Police and Medical Exam

[nyssa]

Mitamata- Thank you!!! That was a huge worry of mine, and you were very helpful. The lady at the doctor's office I called seemed just as confused when I THOUGHT it had to be sent to Ottawa!!! Now I feel silly. =]

Now, my fiancee and I are filing as spouses. We're getting married the same week I'm going to have the medical exam and file for our application. Would it be better to have the medical exam done BEFORE we get married or after? Does it make a difference?

I want to stress again what great help this forum is. My fiancee and I couldn't be more pleased and thankful.

 

[Boncuk]

Doing it before or after won't matter. But keep in mind your medical is valid for one year. So the closer to the date you are sending the better.

 

[nyssa]

Definitely. I set up my appointment for two days after I arrive in Canada. I'm pretty sure we're getting married later on that week, maybe 5 days after the exam roughly. So I don't have any worries there then, thank you!

 

[alishan]

ALSO - For the state certificates, I should get fingerprints and send them out to the two states I've resided in as well? Just on whatever paper my local police department gives me?

Usually a local precinct of the police department in major urban centres in the U.S. does have their own fingerprinting card that will be, most of the time, accepted by the FBI as well as by state authorities. But if this is not the case, you can always order in advance a blank set (or a few sets as needed) of the standard fingerprinting card from FBI and you can take them with you to your local precinct. I think it'd be better to call the precinct first and verify if you need to bring the form or not, as well as the type of IDs you'll need to bring and hours (some don't have walk-in hours).

 

[nyssa]

I got lucky and walked in, paid $10 and got my FBI ones sent out.

It's a tiny local precint... so they didn't have any stock cards, come to find out. So, I didn't send it to Florida with the rest of my stuff... but I'm 90% sure Florida didn't require fingerprints... I sure hope I did everything right!!!

I mailed it all priority in a big "DO NOT BEND" envelope, and placed the payment in an envelope inside each package. I've got a good feeling I handled it properly. If I did, at least if anyone asks in the future, I can finally give some advice!! Thank you!

 

[alishan]

I'm glad it worked out for you
To my knowledge, Florida offers 2 ways - with or without fingerprint. CIC is not really clear on this on its website - it clearly states that the FBI record be obtained with fingerprints, but it doesn't say clearly whether or not the certificates from individual states should be obtained with fingerprints when this option is available ...

 

[nyssa]

Alishan- Hmmm. You know, I have no idea... I bet it's fine. It might, at worst, slow things down for me a little. But since every state operates differently anyway, I'd imagine it wouldn't matter too much, as long as you get a certified police certificate.

I relied on this information: http://www.geocities.com/canadian_immigration_club/state.html

BUT I just realized I didn't do these two things:
All addresses you have resided at in that state.
Letter from immigration packet requesting clearance.

I hope that won't be a problem... maybe I should call the Florida Dept. and ask them to add my addresses to my file?? I don't know if they can do that. I sent a cover letter, the same one the FBI had, but not that letter from the immigration packet... I thought that was for FBI only...

 

[saralune]

We received a call from our lawyer today who got back the fingerprint from the FBI. It took all in all exactly 4 weeks. It is reallynot as bad as somepeople have said.

 

[PMM]

Hi

Alishan- Hmmm. You know, I have no idea... I bet it's fine. It might, at worst, slow things down for me a little. But since every state operates differently anyway, I'd imagine it wouldn't matter too much, as long as you get a certified police certificate.

I relied on this information: http://www.geocities.com/canadian_immigration_club/state.html

BUT I just realized I didn't do these two things:
All addresses you have resided at in that state.
Letter from immigration packet requesting clearance.

I hope that won't be a problem... maybe I should call the Florida Dept. and ask them to add my addresses to my file?? I don't know if they can do that. I sent a cover letter, the same one the FBI had, but not that letter from the immigration packet... I thought that was for FBI only...

You really should follow the instructions at: http://tinyurl.com/b7xh7o which is the official source.

PMM

 

[nyssa]

PMM- I had a hard time following that guide. It was very vague. It seems like I don't need to send fingerprints with my Florida one, so I should be in good shape. Thank you!