Cruising to Canada with Felony Conviction (white collar)

[Angela2017]

One of the travelers in our party has a felony conviction on his record from 10 years ago.  We are set to leave out of Bayonne NJ on Tuesday to Halifax Canada on a 4 day closed loop cruise.  Will he be denied boarding in NJ or will he have a problem when he gets to the port in Canada?  Anyone experience this type of issue when cruising?  Thanks for any info. 

Edited July 23, 2022 by Angela2017

[canadianbear]

The only one we heard was on a ship from the USA to Vancouver.  He was a US citizen who had a drug conviction over 20 years ago and was denied boarding.  A friend had been traveling with him and told us.  No first hand knowledge though.  
 

Good luck.  
 

 

[broberts]

There are a number of threads about people being denied entry. Most due to DUI, even when it was charged as a misdemeanor. 

 

Take the time to go through the applicable pages at https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/inadmissibility.html. There are ways of improving the situation.

 

[Cap'nFlapjack]

Americans with a single criminal conviction that is not serious (maximum imprisonment of equivalent crime in Canada is less than ten years) may be allowed back into Canada if it has been more than a decade since full completion of all sentencing including any probation. For example, a person with one minor theft conviction for shoplifting may be considered deemed rehabilitated after ten years. To avoid the risk of a border refusal, however, court documents or other paperwork should be brought with you to Canada as old convictions can still raise questions at the border. Any criminal offense that involved violence, a weapon, or property damage does not qualify for Deemed Rehabilitation, and can render a person criminally inadmissible to Canada for life. A DUI is now considered a serious crime in Canada, and any such offense can now result in an American being refused entry at the Canadian border even if it happened more than ten years ago.

 

quoted from https://www.temporaryresidentpermitcanada.com/crimes-that-make-you-inadmissible.php

[njhorseman]

1 hour ago, Angela2017 said:

One of the travelers in our party has a felony conviction on his record from 10 years ago.  We are set to leave out of Bayonne NJ on Tuesday to Halifax Canada on a 4 day closed loop cruise.  Will he be denied boarding in NJ or will he have a problem when he gets to the port in Canada?  Anyone experience this type of issue when cruising?  Thanks for any info. 

I've answered the question in some detail in response to your post on the East Coast departures Board

[Fouremco]

Without knowing the details of the conviction and the sentence imposed, it's impossible to ascertain how serious the felony was and the likelihood of him being declared inadmissible. 

 

CBSA requires a passenger manifest be provided as follows:

 

 The manifests (one for passengers and one for crew) must be submitted in Microsoft Excel spreadsheet format to both the CBSA National Targeting Centre (NTC) and to the FPOA (CSO port or other) by email to the appropriate inboxes a minimum of 96 hours in advance of the ship’s arrival or when the vessel departs the last foreign port.

 

Depending on how quickly CBSA conducts its indices checks and the ship's itinerary, it's quite possible that they could advise the cruise line that he is inadmissible and that the cruise line would put him off the ship in a US port.

 

The possibly bigger issue is that, having attempted to enter Canada while inadmissible, he is compromising any opportunities to enter in the future.

 

 

 

 

 

[Heidi13]

57 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

Without knowing the details of the conviction and the sentence imposed, it's impossible to ascertain how serious the felony was and the likelihood of him being declared inadmissible. 

 

CBSA requires a passenger manifest be provided as follows:

 

 The manifests (one for passengers and one for crew) must be submitted in Microsoft Excel spreadsheet format to both the CBSA National Targeting Centre (NTC) and to the FPOA (CSO port or other) by email to the appropriate inboxes a minimum of 96 hours in advance of the ship’s arrival or when the vessel departs the last foreign port.

 

Depending on how quickly CBSA conducts its indices checks and the ship's itinerary, it's quite possible that they could advise the cruise line that he is inadmissible and that the cruise line would put him off the ship in a US port.

 

The possibly bigger issue is that, having attempted to enter Canada while inadmissible, he is compromising any opportunities to enter in the future.

 

 

In my experience, if a pax is inadmissible, this information is not shared with the ship's Master. All the ship receives from CBSA is a list of pax that they wish to interview, upon arrival. The ship must advise the pax, prior to arrival, they cannot go ashore, prior to meeting with CBSA. The ship also makes a notation on the embark/disembark system that if the card is used at the gangway, it alarms to notify the security officer.

