To enter Canada with a criminal record, you generally need one of two waivers: a Temporary Resident Permit (TRP) for a specific short-term visit, or Criminal Rehabilitation, which permanently removes your criminal inadmissibility. A TRP costs CAN$246.25 and can be valid for up to three years, but it expires and does not erase your record. Criminal Rehabilitation costs CAN$246.25 for ordinary criminality or CAN$1,231.00 for serious criminality, takes longer to obtain, and resolves the problem for good. Which one fits depends on how soon you need to cross the border, how serious the offense was under Canadian law, and how long ago you finished your sentence.
Which Waiver Fits Your Situation
Start with timing. If you need to travel to Canada within the next several months, a TRP is the only realistic option, because Criminal Rehabilitation applications can take over a year to process.1Government of Canada. How Long Will It Take to Get a Decision on My Individual Rehabilitation Application A TRP is available even if your offense was recent; there is no minimum waiting period.
If five or more years have passed since you completed every part of your sentence, Criminal Rehabilitation is almost always the better long-term investment. Once approved, you can travel to Canada without carrying a permit or reapplying. A TRP, by contrast, is a hall pass that expires. Every renewal is another application, another fee, and another discretionary decision.
Some people with older, less serious records qualify as deemed rehabilitated and do not need to apply for anything, but the rules are narrow and one major exception catches many travelers off guard.
The DUI Problem
A single impaired driving conviction is the issue that surprises the most Americans at the border. Since December 18, 2018, when amendments under Bill C-46 took effect, impaired driving carries a maximum sentence of ten years on indictment under Canadian law.2Justice Laws Website. Criminal Code – Section 320.19 That places DUI in Canada’s “serious criminality” category rather than ordinary criminality.3Justice Laws Website. Immigration and Refugee Protection Act – Section 36
The consequence is significant. Deemed rehabilitation, the automatic clearing that can happen after enough time passes, is not available for serious criminality. If your DUI occurred on or after December 18, 2018, you must apply for a TRP or Criminal Rehabilitation. Waiting it out will not work. Offenses that occurred before that date may still be assessed under the older five-year-maximum framework, and if at least ten years have passed since you finished your sentence you may qualify as deemed rehabilitated without filing anything.4Government of Canada. Deemed Rehabilitation
Temporary Resident Permit
A TRP is issued when an immigration officer decides that your need to enter Canada outweighs the risk to Canadian society.5Justice Laws Website. Immigration and Refugee Protection Act – Section 24 It can be valid for a single day or as long as three years, and it can be renewed, but it does not remove your inadmissibility.6Government of Canada. Applying to Stay in Canada Longer as a Temporary Resident Permit Holder
The decision is entirely discretionary. Officers weigh how compelling your reason for entering Canada is against the seriousness of your record. Business travel, family emergencies, medical treatment, and pre-arranged employment carry more weight than a vacation. Officers also consider how much time has passed since the offense, whether you have had subsequent legal trouble, and any evidence of rehabilitation or stability in your life. Even a well-prepared application can be refused if the officer decides the risk outweighs your need.
Criminal Rehabilitation
Criminal Rehabilitation permanently resolves your inadmissibility for a specific offense. The eligibility rules turn on the type of offense and how long ago your sentence ended:
- Single indictable offense with a Canadian maximum sentence under 10 years: you can apply five years after completing your entire sentence. If ten years pass after sentence completion with no other convictions, you become deemed rehabilitated automatically and do not need to apply.
- Serious criminality, meaning a maximum sentence of 10 years or more: you can apply five years after completing your sentence, but deemed rehabilitation is never available. DUI offenses on or after December 18, 2018 fall here.
- Two or more summary conviction offenses: you are automatically deemed rehabilitated five years after all sentences were served, provided you have no indictable convictions.
“Completing your sentence” means every part of it: jail time served, all fines paid, probation finished, community service done, restitution completed. If you still owe money on a fine from years ago, the clock has not started.7Government of Canada. Rehabilitation for Persons Who Are Inadmissible to Canada Because of Past Criminal Activity
If you think you qualify as deemed rehabilitated, be confident before you approach the border. A border officer who disagrees can turn you away on the spot.4Government of Canada. Deemed Rehabilitation
Fees and Biometrics
The current government fees are:
- Temporary Resident Permit: CAN$246.25 per person
- Criminal Rehabilitation, ordinary criminality: CAN$246.25
- Criminal Rehabilitation, serious criminality: CAN$1,231.00
- Biometrics: CAN$85 per person, capped at CAN$170 for a family applying together
All fees are non-refundable, even if your application is denied.8Government of Canada. Citizenship and Immigration Application Fees – Fee List Because DUI now sits in the serious criminality category, a Criminal Rehabilitation application for impaired driving costs nearly five times what it would for a lesser offense.
