Mexico

[OhCanadiana]

Hm, weird. If that is the case, why do the accept the carta poder in the first place? My SO can go to Mexico if necessary so its not that I am worried about that, I am more worried about if the informe will slow down our processing time.. I remember that islenio wife was here and she got the Constancia request. Anyone else go through this with their spouse already in Canada? Does the informe slow things down instead of getting the constancia yourself? I thought the informe was only for inland.. Sigh, who knows, lol.

Ok, so when would I know if we needed the informe or the constancia, in the Mexico AOR? I guess at the end of the day it doesn't change much since we would still need the SSR as well, which is only available in Mexico City.

Let me try to help clear this up a bit. Informe vs constancia is terminology about whether the applicant is in Mexico or not (not inland vs outland):
- If you are in Mexico and go in person to get the PGR police certificate and the PGR takes your prints you get a Constancia de Antecedentes Registrales.
- If you are not in Mexico and send someone on your behalf (who you authorize via a carta poder), the PGR won't take your prints directly. Instead you will send the person a copy of your prints. Therefore, you are getting an Informe de Datos Registrales.

Your case is not clear cut since your husband is visiting Canada (not living there) so it's subject to interpretation. You're going to have to decide if you're willing to take a risk to try to speed it up (understanding you can gain a lot in terms of time and saving yourselves a trip to Mexico but there's a chance it may not work). If you get a request letter from the Mexican Embassy in Toronto and get someone to process the certificate for you and submit the PGR document to the Canadian Embassy so they have it in your file the first time they look through it, they may accept it and you'll save yourself the wait for the request letter from them, etc. There's no *guarantee* that they'll take it - you'll be testing the waters, so to speak. However, you'll potentially get the benefit of getting your PPR much faster and save yourself a headache. Personally, I think it's worth the risk to speed it up and would try it if I were in your shoes. But only you and your husband can decide if it's worth trying for you.

The only experience I've heard is someone who was going through another visa office (Buffalo, IIRC) reported that they tried doing this and had it rejected so they had to go through the Canadian Embassy in Mexico since the VO wanted the documents to be processed by the Mexican VO (it's the Mexican VO's responsibility to provide clearance for Mexican Police Certificates). In your case, since Mexico *is* your VO, I think you have a much better shot since they would process it either way.

Re timing. I don't see how it would slow things down in any way to send them the informe. The cost is more in terms of going to the Mexican Embassy, getting your prints, sending the request to Mexico, and having someone in Mexico get the informe and sending it or dropping it off at the Canadian Embassy. If the Canadian Embassy for some reason prefers to process it again themselves, then they'll send you the request letter as they would have if you hadn't gone to the effort of getting it yourselves. If they accept it, then you'll skip the whole getting the PGR letter step, etc and you'll get your visa that much faster.

Re the SSR - does your husband have parents or siblings living in Mexico City? If so, they can process it for him with a carta poder and their ID.

 

[mc1234]

Okay, thanks for clearing that up this is starting to make a lot more sense to me, but I am still a little confused, so bear with me If we did wait for the canadian embassy letter requesting the PGR and SSR, which one would they ask for, would it be different than what we would send if we went to the embassy of mexico in Canada and asked for a letter through them? Essentially, isnt the informe and the constancia the same thing? I just dont want to spend all of this money sending his family to go and get this letter for us and then at the end they reject it.

 

[OhCanadiana]

Okay, thanks for clearing that up this is starting to make a lot more sense to me...

Glad it's helping. You're bringing up two questions, I think:

1. What police certificates they ask for:

If we did wait for the canadian embassy letter requesting the PGR and SSR, which one would they ask for,

Both. They are currently asking everyone for both a PGR certificate *and* an SSP certificate.

2. PGR certificates

Essentially, isnt the informe and the constancia the same thing?

The name of the PGR one depends on the process you use to get it (in-person vs. via a third party). To quote myself:

Informe vs constancia is terminology about whether the applicant is in Mexico or not (not inland vs outland):
- If you are in Mexico and go in person to get the PGR police certificate and the PGR takes your prints you get a Constancia de Antecedentes Registrales.
- If you are not in Mexico and send someone on your behalf (who you authorize via a carta poder), the PGR won't take your prints directly. Instead you will send the person a copy of your prints. Therefore, you are getting an Informe de Datos Registrales.

For the PGR certificate you have a couple possible paths. Basically your trade-off is:
1. Wait to get the request letter from the Embassy for the Constancia
We know it will work in the end because this is the common process. We also know they mail out the requests through regular mail and that can take 6-8 weeks to get to you. They do that even if you send them pre-paid waybills more often that not. Then, you'll have to fly to Mexico, put in the request at the PGR, wait 10 days to pick it the certificate, and then go drop it off to the Embassy. You won't be able to pre-plan and will need to buy a plane ticket with little notice since you don't know when the request will arrive and the mailing time will eat into the 60-90 days they will give you to mail in the PGR certificate. In addition to the logistics costs, you run the risk of having your husband having trouble when he tried to re-enter Canada as a visitor again (remember: each entry is a new entry). So, you have certainty that this will work but the cost is in terms of time, having to go to Mexico on short notice, and then the risk of re-entering Canada.

