Hi folks,
Just got a Schedule A request and PCC request! I’m FSW-O, AOR is Feb 3rd, 2021.
Need some wisdom from the veterans here regarding the PCC requirement. Perhaps
@legalfalcon could shine some light on this?
The ADR states the following:
‘Police Certificate: From each country/state where the residence period has been six months or longer since the age of 18, provide an original police clearance certificate This must be received at this office by: 2022/06/11’
I’ve been living in Brazil (my birth country) since 2019 and I submitted my police clearance certificate for this country with my initial application in Feb, 2021. I understand why they need an updated one in this case though, as it is the country where I currently live and the last cert I submitted is now expired. No questions here.
Before that, I have lived in two other countries for a period of over six months since the age of 18:
-The UK, which I left in 2018 and never went back. My police clearance certificate from ACRO was issued in 2020, long after my departure, and I already submitted it with my initial application in Feb, 2021
-The US, which I left in 2015 and never went back. My police clearance certificate from the FBI was issued in 2020, long after my departure, and I already submitted it with my initial application in Feb, 2021
My question is, do I really need to provide new or ‘original’ certs for the UK and for the US again, even though I haven’t stepped foot in either country after departing them and therefore my existing PCCs should still be valid as per IRCC’s policy? On IRCC website it says 'For any other country, the police certificate must be issued after the last time you stayed there for 6 months or more in a row.' but then it also says 'An officer may ask for a new one later on'.
Please advise, I'm so stressed that I only have 30 days and I’m worried that I won’t be able to obtain the UK/US certs before the deadline. I do not want to delay the process if it is not actually required. Are there any suggestions on how to go about this?
Please also note that in my online account on the portal only 1 row/space has become available to upload the cert(s) (it says "Police Certificate" and doesn’t mention which country), whereas at the time of ITA there were 3 rows/spaces, one for each of the aforementioned countries. Does this mean they are only looking for the PCC from my CoR after all, or for ADRs people usually get only one space for PCC submission regardless of how many certificates they’re supposed to send?
Any guidance will be immensely appreciated!