Help - China Police Certificate

[danteamk]

Hi all,

My application for Canada PR is running (spousal sponsorship from within Canada), and I've been asked to submit Police Certificate from China, where I have lived for about 6 years in total, on and off from 2008 to 2015.
I am unable to get this certificate from either cities where I lived - Zhengzhou and Shenzhen - because I no longer have the TRRFs (Temporary Residence Registration Form) issued to me when I registered in the police stations back in the day. The police needs to issue me the Police Certificate, which then would be taken to the notary's office in China for translating and notarizing the document the IRCC needs.
I have researched about this matter a lot in the last two weeks, while acting on trying to get the PC with the help of friends living there in both cities.
The question here is if somebody with experience can tell me if I have enough evidences to show to the IRCC that I have tried everything to get the PC, but wasn't able to.
I am providing Letter of Explanation describing the steps I have taken to try and get the PC, supported by documents and etc, as below:
- Contacted consulates to see if they can assist with this matter. I have emails from the following ones confirming they cannot assist and this can only be issue din China directly with the local authorities:
- Consulates of China in Brazil (I'm from Brazil);
- Consulate of China in Canada (where I live now as temporary resident while the PR is being processed);
- Consulate of Brazil in China.
- Letter written by my friend in Zhengzhou, saying he checked with the local police and that the police has confirmed they need the TRRFs to issue me the PC. He also took selfies in front of the police stations he went, to prove he actually went there to check thoroughly.
- Letter by my friend in Shenzhen, saying she contacted the local police and that the police has confirmed they need the TRRFs to issue me the PC.

I have also received responses from some agents that do this service, saying that it is impossible for me to get the PCC issued with my circumstances, and that they would be able to issue a document saying the PC is unobtainable - which they charge around 1,000 USD for, for each city, and take time that I don't have.

I have a deadline of until the end of this month to provide to the IRCC what they are asking for.
If somebody can advise on if these evidences are enough to get the PC request waived, I would really apreciate!! Thank you!!!

 

[danteamk]

I also would like to add that the police in both cities said they cannot issue a letter saying they are not able to issue the PC to me. And both my friends will include this information in their letters.

 

[scylla]

No one here can guarantee that your explanation will be accepted by IRCC. Having said that, I was in a somewhat similar situation to you. My husband provided a very detailed letter (including the kind of evidence that you are providing) to show it wasn't possible to obtain a specific PCC. It was accepted for our application and he had no issues being approved. Include all of the evidence (e.g. emails with consulates) along with your letter.

 

[danteamk]

No one here can guarantee that your explanation will be accepted by IRCC. Having said that, I was in a somewhat similar situation to you. My husband provided a very detailed letter (including the kind of evidence that you are providing) to show it wasn't possible to obtain a specific PCC. It was accepted for our application and he had no issues being approved. Include all of the evidence (e.g. emails with consulates) along with your letter.

Thank you scylla for your prompt response!
It's good to know that you guys got it accepted. Gives me hope!

Is there any other type of evidence he sent that I haven't mentioned? I'm having trouble thinking of anything else I can submit.
Also, did he also send letter(s) from friends like I'm doing? I'm asking because I'm wondering if those would have to be notarized in China and if the originals would have to be sent to the IRCC instead of scans only.

 

[scylla]

Thank you scylla for your prompt response!
It's good to know that you guys got it accepted. Gives me hope!

Is there any other type of evidence he sent that I haven't mentioned? I'm having trouble thinking of anything else I can submit.
Also, did he also send letter(s) from friends like I'm doing? I'm asking because I'm wondering if those would have to be notarized in China and if the originals would have to be sent to the IRCC instead of scans only.

We did not include letters from friends.

We included email exchanges from embassies / consulates that we went to for help. We also included print-outs of US government websites that said the PCC we were trying to obtain couldn't be obtained. In the explanation letter, my husband also made some sort of statement about swearing that he had a clean record while he was there and requested that they take this statement in place of a PCC. All of our evidence we provided were printouts. There was nothing we notarized.

Situation was as follows: My husband is American and worked in Kuwait before the war. All records were destroyed in the war so they literally had no records of him being there and wouldn't issue a PCC.

We applied quite some time ago so unfortunately I no longer have the actual letter we wrote.

Good luck.

 

[danteamk]

We did not include letters from friends.

We included email exchanges from embassies / consulates that we went to for help. We also included print-outs of US government websites that said the PCC we were trying to obtain couldn't be obtained. In the explanation letter, my husband also made some sort of statement about swearing that he had a clean record while he was there and requested that they take this statement in place of a PCC. All of our evidence we provided were printouts. There was nothing we notarized.

