Why is it important to include all relevant US state police certificates with your FBI certificate whenyou may be inadmissible to Canada for Criminality from the United States?
- anniebeaudoinbud
- Feb 20
- 5 min read
For your convenience, we have recently posted on our website a complete list of instructions on how to request each of the police certificates for all US states
Foreign nationals, like US citizens or US permanent residents, can be criminally inadmissible to Canada under section 36 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act-IRPA.
An important Key point is that Canada does not rely on U.S. labels like “felony” or “misdemeanor.” Your legal representative must analyze the foreign legal statute under which you were convicted and evaluate the essential elements of what occurred to determine the closest equivalency to the Canadian Criminal Code.
Section 36 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) defines who is criminally inadmissible to Canada. It applies to foreign nationals and permanent residents of Canada in some cases. In simplified terms, A36 provides that an individual is inadmissible for criminality if they have:
A36(1) – Serious criminality
o Convicted in Canada of an offence punishable by a maximum term of imprisonment of
at least 10 years
o Convicted outside Canada of an offence that would be equivalent to such an offence in
Canada
o Committed an act outside Canada that would be such an offence in Canada
A36(2) – Criminality
o Convicted in Canada of an indictable offence, or of two summary offences
o Convicted outside Canada of an offence that would be indictable in Canada
o Committed an act outside Canada that would be an indictable offence in Canada
Why the FBI certificate alone is not sufficient when you are applying for a Temporary Resident Permit or Rehabilitation to obtain permission to enter Canada:
The FBI Identity History Summary is a national index. It depends on what states choose to report to the FBI and can sometime be incomplete or contain errors. In practice:
Some arrests or charges never appear
Some entries show “disposition unknown”
Diversions, dismissals, or reduced charges may be unclear
Old records may be incomplete
Limited information on the conviction
Under A36, the burden is on the applicant to prove evidence of the criminal record or lack of. If
information is missing or vague, officers may assume the version that leads to inadmissibility.
Why are state police certificates essential when you apply to IRCC
State police certificates register all the details of the convictions and charges from that particular state and as such provide much more accurate details:
Precise charge wording
Final disposition (dismissed, withdrawn, diversion, conviction, sentence)
Dates needed to assess rehabilitation or deemed rehabilitation
Without the state police certificate, your application could be refused as incomplete or be based on an incorrect criminal inadmissibility assessment. Most importantly, without the State police certificate the IRCC decision maker has not reliable way to verify that the person applying to enter Canada declared all the charges and convictions.
Useful tip! Criminal inadmissibility to Canada may apply even if you do not have a conviction because
A36 also includes a provision of commission :
“committed an act outside Canada that would constitute an offence in Canada.”
That means that withdrawn charges, stayed proceedings, diversions, and conditional discharges still require full documentation, and the State police certificates along with the court records, are required to assess if the commission may legally meet the inadmissibility threshold.
If you have a criminal record, you could still be allowed entry into Canada, but it requires a full
disclosure:
Depending on your eligibility, you could apply for:
Criminal rehabilitation (5 years after the completion of all terms of the sentence(s))
Deemed rehabilitated status
Temporary Resident Permit (TRP) : one time or multiple entry permit
Important: IRCC and CBSA require police certificates from:
All US states where you lived for 6+ months since age 18 and
Any US state where there was an arrest, charge, or conviction, etc.
Missing state certificates can lead to refusal, delays, or other complex issues.
How to request U.S. state police certificates
Each U.S. state has its own specific database, and its own precise directives and forms to request the police or criminal history certificates. Requirements vary widely from state to state and may include fingerprints, specific forms, fees, and various mailing timelines.
For a complete and regularly updated directory with step-by-step instructions on how to request state police certificates for all U.S. states, please visit our website:
Using the correct procedure for each state is essential to avoid delays or the risk of requesting the incorrect police certificate, which may not be accepted by Immigration Canada.
The bottom line regarding US state police certificates:
The FBI certificate is mandatory — but often not sufficient to capture all criminal entries. If you do not have any charges or convictions, IRCC will most likely accept the FBI. If you have a criminal background in the United States, or abroad while on Military Service, you must provide the appropriate US State police certificates.
Furthermore, if a charge or conviction does not appear on your FBI, you should still declare it, because you may be asked to provide a state police certificate if the Officer suspects other criminal entries. As a retired Canadian Immigration Officer, I often saw applicants choosing not to declare a conviction because it did not appear on the FBI certificate. This is a path to avoid because if and when the IRCC officer requests the state police certificate and can establish that you failed to declare a conviction or charges, you could be refused for misrepresentation and face a 5-year ban in Canada.
Beaudoin immigration Consulting specializes in criminal inadmissibility. Do not hesitate to contact us for a consultation:
written by Annie Beaudoin RCIC license #R533869
February 2026
We have recently posted on our website a complete list of instructions on how to request each of the
police certificates for all US states https://www.beaudoinimmigration.com/criminal-inadmissibility-info
Provision of the Act- A36 Serious criminality
36 (1) A permanent resident or a foreign national is inadmissible on grounds of serious criminality for
(a) having been convicted in Canada of an offence under an Act of Parliament punishable
by a maximum term of imprisonment of at least 10 years, or of an offence under an Act
of Parliament for which a term of imprisonment of more than six months has been
imposed;
(b) having been convicted of an offence outside Canada that, if committed in Canada,
would constitute an offence under an Act of Parliament punishable by a maximum term
of imprisonment of at least 10 years; or
(c) committing an act outside Canada that is an offence in the place where it was
committed and that, if committed in Canada, would constitute an offence under an Act
of Parliament punishable by a maximum term of imprisonment of at least 10 years.
Criminality
(2) A foreign national is inadmissible on grounds of criminality for
(a) having been convicted in Canada of an offence under an Act of Parliament punishable
by way of indictment, or of two offences under any Act of Parliament not arising out of a
single occurrence;
(b) having been convicted outside Canada of an offence that, if committed in Canada,
would constitute an indictable offence under an Act of Parliament, or of two offences not
arising out of a single occurrence that, if committed in Canada, would constitute
offences under an Act of Parliament; or
(c) committing an act outside Canada that is an offence in the place where it was committed and that, if committed in Canada, would constitute an indictable offence under an Act of Parliament.
(d) [Repealed, 2023, c. 32, s. 53]
Transborder criminality
(2.1) A foreign national is inadmissible on grounds of transborder criminality for committing, on entering Canada, a prescribed offence under an Act of Parliament.
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