Do i need a police certificate for PR if i am already in the country on a visa

[ldissrh]

I am here on a tourist visa. I am from Argentina. Do i need to get a police certificate when applying for my PR? It says i don't have to if i have lived in Canada ... does this constitute living in Canada? The information regarding the police certificate is the following:

POLICE CERTIFICATES AND CLEARANCES
You must submit original police certificates of good conduct or clearances from each country in which you and each of your family members aged 18 years or over have resided six continuous months or more since reaching18 years of age. You must attach the original police certificate(s) to the application. If the original certificate is neither in English nor in French, submit both, the certificate and the original copy of a translation prepared by an accredited translator.
However, if you have lived in Canada, at this time you are only required to indicate it on the Schedule 1 Background/Declaration Form (IMM 0008). You will be notified by the visa office dur-ing the processing of your application if you are required to submit a police certificate from Canada.
Please consult our website at: www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/security/police-cert/index.asp for specific and up-to-date information on how to obtain police certificates from any country.

 

[ddobro2]

You misread the instructions. Nowhere does it say that you do not need to submit a police certificate for Argentina (as I assume you have lived in that country for more than 6 months since turning 18) just because you have also lived in Canada. The sentence you bolded pertains specifically to police certificates from Canada, the RCMP being the relevant police force for that country. If living in Canada for more than 6 months since the age of 18 applies to you, it directs you to simply indicate your time in Canada on Schedule 1 and not to send your fingerprints in for a police certificate from the RCMP unless and until the visa office requests you do so during the processing.

I am here on a tourist visa. I am from Argentina. Do i need to get a police certificate when applying for my PR? It says i don't have to if i have lived in Canada ... does this constitute living in Canada? The information regarding the police certificate is the following:

POLICE CERTIFICATES AND CLEARANCES
You must submit original police certificates of good conduct or clearances from each country in which you and each of your family members aged 18 years or over have resided six continuous months or more since reaching18 years of age. You must attach the original police certificate(s) to the application. If the original certificate is neither in English nor in French, submit both, the certificate and the original copy of a translation prepared by an accredited translator.
However, if you have lived in Canada, at this time you are only required to indicate it on the Schedule 1 Background/Declaration Form (IMM 0008). You will be notified by the visa office dur-ing the processing of your application if you are required to submit a police certificate from Canada.
Please consult our website at: www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/security/police-cert/index.asp for specific and up-to-date information on how to obtain police certificates from any country.

 

[ldissrh]

So do i need the police certificate then? Can't i just submit my application and then if they ask for the police certificate give it to them then? Reason i ask is because from the looks of it, it is going to take me over 1 month to get this police certificate.

 

[ddobro2]

Yes, you need it, like I said. Technically they ask that a complete package with all required documents be submitted at the beginning, but if you want to send it separately to get your sponsor approval taken care of sooner rather than later, I see no problem with that. I have not heard of anyone's applications being mailed back because they did not initially provide it, but if you send it to the VO separately, you need to put as much information attached to it, most notably your visa file number, so it can be united with its "parent" file, if you will. Good luck

So do i need the police certificate then? Can't i just submit my application and then if they ask for the police certificate give it to them then? Reason i ask is because from the looks of it, it is going to take me over 1 month to get this police certificate.