When the past catches up with you

Past mistakes make the future difficult

In my first post I spoke about having planned to get married in Quebec in May of this year, but being unable to do so. This was due to a mistake I made several years ago. In August of 2008 I was arrested for DUI.

This was both a blessing and a curse.

 

The blessing.

 I call it a blessing because if I had never been arrested I would probably be in a completely different place in life; maybe even dead. I was very depressed, going down a dark path, and was using alcohol to self-medicate. Getting arrested was a huge wake-up call that things needed to change. Since then I've stopped drinking and stopped hanging out with my enablers. I've pursued a career in the medical field and met my wonderful husband. 

The curse.

This brings us to the curse. When I arrived at the Canadian boarder in March, as I had done several times before, I was asked to park and come inside for further questioning. I assumed this was because I was planning on staying for several months on this visit, so I wasn't very concerned about the request. Once inside, I was questioned about my history and had a background check run. This of course brought my criminal history into question. At the time I was unaware that my DUI from 2008 would prohibit me from entry into the country, especially since I had visited several times before. So after about an hour and a half of interrogation, the boarder patrol agent denied my entry into Canada. I was deemed criminally inadmissible and would not be allowed entry for several years. 

However, there was a small silver lining to this devastating blow. Since more than 5 years had passed since the completion of my sentencing, I would be able to apply for criminal rehabilitation. 

Criminal Rehabilitation?

After being denied entry my husband and I decided to come to Virginia and get married. After a very brief honeymoon he returned to Quebec and I to Virginia. We began the decision of what comes next? After months of deliberation and a few bumps in the road, we decided to pursue getting my permanent residency in Canada. In order to apply for PR (permanent residence) I have to be deemed "criminally rehabilitated".  This basically means that I'm no longer a danger or a risk to society. I've read that this process can take up to a year to a year and a half or longer! YIKES! But if we don't try we will never know, right?

Thanks for reading! I hope that you find this and future entries helpful!