May 27, 2026

Deemed Rehabilitated: Securing an eTA After a Decades-Old Conviction

We recently assisted an individual with an eTA application needed to be able to travel to Canada for work. Our client had a conviction overseas that dated back many years and IRCC was unable to approve the eTA without first determining admissibility to Canada.

The difficulty in this case was the lack of information and documents that was not available because the criminal matter was so dated – decades old. In the usual course IRCC would not be able to assess criminal inadmissibility or consider a Rehabilitation application without the needful court records. So, we worked with our client to strategize and direct on how to provide proof of the needed documents and evidence not being available. Together with this we prepared submissions, advocating that although he was criminally inadmissible to Canada, he should be Deemed Rehabilitated. After a number of months and extensive efforts, we were pleased to receive the approval of the eTA, allowing for our client’s travel to Canada.