Convictions
Continued From Page 14
Exception” of the INA.
While it sounds easy enough
to obtain a non-immigrant
waiver, think again. Processing
times for such waivers are currently in excess of nine to 12
months and the government
processing fee is US$545. In
addition, some waivers are only
issued for one year, which
requires multiple applications
to be filed.
If an underlying conviction
is old, it is critical to determine
whether it qualifies under the
“petty offence exception” of the
INA. If a conviction is deemed
a petty offence, then the foreign
national is not required to
obtain a waiver and can enter
the U.S. with appropriate docu-
mentation. To qualify under the
petty offence exception, the for-
eign national must prove: 1) he
has only one conviction and it is
unrelated to substance abuse;
2) the sentence imposed for the
crime is not more than six
months in jail; and 3) the max-
imum penalty for the particular
crime does not exceed one year
in jail.
Rosanna Berardi, managing
partner of Berardi Immigration
Law, is a former INS Inspector
and INS Trial Attorney in Buf-
falo, NY and New York City.
While it sounds
easy enough
to obtain a
non-immigrant
waiver, think
again.
Canada’s selective assistance
to citizens abroad raises concerns
CHRISTOPHER GULY
After being detained in Cuba
for three months pending the
results of an investigation of a traffic accident he was involved in,
19-year-old Cody LeCompte is
now back home in Ontario awaiting word as to whether he needs to
return to Cuba to appear in court
if charges are laid against him.
His uncle, Gary Parmenter,
told Postmedia News that he
believed it was no coincidence
that his nephew was given the
green light to leave the island
nation the very day (July 28) that
Peter Kent, the federal minister of
state of foreign affairs for the
Americas, issued a statement
revealing that he had discussed
LeCompte’s case with Cuban officials in Ottawa and at the recent
African Union Summit in Uganda.
Veteran Toronto immigration lawyer Lorne Waldman
believes Ottawa’s intervention
played a role in securing the
teenager’s release.
“There’s no doubt the Canadian government put pressure
on Cuba,” he says. “Sometimes
political and diplomatic pressure
will work. But its effectiveness will
depend on how strong the relationship is between countries.
“If Canada has good rela-
tions with another nation, then
it has a better ability to inter-
cede in a case.”
For instance, Waldman
explains that Canada’s strong ties
with Mexico had a strong impact
in the case of Brenda Martin two
years ago. Less than 10 days after
the Ontario woman was found
guilty of fraud and sentenced to a
five-year prison term in Mexico
with no chance of parole, she was
transferred back to Canada on a
federal government-chartered jet
and was briefly remanded into
custody at the Grand Valley Insti-
tution for women in Kitchener
before being released on parole
for time served.
“
Lawyers...have a role
to play in bringing
cases of Canadians in
distress to the
attention of federal
officials in Ottawa.
He explains that lawyers also
have a role to play in bringing
cases of Canadians in distress to
the attention of federal officials in
Ottawa. “It’s not strictly legal work
because it involves identifying
pressure points in a political situation,” says Waldman.
But there are limits, as Vancou-
ver civil litigator Greg Samuels
points out.
“Criminal or traffic-related
matters are not treated the same
way as a civil claim, where you
have to determine which country
has stronger ties to the issue. The
jurisdiction where the accident
or injury occurred is going to
determine the ramifications for
the parties,” says Samuels, whose
practice focuses on cross-border
matters, mostly between B.C.
and the state of Washington.
“Usually when lawyers run out of
answers, we get our politicians
involved to try to make headway
on a case about a Canadian in
trouble elsewhere.”
Still, as Waldman points out,
often the federal government can
do little but provide consular
assistance and perhaps access to
a lawyer.
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