My email to Accra yesterday and their reply today. Please read their reply under and let me know if sounds positive. The Canada high commission, Accra I have made an application for Canada permanent residence visa, I have done my medical and paid the right for permanent residence fees for nearly 3months now. I have sent the documents your office requested from me in your last email. I want to know if you are satisfy with the documents from Northumbria Police that I submitted to you via DHL?. If there is anything you want from me to enable you make a decision about my application never hesitate to contact me on xxxxxx@yahoo.com.
Note
Frequently asked questions regarding criminality on CIC (Government of Canada) website :
My conviction comes within the provisions of: the NZ Clean Slate Act 2004 / the spent convictions scheme in the Australian State or Territory where I was convicted or I hold a Fiji Certificate of Criminal Rehabilitation. Do I have to declare the conviction – do I still need an admissibility assessment?
Answer: Some convictions are considered “spent” or “clean slated” after a period of time has passed. These convictions should still be declared on any application being made for a visa to go to Canada. In cases where the clean slate/spent schemes have been applied, Canada also accepts these cases as spent – and the person is admissible to Canada. There is no need for you to seek an admissibility assessment.
The question and answer above is similar to my case "having a simple police caution in the UK", a police caution in the UK falls under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. The law was changed on 19 December 2008. The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act now covers simple cautions, reprimands and warnings will become spent immediately. The change covers all cautions, reprimands, and warnings including those administered before 19 December 2008.
Cautions are given to adults aged 18 or over for minor crimes. A caution is not a criminal conviction. From CIC website, you stated that conviction that are considered spent in a country outside Canada, that Canada will also consider it spent for the purpose of immigration. A UK police caution is considered spent immediately at the point of been issued.
From the UK home office website: Question. Do cautions and reprimands count as criminal records?
Cautions, reprimands and final warnings are not criminal convictions and so are not dealt with by the Act.
If people with cautions, reprimands or final warnings only, are asked whether they have any 'criminal convictions' they can answer 'no'. Sometimes people are asked if they have a 'criminal record'. This is a less precise term, but it is usually understood to mean convictions. So people who are asked if they have a 'criminal record' may also answer 'no' if they have no convictions.
The website of the UK justice department is attached below:
http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/offenders/rehabilitation/rehabilitation-offenders.pdf
Thanks. Accra reply today - Dear Applicant,
This is in response to your enquiry.
Be assured your application is in queue for review; however an exact schedule is not available at this time. As you know, all applications are reviewed in the order in which they were received.
Please refer to the CIC web site for information on standard processing times:
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/times/international/menu-perm.asp
No further action is required by you at this time.
Sincerely,
Immigration Section (ROS)
Canadian High Commission
accra.immigration@international.gc.ca
Facsimile : (+233) 302 21154
P.O. Box 1639, 42 Independence Avenue, Accra, Ghana
Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada | Affaires étrangères et Commerce international Canada