Toronto84 said:
My wife actually did visit her home country this past summer for a short trip.
Have you encountered this issue of having a deadline to submit documentation but that it might take longer to submit?
Technically, unless her visit was 6 months long, there shouldn't
really be an issue with the old certificate.... *but* the problem with the old certificate is whatever they say it is.
Unfortunately, there is no way to know what their problem with the old certificate was. They either lost it, or they arbitrarily decided that it's too old. Both cases are
very common.
Fortunately, there are a lot of cases of this. Where we, fellow victims of this dinosaur, have to re-submit something and are given deadlines that are too short.
You simply need to inform them that it will take longer to comply with their request than the time allotted, however, I recommend the following:
Apply for a new police certificate as soon as you can.
Also immediately, re-submit your old police certificate along with a letter that explains that the new certificate will be received by you later than the allotted time frame, ask for an extension of the time frame to say... 2 months, 3 months, etc. Also explain that you have provided a copy of your original police certificate for their records.
Make sure the note is very very very very simple and very very very clear. Write as if you are sending it to an 8 year old child with poor vision. Big font, very simple.
They are very stupid, don't make them think too hard.
There is a very good chance that they just lost your original police certificate, and upon receiving it again will just put you through to DM.
Even if they decided your certificate was too old, they may see your old police certificate and, in their stupor, put you through to DM.
Worst case scenario is that they see the note saying that it'll be late, give you the extension (which they won't tell you about), and when you send the new one in, and you get put through to DM.
You can also try calling the center, and they can put a note on your file that says you have acknowledged their letter but it will take more time to send it in.
They may or may not actually put that note on your file, so I suggest you do both these activities.