How long you have to wait after a DUI before you can enter Canada depends almost entirely on one date: December 18, 2018. If your DUI happened before that date, you may be allowed in automatically once ten years have passed since you finished your sentence. If it happened on or after that date, the earliest permanent solution is a Criminal Rehabilitation application filed five years after sentence completion. A Temporary Resident Permit can get you across sooner if you have a strong reason to travel.
Why the Date of Your DUI Changes Everything
Canada decides admissibility by comparing your foreign offense to its Canadian equivalent. A conviction that would carry a maximum sentence of at least ten years in Canada is classified as “serious criminality” and makes you inadmissible.1Justice Laws Website. Immigration and Refugee Protection Act SC 2001 c 27 – Section 36 On December 18, 2018, Canada raised the maximum penalty for impaired driving from five years to ten, moving DUI out of ordinary criminality and into serious criminality.2Government of Canada. Convicted of Driving While Impaired
Canada assesses your offense based on the penalties in force at the time it was committed. A DUI from before December 18, 2018 is still treated under the old five-year maximum, and that lower classification unlocks a waiting-period option that later offenses cannot use.2Government of Canada. Convicted of Driving While Impaired
None of this fades on its own. The Canada Border Services Agency has access to FBI criminal databases, so a DUI conviction is visible to officers whether it happened last year or twenty years ago. Time doesn’t erase the record; it only opens up the pathways below.
Ten Years: Deemed Rehabilitation for Pre-2018 DUIs
If you have a single DUI from before December 18, 2018, you may be considered “deemed rehabilitated” once ten years have passed since you finished your sentence. No application is required. Under Canada’s immigration regulations, a person convicted of one offense abroad that would be punishable by less than ten years in Canada is deemed rehabilitated ten years after the day the sentence was fully completed.3Justice Laws Website. Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations SOR/2002-227 – Section 18
The clock starts when the last part of your sentence ends, not on your conviction date. Jail, fines, probation, community service — every court-ordered condition has to be complete. If you were convicted in 2012 but probation ran until 2015, your ten years run from 2015.
Deemed rehabilitation is not available for DUIs on or after December 18, 2018. Because the offense now carries a ten-year Canadian maximum, it falls under serious criminality, and the regulation requires the maximum penalty to be under ten years. Waiting longer will not change that.3Justice Laws Website. Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations SOR/2002-227 – Section 18
Even when you qualify, you still have to convince the border officer. Bring court records showing the conviction and sentence, proof that fines were paid, and documentation of when probation ended. An officer who isn’t satisfied can still turn you away.
Five Years: Criminal Rehabilitation for Any DUI
Criminal Rehabilitation is a formal application to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. Approval permanently removes your inadmissibility, and unlike deemed rehabilitation it works for DUIs on either side of the 2018 change.
You become eligible to apply five years after your sentence is fully complete, including probation, fines, and any other court-ordered conditions.4Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. When Can I Apply for Individual Rehabilitation An application filed before that mark is refused outright. If you finished jail in 2021 but probation ran until 2023, you can apply in 2028.
The application requires the IRCC form, a copy of the court judgment, and police clearance certificates. U.S. citizens need an FBI Identity History Summary, and you’ll also need police clearance from any other country where you’ve lived for six months or longer since turning 18.5Government of Canada. Rehabilitation for Persons Who Are Inadmissible to Canada Because of Past Criminal Activity
Processing generally takes over a year.6Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. How Long Will It Take To Get a Decision on My Individual Rehabilitation You remain inadmissible while it’s pending. The government fee is CA$246.25 for a pre-2018 DUI (ordinary criminality) and CA$1,231.00 for a post-2018 DUI (serious criminality).7Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. Citizenship and Immigration Application Fees – Fee List
Traveling Before the Waiting Period Is Up
A Temporary Resident Permit can let you enter Canada while you are still inadmissible, but only if you have a compelling reason. A TRP grants temporary entry at an officer’s discretion and can be valid for up to three years for a single permit.8Justice Laws Website. Immigration and Refugee Protection Act SC 2001 c 27 – Section 249Government of Canada. Guide 5554 – Applying to Stay in Canada Longer as a Temporary Resident Permit Holder The fee is CA$246.25.7Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. Citizenship and Immigration Application Fees – Fee List
Business obligations, family emergencies, and significant personal events tend to qualify. General tourism does not. The officer weighs your need to enter against the risk your record represents, so documentation of the reason matters as much as documentation of the conviction.
A TRP can be cancelled at any time and does not guarantee re-entry on future trips, even inside its validity window.10Government of Canada. Temporary Resident Permit It’s a bridge, not a fix. Many people file a Criminal Rehabilitation application and use a TRP to cover any travel while it’s pending.
Does a US Expungement or Pardon Restart the Clock?
No, not automatically. An expunged conviction can still appear in the FBI databases Canadian officers check, and Canada decides admissibility on the offense itself. The government advises anyone with a foreign pardon or record suspension to check with the visa office serving their region to determine whether their specific relief is recognized.11Government of Canada. Overcome Criminal Convictions The legal effect varies by state, and the burden of proving equivalence to a Canadian record suspension falls on you.
What Changes If You Have More Than One DUI
Deemed rehabilitation is only available to a person convicted of “no more than one offence” abroad that would be indictable in Canada.3Justice Laws Website. Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations SOR/2002-227 – Section 18 Two DUIs close that pathway regardless of how long ago they happened. Criminal Rehabilitation and TRPs remain available, but applications with multiple convictions are scrutinized more closely.
Quick Reference by Situation
- Single DUI before December 18, 2018, sentence completed more than 10 years ago: you may be deemed rehabilitated. No application required, but carry proof.
- Single DUI before December 18, 2018, sentence completed 5 to 10 years ago: apply for Criminal Rehabilitation. A TRP can cover travel while it’s pending.
- Single DUI on or after December 18, 2018, sentence completed more than 5 years ago: apply for Criminal Rehabilitation. Deemed rehabilitation will never apply, no matter how much time passes.
- Single DUI on or after December 18, 2018, sentence completed less than 5 years ago: a TRP is your only option until the five-year mark.
- Multiple DUI convictions: deemed rehabilitation is unavailable. Criminal Rehabilitation or a TRP remain, and legal advice is worth the cost.
The single biggest mistake is assuming time alone solves this. For post-2018 DUIs, it never does. Even when deemed rehabilitation is available, arriving at the border without documentation to prove eligibility is a gamble.