2. Put the effort in to get the certificate with a request you get from the Mexican Embassy in Canada
I suggested this option a while back as a possible short-cut to save you from traveling back to Mexico *and* to get your application done faster - saving yourself waiting for the request for the PGR, etc. since your husband is in Canada. You have a lot of upside and really the only cost is what it costs you to try. It won't slow down your application any since worst case you'll just go down path 1.

[For people tracking all the options...yes, I'm excluding the possibility that mc1234 could also try to convince the Embassy to process an informe de datos registrales after they send the request letter for your husband but think it's a long shot given that he isn't 'living in' Canada, but just 'visiting' Canada.]

 

[LeisaP]

Ohcanadiana.

so if i am reading this correctly.

when we filed our application we were still in canada. so my spouse got mi suegra to take a set of his prints(that we had done in canada) and get his informes de datos registrales..(although i swear it was called informes de no penales or something like that and it was saying he had no criminalities in any states in mexico)

so we got this police check and sent it in with our application in jan.
than he came back to mexico in april.

does this mean they will request another police check now that he is back in mexico.... or will the first one be fine seeing as we were living out of the country when he filed the application.

thanks. sorry this police check stuff is very confusing. :-\

 

[Nessa]

When my husband got his at the state office it was called an Informe (I think because it wasn´t from the PGR in Mexico City) and they did accept it.

 

[mc1234]

Glad it's helping. You're bringing up two questions, I think:

1. What police certificates they ask for:

Both. They are currently asking everyone for both a PGR certificate *and* an SSP certificate.

2. PGR certificates

The name of the PGR one depends on the process you use to get it (in-person vs. via a third party). To quote myself:

For the PGR certificate you have a couple possible paths. Basically your trade-off is:
1. Wait to get the request letter from the Embassy for the Constancia
We know it will work in the end because this is the common process. We also know they mail out the requests through regular mail and that can take 6-8 weeks to get to you. They do that even if you send them pre-paid waybills more often that not. Then, you'll have to fly to Mexico, put in the request at the PGR, wait 10 days to pick it the certificate, and then go drop it off to the Embassy. You won't be able to pre-plan and will need to buy a plane ticket with little notice since you don't know when the request will arrive and the mailing time will eat into the 60-90 days they will give you to mail in the PGR certificate. In addition to the logistics costs, you run the risk of having your husband having trouble when he tried to re-enter Canada as a visitor again (remember: each entry is a new entry). So, you have certainty that this will work but the cost is in terms of time, having to go to Mexico on short notice, and then the risk of re-entering Canada.

2. Put the effort in to get the certificate with a request you get from the Mexican Embassy in Canada
I suggested this option a while back as a possible short-cut to save you from traveling back to Mexico *and* to get your application done faster - saving yourself waiting for the request for the PGR, etc. since your husband is in Canada. You have a lot of upside and really the only cost is what it costs you to try. It won't slow down your application any since worst case you'll just go down path 1.

[For people tracking all the options...yes, I'm excluding the possibility that mc1234 could also try to convince the Embassy to process an informe de datos registrales after they send the request letter for your husband but think it's a long shot given that he isn't 'living in' Canada, but just 'visiting' Canada.]

Okay now this is starting to make a lot more sense. The only thing I am confused about now is my Husband was never planning on getting the PGR himself, so even if we waited for the letter from the embassy of Canada in Mexico, and then we sent his mom with the carta poder, it was always going to be the informe right? The reason we are doing this is exactly what you said, we don't want to run into problems of him leaving the country and then not allowing him back in, so he was never going to go for it.

 

[mc1234]

When my husband got his at the state office it was called an Informe (I think because it wasn´t from the PGR in Mexico City) and they did accept it.

Great, thanks Nessa.

 

[OhCanadiana]

LeisaP - I think the first thing you need to figure out is whether your Mother-in-Law got the PGR or the SSP certificate. Both will be required (they even asked folks with applications in process for a long time for the SSP certificate when the requirement came out). Given the timing, I assume your husband got the PGR certificate. However, you usually need a letter of request from a government body to get it so I'm a bit confused.

Bottom line - you'll need both PGR and SSP. So, if he's in Mexico now he can get the SSP one taken care of and mail it in since that one doesn't need a formal request letter from a government body.

