You had a good time at a party with your friends, had a few drinks and now you got into your car and hoped to get home in 10 minutes. After all your house is only 10 km away from the bar and there are usually no police cars patrolling at night. As soon as you leave the bar, at the intersection, you are pulled over by the R.I.D.E program. Uh oh. You start panicking as you should, because you had that extra drink that you should not have had in the first place. You are administered a roadside test and the result, as you expect is FAIL. You are put under arrest and sent to the station for 2 accurate tests and most likely will be charged with Care and Control and Over 80. Keep in mind that as soon as you are in contact with the police, you are being Audio and Video Recorded so act right and be mindful of the words coming out of your mouth.
The Law
On December 18, 2018 impaired driving (including cannabis related crime) penalties took effect and most of the impaired driving offences are now considered serious crimes in Canada. This means that the maximum penalty for most impaired driving offences increased from 5 to 10 years.
Immigration Status Crisis
If you are a temporary resident (visitor, international student, foreign worker, refugee claimant) or a permanent resident and you are charged with impaired driving, you may be facing significant immigration implications. If convicted with impaired driving or cannabis- related crime, you may be found inadmissible to Canada for serious criminality. It is important to note that it doesn’t matter if the crime happened inside or outside of Canada.
The negative consequences are as follows:
You may lose your status as Canadian permanent resident and must leave the country;
As a temporary resident you may not be able to stay or enter Canada;
As a refugee claimant you may not be able to have your claim refereed to the Immigration Refugee Board for a hearing;
If you have been charged with impaired driving in another jurisdiction outside of Canada, it is important to have applied for a Pardon or Record Suspension (depending on the foreign jurisdiction) prior to entrance to Canada.
The price to pay for an extra drink or a desire to get high and drive, may cause you your future immigration status in Canada. Be Smart and Retain Brace Law.
At Brace Law, we know the immigration implications related to the criminal charges as our lawyers have experience and knowledge of both fields. We urge that you contact our offices right away and allow us to start working on your case. There are steps that we can take and negotiate to make sure that you get the best results and avoid being removed from Canada.
Call us today and let’s get started on your case.