Most applicants also need to give biometrics, which means fingerprints and a photo taken in person. In the United States, you go to a U.S. Application Support Center. In Canada, you use a designated Service Canada office. Elsewhere, you use a visa application centre. You receive a biometric instruction letter after paying the fee; bring it and your valid passport to the appointment.9Government of Canada. Biometrics – How to Give Your Fingerprints and Photo
Documents You’ll Need
Incomplete applications are one of the most common reasons for delays and refusals. Plan on gathering:
- Police certificates from every country where you lived for six consecutive months or more since turning 18. You do not need certificates for time in Canada or for any period before age 18.10Government of Canada. Police Certificate – When to Get a Police Certificate
- Certified court documents covering every charge, conviction, and sentence tied to your inadmissibility, including the offense name, the applicable law, the conviction date, and the full sentence.
- Proof of sentence completion: receipts for paid fines, probation discharge, community service records, or release documents. This matters especially for Criminal Rehabilitation, where eligibility hinges on the end date.
- Proof of financial stability, such as bank statements, pay stubs, or an employment letter.
- Letters of support from employers, community organizations, or others who can speak to your rehabilitation or explain the purpose of your travel.
The Criminal Rehabilitation application uses form IMM 1444 and the document checklist IMM 5507. U.S. applicants use checklist IMM 5939, which covers both Criminal Rehabilitation and TRP applications.11Government of Canada. Application for Rehabilitation for Persons Who Are Inadmissible to Canada Because of Past Criminal Activity
Where to Submit
TRP applications can go through a Canadian consulate or visa office from outside Canada, from inside Canada if you are already there, or at a port of entry such as a land border or airport.12Government of Canada. How to Apply for or Request a Temporary Resident Permit Applying at the port of entry is risky. Your case rests with whichever officer is on shift, with no time to follow up or add documents. That route works best when your reason to enter is genuinely urgent and your paperwork is airtight.
Criminal Rehabilitation applications go to the Canadian consulate or visa office responsible for your region. You cannot apply for Criminal Rehabilitation at a port of entry. Given the fees, the paperwork, and the non-refundable nature of the process, some applicants work with an immigration lawyer or authorized representative.
Processing Times
Criminal Rehabilitation applications can take over a year.1Government of Canada. How Long Will It Take to Get a Decision on My Individual Rehabilitation Application TRP applications submitted to a consulate typically take several months. A TRP requested at a port of entry is decided on the spot. Check the IRCC processing times page before you plan travel around an expected approval date.13Government of Canada. Check Current IRCC Processing Times
During review, officers may ask for additional documents or clarification. Respond quickly and completely. Slow or partial responses give an officer an easy reason to set your file aside. If Criminal Rehabilitation is approved, your inadmissibility for that offense is permanently resolved. If a TRP is approved, you receive it with a specific validity period and any conditions the officer attaches.
If Your Application Is Denied
There is no formal appeal for a refused TRP or Criminal Rehabilitation application. You can reapply, but you pay the full fee again.14Government of Canada. If My Individual Rehabilitation Application Is Refused Common reasons for denial include insufficient evidence of rehabilitation, an unconvincing travel purpose (for TRPs), missing documents, and offenses more serious than the applicant represented.
If nothing has changed since the last application, filing the same package again is unlikely to produce a different result. A stronger second attempt usually rests on new evidence: completion of a treatment program, additional years without legal trouble, a more compelling reason for travel, or simply cleaner, better-organized documentation. For complex cases involving serious criminality or multiple offenses, a Canadian immigration lawyer can help identify what went wrong and rebuild the application before you spend another fee.
Other Grounds of Inadmissibility
Canada can also refuse entry on health grounds when a condition is likely to endanger public health or safety or place excessive demand on health or social services,15Justice Laws Website. Immigration and Refugee Protection Act – Section 38 on financial grounds when you cannot show means to support yourself, and for misrepresentation on a prior application. Criminal Rehabilitation addresses only criminal inadmissibility; other grounds have their own rules and evidence requirements, and a TRP for a non-criminal issue would rely on the same discretionary weighing of need against risk.