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Police Certificate (7+ Countries!?)

marigold99

Member
Feb 19, 2017
16
4
Hi all, My British husband and I are applying under Spousal visa and have just been asked for his police certificates. Fine, great. Except that we both work in international development for charities and the UN and since he was 18, he's lived and worked in 7 different countries for more than 6 months each. These include China, Russia, Indonesia, Iraq, Afghanistan and Jordan. Some are not easy places to get records from! Any helpful tips from other applicants? Can we submit some of them and then a letter of explanation? :eek:
 

scylla

VIP Member
Jun 8, 2010
95,881
22,134
Toronto
Category........
Visa Office......
Buffalo
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
28-05-2010
AOR Received.
19-08-2010
File Transfer...
28-06-2010
Passport Req..
01-10-2010
VISA ISSUED...
05-10-2010
LANDED..........
05-10-2010
You will be required to submit all of them. If you have trouble obtaining some in the time allowed, submit those you can and then request an extension on the rest.

In the event you come across one that is literally impossible to get - make sure you document all of your attempts to get the PCC and being told you can't do it. This should include emails to embassies / consulates requesting assistance, etc. You'll need to show why it can't be done.
 

scylla

VIP Member
Jun 8, 2010
95,881
22,134
Toronto
Category........
Visa Office......
Buffalo
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
28-05-2010
AOR Received.
19-08-2010
File Transfer...
28-06-2010
Passport Req..
01-10-2010
VISA ISSUED...
05-10-2010
LANDED..........
05-10-2010
For what it's worth, I feel your pain. My husband had somewhat of a similar profile. It took us many months to collect all of the PCCs and one ended not being doable after 6+ months of trying.
 

danawhitaker

Hero Member
Aug 4, 2016
702
34
United States
Category........
Visa Office......
Ottawa
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
28-09-2016
AOR Received.
21-10-2016
File Transfer...
28-10-2016
Med's Request
Upfront
Med's Done....
22-07-2016
Interview........
Waived
Passport Req..
14-02-2017
VISA ISSUED...
02-03-2017
LANDED..........
05-03-2017
marigold99 said:
Hi all, My British husband and I are applying under Spousal visa and have just been asked for his police certificates. Fine, great. Except that we both work in international development for charities and the UN and since he was 18, he's lived and worked in 7 different countries for more than 6 months each. These include China, Russia, Indonesia, Iraq, Afghanistan and Jordan. Some are not easy places to get records from! Any helpful tips from other applicants? Can we submit some of them and then a letter of explanation? :eek:
Have they actually specifically asked for police certificates from all those countries? The new application kit only asks for police checks from the country where you're currently living (if six months or longer) and the country where you've spent the most time since the age of 18, but says they could ask for more further in the process if necessary. I've been curious how they were going to handle cases like yours.
 

marigold99

Member
Feb 19, 2017
16
4
danawhitaker said:
Have they actually specifically asked for police certificates from all those countries? The new application kit only asks for police checks from the country where you're currently living (if six months or longer) and the country where you've spent the most time since the age of 18, but says they could ask for more further in the process if necessary. I've been curious how they were going to handle cases like yours.
Yes, unfortunately! This is the request: "Police Certificates (Multiple): Please submit original police certificates for all countries you have resided in for a period of six or months since the age of 18 years old. This must be received at this office by: 2017/04/29"

It will certainly take more than a month for some of those countries, so we'll have to submit a holding letter to update them on where we've gotten to in a couple of weeks, I guess.
 

Gary_87

Champion Member
Jan 10, 2013
1,472
55
Victoria, BC
VISA ISSUED...
21-11-2016
LANDED..........
03-04-2017
Have a look at the process involved for each police certificate separately and try to tackle them one at a time as the process can get overwhelming. If you find one that is difficult, put it aside for now and try to sort the others out. You may be able to apply for and get some in a couple of days depending on the proccess.

I know for example that some are really difficult. I used to live in Sichuan, China and I couldn't get it for my application. I sent loads of emails to embassy's in my old home town, sent emails to law firms, visa offices and specific police check consultancies in China and they all confirmed the same thing: i had to physically travel to my old home town to get it done. I was told by one consultancy they could do it for me for a fee starting at $800USD which I laughed at. I was warned by my embassy that the only way to do it was to be there in person. I included all those emails confirming I had to go there and also the one showing how much they wanted to charge. I included evidence of how much it would all cost and said I couldn't get the time off work. All of that together seemed to be enough as I got approved for my PR recently.

7 PCC's will be tough. But as I said, try to tackle it one at a time. Figure out the protocol for each place. In CHina, if I had lived in Beijing or Shanghai, there are companies that can do it for a reasonable price. But as China is not a federation per se, my home town was different.

CIC's website tells you the process they expect you take to get it. If you can't get it through the channel that they suggest you go about getting it, show all the proof that you can't and submit it all together in an organised way.

Make sure to write a good explanation letter also explaining the nature of the job and that you can attest to your good citizenship in each country! :)

Good luck!
 

Marjeebar

Full Member
Aug 25, 2017
23
0
Have a look at the process involved for each police certificate separately and try to tackle them one at a time as the process can get overwhelming. If you find one that is difficult, put it aside for now and try to sort the others out. You may be able to apply for and get some in a couple of days depending on the proccess.

