We’ve been covering some of the many different celebrities who have been denied entry to Canada in the past. Popular rapper Lil Wayne is one of them, having been threatened with being denied entry to Canada in October of last year when he planned to travel to Canada for two stops on his concert tour.
Why would someone be denied entry to Canada?
A criminal record has serious potential to get you denied entry to Canada. In Lil Wayne’s case, he was convicted of gun possession in 2007 and served eight months in prison, and was on probation for a drug probation arrest at the time he was denied entry.
In a statement made to the Calgary Sun after the news broke, the Canada Border Services Agency said, “A person’s admissibility to Canada is determined on a case-by-case basis, depending on the information given to officers. A criminal conviction can make a person inadmissible to Canada… A final decision is made by an officer at a border crossing or airport.
Lil Wayne was also denied entry to the UK for the same tour. It just goes to show that you can be famous with boatloads of cash, but if you don’t take the appropriate precautions beforehand, you can be denied entry to Canada. It can happen to everyone, no matter who they are or whether they have something important waiting for them in Canada like a sold-out show.
However, there are steps you can take to overcome and in some cases even eliminate your inadmissibility to Canada, such as obtaining a temporary resident permit or applying for criminal rehabilitation. Contact our immigration law firm if you have a criminal record and fear that you will be denied entry to Canada – we can help!
President & CEO
Michael Niren
Mr. Niren is CEO of VisaPlace LLC and the President and Managing Partner of VisaPlace Legal Canada, an immigration law firm based in Toronto, and VisaPlace Legal US a law firm registered in The District of Columbia, USA. Mr. Niren is a graduate of Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto, a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada, the Canadian Bar Association’s Citizenship and Immigration Section, American Lawyers Association, and an Associate Member of the American Bar Association.
