What is background check means

[zia01]

Dear Depnabill, thank you very much for your detailed reply. I m really very appreciated for your help and your time you spent for others. You are doing a marvellous job. My brief history of the case is as under # I landed with my family as PR through PNP employer driven program in 2012. I left Canada due to some domestic issues back in my home country after 35 days. I came back after one year in 2013 and living with my family up till now. However, I visited four times to my home country on short spells during my eligibility period. It is pertinent to mention here that my family has already granted citizenship in March 2017. I have neither security/criminility ever issues in my life nor any misrepresentation. I m worried why my file put on hold by another immigration office instead of my local office which is quite unusual. Where as my test and citizenship interview was held in my local immigration office. My time line is as under # Application sent # Dec 18, 2017....Application received #Dec 22, 2017....AOR# Feb 10, 2018.....In process# March 18, 2018......Physical Appearence#1357 days....Letter received for test interview # May 31, 2018.......Citizenship test/ interview # June 20, 2018.........My GCMS Notes are as under # Knowledge # Passed......Residence # Not started......Prohibtion # Not started......Criminilty # Passed ......Tax filling information # Matched .....CIT RCMP Screening# No Reportable Trace.....FOSS# N.....Resticted notes# N.....Decleared Prohibtions # N.......GCMS status# On hold as instructions from another immigration office since Nov 11, 2018......where as my ECASE Status still shows "in process".

 

[dpenabill]

Dear Depnabill, thank you very much for your detailed reply. I m really very appreciated for your help and your time you spent for others. You are doing a marvellous job. My brief history of the case is as under # I landed with my family as PR through PNP employer driven program in 2012. I left Canada due to some domestic issues back in my home country after 35 days. I came back after one year in 2013 and living with my family up till now. However, I visited four times to my home country on short spells during my eligibility period. It is pertinent to mention here that my family has already granted citizenship in March 2017. I have neither security/criminility ever issues in my life nor any misrepresentation. I m worried why my file put on hold by another immigration office instead of my local office which is quite unusual. Where as my test and citizenship interview was held in my local immigration office. My time line is as under # Application sent # Dec 18, 2017....Application received #Dec 22, 2017....AOR# Feb 10, 2018.....In process# March 18, 2018......Physical Appearence#1357 days....Letter received for test interview # May 31, 2018.......Citizenship test/ interview # June 20, 2018.........My GCMS Notes are as under # Knowledge # Passed......Residence # Not started......Prohibtion # Not started......Criminilty # Passed ......Tax filling information # Matched .....CIT RCMP Screening# No Reportable Trace.....FOSS# N.....Resticted notes# N.....Decleared Prohibtions # N.......GCMS status# On hold as instructions from another immigration office since Nov 11, 2018......where as my ECASE Status still shows "in process".

As I said, I am NOT an expert. I am NOT qualified to offer personal advice. I cannot express a reliable opinion about your case in particular.

I can suggest that there are basically two approaches to your current situation: WAIT or Consult with a lawyer.

Which approach YOU decide to take should be based on YOUR best grasp of the situation. If you are confident there is NOTHING amiss in your qualifications, it should be OK to WAIT and WATCH for communication or notice from IRCC. If you decide to wait, you can change your mind anytime and go to a lawyer.

I am ordinarily hesitant to analyze particular details in an individual case, for many reasons . . . in addition to the fact that I am NOT an expert and NOT qualified to evaluate an individual case, there are, for example, undoubtedly OTHER details of import . . . and again, this is not an appropriate forum for sharing anywhere near enough personal details to support a reliable assessment. Again, other than consulting with family or close friends or trusted associates, it is far better to go to a lawyer with whom you can share details in the context of formal confidential communications.

I will note some aspects of what you report, with the CAVEAT that I do NOT know, with any degree of confidence, if these are significant, let alone important . . . these are just some things that jump out a bit:

PNP Program versus what you in fact did . . . with some wondering about the sponsoring employer as well. Again, I do NOT KNOW if this is significant. CIC and IRCC have identified some immigration fraud involving exploitation of PNP programs, ranging from instances of individual fraud to fraudulent schemes. If, for example, a particular "employer" has become associated with identified fraud (essentially an employer being paid to facilitate immigration rather than genuinely bringing in skilled workers for the employer), that can lead IRCC or CBSA to investigate any or all such immigrants that employer was involved in sponsoring. Additionally, settling your family in Canada and leaving may have triggered inquiries into the genuineness of the sponsorship. I want to emphasize that I DO NOT KNOW if this is an issue, NOT at all. It may depend on what you did, where you lived and worked when you did come to Canada personally (that is, whether your personal circumstances might suggest there was NO intent to follow through with the PNP program; that it was just used as a means to get status in Canada).

