Inland Spousal: Police Certificate Complexities!

[Enkidude]

Hello all, I am a US citizen married to a Canadian citizen and we are currently living together in Taiwan. We are planning to move to Ontario in July 2020, where I will apply for Inland Spousal Sponsorship PR + Open Work Permit. The timeline is complicated by some unclear information around police certificates. Here's my situation:

• Born in the USA, lived there until the age of 28 in 2009.
• Lived and worked in China from 2009 until the beginning of 2014. Married my wife in 2013 in Iceland.
• Spent about a year traveling in Central America - essentially living out of a car but started and ended the trip in USA at my parent's home.
• Lived and worked in Taiwan from 2015 to present (2020), over 5 years.

According to the latest checklist, Canada Immigration only needs the police certificate of the place I lived longest since the age of 18, plus the most-recent place I've lived, if it was 6 months or more. Since I plan to apply for Inland Spousal after arriving in Canada in July, that means they'll only need a police certificate for USA. Can I expect a request for other police certificates as well?

It is very simple for me to get a police cert for Taiwan - in fact I have one on my desk now. The USA one is a little complex but do-able within a few weeks. The hard one is China - it will take an agent and a handful of couriered documents and money and nearly a month of processing time. Is it prudent to get that Chinese police document anyway, just in case Canada asks for it?

Third question: it seems a little unclear, but will any additional police certificates be required for the OWP application, if filed within Canada at the same time as the Inland Spousal Sponsorship PR application?

 

[starnaenae]

I would get them just in case... i also would air on the side of caution with planning any travel right now. No one knows when any restrictions will be lifted due to covid19. I also caution “moving here” as you would be a visitor. If you come with all your stuff, you may have some issues at the border

 

[Enkidude]

I would get them just in case... i also would air on the side of caution with planning any travel right now. No one knows when any restrictions will be lifted due to covid19. I also caution “moving here” as you would be a visitor. If you come with all your stuff, you may have some issues at the border

Thanks for the reply, starnaenae. We realize the situation with CoVid19 is very fluid, and that nobody can predict what will happen in the next three eternal months. So while right now there are flights between Taipei and Toronto and 14-day self-quarantine is a requirement, we are prepared to shift dates around as needed.

We plan to fly in to Canada on separate bookings - mine with a return ticket 6 months out. My [true, as it happens] story at the border will be that I am helping my wife move in for her graduate studies. We will not be arriving with all our stuff - just a couple suitcases each. I also have significant personal savings and permanent residence in Taiwan so don't need a job there to return. Do you think that would pass?

 

[adyc]

Hello! Answering as a fellow Taiwanese applicant!
I would suggest you to get one from Taiwan regardless since its such a simple and cheap process (I actually regret not getting another one during my most recent visit as the valid date would be further in the future), and if you have only "moved" to Canada recently they might want one from Taiwan, where you moved from, anyways (especially since your move to Canada would not be permanent yet). I am not too sure about the background check of China, you might be able to check more details with the country specific tool on the IRCC website.

 

[Enkidude]

Hello! Answering as a fellow Taiwanese applicant!
I would suggest you to get one from Taiwan regardless since its such a simple and cheap process (I actually regret not getting another one during my most recent visit as the valid date would be further in the future), and if you have only "moved" to Canada recently they might want one from Taiwan, where you moved from, anyways (especially since your move to Canada would not be permanent yet). I am not too sure about the background check of China, you might be able to check more details with the country specific tool on the IRCC website.

Thanks, adyc! I'm still in Taiwan and currently have a Taiwanese police certificate that is maybe 2 months old. Do you think it'd be a good idea to get a fresh one before submitting my PR application? How long is a Taiwanese police certificate good for?

The China police certificate seems do-able with a 3rd-party firm handling things remotely. It's pricey and takes between 2-4 weeks. Would not having a Chinese police certificate (again, I haven't lived in China in over 6 years) delay my AIP or SA?

 

[adyc]

Thanks, adyc! I'm still in Taiwan and currently have a Taiwanese police certificate that is maybe 2 months old. Do you think it'd be a good idea to get a fresh one before submitting my PR application? How long is a Taiwanese police certificate good for?

The China police certificate seems do-able with a 3rd-party firm handling things remotely. It's pricey and takes between 2-4 weeks. Would not having a Chinese police certificate (again, I haven't lived in China in over 6 years) delay my AIP or SA?

IRCC seems to consider the police check to be valid for a year after its issue date, so it really depends on when you submit the application. The background check doesnt come up until later in the reviewing process though, so if it expires by then they might ask you for a new one.
I am unsure about the Chinese one. Seems like while you might not seem not need it right now they could always request additional documents later on! Perhaps others who have lived in multiple countries would know better.

 

[G&G]

In my case we did receive a request for an additional police certificate for a country not on the checklist so better to be prepared if it’s easy and cheap. If China is a hassle/expensive you could wait for the request if you’re not too worried about processing time since you’ll be inland.

Also we did the same thing (living in a car in Latin America for a year) and haven’t received requests for any of those countries.

We still haven’t been able to submit the certificate (requested end of Feb) but received SA and our application was transferred to our local visa office so in our case the application still moved along without it