The officer can exercise discretion when assessing whether police certificates that do not fall within standard IRCC parameters may still be required to process the application. When necessary, an officer can use discretion in their determination of whether or not a client is admissible to Canada by using other documents or mechanisms that are available to them.
Some countries will not issue police certificates to applicants, and instead will only communicate directly with the relevant Canadian authorities. In such cases, existing
IRCC procedures to obtain documentation should be followed.
The IRCC website provides instructions to applicants on
Where to obtain a police certificate.
In exceptional circumstances, IRCC may accept both of the following:
- proof of having requested a police certificate for some countries; and
- an explanation of best efforts (not a guarantee of acceptance)
- In this explanation, the applicant should explain the delay in a document and upload the document in the country-specific field. The uploaded document must show that the applicant requested a police certificate as soon as possible after receiving their invitation to apply.
In such exceptional cases, the client will be advised to upload a document into the upload field stating country-specific details that support their explanation of best efforts.