PRESENCE CALCULATION: Your numbers versus your characterization of absences hint of some incongruity. Four trips to the home country during the "eligibility" period (December 2012 to December 2017), suggests just three (at most) AFTER you say you settled in Canada in 2013 . . . in contrast, 1357 days physical presence suggests that during a period significantly longer than four years you were absent at least nearly five months or so total. Your characterization of the trips, as "short spells," is not, not in itself significant, but it is at least incongruous if not inconsistent with trying to OBJECTIVELY review your facts to discern if you can identify what might be problematic. Three "short spells" do not add up to nearly five months. In regards to this I am NOT suggesting this is an issue, let alone THE issue . . . the point is, if you are trying to discern whether you may have a problem serious enough to warrant obtaining a lawyer, you need to be more objective, even brutally objective, about the facts in your case . . . look at them in as negative light as you can. If, after assessing your case, yourself, as brutally objective as you can, you are still confident there should be no problems with your qualifications, it should be OK to WAIT . . . and IRCC will sort things out. BUT you really do need to be more critical in how you personally evaluate the particular details.

Leading to . . .

Potential MISREPRESENTATION: Again, with emphasis, I do NOT KNOW what your particular details are. I already noted that IRCC and CBSA are aware that the PNP programs are often exploited, and thus there is the possibility IRCC or CBSA is making sure there was no fraud or misrepresentation there. You appear to have casually dismissed the possibility of ALLEGED misrepresentation in regards to that . . . but as I noted, the fact you clearly did not follow through with the program, at least initially, but in the meantime settled your family in Canada (this is assuming YOU were the primary applicant), at the least raises A QUESTION for IRCC to make inquiry about. Here too, if you were being brutally objective in assessing your own situation, you should have readily recognized this as a potential issue. Are there other aspects of your application which you have similarly assessed in a favourable light rather than a brutally objective light?

Which brings up the police certificate issue. In conjunction with the Presence Calculation. And how you responded to item 10.b. in your application.

I applied for citizenship on December 18, 2017 and I passed my test and interview on june 20, 2018. During citizenship interview, the immigration officer asked to provide the police character certificate within 30 days which was missing in my file

The relevant FOUR year period, for the question posed in item 10.b. (in the CIT 0002 (10-2017) version of the application, which is the one you would have used in December 2017), was December 18, 2013 to December 17, 2017 . . . during which you specifically report only three "short spells" spent in your home country (assuming the time in the home country before that was the fourth time within the "eligibility" period), and otherwise you seem to be reporting FEWER than a total of 183 days abroad (you report 1357 days in Canada in those four years, since you report being absent during the previous year) . . . let alone in your home country specifically. SO WHY DID IRCC WANT A POLICE CLEARANCE IN YOUR CASE?

Maybe I got these numbers wrong or am overlooking something. BUT your account suggests NO reason to think a home country "police character certificate" was "missing" in your file, since the facts you report did NOT require including a police certificate with the application. Were the details in your application such that you did or should have checked yes in response to item 10.b. and included a police certificate? If so, that is NOT consistent with the other information you report. Otherwise, if your numbers are correct and you were NOT in your home country for a total of 183 or more days between December 18, 2013 and December 17, 2017, do you have an idea why IRCC wanted a police clearance from your home country?

I am NOT suggesting you post further details in an effort to clarify this. I am merely trying to highlight some questions YOU might ask YOURSELF in an effort to more fully assess your case OBJECTIVELY . . . so you can make a better informed decision FOR YOURSELF as to whether it is OK to wait and see, or whether you should see a lawyer sooner rather than later.

No one here can reliably determine whether there is potentially a serious issue lurking in your case. My guess is that there is NOT . . . that this is headed toward taking the oath. BUT that is just a GUESS, a for what its worth GUESS.

THUS . . . THE ABOVE IS NOT TO SUGGEST YOU HAVE ANY SERIOUS PROBLEMS. I DO NOT KNOW. YOUR OUTLINE OF FACTS SUGGESTS THERE SHOULD NOT BE ANY SERIOUS PROBLEMS.

But it would probably be prudent to re-evaluate your case, YOURSELF, looking at things from a more critical, objective perspective, looking for problems, including what might lead to the APPEARANCE of an issue or concern.