Yes - it's confusing for many reasons! Mexico is an exception to the general CIC police certificate rules, there's very specific processes for the PGR that require an official request letter AND vary based on where you are, the PGR has been changing its process to make it easier for folks to get the certificate, and in addition to all this, CIC added the SSP requirement recently! The SSP requirement is it's own can of worms ... for people in Mexico, it can only be done in Mexico City, and even there they up and moved offices across the city with no real notice ... for people outside Mexico, there's still the question of how to do it if you aren't in Mexico and don't have family in Mexico City (CIC thinks Mexican Embassies will do it, but they aren't playing ball - yet?) Alas, we'll sort it out and get to the finish line

Ohcanadiana.

so if i am reading this correctly.

when we filed our application we were still in canada. so my spouse got mi suegra to take a set of his prints(that we had done in canada) and get his informes de datos registrales..(although i swear it was called informes de no penales or something like that and it was saying he had no criminalities in any states in mexico)

so we got this police check and sent it in with our application in jan.
than he came back to mexico in april.

does this mean they will request another police check now that he is back in mexico.... or will the first one be fine seeing as we were living out of the country when he filed the application.

thanks. sorry this police check stuff is very confusing. :-\

 

[LeisaP]

LeisaP - I think the first thing you need to figure out is whether your Mother-in-Law got the PGR or the SSP certificate. Both will be required (they even asked folks with applications in process for a long time for the SSP certificate when the requirement came out). Given the timing, I assume your husband got the PGR certificate. However, you usually need a letter of request from a government body to get it so I'm a bit confused.

Bottom line - you'll need both PGR and SSP. So, if he's in Mexico now he can get the SSP one taken care of and mail it in since that one doesn't need a formal request letter from a government body.

Yes - it's confusing for many reasons! Mexico is an exception to the general CIC police certificate rules, there's very specific processes for the PGR that require an official request letter AND vary based on where you are, the PGR has been changing its process to make it easier for folks to get the certificate, and in addition to all this, CIC added the SSP requirement recently! The SSP requirement is it's own can of worms ... for people in Mexico, it can only be done in Mexico City, and even there they up and moved offices across the city with no real notice ... for people outside Mexico, there's still the question of how to do it if you aren't in Mexico and don't have family in Mexico City (CIC thinks Mexican Embassies will do it, but they aren't playing ball - yet?) Alas, we'll sort it out and get to the finish line

hmm so confusing!!.
i dunno which one it was and unfortunatly she doesnt remeber either.

i think its best we wait for whatever they reqest if any. because no point in wasting money if its the one we already sent in :-\

they should just have ONE police check for the whole country. it would make things much easier.

 

[Nessa]

Did you have to pay anything to get the police check? Because the SSP is free. The PGR costs something like 135 pesos (I can´t remember the exact price).

 

[OhCanadiana]

Okay now this is starting to make a lot more sense. The only thing I am confused about now is my Husband was never planning on getting the PGR himself, so even if we waited for the letter from the embassy of Canada in Mexico, and then we sent his mom with the carta poder, it was always going to be the informe right? The reason we are doing this is exactly what you said, we don't want to run into problems of him leaving the country and then not allowing him back in, so he was never going to go for it.

eek ... you're making a really big assumption here in assuming that you can get someone else to go with a carta poder with the request letter from the Embassy of Canada in Mexico. If I had to guess, I'd guess you cannot do that because the Canadian Embassy in Mexico goes through the trouble of processing informes for people who live abroad. I'm pretty sure they wouldn't voluntarily accept this extra work unless you cannot hire someone (e.g., a lawyer or a gestor) to do it for you. The PGR really does control very tightly who accesses this information and has very strict procedures in place. They are easy to work with and work quickly but you do have to follow their very strict processes. You can't just get your own record even without a government request.

This takes me to why I suggested exploring the other path. If you get the request letter from the Mexican Embassy in Canada, the Mexican Embassy will both give your husband a letter requesting the PGR to issue the document to a third party explicitly. Therefore you can get his mother-in-law to request the PGR informe de datos registrales in Mexico based on the carta poder. He saves himself the trip to Mexico and speeds up the process too.

There's a small risk if you do what I suggest that the Canadian Embassy in Mexico will say ... wait a minute, he's technically living in Mexico so we want him to get the document himself with our request letter. However, given that you are going through the Mexico VO I think it's a small chance. However, I want you to go into it with your eyes open that while it has a lot of benefits, there's a risk that it may not work.

 

[OhCanadiana]

Did you have to pay anything to get the police check? Because the SSP is free. The PGR costs something like 135 pesos (I can´t remember the exact price).

Also, the SSP you get same day; the PGR one you have to go back 10 days later. That may help your detective work, LeisaP

 

[mc1234]

Okay now this is making a lot more sense to me, lol. Well were still going to go for it, because at the end of the day all there is to loose is some money, if the Canadian embassy really wants him to get the police check himself since technically he is only 'visiting' canada, then, I guess he will have to go - I hope I am understanding this correctly.

 

[OhCanadiana]

Okay now this is making a lot more sense to me, lol. Well were still going to go for it, because at the end of the day all there is to loose is some money, if the Canadian embassy really wants him to get the police check himself since technically he is only 'visiting' canada, then, I guess he will have to go - I hope I am understanding this correctly.

Glad it makes sense now

If you have any questions/doubts left, don't be shy about asking.

 

[tsjunx]

Hi guys,

can someone please tell me what the SSP stands for? Thanks!