Form 5257 Canada
Michele Firmasyah
Canada immigration lawyer focused on helping Americans apply for a Temporary Resident Permit so they can travel to Canada with a criminal record. We offer free comprehensive consultations (unlike many businesses who demand a retainer before assessing your options).
A Canada Temporary Resident Visa (TRV) is needed by many foreign nationals who want to visit Canada temporarily for leisure, business, or to work or study. Foreign nationals who are citizens ofcertain countries do not require a Temporary Resident Visa in order to travel to Canada, but people from all other countries may need to obtain one before entering Canada. A TRV allows a visitor to enter Canada for a fixed amount of time, and can be issued for a one-time visitto the country (single entry Canadian Tourist Visa) or for several visits (multiple entry Visa Canada). Please note: individuals from visa-exempt countries may still require a Canada Electronic Travel Authorization in order to board a flight bound for the country.
It is very possible to apply for a Temporary Resident Visa on your own either online or via Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) application form IMM 5257, called "Application for Visitor Visa." Applying for a Canadian Visitor Visa on your own is fairly simple and should not take long, although Immigration Canada has very high standards and might refuse to issue a Tourist Visa if an application is not filled out correctly. Being denied a Canadian Travel Visa can also make entering the country even more difficult in the future, so it is always best to do things right the first time. Although a Canadian immigration lawyer is certainly not needed when applying for a Canada Travel Visa, we do offer our services should anyone worldwide be interested in having a lawyer professionally prepare their Canadian Visa application.
Having trouble opening the Canada Visa form? We have received several inquiriesfrom people unable to open the Canadian Visa application form from the official IRCC website. To accessthe IMM5257 Canada Tourist Visa application form (PDF) try right clicking this link and selecting "Save link as..." and then opening the file on your computer using a PDF viewer such as Adobe Acrobat.
If you have a criminal record, you may be considered criminally inadmissible to Canada and denied a Temporary Resident Visa. Any foreign national with a criminal record may need special permission in orderto travel to Canada, above and beyond a standard Canadian Travel Visa. If you have a criminal history and need to go to Canada, fill out our contact form or phone us today for an extensive free consultation. Our immigration lawyer has extensive experience helping people from all over the World visit Canada with a criminal record and our fast service will maximize your chances of successful entry into the country.If your criminal record is from more than ten years ago, and it was only a single charge or conviction that is not serious, it is possible you could be considered deemed rehabilitated by the passage of time.This would allow you to apply for a Canada Visa without first needing to attain special permission to enter with a criminal record, although you should always consult a legal professional to accurately determine your admissibility.
Whether or not a person requires a Canadian Visa to visit the country is typically determined by the traveler's passport not where they currently reside. This means that a citizen of a country that requires a visa to visit Canada normally needs one even if he or she lives in a visa-exempt country such as Germany, France, Italy, or the UK. Canada has special rules for legal US residents, however, and Green Card holders do not require a Temporary Resident Visa in order to travel to Canada provided theypresent their valid Green Card (Alien Registration Card) at the border. Consequently, citizens of countries that typically need a visa to visit Canada, such as China, India, Brazil and Russia, do not need one if they are a permanent resident of USA. People living in the United States on an H-1B Visa or Study Visa may still require a visitor visa in order to enter Canada, and US Green Card holders who will be flying into Canada will typically need an Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA).
The application for Temporary Resident Visa Canada is the IRCC IMM 5257 form, commonly referred to as IMM5257e or the English visitor visa form. The several page application asks many questions, and it is crucial that it is filled out 100% correctly otherwise the Canadian Government might not issue a Visitor Visa allowing a person to enter the country.The application begins by requesting personal details, starting with a person's full name including family name and given name, as well as any other name a person has ever used such as a nickname, alias, or maiden name. The application then asks for a person's sex, date of birth, place of birth, country, citizenship, current country of residence, and all previous countries of residence for more than six months during the past five years. The form then asks which country you are applying from, your current marital status, and if you are married or in a common-law relationship as well as the date in which you entered into that relationship. The IMM5257e.pdf form also asks if you have previously been married or in a common-law relationship, and if so you must give your ex-husband or ex-wife's full name.
The Canada Temporary Resident Visa application then asks a person's mother tongue, which language they use most often (if native language is not French or English), and if the person is able to communicate in English or French. An applicant must then provide their passport number, as well as their passport's issue date, expiry date, and country of issue. Additionally, the TRV Canada application form asks for an individual's current mailing address, residential mailing address, telephone number, fax number, and email address.
Some of the most difficult questions on the IMM 5257 Canada application come under the heading "details of visit to Canada." Here the applicant must explain the purpose of their visit and indicate exactly how long they plan to stay in the country as well as exactly how much money they have to support themselves during their stay. The applicant must then list the name and address of any people or institutions they will be visiting in Canada, as well as their relationship with them. The Canada TRV application also asks for a person's educational history including school names and fields of study, as well as a detailed summary of all their employment history for the past ten years including the exact dates spent working for each employer.
When it comes to being issued or denied a visitor's visa, how you answer the questions in the "Background Information" section is crucial. The first question in this section of the IMM 5257e form asks if you or a family member have been in contact with a person that has tuberculosis in the past two years. The form then asks if you have any physical or mental disorder that requires social or health services in Canada other than medication. The next question on the IMM5257 Canada TRV application asks if you have ever remained beyond the validity of your status, or gone to school or worked in the country when you were not supposed to. Canada treats overstay violations very seriously, and anyone busted studying or working in the country without a permit can get in major trouble and can even be deported.
Individuals completing the Temporary Resident Visa Canada form must disclose their full criminal history. The Canada IMM 5257 PDF form asks if a person has ever been arrested for, charged with, or convicted of any criminal offense in any country. If the answer is "yes", the person then must provide full details. Any person who has committed a crime in the past, such as a DUI or DWI, may be denied a Travel Visa, especially if the offense occurred in the last ten years. Even with a valid Canadian Visa, a potential visitor could be considered criminally inadmissible to Canada and refused entrance.
If you have a criminal record, you can overcome your criminal inadmissibility with a Canada Temporary Resident Permit or TRP. The two names are very similar, but they each serve a completely different purpose. A Temporary Resident Visa gives someone permission to visit Canada as a tourist, while a Temporary Resident Permit gives someone permission to enter Canada with a criminal record.Be careful not to apply for a Temporary Resident Permit if you actually only need a Canadian Visitor Visa.There is also a process called Criminal Rehabilitation which can permanently fix inadmissibility to Canada, but has a government processing time that can be close to a year.
The final questions on the Canada Visa application are whether a person served in any military, police, or security organization, whether they have ever been part of a violent political or religious group, and if they have ever witnessed or participated in the poor treatment of people or have purposely damaged a religious building before.
When you apply for a Canada Tourist Visa online, the IRCC Website informs you at the beginning that you will be asked questions about your nationality, age, language abilities, family, education, work experience, employment income, net worth, and details about any job opportunities you have received. The website also informs people that a medical exam or police criminal or security check may also be required by some temporary resident applicants.
Please note: Citizens of the above countries who possess a valid US Green Card may be eligible to enter Canada without a Canadian Travel Visa. As of 2017, citizens of Bulgaria and Romania no longer need a Visitor Visa to travel to Canada, but instead will need an Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA) in order to fly into the country. Romanian citizens without a valid electronic passport still require a Tourist Visa in order to visit Canada.