When you apply for a study permit, work permit, visitor visa or permanent resident permit, there is a chance that your application will be refused. Besides the obvious reasons, like not meeting the requirements of the program or not having submitted all necessary documentation, 8% get refused because of personal background issues. Of these issues, there are numerous possible reasons for refusal, including the following 10 categories:

1. Security reasons: such as espionage, subversion (attempts to overthrow a government, etc.), violence or terrorism, or membership in an organization involved in any of these
2. Human or international rights violations: like war crimes, crimes against humanity, being a senior official in a government engaged in gross human rights violations or subject to international sanctions
3. Committing a serious crime that would be punishable by a maximum prison term of at least 10 years in Canada
4. Organized crime: such as membership in an organization that takes part in organized criminal activity, people smuggling or money laundering
5. Health grounds: specifically, if your medical condition is likely to endanger public health or public safety, or cause excessive demands on health or social services (note: some exceptions exist)
6. Financial reasons: specifically, if you are unable or unwilling to support yourself or your family members
7. Misrepresentation: including providing false information or withholding information directly related to decisions made under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA)
8. Failure to comply with any provision of IRPA
9. Having an inadmissible family member
10. Having been convicted of a crime: such as driving while under the influence of drugs or alcohol

A ticket for Driving Under the Influence (DUI) of alcohol or drugs occurs more often than you might anticipate. This could be problematic under Canada’s new impaired driving laws, which came into effect in December 2018. Since then:

• The prohibited blood-alcohol concentration (BAC) is a minimum of 80 milligrams (mg) of alcohol per 100 milliliters (ml) of blood;
• There are two prohibited levels for THC, which is the primary psychoactive component of cannabis. It is a minor offence to have between 2 nanograms (ng) and 5 ng of THC per ml of blood. It is a more serious offence to have 5 ng of THC or more per ml of blood;
• When found in combination, the prohibited levels of alcohol and cannabis is at a minimum 50 mg of alcohol per 100 ml blood and 2.5 ng of THC per ml of blood
• Having any detectable traces of other drugs – such as LSD, psilocybin, psilocin (“magic mushrooms”), ketamine, PCP, cocaine, methamphetamine or 6-mam (a metabolite of heroin) – in your system within two hours of driving is also prohibited. The prohibited level for GHB (also known as a ‘club drug’ or ‘date rape drug’) is minimum 5 mg per liter of blood, since the body can naturally produce low levels of this drug.

In addition to the ‘regular’ penalties for impaired driving, which can vary from a $1,000 fine all the way to imprisonment, the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations will then ban you from Canada for at least 5 years. After which there may be a chance for rehabilitation during the next 5-year period. However, some penalties will ban you from Canada forever. These rules also apply to any of the other categories for inadmissibility.

A certified immigration consultant at Red Moose Immigration Services Inc., Nicole M-L. Kleemaier-Raaijen, LLM, RCIC, can assist you professionally and competently throughout the entire application process. To set up an appointment, call her by phone at 250.215.9473 or visit the website of Red Moose.