The ATIP response, the client copy of GCMS records, is NOT going to illuminate much. YOU know your facts. Take off the rose coloured glasses and look at them critically. And decide for yourself whether to continue waiting (after all, you could receive notice to take the oath this week) or whether you should go see a lawyer.

 

[Felix Dar]

i already take my police clearance from \UAE PCC and i submitted with my PR file , but my question is the bank start calling me now for the payment and am not able to pay now , so they can make police case under my name in UAE , is that effect my PR file ??/
haw they wull make the criminal record check , they will ask about me in UAE even after they got the police clearance in my file ??

 

[Franko72]

I understand

Criminality check means
Security check means
Eligibility check means

But what is background check means and what comes in there :

Also how many categories checks does in citizenship application

How long does it take each phase?? I checked the anatomy link you sent but it does not show, actually I'm in the criminality check, I already had the medicals requested and passed (Jun 01, 2019)... Do you have any estimate of each phase???

 

[Nabila hasan]

Hi folks
I called ircc last week. They said i hsve passed eligibility & security. Now they are checking my background even they mentioned which country they are checking. Now i want to know what's the difference between criminality, security and background????

 

[dpenabill]

Hi folks
I called ircc last week. They said i hsve passed eligibility & security. Now they are checking my background even they mentioned which country they are checking. Now i want to know what's the difference between criminality, security and background????

Caveat: I do not know what the particular help centre call agent meant when using any of these terms. Note that the term "background check" is a very broad, general term, and can be about various things . . . including verification of employment or address history, for example.

In this forum, most references to "background checks" are actually about three specific formal clearances:

-- GCMS
-- RCMP/Criminality
-- CSIS/Security​

and typically it is just the latter two that is being discussed (that is, the RCMP criminality clearance and the CSIS security clearance), since there is a GCMS check done every time any action is taken on the application (minimum of three: CPC-Sydney processing in opening and starting the citizenship file; attendant test and interview; attendant scheduling the oath ceremony).

Thus, even at the end stage of processing there is still at least one more "background" check to be done, even though it has been done multiple times before. Thus, no matter what stage an application is at, a help centre call agent can always truthfully say the application is still waiting on a background check. Because there is always a background check still to be done right up to when a Citizenship Officer approves the grant of citizenship. This is because the Citizenship Officer MUST conduct a GCMS check as part of the process in making that decision.

As I noted initially, I cannot speculate what a particular help centre call agent meant in saying this or that. In particular, I cannot offer an opinion about what was behind a reference to background and other countries in particular.

One of the processing elements which has changed since the last batch of internal documents about processing I have had access to, is the verification of no prohibitions based on criminal charges or convictions in countries other than Canada. Perhaps it has something to do with that. That's a wild guess.

I can offer this about the scope of GCMS background checks: these can be far more broad than many seem aware. There are, for example, many GCMS records for specific Canadian employers, and thus many of the employers identified by applicants can be cross-checked in IRCC's own databases. How robust that data is I cannot guess. We know it for sure identifies employers who have in some way been identified in cases involving fraud in the past. Similarly for addresses. And telephone numbers. (Thus, for example, if a PR happened to live in an apartment previously listed by someone entangled in a fraud case, the GCMS screening might show a hit for this and trigger some extra level of scrutiny, just because of the address.)

And it is worth remembering that "background checks" can go beyond that. We have seen many reports (including official sources) in which it is revealed, for example, that processing agents sometimes research open sources, especially internet open sources, for information about applicants. Canada411 and LinkedIn are two of the most commonly referenced sources researched. But IRCC officials also can and sometimes will do things like telephone employers.

 

[USA1]

I have bad debts when i was working from one of the middle east country. I ran away to my home country. I have police clearance from middle east country. Will it affect me in BGC for canada PR?

 

[Infinitytemmy]

With the caveat that I am NOT an expert, among the comments I have made about this subject, and specifically in those you quote, I have addressed the fact that references to background, security, and criminal checks or clearances, can be and often are used in various senses, sometimes specifically in reference to a particular clearance, but more often generally. In many if not most interactions with a call centre agent, it is near impossible to be sure . . . as I have oft noted, the call centre agents can be prone to giving more or less stock answers in cases where the application is in process waiting for the next step. NOT informative. NOT illuminating. All the applicant learns is that there is no apparent problem, the file is active, and the applicant will continue to be in WAIT mode.

Whether there is some issue with the application to be worried about is fact-specific to the individual application. The vast majority of qualified applicants who followed the instructions, and who properly, truthfully, and completely provided the information and documents required, and who genuinely do NOT KNOW of any reason for concern, almost certainly HAVE NO REASON for CONCERN, NO CAUSE to WORRY. All they need to do is WAIT, wait and watch for communication from IRCC and respond to the next communication accordingly.

