Police Certificate from FBI

[robinhood_1984]

The worst thing about all this is that I'm sure it catches most of us out at the last minute as we're filling in the application forms, only to realise that we now need a FBI certificate, no problem, lets just send off for one.......hang on, they take 4 months to come back with what seems like a considerable chance of finger prints being rejected and after 4 months you don't actually get an FBI check at all, so then it becomes 8 months, and who knows, 12 months......There should be FBI locations to go to that take finger prints to their own standard with no chance of them being rejected months after application.

In my case, and perhaps in many peoples case, its obvious that we have no US criminal record as we cross the border for work every week, in my case in a truck and I have to apply for an I94 visa waiver every 90 days and part of the process is to be finger printed at the border and have a back ground check performed. If I had any of the things that IRCC seem concerned about, I wouldn't be allowed in to the US and I wouldn't be employed in my job as 90% of all exports from New Brunswick go to the USA (According to a news report on the radio today).

If it was just a 3-6 week wait for it, I wouldn't be so bothered but this 14+ weeks with no certainty of the prints being accepted is ridiculous. I'm almost at the stage now where I'm about to apply without it and see what happens, if they either accept or deny it in Sydney, it'll probably be decided well before the FBI one comes back so nothing to lose. I know a few truckers in the same boat as me who've done this and got away with it but of course there is no guarantee.

What I would like to know is, has anyone actually had their application sent back for not including an FBI check? I'm not bothered about quotes from the application instructions, only actual real world experience. Has anyone submitted a citizenship application to Sydney and had it returned purely on the basis of no FBI check certificate included?

 

[ChippyBoy]

The worst thing about all this is that I'm sure it catches most of us out at the last minute as we're filling in the application forms, only to realise that we now need a FBI certificate, no problem, lets just send off for one.......hang on, they take 4 months to come back with what seems like a considerable chance of finger prints being rejected and after 4 months you don't actually get an FBI check at all, so then it becomes 8 months, and who knows, 12 months......There should be FBI locations to go to that take finger prints to their own standard with no chance of them being rejected months after application.

In my case, and perhaps in many peoples case, its obvious that we have no US criminal record as we cross the border for work every week, in my case in a truck and I have to apply for an I94 visa waiver every 90 days and part of the process is to be finger printed at the border and have a back ground check performed. If I had any of the things that IRCC seem concerned about, I wouldn't be allowed in to the US and I wouldn't be employed in my job as 90% of all exports from New Brunswick go to the USA (According to a news report on the radio today).

If it was just a 3-6 week wait for it, I wouldn't be so bothered but this 14+ weeks with no certainty of the prints being accepted is ridiculous. I'm almost at the stage now where I'm about to apply without it and see what happens, if they either accept or deny it in Sydney, it'll probably be decided well before the FBI one comes back so nothing to lose. I know a few truckers in the same boat as me who've done this and got away with it but of course there is no guarantee.

What I would like to know is, has anyone actually had their application sent back for not including an FBI check? I'm not bothered about quotes from the application instructions, only actual real world experience. Has anyone submitted a citizenship application to Sydney and had it returned purely on the basis of no FBI check certificate included?

I know your frustration level's high over this. If I were in your situation at this time, I think that I'd go ahead with submitting the citizenship application along with an attached page explaining that you've applied for an FBI pcc. You can minimise the risk of unacceptable fingerprints being submitted by telling the U S. police station taking yours on the special card that yours MUST be taken by an officer who's fully familiar and competent at taking them up to the FBI's standards. Don't be shy. Advocate for yourself.

 

[noscaf2014]

The worst thing about all this is that I'm sure it catches most of us out at the last minute as we're filling in the application forms, only to realise that we now need a FBI certificate, no problem, lets just send off for one.......hang on, they take 4 months to come back with what seems like a considerable chance of finger prints being rejected and after 4 months you don't actually get an FBI check at all, so then it becomes 8 months, and who knows, 12 months......There should be FBI locations to go to that take finger prints to their own standard with no chance of them being rejected months after application.

In my case, and perhaps in many peoples case, its obvious that we have no US criminal record as we cross the border for work every week, in my case in a truck and I have to apply for an I94 visa waiver every 90 days and part of the process is to be finger printed at the border and have a back ground check performed. If I had any of the things that IRCC seem concerned about, I wouldn't be allowed in to the US and I wouldn't be employed in my job as 90% of all exports from New Brunswick go to the USA (According to a news report on the radio today).