Situation was as follows: My husband is American and worked in Kuwait before the war. All records were destroyed in the war so they literally had no records of him being there and wouldn't issue a PCC.

We applied quite some time ago so unfortunately I no longer have the actual letter we wrote.

Good luck.

Oh I see, I believe I have seen your husband's case before in another post in on of this website forums.
He had a strong case because of the war destroying the records, and that might have weighed a lot in the waiving decision by IRCC. Regardles, I learned from you guys about the statement of awearing to have clean records over there; I am considering doing the same as well.

Thanks for voicing out about your experience, certainly helps a lot!

 

[danteamk]

If anybody has tips or even experience regarding China especifically, please feel free to pitch in! THANK YOU ALL!

 

[diogosouza]

How did it go??

 

[danteamk]

How did it go??

Hey there!

Everything worked out fine!
I tried my best to get the police certificates from both cities I lived in in China, but it wasn't possible. I had friends in both cities contacting the police and/or Foreign Affairs Bureau, and even if I had traveled to China myself it wouldn't have been possible. They simply don't keep those records once a foreigner leaves China.
So I wrote an explanation letter to the IRCC explaining step by step what I did to try my best to get those documents, as well as provided as much proof as possible of my attempts, such as getting my friends in China to write and sign letters explaining what they had done to try to get the certificates. One of them even sent me photos of himself when he was at the various police stations, and I included those too.
Then I didn't hear from IRCC for almost 3 months, when suddenly in March I received the request to go to the landing interview, in which I was granted the PR.

 

[ttlens]

wearing to have clean records over there; I am considering doing the sa

Hey there!

Everything worked out fine!
I tried my best to get the police certificates from both cities I lived in in China, but it wasn't possible. I had friends in both cities contacting the police and/or Foreign Affairs Bureau, and even if I had traveled to China myself it wouldn't have been possible. They simply don't keep those records once a foreigner leaves China.
So I wrote an explanation letter to the IRCC explaining step by step what I did to try my best to get those documents, as well as provided as much proof as possible of my attempts, such as getting my friends in China to write and sign letters explaining what they had done to try to get the certificates. One of them even sent me photos of himself when he was at the various police stations, and I included those too.
Then I didn't hear from IRCC for almost 3 months, when suddenly in March I received the request to go to the landing interview, in which I was granted the PR.

Thanks for sharing your experiences. Now we also got a problem to get PC from China. The police in China said they only work through with an specific notary agent. But that agent shut down because of pandemic, so it's almost impossible to get PC at this moment. I'll attach some explanation letter with all status like you and hopefully nothing happened.

 

[hugoalarcon65]

Thanks for sharing, i am also in process of applying my PR and i lived in two cities in the past in China. I have exactly the same situation, I got my Police record from the last city i lived in China right before i departed to Canada. The problem is that i did not get it from the total time i stayed there as i moved a lot around so i never kept track of the registration of residence. I have not been asked yet, but i will need for sure those non criminal records, I will start by asking my friend to go there and try, hopefully he can get some evidence from the police station, such as a letter, so i can use it. I also tried by sending an email to the consulate of China and they said i have to apply myself in China, what they did not explain is that I need the registration of residence records, which is the hard part to obtain.

I will try and let you know how it went.

 

[cad0420]

Also according to what I searched online, some agents’ advertising articles talked about “what if I lost my 临时住宿登记表”? They said you can either:
1. Provide the rental lease or accommodation proof which has to contain your name and address
2. If you were working or studying in China, you can contact with your former employee or school to provide a proof letter, which needs to contain the following information: your name, position, duration of your employment/study, accommodation address, and the duration of your accommodation under this address
3. pay for someone (normally an agent) to contact with the local police office to abstract your record of accommodation (IMO, polices sometimes just are lazy to manually look for your record, that’s why they reject you. Sometimes you need 关系 to get what you need)

 

[cad0420]

I posted another answer but the moderator hasn’t make it public. I suggest you looking for a Chinese friend who can help you or hire a Chinese agent. I personally think it is possible to get the proof. The form is the best way to proof where you lived, but it is not the only way to prove your accommodation in China. I didn’t read your latest comment so I guess these posts are going to be for other people’s references in the future.

 

[hugoalarcon65]

Hi Thanks for the note, i have lived in Guangzhou and Suzhou. I was working there as an expat.
My friend is helping me, he asked me for a letter of authorization and he will go to the police station and a notary. I will see if this is feasible.
I appreciate your inputs, thanks a lot!