Do I need police clearence from my home country at the time of application for citizenship?
I already gave it when I applied for permanent residency.
I concur in responses by
Kan_Sri and
Hanzo.
Police Certificate Conversation Redux (possibly ad infinitum):
I know these police certificate queries and conversations get old. The issue has been addressed again and again, in depth, at length, as to just about every possible angle.
Despite the extent to which this issue is fully addressed in multiple topics, it comes up again and again. And again, as almost always, there are confusing and misleading, potentially outright erroneous responses.
There are also correct responses. Such as observations made by
Kan_Sri and
Hanzo
For extensive discussion of this, among many other discussions, see
Be wary of purported call centre agent answers which derive from a query which is rooted in arguing for an interpretation that will excuse the applicant from submitting a police certificate more than genuinely asking what it is that IRCC is asking and what IRCC expects.
In particular, if you were in another country for 183 or more days in the four years prior to the date of your application, before checking [No] in response to item 10.b it warrants carefully considering what is the truthful answer to the question.
Applicants who believe it should not be necessary for them to submit a police certificate, based on excluding time prior to landing from the calculation of days in another country, can check [Yes] and state an explanation for this in the space provided in the form.
Item 10.b clearly and explicitly asks whether the applicant was in another country a total of 183 or more days within the preceding four (4) years. Period. NO "or since landing and becoming a PR, whichever is more recent."
In this regard, item 10.b does NOT ASK whether the applicant should or is required to submit a police certificate. The truthful response to item 10.b DOES NOT DEPEND on whether the applicant needs to submit a police certificate.
It may be correct (I very much doubt it, but it is possible) that IRCC does not want, anticipate, expect, or require an applicant to submit a police certificate if the applicant was not in another country 183 or more days since landing, even if the applicant was in another country 183 or more days within the preceding four years.
It may even be the case that IRCC will be totally OK with such an applicant checking [No] in response to item 10.b. Nonetheless, however, this approach is NOT prudent. The prudent approach is to answer the question posed truthfully and then, for the applicant who believes there is an exception, to somehow assert the exception. The applicant could, for example, in one way or another explain why no police certificate is submitted. At the least, for an applicant who persists in checking [No] based on excluding pre-landing days from the calculation, it would be prudent for the applicant to add a supplemental explanation for why [No] was checked.
Further Observations:
It is interesting that this issue is popping up so often now. While it came up some, and was addressed in depth and at length after the request for police certificates was added to the application in June 2015, questions about it have increased dramatically in the past five weeks.
This is despite the fact that there were NO CHANGES, NONE, affecting who or when a police certificate is required. But all of a sudden there are scores of questions, apparently because there is this widespread belief (which I think is largely a myth), that there is an exception pursuant to which time prior to becoming a PR does not count even though it is within the four year prohibition period.
While I have made this point before, it warrants some emphasis: nothing in regard to this part of the application form changed this year. It is the same requirement that has been part of the application form since June 2015. The legal basis for this requirement has not changed since May 2015 (the change then, adding the four year prohibition, leading to the form change in June 2015).
There is no reason to think IRCC meant to change this but overlooked or otherwise failed to make an intended change. That is not to say IRCC will not revise the requirement, in some new future version of the application form, so that the requirement refers to the past four years, or since becoming a PR, whichever is more recent. That is possible.
Not likely, but possible.
Moreover, it is very possible that IRCC will not be strict about requiring a police certificate from applicants who have not returned to a country they were in prior to becoming a PR. It would likely be a mistake to think this excuses applicants from truthfully responding to item 10.b in the current application form.
Some recent responses by a forum participant demand clarification. This is in reference to posts by a participant who asserts that no police certificate is required if the time in the other country was prior to becoming a PR.
No you dont need, they will only need if u was away 183 days after becoming canadian PR.
my wife also submitted Police Certificate 4.8 yrs ago as pr applicant and they didnt ask again she had her oath 8 oct 2017.
It is always prudent to approach anecdotal reports with caution, for many reasons. But this anecdotal report illustrates one of the most common reasons: many times an anecdotal report is NOT RELEVANT, not at all relevant. The fact that an individual who took the oath more than a month ago was not required to submit a police certificate has
NO bearing on how time prior to becoming a PR factors into whether a police certificate is required.
If this individual, who took the oath October 8, 2017, applied prior to June 11, 2015, there was NO requirement to submit a police certificate with the application, no requirement for any applicant.
If this individual, who took the oath October 8, 2017, applied after June 11, 2015, she was a PR for at least four years prior to applying for citizenship.
Thus, her experience, in not being required to submit a police certificate, says
NOTHING about current requirements to include a police certificate with the application for any applicants who were in another country within the preceding four years but prior to becoming a PR.