Dismissed Connecticut DUI 13 years ago - travel to Canada?
Hi all,
I’m supposed to go on a relatively short-notice weekend trip with friends to Montreal in a few weeks. Back in 2013 I was arrested for DUI in Connecticut when I was 18 years old. It was “dismissed” from my record after a few months when I completed classes. Exact wording from my lawyer at the time:
“Under CT law, your case was “dismissed”. We have a statute called the Erasure statute which applies to any case which has been dismissed by the court. In that section it says: “Any person who shall have been the subject of such an erasure shall be deemed to have never been arrested within the meaning of the general statutes with respect to the proceedings so erased and may so swear under oath.”
But I understand now that this may still pop up at the border potentially. I know my case being so long ago (and being my only offense of any sort) helps my chances, but is there a decently high risk of having problems here? I was planning to ride up from Boston with friends (I won’t be driving), but if there’s a chance that our car gets turned around because of me I need to consider that.
I know it’s all ultimately up to the border guard but was wondering if anyone has any insight into just how risky it is with a very old charge that was dismissed.