I know for example that some are really difficult. I used to live in Sichuan, China and I couldn't get it for my application. I sent loads of emails to embassy's in my old home town, sent emails to law firms, visa offices and specific police check consultancies in China and they all confirmed the same thing: i had to physically travel to my old home town to get it done. I was told by one consultancy they could do it for me for a fee starting at $800USD which I laughed at. I was warned by my embassy that the only way to do it was to be there in person. I included all those emails confirming I had to go there and also the one showing how much they wanted to charge. I included evidence of how much it would all cost and said I couldn't get the time off work. All of that together seemed to be enough as I got approved for my PR recently.

7 PCC's will be tough. But as I said, try to tackle it one at a time. Figure out the protocol for each place. In CHina, if I had lived in Beijing or Shanghai, there are companies that can do it for a reasonable price. But as China is not a federation per se, my home town was different.

CIC's website tells you the process they expect you take to get it. If you can't get it through the channel that they suggest you go about getting it, show all the proof that you can't and submit it all together in an organised way.

Make sure to write a good explanation letter also explaining the nature of the job and that you can attest to your good citizenship in each country! :)

Good luck!
Hi.

This really helped me a lot. Congratulations on your PR ..
I just have a few questions I am hoping you could enlighten me with.
I have lived in Iraq for 2 years, left, and have applied for a police certificate in the Iraqi Embassy in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where I am living now. I have gone there a couple of times and they have consistently rejected my request saying that I am not an Iraqi citizen, therefore I cannot get a PCC from there. I have contacted our Embassy from Iraq and they have given me steps on how to obtain one. This includes having someone from there as my representative and traveling to the main city which is Riyadh to get forms and pay fees. Problem is that my schedule really does not allow me to do so and the fact that I am a female gives me limitations to travel there alone. This time, CIC has given me 30 days to comply and I am pretty sure that I cannot meet the deadline. I have given letters of explanations and I honestly do not have any clue on how to explain myself further. How do I ask for an extension for the process? Some have been waiting for 4, 6 months but still are waiting. Will CIC be willing to wait that long for a document?

Thank you in advance and hoping to get a response from you soon..
 

bafonso

Hero Member
Jan 21, 2017
414
101
Visa Office......
Mississauga
Hi.

This really helped me a lot. Congratulations on your PR ..
I just have a few questions I am hoping you could enlighten me with.
I have lived in Iraq for 2 years, left, and have applied for a police certificate in the Iraqi Embassy in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where I am living now. I have gone there a couple of times and they have consistently rejected my request saying that I am not an Iraqi citizen, therefore I cannot get a PCC from there. I have contacted our Embassy from Iraq and they have given me steps on how to obtain one. This includes having someone from there as my representative and traveling to the main city which is Riyadh to get forms and pay fees. Problem is that my schedule really does not allow me to do so and the fact that I am a female gives me limitations to travel there alone. This time, CIC has given me 30 days to comply and I am pretty sure that I cannot meet the deadline. I have given letters of explanations and I honestly do not have any clue on how to explain myself further. How do I ask for an extension for the process? Some have been waiting for 4, 6 months but still are waiting. Will CIC be willing to wait that long for a document?

Thank you in advance and hoping to get a response from you soon..
CIC will definitely understand your difficulties in obtaining these documents, don't worry. But do notify them of your difficulties, if possible with some transcripts of your attempts.
 

Marjeebar

Full Member
Aug 25, 2017
23
0
CIC will definitely understand your difficulties in obtaining these documents, don't worry. But do notify them of your difficulties, if possible with some transcripts of your attempts.
Thank you very much for your encouraging words.. I do hope they will.

Again, thank you..
 

Missahung

Newbie
Jun 7, 2017
9
0
Have they actually specifically asked for police certificates from all those countries? The new application kit only asks for police checks from the country where you're currently living (if six months or longer) and the country where you've spent the most time since the age of 18, but says they could ask for more further in the process if necessary. I've been curious how they were going to handle cases like yours.
Question regarding the above. The request letter my partner received states to submit police checks from current country and where you’ve spent the most time since the age of 18 (Canada and England respectively). But my partner spent 2 years in South Korea, do we need to submit a police check from Korea?
 

scylla

VIP Member
Jun 8, 2010
95,881
22,134
Toronto
Category........
Visa Office......
Buffalo
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
28-05-2010
AOR Received.
19-08-2010
File Transfer...
28-06-2010
Passport Req..
01-10-2010
VISA ISSUED...
05-10-2010
LANDED..........
05-10-2010
Question regarding the above. The request letter my partner received states to submit police checks from current country and where you’ve spent the most time since the age of 18 (Canada and England respectively). But my partner spent 2 years in South Korea, do we need to submit a police check from Korea?
Yes - you need a PCC from South Korea.
 

Missahung

Newbie
Jun 7, 2017
9
0
Yes - you need a PCC from South Korea.
Thanks. Unfortunately we didnt even think of this as we thought to only follow the request letter. Our deadline is Jan. 15th. Any suggestions on how to proceed? Could he apply for the PCC but send a letter of explanation for why it will be late?