Inadmissibility and Complex Immigration Cases in Canada

Inadmissible means that Canadian immigration law does not allow you to enter or stay in Canada. Officers decide this when you apply for a visa or an electronic travel authorization (eTA), when you arrive at a port of entry, and while you are in Canada. If you are found inadmissible, you can be refused a visa or eTA, refused entry, or removed.

The grounds are in sections 34 to 42 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA). The remedies are spread across IRPA and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR).

Inadmissibility after a misrepresentation finding

5 years

Maximum Canadian prison term (or more) that makes an offence serious criminality

10 years

To apply to restore lost temporary status

90 days

Longest a temporary resident permit can last

3 years

Two rules catch many people. First, an offence that can be prosecuted either summarily or by indictment in Canada is treated as indictable for immigration purposes, even if it was prosecuted summarily (IRPA s. 36(3)(a)). Second, foreign convictions are compared with the Canadian offence as if they had happened in Canada.

Crimes from minor theft to impaired driving can make you inadmissible. Depending on the offence, how long ago it was and your conduct since, you may still enter if you are deemed rehabilitated, approved for individual rehabilitation, hold a valid record suspension, or have a TRP.

• The sentence includes probation, fines and driving prohibitions. The 5 years start when the last part ends, for example the date the last fine was paid.
• Deemed rehabilitation has strict extra conditions, such as no other convictions in the relevant periods. An officer must be satisfied that you meet all of them.
• Individual rehabilitation is decided by the Minister or a delegate. You must show you are rehabilitated and highly unlikely to commit further crimes. Applications can take over a year.
• If you need an eTA, apply for rehabilitation first and wait for the decision. If you need a visa, you can submit both together.
• Convictions in Canada need a record suspension from the Parole Board of Canada. Rehabilitation from IRCC does not cover them.
• Charges that were withdrawn, dismissed or ended in a discharge in Canada do not make you inadmissible. Outside Canada they may, so bring the court records.

Medical inadmissibility has three grounds: a danger to public health, a danger to public safety, or excessive demand on health or social services. Excessive demand means the services you need would hurt wait times in Canada or would likely cost more than IRCC's cost threshold. It does not apply to refugees and their dependants, protected persons, or sponsored spouses, partners and dependent children.

Before refusing on medical grounds, IRCC sends a procedural fairness letter. You have 90 days from the date of the letter to send more information, such as updated diagnoses, treatment or lower-cost medication, or to ask for an extension. In excessive demand cases, IRCC may invite you to submit a mitigation plan.

Financial inadmissibility applies if you are or will be unable or unwilling to support yourself or your dependants, and have not shown adequate arrangements other than social assistance. Clear, documented funds and support usually resolve it.

• Misrepresentation lasts 5 yearsFrom a final determination outside Canada, or from the date a removal order is enforced in Canada.
• No permanent residence applicationDuring those 5 years you cannot apply for permanent resident status.
• Limited appeal rightsA sponsorship refusal for misrepresentation can be appealed to the Immigration Appeal Division (IAD) only if the person sponsored is the sponsor's spouse, common-law partner or child.
• Innocent errors are argued case by caseRespond to any procedural fairness letter with documents showing what happened and why.

Overstaying or working or studying without authorization is non-compliance under section 41 of IRPA. If you lost status because your stay ended or you broke certain conditions, you may apply to restore it within 90 days under section 182 of IRPR, if you met the initial requirements for your stay and complied with all other conditions. Online applications must be submitted before midnight Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) on the last day. You can stay while IRCC decides, but normally cannot work. A student who did not stay enrolled and actively study cannot be restored.

Unauthorized work or study also affects future permits. Under section 200(3)(e) of IRPR, an officer cannot issue a work permit to someone who worked or studied without authorization, or broke a condition of a previous permit, until 6 months have passed since the unauthorized work or study or the breach ended. Section 221 sets the same 6-month rule for study permits. There are exceptions, for example if the work or study was unauthorized only because you broke a condition on your length of stay, type of work, employer, work location or studies, or if you were later issued a TRP.

1. 1

   Get the reasons

   Read the refusal letter and the officer decision note. For the full file, request your GCMS notes under the Privacy Act or the Access to Information Act.

