, then you can apply for a TRP;
  • If it has been less than 12 months since you left Canada according to your Certificate of Departure (IMM 0056B) you must apply for an Authorization to Return to Canada along with your application for a TRP. Some visa offices, specifically those serving visa-exempt countries – have their own forms. Otherwise, you must apply using the temporary resident visa form, which you would also use to apply for a TRP;
  • If you do not have your Certificate of Departure, you must apply for an Authorization to Return to Canada along with your application for a TRP;
• Deportation order (IMM 5238B)Anyone subject to a deportation order must complete and submit an Authorization to Return to Canada along with the application for a TRP.

There are a number of types of violations of the IRPA that can render you inadmissible, e.g. misrepresentation, failure to respect the time limits of your visa or your permit, failure to respect the restrictions for permanent residents, and anything which makes you the subject of a removal order. Misrepresentation is considered fraud. It includes using fake or altered documents to enter Canada, gain status in Canada or gain Canadian citizenship. These documents may include passports or other travel documents, visas, diplomas and other education certificates, vital statistics certificates (i.e. birth, death, marriage), and any kind of criminal records or police certificates. If you misrepresented yourself to Canadian immigration officials, you could be subject to the following penalties:

• Inadmissibility for two years,
  • Therefore you must wait at least two years since you left Canada to apply for a TRP;
• Revocation of your status,
  • In this case you will have to apply for a TRP to re-enter Canada but there is no guarantee you will be granted one;
• Criminal charges,
  • In this case you will be inadmissible for 5 years after completing the entirety of your sentence and you will have to apply for an application of rehabilitation after that time. If you have not received a pardon it is very unlikely you will be deemed rehabilitated, even if you have waited 5 years;
• A removal order,

If you overstayed your visa or permit you can attempt to apply for a TRP within Canada but most likely you will be met with a removal order (unless there are exceptional circumstances). You should leave Canada and seek an assessment at the visa office in your country of origin. This assessment will tell you whether you can apply for a visa or a TRP. If you are a permanent resident who failed to comply with the permanent resident conditions regarding days in Canada, you should stop traveling immediately and stay within Canada until you again comply with the regulations. Applying for a TRP should only be a last resort if you are outside of Canada when you violate the condition and are not allowed to return. You may need to obtain an Authorization to Return to Canada in this case.

In order to apply for a TRP, you must apply using a temporary resident visa form, unless you are from a country where you don’t need a visa, and then you must use special forms from your closest visa office. For further information, contact us.