Have an old DUI and expensive 2010 Olympic plans? Read this

So, you've secured thousands of dollars worth of Olympic tickets and, perhaps, hotel reservations, and suddenly you're hit with a bombshell question: Could that old DUI on your record stop your Olympic experience right at the Peace Arch border crossing?

That's the very question a number of Olympic fans asked recently, when a news piece about U.S. residents being turned around by immigration officials appeared in The Seattle Times.

The answer? Quite possibly, yes.

The bottom line is Canada does treat prior offenses, including DUIs, seriously, and does deny entry to many people with such offenses on their records. And, a spokesperson for Canada Border Services told me this week, there are no exceptions for fans, guests, officials or anyone else entering Canada next February just to go to the 2010 Winter Olympics.

"Yes, the rules apply to everyone," Faith St. John, communications advisor for Canada Border Services," states in an e-mail. "Every person seeking entry to Canada must demonstrate that they meet the requirements for entry into Canada. Canada's admissibility requirements will not change during the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games."

Worried about your own situation? Act fast. There are ways to be "deemed rehabilitiated" for your past indiscretion, and regain Canadian entry rights. But by all accounts, it is not a swift or convenient process. Our advice: Start now, and hope for the best.

Here, verbatim, is the border agency's response to our query about entrance requirements and restrictions, and where to pursue further info:

• Every person seeking entry to Canada must demonstrate that they meet the requirements for entry into Canada. Persons in contravention of any requirement under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act are inadmissible to Canada.


• Admissibility of all travelers seeking to enter Canada is considered on a case-by-case basis on the specific facts presented by the applicant in each case.


• When processing visitors to Canada with criminal records, CBSA officers enforce the standards for admissibility as outlined in the Immigration Refugee Protection Act and Regulations which are used to determine the admissibility into Canada.


• Several factors are used in determining admissibility into Canada, including: involvement in criminal activity, in human rights violations, in organized crime, security, health or financial reasons.


• A criminal conviction - even a DUI - could make a person inadmissible to Canada. For that reason, be prepared to discuss your criminal history with a Border Services Officers when arriving in Canada.


• Potential visitors to Canada, who have criminal records, are encouraged to visit the CBSA or CIC website in order to ensure they are admissible to Canada.


• Individuals with a criminal record may be inadmissible to Canada. People with criminal convictions can apply to be deemed rehabilitated or they may be eligible for a Temporary Resident Permit (see links on 'Overcoming criminal inadmissibility' FAQ's http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit/faq-inadmissibility.asp and Fact Sheet http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit/conviction.asp ).


• Canada's admissibility requirements will not change during the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The same policies and procedures that apply today will be in effect before, during and after the 2010 Winter Games