Police certificate(s)
You
need to provide a police certificate from each country, other than Canada, if you were there
- in the past 4 years
- for 183 days or more in a row
- since the age of 18
[*]Indicate in the chart the name of each country and provide a police certificate.
You
don’t need to provide a police certificate if
- you were in your country of origin immediately prior to becoming a permanent resident and landing in Canada, and
- this time falls within the past 4 years
[*]If you can’t get a police certificate, tell us why in the explanation box.
To be valid, the police certificate must be either issued
- after the last time you were in that country, or
- no more than 6 months before the date you sign your citizenship application
[*]We may request a police certificate
at any point during processing,
even if you submitted a valid certificate with your application.
Find out how to get a police certificate
See the following examples to help you answer this question.
Example 1
You lived in France for one year (365 days) before you became a permanent resident 3 years ago. You did not travel to France after you became a permanent resident. You would answer “Yes” to the question and you would need to provide a police certificate from France if you did not provide one with your immigration application. If you provided a police certificate from France with your immigration application, tell us this in the box provided at Question 10b.
Example 2
You became a permanent resident 3 years and 9 months ago. In the past 4 years, you lived in Brazil for 3 months (90 days) before you became a permanent resident and you returned to Brazil to visit family for 4 months (120 days) after you became a permanent resident. You would answer “No” to the question and you would not need to provide a police certificate from Brazil because you did not spend 183 days or more in a row in Brazil.
Example 3
In the past 4 years, you took 10 trips to the United States of America (USA). Each trip lasted 3 weeks, for a total of 210 days. You would answer “No” to the question and you would not need to provide a police certificate from the USA because you did not spend 183 days or more in a row in the USA.
Example 4
In the past 4 years, you travelled to Singapore four times for work. The first trip was for 30 days; the second trip was for 200 days; the third trip was for 60 days; and the fourth trip was for 120 days. While in Singapore, you took a trip to Malaysia (10 days) and Thailand (10 days). You would answer “Yes” to the question and you would need to provide a police certificate from Singapore because your second trip was more than 183 days in a row. You would not need to provide police certificates from Malaysia or Thailand.
Example 5
In the past 4 years, you took 1 trip to Europe where you visited Portugal (5 days), Spain (7 days), France (10 days), Belgium (3 days), Netherlands (3 days), Germany (21 days), Switzerland (7 days) and Italy (21 days). You took a second trip to Europe where you visited Ireland (14 days), Scotland (14 days) and England (21 days). You went to Germany for a business trip that lasted 60 days. The total time you were outside of Canada was 186 days but you were not in a single country for 183 days or more in a row. You would answer “No” to the question and you would not need to provide police certificates from any of the countries.
