The number one biggest mistake that a person charged with drunk driving can make is to assume right from the start that there is no defense.
How a Michigan DUI / Drunk Driving Conviction Can Impact Your Ability to Travel to Canada
ISSUE
What effect does an OWI conviction in Michigan have on an American citizen’s ability to enter Canada?
ANALYSIS
Inadmissibility
Under Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, if you have been convicted of a crime, including OWI, you may be prohibited from entering Canada to visit, work, or immigrate. This prohibition, or “inadmissability,” is discretionary, with the power to prohibit entry lying in the hands of Citizenship and Immigration Canada.
Canada’s criminal code breaks crimes down into two categories: first, indictable crimes, and second, summary conviction crimes. Indictable crimes are considered more serious, an OWI in Michigan is considered an indictable crime in Canada. The act states that, if the crime is one that, if committed in Canada, would have been an indictable offense under Canadian law, then the individual may be inadmissible.
In some instances, Canadian Border Officers may deem an individual inadmissible even if the charges against them were withdrawn or dismissed. In those cases, the individual must provide the officer with complete details of charges, convictions, court dispositions, pardons, photocopies of all applicable sections of foreign law(s), and court proceedings to allow the officer to determine whether or not you are inadmissible to Canada.
There are other life situations upon which a DUI conviction may impact:
