I have a client who was born in Canada, and is in the US without legal US status. She has a pending Driving While Impaired ("DWI") charge in North Carolina. If she is convicted of the DWI, and returns to Canada, will she be considered a convicted felon in Canada? If she is not convicted of the DWI, but is convicted of the charge of underage driving after consuming alcohol, what might be the ramifications of such a conviction? Please advise.
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Canadian citizen with pending DWI in US - will she be a convicted felon in Canada?
- Thread starter smotta57
- Start date
TheRealCanadian
Volunteer Moderator
There's no Canadian legal ramifications that I am aware of. Why would there be?
CalGreenCard
Registered Users (C)
There's no Canadian legal ramifications that I am aware of. Why would there be?
There is certainly no bar to a Canadian citizen with a DUI in the USA returning to Canada--her status as a Canadian citizen trumps any concerns about entering Canada with a US DUI conviction.
However, I would not be so confident about the DUI not following her back to Canada when it comes to her driving record. I believe that many North American jurisdictions share DUI conviction info, so she might face problems with a Canadian driving license suspension (note that this would be an administrative, not a criminal, issue from a Canadian perspective).
If the OP is a DUI lawyer in NC, the OP might want to consult with a counterpart in the Canadian province of destination to see what the Canadian impact on her driver's license would be.
Also if the OP's client will need to return to the USA for court appearances, community service, and/or alcohol classes, a US immigration lawyer should probably be consulted as to whether she'd be allowed to do so freely (as opposed to being denied or detained at the border). The criminal conviction and the overstay might both be issues affecting her ability to re-enter the US.