Wait times tend to be significantly longer than many if not most applicants apprehend. Some get through rather quickly (and their cases tend to mislead others into thinking they too will soon be done). But many more will need to WAIT. And this year it is quite likely the WAIT time is longer than it has been for a few years (due in most part to huge surge in applications last quarter of 2017 and the implementation of major changes, which large bureaucracies like IRCC are NOT known to be good at).

If in contrast you are aware of a potential issue in your case, well that is what it is.

BUT if you know of no reason to worry other than it seeming to take longer than you anticipated, odds are very good there is indeed NOTHING to worry about . . . it is just about waiting. You might see notice of the next step tomorrow, or not for . . . things can take awhile.

No reason to feel lost. The process goes on behind the curtains. That's how it works for everyone else as well.

Hello,
do IRCC while conducting background check also consult initial information in applications you submiitted submitted to united state of America ?

 

[sjjhala]

Hope it's well for you

 

[Infinitytemmy]

seniors in the house ,how can I address this concern


Thank you for your interest in studying in Canada. After careful review of your study permit application and supporting documentation, I have determined that your application does not meet the requirements of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) and Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR). I am refusing your application on the following grounds:
• I am not satisfied that you have sufficient funds, including income or assets, to carry out your stated purpose in coming to Canada or to maintain yourself while in Canada and to effect your departure.
You are welcome to reapply if you feel that you can respond to these concerns and can demonstrate that your situation meets the requirements. All new applications must be accompanied by a new processing fee.
Sincerely,
High

 

[Franko72]

Any idea on how long does Security takes?

 

[rosy12345]

Dear Dpenabill

You have such commendable knowledge.
Just need to ask you this thing about my case, that I applied for Express Entry PR on May-9th-2019, and I submitted biometrics in Seattle on June 29-2019. Since then my profile shows that "Background check has not been started yet, we will let you know when we start your background check". So, few days back I called toll free number of IRCC to find out why no stage has changed since last 5 months. And they said that my file has gone to India for Background check. I'm really confused. What does that mean? First, If it has already gone to India, then why is it not showing that BGC has already started. And do I need to do anything for India BGC? Second, my 6 months process time has already finished. Now, the profile says that we'll let you know when there is any update. I'm really worried what should I do...and how can I get more updates on this.????

FURTHER OBSERVATIONS ABOUT SUSPENDED PROCESSING:

 

[Infinitytemmy]

seniors in the house ,how can I address this concern


Thank you for your interest in studying in Canada. After careful review of your study permit application and supporting documentation, I have determined that your application does not meet the requirements of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) and Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR). I am refusing your application on the following grounds:
• I am not satisfied that you have sufficient funds, including income or assets, to carry out your stated purpose in coming to Canada or to maintain yourself while in Canada and to effect your departure.
You are welcome to reapply if you feel that you can respond to these concerns and can demonstrate that your situation meets the requirements. All new applications must be accompanied by a new processing fee.
Sincerely,
High

 

[dpenabill]

@rosy12345 and @Infinitytemmy . . . I am NOT an expert.

I have not been following visa applications much for many years. So I am not even much of a source for information about visa applications at all, let alone NO expert.

Moreover, the discussions in this part of the forum are about citizenship applications. An individual has to already be a Canadian to qualify for citizenship (recognizing that "Canadian" includes both citizens and PRs in Canadian law).



@rosy12345 in particular:

they said that my file has gone to India for Background check. I'm really confused. What does that mean?

The nature and focus of background checks for citizenship applicants is significantly narrower than for those applying for visas. This is in large part because citizenship applicants have already had the broader, and presumably more focused background checks necessary to be granted a PR visa.

Sorry I cannot offer much about the process for those applying for a visa.

 

[GeoV]

Hi Dear dpenabill I will appericate if you can help with the below:

File SINP Paper based
AR March 2019
AOR May 2019
MR Sept 2019
MP Oct 2019
ADR 29 Oct ( Updated Sech A and PCC- same moment the Bck ground message flipped from we are processing to Your application in Progress)
PAL 30 OCT
Docs loaded and showed ( We are reviewing your docs on Nov 11 )
Called IRCC said- Eligibility pass, (Criminality and Security) -not started
I am not sure, if IRCC agent is the actual or it is now in Ip1 as per the back ground message tells?
Any help which stage I am at , and how long shall I be waiting till PPR_ Thanks much