2. 2

   Disclose it

   Answer every question about past refusals and removals truthfully, including refusals by other countries when the form asks.

3. 3

   Fix the cause

   Address each reason with new evidence. The same application again is likely to be refused again.

4. 4

   Check your deadlines

   Judicial review in the Federal Court has short time limits, and immigration consultants cannot appear there. The Specialized services page explains the options.

Once a removal order is enforced, section 52 of IRPA says you cannot return to Canada without authorization, unless the regulations say otherwise. An order is enforced when you confirm your departure with a Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) officer, get a Certificate of Departure, leave, and are allowed into your country of destination.

• A Direction to Leave Canada is not a removal order and needs no ARC.
• Apply with a letter in English or French explaining in detail why you should be allowed to return, plus the ARC fee, usually together with your visa, permit or permanent residence application.
• The officer considers why the order was made, the risk of repeat behaviour, the time passed, your situation and your reason to come.
• If CBSA paid for your removal, you must repay the removal costs before an ARC is issued, unless you were under 18 when the order was made.
• You must also overcome any inadmissibility. If you cannot, a TRP can temporarily overcome both the inadmissibility and the ARC requirement.

Permanent residents, protected persons and foreign nationals with a permanent resident visa can usually appeal a removal order to the IAD. The IAD must receive the notice of appeal within 30 days after you receive the order. There is no appeal for security, human rights violations, sanctions, organized crime or serious criminality, which for this purpose means a Canadian prison term of at least 6 months or a foreign offence punishable in Canada by at least 10 years (IRPA s. 64).

A TRP (IRPA s. 24) lets a foreign national who is inadmissible, or who does not meet the Act's requirements, enter or stay in Canada temporarily. You must not hold temporary resident status, and your reason for coming must be compelling enough that, in the officer's view, it outweighs any health or safety risk to Canadians. IRCC stresses that this applies even if the inadmissibility seems minor.

• How to request oneFrom outside Canada, there is no separate TRP application: if you need a visa, ask for TRP consideration in your visa, study or work permit application and pay the TRP fee separately; if you need an eTA, ask IRCC for instructions through its web form. You can also ask at a port of entry. In Canada, you apply on paper, alone or with a work or study permit application, and victims of human trafficking or family violence and people who were in state care have their own process.
• How long it lastsUntil the date on the permit, at most 3 years. It ends if you leave Canada without prior authorization to re-enter, and it can be cancelled at any time.
• No maintained statusApplicants and holders asking for another TRP do not keep status while they wait.
• Work and studyWith a TRP valid for at least 6 months, you can apply in Canada for a work or study permit.
• Path to permanent residenceAfter continuous residence as a permit holder of 3 years (health grounds) or 5 years (most other grounds, but not serious criminality, organized crime, security, human rights or sanctions grounds), you may qualify for permanent residence if no new inadmissibility arises.

1. 1

   Pin down the exact issue

   Identify the section of IRPA involved and the Canadian equivalent of any foreign offence, with its maximum penalty.

2. 2

   Gather full records

   Court dispositions, proof the sentence was completed, police certificates, medical reports, removal orders, refusal letters and file notes. Certified translations for documents not in English or French.

3. 3

   Choose the remedy

   Deemed rehabilitation, individual rehabilitation, a record suspension, a TRP, an ARC, restoration or a humanitarian and compassionate application. Some cases need more than one.

4. 4

   Explain and support

   Write a clear explanation with evidence of your conduct since, your ties and your reason for coming.

5. 5

   Respond on time

   Answer procedural fairness letters by the deadline. Attend any interview or hearing.

A humanitarian and compassionate request (IRPA s. 25) can exempt you from inadmissibility as part of a permanent residence application, but not for security, human rights violations, sanctions or organized crime. In Canada, an officer can refer an inadmissibility report to the Immigration Division for an admissibility hearing (IRPA s. 44).

IRCC's excessive demand cost threshold for 2026 is $144,390 over 5 years ($28,878 a year). Rehabilitation and TRP processing fees are not refunded if the application is refused. IRCC says rehabilitation can take over a year. No live processing times are shown on this page for these applications.