Pardons Canada: How to Remove a Theft Over $5000 offence
Some people believe that a conditional discharge will simply disappear over time. This is not the case. Your fingerprints, photos, court and police records can stay on record until you apply for a File Destruction.
The Americans do not distinguish between a suspended sentence, regular conviction or conditional or absolute discharge. If they uncover your criminal record, they have the right to refuse you entry to the US. If this happens, then you will require a US Entry Waiver (I-192 or I-194) to re-enter the US. This process is expensive, complicated and lengthy.
Here is an email we received recently from a person who had a conditional discharge but was haunted by the charge years after her offence:
“I was given a conditional discharge for theft under $5000 for my first offence back in November of 2008 and since then I was accepted to attend the paramedic program at a college.”
“When I went through the court process I was told by a lawyer that I spoke to over the phone and acting legal council that a discharge would not show on your record. Due to this information I went to school and it was required that I get a record of conduct, which I did, and the discharged was there.”
“I ended up getting kicked out of school at the end of the first semester because Easter Health wouldn’t let me do my clinicals, even though the school kept trying to reassure me that they wouldn’t have a problem with it. ”
“Since then I have became a manager o f a store and now they are deciding to do a code of conduct check on all managers and I am afraid I am going to lose my job because of this too.”
“I made the dumbest mistake of my life and I really need help trying to fix it. If you have any suggestions on what I can do to get this taken off my record I would greatly appreciate it.”
If you have any questions regarding this topic or about Pardons and US Entry Waivers email us at [email protected] or call 1-877-929-6011.
Pardons Canada undertakes all necessary steps and procedures for removing your criminal record, including: Pardons/Record Suspensions, Purges, Photograph & Fingerprint Destruction, and U.S. Entry Waivers.