 

On boarding, CBSA normally conduct interviews in the cabin. Ship's staff do not attend the meeting. At the conclusion, the CBSA advise the ship if the pax may go ashore, or must remain onboard. The other option is the pax is removed from the vessel in cuffs. Again, the Master, nor any crew member is advised of the reasons.

[em-sk]

On 7/23/2022 at 12:08 PM, Angela2017 said:

One of the travelers in our party has a felony conviction on his record from 10 years ago.  We are set to leave out of Bayonne NJ on Tuesday to Halifax Canada on a 4 day closed loop cruise.  Will he be denied boarding in NJ or will he have a problem when he gets to the port in Canada?  Anyone experience this type of issue when cruising?  Thanks for any info. 

 

 

It is unlikely they would be blocked at disembarkation. 

 

If CSBA has an issue with the person they would be forced to stay on the ship. while in port.     

[prairiesailor]

Why doesn’t the individual just call CBSA & find out directly from them if he will be allowed in? 

[3Shelaghs]

On 7/23/2022 at 5:23 PM, Fouremco said:

Without knowing the details of the conviction and the sentence imposed, it's impossible to ascertain how serious the felony was and the likelihood of him being declared inadmissible. 

 

CBSA requires a passenger manifest be provided as follows:

 

 The manifests (one for passengers and one for crew) must be submitted in Microsoft Excel spreadsheet format to both the CBSA National Targeting Centre (NTC) and to the FPOA (CSO port or other) by email to the appropriate inboxes a minimum of 96 hours in advance of the ship’s arrival or when the vessel departs the last foreign port.

 

Depending on how quickly CBSA conducts its indices checks and the ship's itinerary, it's quite possible that they could advise the cruise line that he is inadmissible and that the cruise line would put him off the ship in a US port.

 

The possibly bigger issue is that, having attempted to enter Canada while inadmissible, he is compromising any opportunities to enter in the future.

 

 

 

 

 

Agree.

[Kamloops50]

On 7/23/2022 at 12:08 PM, Angela2017 said:

One of the travelers in our party has a felony conviction on his record from 10 years ago.  We are set to leave out of Bayonne NJ on Tuesday to Halifax Canada on a 4 day closed loop cruise.  Will he be denied boarding in NJ or will he have a problem when he gets to the port in Canada?  Anyone experience this type of issue when cruising?  Thanks for any info. 

Felony convictions and DUI can be used to deny entry into Canada. Some US Felony Convictions in Canada are considered a Criminal Code Offence.If it is considered to be a Criminal Code Offence in Canada , a good chance that he will be denied entry into Canada . The cruise line could deny boarding as well.

[Heidi13]

On 7/29/2022 at 7:13 PM, Kamloops50 said:

Felony convictions and DUI can be used to deny entry into Canada. Some US Felony Convictions in Canada are considered a Criminal Code Offence.If it is considered to be a Criminal Code Offence in Canada , a good chance that he will be denied entry into Canada . The cruise line could deny boarding as well.

 

The cruise lines do not have access to the NCIS database or the Canadian equivalent, therefore they are not privy to information that any pax would be inadmissible, due to having a criminal record.

 

Even if the pax sailed previously and was removed from the ship, the CBSA does not advise the Master why any pax was removed from the ship. Therefore, the cruise line has no specific information to prevent a pax boarding a subsequent cruise.

 

[Angela2017]

On 7/23/2022 at 3:08 PM, Angela2017 said:

One of the travelers in our party has a felony conviction on his record from 10 years ago.  We are set to leave out of Bayonne NJ on Tuesday to Halifax Canada on a 4 day closed loop cruise.  Will he be denied boarding in NJ or will he have a problem when he gets to the port in Canada?  Anyone experience this type of issue when cruising?  Thanks for any info. 

Quick Update... We returned from our cruise yesterday.  Our friend had no problem at all getting off the ship in Canada.  We did hear announcements for some passengers to go to the main dining room to meet with "immigration".  His name wasn't called and he got off and back on the ship with no issues.  Thanks for all the responses. We had a great time on our cruise!