If it was just a 3-6 week wait for it, I wouldn't be so bothered but this 14+ weeks with no certainty of the prints being accepted is ridiculous. I'm almost at the stage now where I'm about to apply without it and see what happens, if they either accept or deny it in Sydney, it'll probably be decided well before the FBI one comes back so nothing to lose. I know a few truckers in the same boat as me who've done this and got away with it but of course there is no guarantee.

What I would like to know is, has anyone actually had their application sent back for not including an FBI check? I'm not bothered about quotes from the application instructions, only actual real world experience. Has anyone submitted a citizenship application to Sydney and had it returned purely on the basis of no FBI check certificate included?

Well, there may be good news for everyone applying for the FBI PCC. According to FBI's website:

The FBI will be implementing a new option to electronically submit requests and receive responses for Identity History Summary Checks and Identity History Summary Challenges on Thursday, February 1, 2018 at 8:00 a.m. The new eDO option will allow for faster processing of requests.​

Good Luck!

 

[robinhood_1984]

Well, there may be good news for everyone applying for the FBI PCC. According to FBI's website:

The FBI will be implementing a new option to electronically submit requests and receive responses for Identity History Summary Checks and Identity History Summary Challenges on Thursday, February 1, 2018 at 8:00 a.m. The new eDO option will allow for faster processing of requests.​

Good Luck!

Very interesting, I'll read more in to this. I'm assuming it won't make a difference to those already in line to get them the old way via sending things by mail etc? I only sent mine today but if this looks promising I'll re-submit another one and if theres a chance of having it back in a reasonable time, wait for it before submitting my application.

 

[robinhood_1984]

I know your frustration level's high over this. If I were in your situation at this time, I think that I'd go ahead with submitting the citizenship application along with an attached page explaining that you've applied for an FBI pcc. You can minimise the risk of unacceptable fingerprints being submitted by telling the U S. police station taking yours on the special card that yours MUST be taken by an officer who's fully familiar and competent at taking them up to the FBI's standards. Don't be shy. Advocate for yourself.

Probably just feeling sorry for myself more than anything. Its just annoying that my job in and of itself seems to bring me in conflict with receiving citizenship, especially due to things like the strict requirement or physical presence, something that prevented my from being eligible under the old 4 out of 6 rule but the 3 out of 5 has brought me under he threshold of days thankfully, though that is not the case for many of my friends from the UK and Europe who were recruited by Canadian companies via the PNP to PR scheme with little to no hassle but suddenly we're not good enough for citizenship at all or have to jump through endless hoops just because we drive a truck to the benefit of Canada into the US.
I've heard people say that we're not 'maintaining a Canadian life' by doing so, yet what difference is there to me or my wife and kids (they're Canadians) if I go away for a week or two to the US as opposed from here in NB to lets say Vancouver, which is a two week round trip. I'm away from home the hole time, what difference does it make where I'm parked at night and sleep. I'm in a Canadian truck, for a Canadian company, earning Canadian dollars in to my Canadian bank account, to support my Canadian family in my Canadian home, in Canada.
I'm actually home more often in this job because most of what I do is from New Brunswick to New England so I may do 2 or even 3 little trips per week, which is giving me loads of physical presence but for most foreign truck drives in Canada, its easy to get PR and then the door is firmly slammed in their face for citizenship and this FBI check thing is the biggest load of bull going when its blatantly obvious from the stamps in our passport that we've being cleared by US immigration every 3 months with a finger print and back ground check to be allowed in. Believe me, any trucker with any sort of criminal record in Canada is very restricted in employment opportunities unless they live in a big urban area like Toronto etc with a lot of local work available. I've known drivers come over here from England, turn up at the US border for the first time and be denied entry for a criminal conviction they had in England 20 or 30 years ago that they somehow knew about.
I don't think I'm better than anyone else and I know that these requirements for FBI checks for example were probably never made with truck drivers like me in mind, we're just a fish thats being caught in a widely cast net but I don't see why other evidence can't be taken in to account aside from the FBI check, such as my continuous clearance in to the US that's evident in my passport for example. It basically proves the same thing.
Anyway, enough whining, it is how it is and I'll deal with it. I'll wait and see if the new electronic submission to the FBI is worth trying, and if not, I'll perhaps just fire off an application to Sydney anyway and take my chances with an explanation and hope for the best, and should they send it back then no big deal, I'll just re-submit once I eventually get FBI clearance.