Being detained question.

[stevorabs]

Hi everyone!

So I'm filling out my application forms, and I'm a bit stumped at the "have you ever been detained, incarcerated or put in jail" question.

About 1 /12 years ago, a few friends and i got way too drunk on a saturday night, and were throwing things at each other on the street. A couple of cops saw us, whacked handcuffs on us, sat us down and berated us for an hr for being idiots, then drove us home in the cop wagon. We weren't charged, taken to the police station or had our finger prints taken.

Because we were handcuffed, does that mean i have to put down that i was detained? And if so, what does that mean in regards to getting my common-law sponsored PR?

On a side note, i did get my 3rd working visa a couple of months AFTER the event..

Any insight would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[tink23]

I don't think that's even worth mentioning. You weren't even brought to the police station. I would just take it as the cops trying to scare some sense into you guys. Don't even mention it.

 

[Rob_TO]

Did they take down your name and information? If no record was ever kept of all this, then to be honest i'd just put "no" in for the answer. If you weren't charged then I don't think it would ever show up in a police check.

 

[stevorabs]

Did they take down your name and information? If no record was ever kept of all this, then to be honest i'd just put "no" in for the answer. If you weren't charged then I don't think it would ever show up in a police check.

They took down my name and my home address, which they just dropped me off outside. This all happened a month or so before i renewed my working visa, and there were no issues there. I just can't help feeling they might be more thorough in checking this time around..

 

[Rob_TO]

They took down my name and my home address, which they just dropped me off outside. This all happened a month or so before i renewed my working visa, and there were no issues there. I just can't help feeling they might be more thorough in checking this time around..

If it was me, I wouldn't even mention it. I'm pretty sure they are referring to being "detained" at a police station or in jail or something like that. It sounds like in your case there was no formal record ever done so I doubt it would appear on any future criminal check (but of course i'm no legal expert, just going off common sense).

 

[jwa007]

You were detained if you were not free to go at any time. If you were placed in handcuffs, then yes, you were detained.

Now, whether or not you choose to disclose this is completely up to you.

 

[Rob_TO]

You were detained if you were not free to go at any time.

Wouldn't that then also apply to getting a traffic ticket? You aren't allowed to go until the cops tell you.

 

[nsr]

They took down my name and my home address, which they just dropped me off outside. This all happened a month or so before i renewed my working visa, and there were no issues there. I just can't help feeling they might be more thorough in checking this time around..

Hi,

Before going ahead with application, you have to make sure about this. Because if there is any thing in police record and you mentioned NO in the form and Visa office find it out then they can consider it as misrepresentation, which is way too much trouble in immigration.

I would say get police clearance from the country this happened in before applying. Also you can goto police station and they can do criminal record search which will show that they have you in the system or not. This is just my advice you better take legal advice if you can.

hope this help..

NSR

 

[jwa007]

Wouldn't that then also apply to getting a traffic ticket? You aren't allowed to go until the cops tell you.

It depends. If you are stopped and issued a ticket with a summons, that is not being detained. If you are stopped and and cuffed/put in the back of the police car then you'd be detained.

The general traffic "ticket" is not detention. You are stopped for the purpose of issuing a summons, then you are free to go.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

They took down my name and my home address, which they just dropped me off outside. This all happened a month or so before i renewed my working visa, and there were no issues there. I just can't help feeling they might be more thorough in checking this time around..

If they didn't formally arrest you, didn't take you to the station, didn't fingerprint you, didn't issue you with any type of form/fine/ticket/etc. and you didn't sign any type of form or notice, then nothing official was actually done. No need to mention it.

 

[jwa007]

If they didn't formally arrest you, didn't take you to the station, didn't fingerprint you, didn't issue you with any type of form/fine/ticket/etc. and you didn't sign any type of form or notice, then nothing official was actually done. No need to mention it.

This is not what I would do, but you need to make your own decision. I believe that there is a space to describe the situation if you mark yes. I would do that and explain. If it really is not something that they consider "detention", then there is no reason to worry.

From the info you provided, it's 100% clear to me that you were detained. There's a difference between detention and arrest, and in my view, if they meant to ask about arrests then they would have said arrest - not detention.

But again, you need to make your own decision on how to proceed.