Question about Entry to USA

[eu4i]

Hello everyone,

First, I have searched the forums extensively and have not been able to find any answers to my particular questions.

Here is my situation:

As a Canadian citizen (always have been, etc) I was charged with some federal offences in Canada when I was 18. These include break and enter, trespassing by night, and some breaches of probation for charges from when I was a young offender.

I received a Conditional Sentence (definitely not a Conditional Discharge, etc) so I am aware that a criminal record is supposed to be kept, and if a pardon is granted, this record is then supposed to be sealed.

I am now 27, and a while back I was traveling within Canada, when I was stopped by an OPP officer. He asked me if I had a criminal record, and I told him that I did. When he came back to my car and gave me my license back, he told me that I, in fact, did not have a record.

So I wanted to know if this was actually the case, so I went to truecheck.ca which is a site that does online criminal record checks. They are supposedly legit and do a simple name, age, and SIN# query against CPIC (but obviously not including fingerprinting). Reasons I think they are legit is that they are listed on the BBB website with a rating of A- and are linked to from a McGill University webpage (can't post link here due to this being my first post). Either way, this check also came back clean.

I now require to travel to the USA for work, if possible, and am planning on getting a passport.

My questions are as follows:

Because I have never attempted entry into the USA since I was charged, and since I apparently have no record in CPIC, is it safe for me to enter the USA and state that I have never been charged??

Do they only use CPIC, the American databases, and the major international ones, or do they have other access to Canadian information?

Thanks in advance for any help or insight into this.

[Steven]

They check against CPIC, NCIC and some other databases that have immigration data in them. If you enter as anything other than a visitor though you have to go through US-VISIT and they take fingerprints, but they don't run them against NCIC I think.

Your best idea is to apply with your local police for a criminal history records check.

The law on it is that you have to have been arrested or convicted for two or more offences for which the aggregate sentence was five years or more to be barred from entry.

[eu4i]

Excellent. So you are saying that even if the convictions DO show up, if the aggregate sentence (which for me was about 2 years, but a conditional sentence) is less than 5 years, I have nothing to worry about?

I would only be entering the US as a visitor.

Thanks for the quick reply.

-- Wed Apr 22, 2009 5:54 pm --

Sorry, to add to this, a charge I received while a minor was for trafficking marijuana and from what I understand, this is considered a "crime of moral turpitude". Since this was when I was a minor, is this irrelevant?

Thanks again.

[Steven]

A crime of "moral turpitude" or "a violation related to a controlled substance" is also a bar to entry.

So basically, if you'd murdered someone and been released after 20 years, theoretically you could get in, but if you've been convicted of having an ounce of pot, then you can't.

Reminds me of The Family Guy episode on Sunday.

Not that I recommend you go out and murder someone and see if they deny you entry though, you understand...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6Jyg-mxRqI

[eu4i]

That's hilarious/ridiculous.. but yeah, I think I will refrain from the murder test

So, if the over 18 charges didn't account for 5+ years together, and if the pot charge happened as a minor, I should be fine, right?

Thanks again.

[Steven]

There's no age limit, they don't care.

[eu4i]

Oh, so you're saying customs has access to your charges from before 18?? I thought those were sealed as far as CPIC was concerned once you turned 18.

If they do have access to those, I guess I'm back to where I was originally.

If a name/age-based CPIC criminal records check comes back clean, and if I am only entering the US as a visitor (therefore no fingerprints), then I should be OK?

[Steven]

It's not that they have access to them, but if you make a false representation that's illegal, and even though they can't see your record it's still illegal.

This is why I get annoyed with these "pardon" ads I see on the TV - the US doesn't recognize a Canadian pardon, all it means is that CBP can't run a check on CPIC for it.