Entry into the USA

[GrannyEv]

I am planning to take my daughter to Disney in May 2005.
She's in her twenties. She wants to bring her friend who
was convicted of a crime.(embezzled 10,000) He is was only given probation and house arrest and of course has to make restitution. Does anyone know the laws regarding if he will be allowed entry into the USA. I have tried finding a site on the website to do some investigations but have been unsuccessful. I live in Canada and have also tried the government sites but can't find any pertaining to this problem. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[jrydberg]

Not sure what the answers are, but the contact numbers for US consulates and embassy offices in Canada are here:

http://gocanada.about.com/cs/bordercrossing/a/usembassy.htm

 

[Tina]

While I've never crossed as a Canadian citizen, I have crossed many, many times as an American citizen. No one has every asked whether or not I were a felon or convicted of a crime - just what is your citizenship and what is the purpose of your visit.

 

[GrannyEv]

Thanks for the websites.
I just don't want to plan our trip, arrive at the airport only to find they won't allow him entry. That would really suck!!
Yes, the many times that I have gone to Disney I have only been asked the same questions, what is my citizenship and what is the purpose of the trip. We will all have passports, but just very worried.

 

[poohandwendy]

Originally posted by GrannyEv
I am planning to take my daughter to Disney in May 2005.
She's in her twenties. She wants to bring her friend who
was convicted of a crime.(embezzled 10,000) He is was only given probation and house arrest and of course has to make restitution. Does anyone know the laws regarding if he will be allowed entry into the USA. I have tried finding a site on the website to do some investigations but have been unsuccessful. I live in Canada and have also tried the government sites but can't find any pertaining to this problem. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I think it is unlikely that his terms of probation allow him to leave the country (maybe with special permission?), I would check into that first. And how long is he under house arrest? I would be concerned about whether or not he is allowed to leave Canada before worrying about if he is allowed to enter the US. Also, I would be looking into your legal responsibility in the entire thing.

 

[GrannyEv]

Thanks, I never thought of that part of it. Him not being able to leave Canada, let alone be allowed entry into the States. He is under house arrest until February and then on probation for a year after that. I guess he'd better check with his probation officer as to whether he will be allowed to leave.

 

[poohandwendy]

I would tell him you want to speak with his probation officer, just to be sure. If he is still on probation during your trip and gets permission to leave the country, you or your DD will probably have to take responsibility for his return.

 

[caitycaity]

He is under house arrest until February

I misunderstood your post. I thought he had been on house arrest, but was no longer. I though the whole purpose of house arrest was to prevent you from leaving your neighborhood. I seriously doubt he'd be able to elave the country.

 

[Crankyshank]

I don't know what the laws are regarding this in Canada, but he can be thrown in jail here for probation violation if he leaves the area when on probation.

They don't like to give permission to leave to felons unless it's a death in the family or something like that.

 

[GrannyEv]

no, his house arrest ends in February, and we were thinking of going in May. But there is still the matter of his probation. I will check. Thanks

 

[poohandwendy]

I found a link for Ontario that may help or at least be a start:

http://www.mpss.jus.gov.on.ca/english/corr_serv/comm_corr/probation.html

It sounds like they do things pretty much the same way up there. It looks unlikely he will be able to gain permission to leave the area for a vacation (especially out of the country) while on probation. As crankyshank mentioned, they reserve special permission for special circumstances (like death of a family member).

 

[GrannyEv]

Thanks for the website poohand wendy. From reading the site it looks like my daughter's friend is SOL.
I will investigate it some more.

 

[cdnmickeylover]

I would look into this carefully because when we crossed the border at the end of September (from Canada to US) we were asked:

1. Have you ever been arrested, anytime, anywhere?
2. Have you ever been refused entry into the US?
3. Have you ever had trouble gaining entry into the US?

We've never been asked these questions before when we've crossed over but we were this time. It was strange. We were also asked how much currency we had on us which we'd never been asked before either.

 

[GrannyEv]

Thanks for the heads up. I think that I don't want to chance. I just may have to go "solo" if my daughter doesn't want to go without her friend.
I just don't want to risk it.