Worried about 30 Yr old crime

[Justwondering]

Hello
Im a Canadian citizen living overseas. my husband is not Canadian but wants to visit/meet all of my Canadian family.

Problem is he has a conviction which I see Canada sees as serious and max prison is up to 25yrs. (Drugs not murder or anything)
He did no prison time in the UK and was only fined.
Conviction is spent in UK as it is 30 years old.
Before I knew the rules, I did an eta for him and checked NO convictions. This is because they are spent and don’t come up on normal police checks. Then I did more research and realised we must check yes. We cancelled our flights and now here we are very upset and not sure what to do next.
Of course he’s completely turned his life around and has a great long term job etc.
He’s even managed to immigrate to Australia with full disclosure of this criminal history.

what can we do and what’s the quickest option at this point?
Are we in trouble for me checking no on the ETA? We didn’t go and flights cancelled.

help.

 

[IMMIgroup]

First off, this is not my field of expertise, but you are doing the right thing in researching this topic.

Here are a few things you can do:

• Call Canada Border Services Agency and ask. They don't require you to give your name but ask this question point blank.
• Hire an expert who deals with these issues for a phone consultation (if you need, I can recommend someone for you).
  ​

I guess the question on your mind is, how would they know? Are the systems somehow interlinked? What are the consequences of being found out? How long does it take to file the correct application and go through the correct channels?

 

[Yusif Young]

My friend was exactly the same. He didn't know what to do either.

 

[Yusif Young]

I can tell you what to do.

 

[Justwondering]

I can tell you what to do.

Ok? Please do.